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The Two Witnesses | Revelation 11:3-14 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Bible Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

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As the curtain of human history nears its final drop, God and
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His profound kindness will raise up two powerful preachers to be
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some of the clearest and loudest witnesses to the world before
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Christ returns in judgment. That is not to say that there
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will be no other Christian evangelists or missionaries in
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the Tribulation period. But the Holy Spirit highlights
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these two distinct individuals because of their extraordinary
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influence and impact in that time.
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And for the Holy Spirit to single them out in this way is a
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thrilling invitation for us to examine them more carefully.
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And in doing so, I trust and I pray that we will learn some
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valuable things for our own witness as followers of Christ
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today. Moreover, we will definitely
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understand the One who will one day summon these two preaching
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powerhouses as an extension of His grace and wisdom.
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And there are at least five things that I want us to
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consider and take note of regarding these two prophets in
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Revelation Chapter 11. The first thing that we will
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look at is their identity. Who are these messengers
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exactly? We will from there look at their
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ability, because not only are they preachers, they are
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prophets with incredible power and it's difficult to ignore
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what they are able to do and what that means for them, for
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their generation and even for us, their identity, their
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ability. Thirdly, we will be confronted
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with their mortality. As phenomenal as these preachers
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are, they are human, and we are told about their death and the
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manner of it, and it is very revealing from their mortality.
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We will fourthly look at their indignity, the opposite of
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dignity. Now why is that an appropriate
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word? Well, we are told in detail of
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the great humiliation they will experience, the mistreatment,
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the dishonor by their global audience, and finally, we will
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meditate on their testimony, the overall impact of their
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ministry, and what that means for us as well.
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Let's begin by reading Revelation 11/3 and four as we
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meditate on their identity. And I will grant authority to my
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2 witnesses and they will prophecy for 1260 days clothed
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in sackcloth. These are the 2 olive trees and
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the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
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Pray with me, Father, the study of Your Word has been done, but
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Lord, the delivery requires just as much of Your help, and we
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pray that Your blessing would rest upon these truths being
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expounded and delivered to the hearts of Your people.
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And Lord, we come with hunger and expectation, believing that
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Your Word will be sweet to our mouths.
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And even if it is bitter in our stomachs, we accept it because
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we trust that even this portion of Scripture will nourish us and
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it will strengthen our fellowship with Christ and it
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will help us advance in holiness and it will, by your grace, make
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us better witnesses. For your name's sake.
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In Jesus name we pray these things.
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Amen. The identity of these witnesses,
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it's strange, we're never given their names.
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And that has led many to believe that these two witnesses are
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actually symbolic representations and not
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individuals at all. And some would say that these
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two witnesses are actually just a picture of the church's
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witness in the last days. Others prefer to say, no, no,
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what you have here is actually a picture of the powerful work of
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the Old and the New Testament. Others would disagree and say,
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no, it's, it's actually more acceptable to conclude that this
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is what the law and the prophets will do to a generation of
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unbelievers who refuse to believe all of that.
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Any kind of symbolism you would attribute to these two witnesses
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is very, very, very difficult to sustain because we haven't read
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it yet. But we're going to see that
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there are behaviours and we read it.
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There is actually clothing that they wear, sackcloth, and
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there's going to be a real death that these two witnesses will
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undergo. And just their overall destiny
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dispels any notion that these are some kind of just imagery or
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some kind of picture or symbol of something other than two real
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human beings. What you and I have here are two
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actual people that God will use in His end time program.
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Now, among those who hold that view, there is friendly
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discussion. OK, they are real human beings,
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but who are they exactly? This is the stuff that some
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people here like to talk about during lunch, after the service.
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Who are they exactly? 1 popular view is that because
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of the characteristics attributed to them, as we're
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going to see, they have to be somebody like Moses or Elijah.
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In fact, let's read verse 5 and 6.
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Let's get ahead of ourselves. Just for a moment.
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Let's look at this and if anyone would harm them, fire pours from
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their mouth and consumes their foes.
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If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be
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killed. They have the power to shut the
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sky that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying,
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and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood
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and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as
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they desire. This is strikingly resembling of
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what the ministry of Moses and Elijah and that's why many are
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comfortable to interpret these witnesses as a reappearance of
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these mighty men of God. And they would add to that to
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say, well, doesn't Malachi say that before the day of the Lord
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Elijah will appear? Good point.
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Others would also include there's a a group of Jews that
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also claim that Moses will make a reappearance and I won't get
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into the reasons why they hold to that view.
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So this duo being those two mighty prophets is something
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that people think is is very fitting.
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Now there are others who would say not Moses and Elijah, but
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but it's more likely that it's going to be Enoch and Elijah.
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Now why is that? Because they are the only two in
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all of the Bible that have departed from this world without
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experiencing death. And Hebrews 927 is often quoted
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to support this view, where it says that it is appointed for a
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man to die once, and then comes what judgement?
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And so it makes sense then that you have these two prophets
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making a reappearance, ministering, undergoing death
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like the rest of us, and experiencing their own
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resurrection. Well, there are strengths and
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weaknesses to those views, but unless it is clearly stated, we
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can't say with absolute certainty that these witnesses
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are the reappearance of well known men, of God, of the past.
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What is clear though, as much as that might be possible, the
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reasonable interpretation is that these are unknown servants
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of Christ that God will one day recruit and empower to be mighty
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voices to speak to a generation that desperately needs this
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demonstration of supernatural power.
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With that being said, there is one clear reference to the Old
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Testament and we read it. I'm not sure if you saw it, but
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look again at verse 4. These are the 2 olive trees and
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the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth.
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So you can debate if this is Moses, Elijah, Enoch.
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What you can't debate is that this verse is clearly drawn from
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a vision in the book of Zechariah.
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This is going to help us understand a little bit more
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about their identity. Zechariah was a prophet during
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the days of the Exiles who returned from Babylon, came back
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to the city of Jerusalem, and attempted to rebuild the temple.
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And he was used by God for many reasons.
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But one of his purposes was to infuse grace and encouragement
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to this remnant as they face many difficulties and challenges
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in their desire their endeavor to resurrect this House of
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worship. And in the midst of these
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obstacles, God gives Zechariah a vision to share with the leaders
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and the people so that they would know a new grace to see
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this actually fulfilled. This is worth turning to in
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Zechariah. So find the book of Zechariah
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and meet me in chapter 4 and look at verse one with me.
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Zechariah 4 verse one reads And the Angel who talked with me
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came again and woke me like a man who is awakened out of his
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sleep. And he said to me, what do you
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see? I said, I see.
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And behold, A lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of
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it and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps
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that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by
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it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.
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So I can't draw this for you, but I'll attempt to use my hands
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to make it a little bit more clear.
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Here's what the prophet sees. He sees this golden lampstand
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and a bowl on top of it and these two olive trees on both
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sides. And what's happening here is
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that these olive trees are feeding oil into the bowl, and
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then this bowl is then trickling oil into the lamps of this
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lampstand. That's the picture.
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But what's the meaning? Zechariah wants to know.
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So look at verse 4. And I said to the Angel who
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talked with me, what are these, my Lord?
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And the Angel who talked with me answered and said to me, do you
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not know what these are? I said No, my Lord.
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Then he said to me, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel,
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not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of
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hosts, Who are you, O great mountain, before it's ruble?
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You shall become a plane, and he shall bring forward the top
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stone amid shouts of grace, Grace to it.
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So the Angel gives Zechariah the general interpretation of this
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vision, and here's what it is. The completion of the temple
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will be realized, and it's not going to be through human
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diligence or man's strength. It's going to be attributed to
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the energizing work of the Holy Spirit.
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It's going to be God himself energizing his people and
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providentially making a way for this to be done.
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But more than that, whatever Zerubbabel began with the
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Temple, because he was one of the leaders who led this
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project, he will see through to completion, which will result in
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what? The life and the light of the
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nation of Israel being reignited and abundantly sustained.
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That's what you have here. And Zechariah understood the
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broader message, but he is curious, and so he begins to
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probe and ask about certain details.
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And what really he wanted to know was what about these olive
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trees? And so Scroll down here to verse
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11 of Zechariah 4. Then I said to him, what are
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these two olive trees on the right and the left of the
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lampstand? And a second time I answered and
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said to him, what are these two branches of the olive trees
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which are beside the 2 golden pipes from which the golden oil
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is poured out? Can you pause for a moment?
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Do you notice how many questions Zechariah is asking?
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That's for your instruction and mine.
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Here's a man who is beholding visions from God and he doesn't
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understand. So what does he do?
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He asks and when he doesn't get an answer, he asks again.
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He keeps asking, can I ask you something?
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When you don't understand something in the Word of God,
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how desperate are you to know it?
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How much investigation do you do?
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Or are you just content with seeing it, closing your Bible,
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saying why? At least I did my part.
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I read. Revelation does not come to
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readers, it comes to thinkers. And for those who meditate and
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take what they see and bring it before the Lord in prayer,
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that's where they get illumination.
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Here's this man, He's not giving up easily.
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Even in the verses we just read, He asked the question.
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He didn't get an answer immediately.
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So what does he do? He asks again, ask, seek, and
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God will give you answers. He doesn't in many ways, but you
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and I have to do our part and seek Him.
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Verse 13 He said to me, do you not know what these are?
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I said no, my Lord. Verse 14 Then he said, these are
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the two anointed ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
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Does that sound familiar? You should.
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We read in Revelation 11 something very similar
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contextually. The two anointed ones in this
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vision are representation of two people, Zerubbabel, the man that
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we read of earlier and Joshua, Zerubbabel and Joshua the high
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priest of this time. Now why them?
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For two simple reasons. Number one, these were the two
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that God raised up to lead the Exiles to go back home and start
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the rebuilding of the temple. They oversaw this endeavor.
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And secondly, Zerubbabel and Joshua both came from lineages
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that experienced and required anointing oil.
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Zerubbabel was a political leader.
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He was the governor of this time, but he came from the royal
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line of David. Were kings anointed in the Old
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Testament? They were anointed.
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Joshua, who worked alongside Zerubbel, came from the priestly
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line. Were priests anointed?
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They were. Then.
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It would make sense then for these two to be the anointed
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ones who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
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Now here's how this interpretation adds to the whole
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vision. As much as the life and the
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light of the nation of Israel will be reignited by the Holy
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Spirit's work, it will be channelled through the agency of
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these leaders. These leaders will be God's
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instruments of bringing in God's favor, God's blessing on the
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nation, surviving and thriving again.
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And this is precisely why the Holy Spirit connects these two
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witnesses in Revelation 11 with this description and Zechariah.
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Not only because these two witnesses will be supernaturally
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empowered by God, but because they will play significant role
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in the restoration of the people of Israel during a time of
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renewed persecution in a world under the control of the
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Antichrist. In the same way that Zerubbabel
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and Joshua were used by God to help the Exiles who are harassed
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by the enemies of their time. Go back to Revelation 11.
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Let me remind you of something in verse 2.
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In verse 2 of Revelation 11, we learned that the holy city is
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going to be trampled for 42 months, right?
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That speaks of persecution against the holy city, that is
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Jerusalem and its people. But in verse 3, we read that
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these two witnesses will be preaching for the same length of
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time. So the duration is given in
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days, and we're going to see how the impact of these two
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witnesses will have on the people of Israel by the end of
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the message. But before we move on, allow me
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to say one more thing. I find it amazing that the
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length of the preaching of these two witnesses was only 1260
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days. To put into perspective, we just
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at the time of this message, pass our four fourth year
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anniversary as a church. That's not very long in terms of
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a preaching resume. And these men will be preaching
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for 3 1/2 years. And it's a helpful reminder
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about how God sovereignly works in our ministries.
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Each of us in His mind, the length and the duration of our
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service to Him varies. It varies, and quantity does not
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always mean quality. These men will do profound
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things in a short amount of time.
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And listen, you and I should strive.
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Strive for longevity and loyalty wherever God has placed us to
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serve. But we also must be dependent
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upon the truth that He is the one who determines what we do
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and how long we do it for. This is His prerogative, and
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what makes the quality of your service to God and mine
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meaningful and lasting is the same thing with Zerubbabel,
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Joshua, and these two witnesses. Dependence on the Holy Spirit
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being connected to Him, continually asking for His hand
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to remain on your life and to bless your efforts and to
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multiply your fruit. Can I ask you, O precious Saints
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who serve God, how much? How much do you seek God to
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bless what you do for God? How much are you aware?
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How much are you? Are you, are you understanding
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of your neediness of Him? So what we see here is that the
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picture from old to new is that men and women who have done
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great things for God are those who are aware that they need
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Him, They need to abide in Him, That unless He goes before them
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and is by their side and behind them and over them, they will
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not know true success. And this is what we find here,
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that the Holy Spirit will work through these men not just to do
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miracles, but to play a part in the people of Israel coming
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closer to their salvation. That being said, they do
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accomplish remarkable things, which brings us to our second
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heading. Not just their identity, but
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their ability. So like the fire that fell from
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heaven and consumed Elijah's enemies by command, by the way,
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we see these men doing something similar.
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And like Elijah, who according to James prayed and for 3 1/2
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years there was no rain, these men apparently can shut the sky
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by their word. And I find it interesting.
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It's for the same duration that Elijah did, 3 1/2 years.
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And what about the water turning to blood and plagues striking
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the earth? That is a clear parallel to
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Moses. So what do we do with these
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parallels? What do we do with these
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connections? Here's the key take away.
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Just as the miracles of Elijah and Moses vindicated their
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message in times of great apostasy and oppression by
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empires, these witnesses will have comparable power.
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In other words, you're going to see here that these signs and
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wonders mirror these prophets of God of old, to authenticate the
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ministry of these men, to show to the world that they are
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genuine prophets of God. And this will be extremely
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useful in a time where there will be terrifying distractions,
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palpable demonic activity, and frightening deception on all
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sides. This kind of power that we read
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in verse 5 and 6 is necessary and it will show the world that
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these these prophets, they resemble the prophets of the
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Hebrew Scriptures. Therefore they represent the
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true God. And that is an indirect message.
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But we got to think about the practical implications of this.
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You've been with us week after week.
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Is the world in a good place at the time of these ministers
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preaching? Everything is falling apart,
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diseases and waters being corrupted and land being
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destroyed and things falling from the sky.
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And and with all of that, what do you have?
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Two men, whenever they desire, adding to their suffering,
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adding to their turmoil. And it's really going to show us
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why the world hated these guys. They make sense because of the
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torment they will inflict, not just by the truth that they
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preach, but even by the power that they will demonstrate.
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But there is a phrase, the last part of verse 6, that caught my
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attention and moved me deeply. Look at it again.
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As often as they desire, they will have the ability to perform
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any of these powerful acts whenever they wish and as many
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times as they want. That is incredible.
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That is staggering, and here's why it's intriguing.
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Much of Revelation, including this section, shows how God has
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carefully fixed and planned events.
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Down to what? The very hour the holy city will
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be trampled for 42 months? These two witnesses will preach
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for 1260 days. Later on, in the same section,
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we're going to see that an earthquake is going to Sheikh
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Jerusalem and a tenth of the city fell.
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That is precise, undeniable, sovereign acts of God.
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And yet in the in the middle of this, just witnessing the
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absolute control that God has over the affairs of the world in
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the final days, you get a hint that man is granted freedom of
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choice as often as they desired. This reminds me actually of
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another place concerning the last days, namely with Jesus
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Christ when He gave His own play by play prophecy of the final
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moments of human history. Let me remind you of this.
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In Matthew 2419 and 20, our Lord said, and alas, for women who
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are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those
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days, look at verse 20. Talking Matthew 2419 and 20,
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Look at verse 20. Pray that your flight may not be
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in winter or on a Sabbath, for then there will be great
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tribulation. Such has not been from the
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beginning of the world until now.
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No, and never will be. Pray.
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Pray for what? We'll pray that the conditions
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will be favorable in your travels.
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Pray that it will not happen where there will be traffic
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jams. And so Jesus here even indicates
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that prayer can still make a difference even in the context
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of predetermined events and elements of it being
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established. Do you see what I see?
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So here's what I want to say. You and I may not be able to
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fully understand how this all works, but one thing is certain.
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God's foreknowledge does not make our freedom an illusion.
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Our freedom is real, our actions or our inactions actually make a
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difference, and all of this makes our relationship with God
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what authentic and it makes our responsibility very genuine and
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personal as often as they desire.
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I love that thought as it's sandwiched between what days
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determined and events taking place.
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God's foreknowledge does not negate your responsibility.
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My brother and sister Jesus equally says pray, pray.
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Prayer makes a difference. Well preacher, can you explain
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all the mechanics? I can't do you much service in
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that area. But what I do understand is that
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God has asked of me to do certain things and I will obey
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Him, believing with all my heart that should I not do it, it will
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actually change or not change their ability.
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But let's consider their mortality.
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Now we haven't read this yet, but let's look at it in verse 7.
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And when they had finished their testimony, the beast that rises
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from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer
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them and kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the
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street of the great city That symbolically now the Greek there
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were for symbolically is actually spiritually, that's
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symbolically slash spiritually. It's called Sodom in Egypt where
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their Lord was crucified. This is the first time in the
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Book of Revelation, the words the beast that title this
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individual, the beast appears the first time.
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But reference to the Beast will actually resurface nearly 30
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times in the rest of the Book of Revelation.
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So obviously whoever the Beast is, he is an integral part in
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the events of the Last days. And all we know up to this point
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in his introduction is where he came from.
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The Beast came from the Abyss. We were here when we learned
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about the Abyss. This is in reference to the
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underworld where certain demonic spirits were imprisoned by God
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himself. This has then LED some to say,
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well the beast has to clearly be a demonic creature or even Satan
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himself. Is Satan appearing before these
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two witnesses and slaying these two witnesses?
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Well it's not until you continue Revelation where you discover
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who the beast actually is. More light is shed on this
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character. So look at Revelation 13.
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Just to give you an example how this is going to help us.
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Revelation 13 Look at verse one, John says.
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And I saw a beast rising out of the sea with 10 horns and seven
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heads, with 10 diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on
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its heads. And the beast that I saw was
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like a leopard. Its feet were like a bear's, and
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its mouth was like a lion's mouth.
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And to it the dragon gave his power and his throne and great
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authority. One of its heads seemed to have
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a mortal wound, but it's mortal wound was healed and the whole
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earth marveled as they followed the beast.
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It's very tempting to go deep into this passage, but we're
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going to refrain from doing so and look at just two simple
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observations about the beast number.
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We know based on this passage that the Beast is not Satan.
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Why? Because contextually, the dragon
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is Satan, and he empowers the Beast.
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That's clear. More than that, though, there is
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strong indication that the beast is actually flesh and blood.
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Why? Because John says that he he saw
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a mortal wound that the beast had and the wound was was
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healed. Well, some would say that this
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is reserved just for a symbolic picture of an empire falling and
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rising again. But if you continue Revelation
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13, which we will when we get there, there's great support
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about how this beast is actually an individual.
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And if that is the case, then there is something that will
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happen to this beast that will affect his body.
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It will be healed almost in a miraculous fashion that will
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even cause the world to devote themselves more ferociously and
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intensely to the beast. This leaves us with only one
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logical conclusion, that the beast is the Antichrist, that he
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is the prophesied coming world ruler that Jesus spoke about,
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that Paul spoke of, and it's given out in great detail in
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this marvelous book, Revelation. This is the Antichrist.
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And So what does it mean for us in Revelation 11?
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That the Antichrist will be the one who will personally deal
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with these two witnesses, that their message and their movement
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will be so enraging to him that he will deal with them with a
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devastating blow. You have to remember, Paul
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prophesied that in the last days one of the turning points would
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be the man of lawlessness entering into the temple of God
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and declaring himself to be God as he takes his seat there.
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Where's the temple of God? Jerusalem.
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And it could be that these two witnesses who are prophesying in
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the holy city, in the great city, are getting in the way of
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the Antichrist sustaining his headquarters in Jerusalem.
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They're not making his job easier as he is trying to win
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the worship of the world. Here they are preaching about
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the true Christ. Here they are preaching with
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power, interfering with his attempt to dominate the globe.
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And so finally, he will take action, but not until what Their
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testimony was complete. Don't you love that truth?
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I love it because it shows that even the Antichrist who is
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empowered by Satan will not be able to touch any of Christ's
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witnesses until he says so. Let's take it, take a breath
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now, OK? What is this truth show about
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our life in Christ? It shows that our existence on
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earth is tied to our service to the Lord.
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They could not be touched until their ministry was accomplished.
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And once their ministry was fulfilled, God allowed them to
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be killed. What does that say about life?
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Life is about living for Him. Life is about serving God.
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Life is about discovering your ministry.
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And even though if you don't have a clearview of what your
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calling is, and I put that in quotation marks, just knowing
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what God's will is from His Word and finding a place and a people
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to do it with, that's what your life is about.
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And I wonder if we think of it that way.
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I wonder if you think about your life that way.
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Paul did. Do you remember what he said to
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the Philippians and Philippians 122?
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If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for
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me. What is he saying to the
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Philippians? Well, he's in prison.
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There's talks about him potentially dying, being
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martyred, and he's wrestling with, departing and being with
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Christ for that is far better. Amen.
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It is far better. But then he realizes that I only
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have one opportunity to serve God in a way that I can't in
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heaven. And so the only compelling thing
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for me to remain in this body, battered in bruises, succumb to
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all these things and to stay on this wretched planet is if I am
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fruitful for him. There is no other appeal from
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this world apart from that truth serving him.
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And that's what we find here. These men were taken once.
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They served well. Speaking of thinking a certain
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way, did you notice a contrast in these verses?
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Look again at verse 8 and their bodies, their dead bodies will
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lie in the street of the great city.
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That's worth highlighting. The great city that
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symbolically, or again I told you earlier, the Greek word is
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spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt where their Lord is
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crucified or was crucified. So in case there's any confusion
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of what this great city is there, there's no more debate
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now. It's it's Jerusalem.
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That's where our Christ was crucified and Jerusalem here for
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some reason it's called the great city.
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Whatever the reasons are for it being called great, they're not
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godly ones. Do you know why?
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Because in the very same breath, this city is condemned by being
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titled two of some of the worst cities in all of biblical
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history. And so in God's eyes, Jerusalem
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at this point is bankrupt. But in worldly terms, it's
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great. Here's how this challenged me in
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my perception of everything around me.
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Do I discern and evaluate spiritually, or am I prone to do
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so in my flesh? What's great in the eyes of the
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world, symbolically and spiritually, is horrendous to
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God. You know, some of you know that
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my wife and I had a chance to go to Rome just a few weeks ago,
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and there was so much about Rome that was great.
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The historical preservation, the architectural beauty was
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stunning. But throughout our stay there, I
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had to constantly remind myself to perceive these things from a
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spiritual standpoint and to make my final estimation there,
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especially when looking at these religious structures.
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Great. But spiritually, what is it?
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You know, there are a lot of Christians who are passionate,
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sometimes too passionate about politics.
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If they fail to consider the spiritual reality behind it,
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it's never in the conversation. It's just left and right and
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this news and that is, do you perceive it spiritually, though?
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You have others Christians who are enthralled by certain forms
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of entertainment but never reflect on the spiritual
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influences at work. You know Christ has something
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profound in light of this. When He was dealing with the
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self-righteous Pharisees in Luke 1614, He said, For what is
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exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
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Let me say that again, For what is exalted among men is an
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abomination in the sight of God. Well let me read you the whole
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verse. And he said to them in Luke
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1615, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God
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knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is
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an abomination in the sight of God.
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Why is he saying this? Because in the verse right
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before it, we learned that the Pharisees were lovers of money
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and they justified it. In fact, they actually convinced
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people that their growing wealth was a sign of God's favor.
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And Jesus reminds them and us, your value system, Pharisees,
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that might be praised, you might have excused it and convince
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others of it, but in God's sight it's an abomination.
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You and I have to constantly come before the Lord and ask Him
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to sharpen our perception the way we understand the world, how
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it functions, what is valuable, what is not, what is to be
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treasured, what is to be despised, what is to be pursued,
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what is to be ignored. Because your default setting and
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mine is not to see it spiritually, it's to see it
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carnally. It's to see the the way the rest
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of the world does. And the closer you get to God,
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the more you will see the way he sees the city of Jerusalem.
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Great. Oh, but to God spiritually,
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Sodom and Egypt, this is striking and it carries
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instruction for us. We still have two more thoughts
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to consider. We moved out from their
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mortality to their indignity. Not their dignity, their
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indignity. Look at verse 9.
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Now, for 3 1/2 days, some from the peoples and tribes and
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languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse
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to let them be placed in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth
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will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents,
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because these two prophets have been a torment to those who
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dwell on the earth. This is a fascinating passage in
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a book that's primarily about the future, because what would
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have been unexplainable to John's immediate audience up to
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roughly 70 years ago, it's very understandable to us today.
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How could the peoples and tribes and languages and nations of the
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world gaze upon the dead bodies of these two prophets for 3 1/2
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days in one specific location? Is that hard to imagine today?
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Absolutely not. These slain bodies of these
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prophets will be so significant that it will be broadcasted.
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That's the only explanation for this.
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It will be broadcasted live on streaming platforms across the
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world, and not from an objective journalistic standpoint.
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No, no, no, no. It will be recorded as a
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celebratory event. They're they're gone.
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Finally, we don't have to watch another sermon short.
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We don't have to deal with another plague in these random
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cities. We have better chances to have
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drinking water. They're done.
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And so exciting will this news be that they will actually go to
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the stores, purchase presents, visit their friends and
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neighbors, and exchange gifts. Someone called this passage a
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Satanic Christmas. That's very fitting.
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You you can't think of another way, I'm sure, of trying to
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explain the joy of these peoples, the inhabitants of the
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earth, over the death of two righteous men who are calling a
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dying and collapsing world to repentance and eternal life.
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And this may be just a few short years ago, might have been also
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unthinkable to us. But I can't help but think about
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the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk and understand that
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we got a sobering reality check of just how vile people can be
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at the sight of a man who had his neck blown up by a bullet in
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front of people, including his family.
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More shockingly, this is the first time the word rejoice
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appears in the Book of Revelation.
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The only other occurrences in Revelation 19, seven where we
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read of the righteous celebrating, rejoicing, exalting
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in God in the marriage supper of the Lamb.
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Imagine this. How staggering is this?
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You're reading through the Book of Revelation and the first time
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you are confronted with the word rejoice on earth.
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Rejoicing on earth is when sinners are gleeful about the
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assassination of two of God's chief workmen.
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Let me take this opportunity to remind you and I that we live in
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a very wicked and depraved world.
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And listen. It has always hated the truth.
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It has always attempted to run from the light.
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But that hatred for the truth will intensify, and those who
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speak it will also be objects of people's hatred.
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So if you're despised, dear brother or sister, do not be
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surprised. It's only going to get more
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intense. The fate of these prophets isn't
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too surprising, though, is it? How many times have we read both
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an Old and New Testament of God's faithful messengers being
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killed, sometimes in the prime of their lives?
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But what we discover in our final heading is most definitely
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not common. Let's discover now their
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testimony in verse 11 down to verse 14.
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But after the 3 1/2 days of breath of life from God entered
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them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on
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those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice
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from heaven saying to them, come up here.
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And they went up to heaven in the cloud, and their enemies
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watch them. At the hour there was a great
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earthquake and a tent of the city fell. 7000 people were
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killed in the earthquake and the rest were terrified and gave
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glory to the God of heaven. I sat back and I use my
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sanctified imagination at this point of my study that if indeed
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it will be modern technology that will be able to allow the
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world to look at these slain bodies for 3 1/2 days.
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Maybe, just maybe, again, sanctified imagination that
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while cameras are rolling and people are posting breaking news
43:58
alert, this is not AI footage. Suddenly, unexplainably,
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miraculously, these two witnesses are alive again.
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You can just imagine the replays of these two slain bodies
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suddenly getting up to their feet and dusting their
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sackcloth. This is incredible.
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But in a book with so many miracles, not just Revelation,
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but our entire book, the Bible, this is not so hard to imagine.
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In fact, many, many years before this, there was another faithful
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witness, the Witness of Witnesses, Christ himself, who
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ministered in Jerusalem. And he too was killed.
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And he was buried for three days before he was resurrected.
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And now we read here of the Messiah's two witnesses who also
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minister in Jerusalem. They will be killed.
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They will be slain, though not buried for 3 1/2 days before
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they are resurrected. But here's the main difference.
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Their resurrection and essentially will be seen by the
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entire world. Even their enemies will behold
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this remarkable reversal of events.
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Why? Why is the Lord doing this?
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Why is He making it so public? Well, surely to vindicate His
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witnesses, but also to extend undeserved mercy to this
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generation as they are accelerating and racing towards
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eternal doom. This is God again in His great
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grace, allowing this world at this point to actually see
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resurrection and ascension to validate their message even
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more. Things are wrapping up as much
46:09
as the judgments are increasing in intensity.
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So at this point is God's grace and trying to get the attention
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of these unbelievers. So instead of trying to wrestle
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with why and why them and just see God's mercy, just look at
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His wonderful grace and be moved by it.
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How much more can He do to awaken a generation that is
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inundated by so much filth and so much carnage and so much
46:43
evil? And what happens?
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Well, if that wasn't enough, the Lord will cause an earthquake to
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shake the city of Jerusalem to confirm that what it just
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transpired was His doing. 7000 will perish as a tent of the
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city will collapse. But notice again in verse 13.
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Look at it. The rest were terrified and gave
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glory to the God of heaven. Who are the rest?
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Well, the thing that makes the most sense here is that they are
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the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
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Contextually, that's what makes the most sense.
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And what does it mean then that they gave glory to the God of
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heaven? Is this a forced confession, or
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is this genuine repentance? And there's debate about that.
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And you can actually make a strong case that this is real
47:39
because whenever you see giving glory to God in the context of
47:42
revelation, it is strongly associated with genuine
47:46
repentance. And we don't have time to look
47:49
at every reference, but we will as we move forward in this text.
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But let's just step out of this for a second.
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Whether this means that they genuinely repented or this is
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just a spontaneous, sudden kind of response of recognizing that
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God is actually real, one thing is absolutely certain.
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The testimony of these men will bring the people of Israel that
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much closer to their destiny, and that is them acknowledging
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Christ as their true Messiah. That is the impact of these men.
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We're seeing what Paul taught about in Romans 11 coming to
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fruition more and more. We saw it with 144,000.
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We see it with these two witnesses who very likely were
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Jews themselves. And as they are brought into the
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clouds, there is something that we rarely see happening in this
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book. Sinners giving God glory.
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And not just sinners across the board, but sinners in a
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particular city, A city that is called holy, a city that's
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called great. A city that spiritually is not
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pleasing to God, but because of His covenant towards them is
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doing His part to lead them to His pleasing will.
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Let me remind you as I close now, that what we've discussed
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in these past few weeks is the pause and the interlude between
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the 6th and the 7th trumpets. Next week, God permitting, we
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will look at the 7th trumpet and we will move that much closer to
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the end of the end. Let's pray.
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Oh Lord, your word is wonderful. How even in a text like this
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that is often cited as a platform of debate, has become
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our nourishment. We received instruction from it,
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and we glorify you for that. We thank you, Lord, that this
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has provided some clarity in our understanding of the last days,
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but we're, Lord, even more thankful that you were able to
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make it so relatable to us because Your word is designed to
50:23
do so. So speak to our hearts, God.
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Speak to our hearts with these words, and maybe they echo in
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our hearts throughout this week. Lord, if anybody is here and
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they don't know you, we pray that you would use even this to
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awaken them to the saving love of Christ and that they would
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not waste a moment. They would bend their knee and
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realizing I was made for God and I was separated from Him, but he
50:55
redeemed me and he built the bridge again and I can know him.
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I pray, Lord, with my brothers and sisters, that that would be
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that would be a testimony for the unbeliever in this place.
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For those of us who know you, Lord, we pray that you would
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sharpen our perception that we would see things the way you do,
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including our own lives. I pray Lord that you would
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energize each of us in our service to You because that's
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where life is, worshipping you and serving you.
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Before we meet you, we glorify you and we sing Your praises.
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Now in Jesus name we pray. Amen.