Revelations 10, Bible Study 09/07/11

Revelations 10

Synopsis of Bible Study 09/13/11

Delivered by
Bishop Walker III

The stage has been set and the Antichrist, the False Prophet, and the
Devil have been thrown into the lake of fire. The earth has been purified.

 

Revelation 21:1- All Things Made New1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

• We have already dealt with the first 2 sections of Revelation.
  They are these:
• We saw Jesus the Lord
  of the churches. We saw the 7 churches of Asia Minor. Rev 1:13-3:22
• We saw Jesus the lion over
  the nations- Rev 4:1 – 20:15
• Jesus the Lamb among all the believers- Rev 21:1-22:21 (we will see this tonight)
• We are dealing now with
  the 3rd section of the book of
  Revelation. We see prophetic words
  uttered in the Old Testament and
  words spoken of the New Heaven and
  New Earth in the New Testament.
• Isaiah 65:17-19 says ¹⁷For, behold, I create new
  heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come
  into mind. ¹⁸But be ye glad and rejoice for ever in that which
  I create: for, behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a
  joy. ¹⁹And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people: and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying.- Isaiah prophesies about the new heaven and the new
  earth. The Psalmist picks it up in Psalm 102:25-27 says ²⁵Of old hast thou laid the
  foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. ²⁶They
  shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like
  a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be
  changed: ²⁷But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no
  end. talks about the New Heaven and the New Earth as well 2 Peter 3:12-13 which says ¹²Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?  ¹³Nevertheless we, according
  to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth
  righteousness.
• It is important to
  remember something about this new idea or concept of a new Heaven. Remember that in the
  bible it speaks comprehensively about heaven, but it speaks about 3
  heavens as well. They are:
• The earth’s atmosphere.
• Outer space.
• The 3^rd
  heaven –It is what Paul saw in 2 Corinthians when he said in chapter 12
  that he had these visions or revelations and was caught up into the 3^rd
  heaven. It is where we believe God lives in glory. It is that place beyond
  us, but the place where God dwells.
• When scripture (verse
  1) speaks of new heaven – It is talking about a new blue sky, it is talking about the new heaven where God
  dwells. So what we are dealing with now is the way in which you understand
  the earth and the sky.
• For the first heaven and the first earth had passed
  away.- Where
  we are going now, the concept of the
  earth has to be gotten out of your mind, because it won’t be like it
  is now. The whole concept of it will change and everything will become new.
• The Greek word for “new”
  used in this scripture is 2537. kainos kahee-nos’ – which means new in
  character or fresh. It doesn’t mean recent or new in time. It suggests that
  God is doing something fresh or better. God is replacing the old with
  something better, because the first earth had passed away. God is
  replacing the first earth
• Also there was no more sea. – If you look at that, it is in a
  sentence by itself. It seems almost as if it is placed in an odd place.
  Out of all things the scripture could say, why would it say “and also
  there was no more sea?” After all, there was a negative connotation the sea has among the bible and the
  Jewish people. We see this negative connotation throughout the whole bible. In Rev
  13.1 (Revelation
  13:1 says ¹And I stood upon the sand of
  the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and
  ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
  blasphemy.) we find
  out that this is really the source of the Satanic Beast. We also find out
  it is the place of the dead in Rev 20:13 (Revelation 20:13 says ¹³And the sea gave up the dead
  which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in
  them: and they were judged every man according to their works.). If you keep reading through
  the scripture, you will also see that the sea is associated with heathen
  as well. In Isa 57:20 the heathen is associated with the sea (Isaiah 57:20: says ²⁰But the wicked are like the
  troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt.). Psalms
  89:9 associates it with the advisories of God (Psalm 89:9 says ⁹Thou rulest the raging of the
  sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.). In
  other words, the c portion of verse 1 is trying to tell us that there is
  no more strife or negativity left here now. The earth will be purified. All
  the buildings and other things will be gone from the way we see it now and
  it will be replaced with something
  brand new. Something is about to happen!

Revelation 21:2-4 - The New City

2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a
loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and
He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with
them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes;
there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more
pain, for the former things have passed away.

• New Jerusalem, the Holy
  City where God dwells… – The concept of heaven that we grew up with,
  meaning that one day we will all go up to heaven, is not theologically sound. The bible just
  shows us that we won’t have to go up to heaven; it will come down to us.
• The New Jerusalem, the
  Holy City, the place where God dwells is coming down to us from heaven. Jesus
  gives us a glimpse that we can access heaven’s resources on earth right now.
  Even before heaven comes down, we have access to its resources right now.
  How do we prove this? Remember Jesus says, “When you pray, pray though
  kingdom come, thou will be done, on earth as it in heaven. This is not
  talking about heaven as the earth’s atmosphere or outer space. This is
  talking about the 3rd heaven where God lives. God’s will in heaven can come
  down from heaven right into our
  situation right now. There is no lack up there (in heaven). If we can
  pray like this, there wouldn’t be any lack in our life.
• Prepared as a bride
  adorned for her husband – One of the most powerful scriptures in the bible
  is found in the portion of verse 3 where it says … Tabernacle of God is
  with men and he will dwell with them, and they has be His people… – Do
  you understand how powerful this is? Remember in the Old Testament, when
  voice of God came walking into the garden with Adam and Eve. When Jesus
  came, the bible says he would be called Emmanuel which means God with us. This
  means that Jesus was God, but he was not the totality of God. It was all
  of God that we could understand or
  comprehend. When Jesus was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, do you
  think he was talking to himself? No, he was talking to his father on the
  cross, not himself. After the Holy Ghost comes, God dwells in us. Now we
  see that all of God is coming down and dwelling with us. God is going to
  come down and dwell with his people and wipe every tear from their eyes.
  There won’t be any reason to cry, because he will remove everything that
  causes tears and pain.

 

Revelation 21:5 says 5
Then He who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And He said
to me, Write, for these words are true and faithful.

• Paul said on this side
  of glory, we have the opportunity in our salvation to make things new. In 2 Corinthians 5:17 it says ¹⁷Therefore if any man be in
  Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
  things are become new. – Paul is explaining how thing can become new
  even on this side of glory. Ex-
  We have and old car that is totaled out. We purchase a new car and drive it
  off the lot, but a rock cracks our window on our new car as we drive down
  the road. Likewise, this is how salvation works. Our life was totaled and
  God gave us a new life and we become brand new. We go to drive through
  life and all of a sudden, somebody else has caused us to get cracks in our newness. We are still
  new, but we have an issue. In the new heaven, everything becomes new. WE
  do not revert to any old ways or old
  habits. We are brand new.

Revelation 21:6-8 says 6 And He said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the
Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of
life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things,
and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,
abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars
shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is
the second death.

• It is done! – This is
  eternal purpose of Jesus Christ now accomplished. According to Ephesians 1::10
  God’s work is accomplished right here (Ephesians
  1:10 says ¹⁰That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he
  might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in
  heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:) . Jesus said it was finished on the cross,
  which means he had conquered sin and taken death back away from the enemy,
  and give us the opportunity to have eternal life. It is done means that
  everything that he came, died, and rose for had been accomplished. Now you and I have a right to the tree
  of life, because it has been accomplished.
• I will give a fountain
  of the water of life freely to him who thirsts…- Everything that we need
  we have it in God and in his realtionship. He told us on earth, if we
  drink of thim, we would never thirst again.
• The revelation of this-
  Out of hunger, you will eat out of the garbage out of desperation, just to
  survive. In other words, we lower
  our standards. We likewise can become so desperate in relationships or
  our finances that we will lower our standards and eat out of the garbage
  can and pick relationships that we wouldn’t ordinarily be in or we will do
  immoral or illegal stuff to try and get out of our financial dilemma.
• He who overcomes
  inherits all things… – This reserved for the over-comers. If you keep representing
  God, while going through, God won’t forget about you.
• Verse 8- People put
  this hierarchy of sin in place. What they trying to do this to soften the
  blow of their own situation. If you look at this list, equated with all
  bad things is liars. All of us have told lies and some people lie to cover
  up that lie.
• Some people volunteer a
  lie. They weren’t even asked anything and just voluntarily told a lie.

Revelation 21:9-14 says – The New Jerusalem

9 Then one of the seven angels who
had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked
with me, saying, Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife. 10 And he
carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of
heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious
stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. 12 Also she had a great and high
wall with twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates, and names written on
them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13 three gates on the east, three gates on
the north, three gates on the south, and three gates on the west.14 Now the
wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the
twelve apostles of the Lamb.

 

• The 12 tribes of Israel meant God would never forget the 12 tribes
  of Israel.
• 3 gates in the East,
  West, the North, and the South – This arrangement goes back to the days of
  Exodus and Jude. In Numbers 2, you will see how they laid the camps out
  with 3 gates on every side.
• The Wall- It had 12
  foundations and on them were the names of 12 apostles. According to Eph
  2:10, New and Jerusalem and the church is founded upon the apostles (Ephesians 2:10 says
• ¹⁰For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
  unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
  them.).

.

Revelations 21: 15-17 -The dimensions of the new
city

15 And he who talked with me had a
gold reed to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. 16 The city is laid out
as a square; its length is as great as its breadth. And he measured the city
with the reed: twelve thousand furlongs. Its length, breadth, and height are
equal. 17 Then he measured its wall: one hundred and forty-four cubits,
according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18 The construction of
its wall was of jasper; and the city was
pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were
adorned with all kinds of precious stones: the first foundation was jasper, the
second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth
sardonyx, the sixth sardius, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the
ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth
amethyst. 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls: each individual gate was of
one pearl. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

• This is the same
  distance from Main to Florida is the length of this city.
• The square footage
  would approximate size of the moon.
• Henry Morris guessed in
  his studies that there would be one hundred
  billion people in the whole
  human race at the time of then end and he estimates that only about 20% of them would be saved. He
  calculates that each person would have a block with about 75 acres on each
  space for us to call our own. Imagine that, we could get 75 acres
  according to his estimation. Now talk about a mansion… If you hating on
  where I live now, you really going to be tripping in heaven.
• Verse 18-21- You think
  you’re impressing God, because you are a baller and because you have
  diamonds and gold in your ear and on your hands and to think,

  God is using these stones that we hold up so valuable, as his sidewalks.

Revelation 21:22-24 – The Glory of the New Jerusalem

22 But I saw no temple in it, for
the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city had no need of
the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The
Lamb is its light. 24 And the nations of those who are saved shall walk in its
light, and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honor into it. 25 Its
gates shall not be shut at all by day (there shall be no night there). 26 And
they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it. 27 But there
shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a
lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

• Bishop Walker will be
  unemployed in heaven. There wil be no need in heaven for his sermons,
  because there will be no temple.
  The Lamb is the temple. John who wrote the gospel of John opened up by
  saying in the beginning was the word and word was with God and the word
  was God.
• If the Lamb is there
  and the word is in the middle, why then would you need to stoop down and
  hear Bishop Walker or any other Pastor, when you got the Word right there
  in the middle.
• The lamb lights the
  city- Remember in Genesis when God made the world. Darkeness was on the face
  of the earth and God said let there be light. After saying that, several verses
  later, he said lets divide the day from the night. This says that the
  light was in the world before the sun. The sun didn’t bring the light. The Son brought the light. This is why the bible said that men sat
  in darkness and light was sprung up. Jesus is the light of the world. No
  matter how dark my situation, if Jesus is in the situation, we have light.
• We see access to the
  city in verse 24- There is no night there. It is all day and all day.
• What would heaven look
  like on the inside? The next chapter tells us.

Revelation 22:1-5 – The River of Life

1 And he showed me a pure river of
water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the
Lamb. 2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the
tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every
month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there
shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it,
and His servants shall serve Him. 4 They shall see His face, and His name shall
be on their foreheads. 5 There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor
light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign
forever and ever.

• This is a tree of life
  on either side. In gen 3:22-24, the tree of life that man was not supposed
  to bother, was one of these trees. The
• These trees represent
  the restoration of all things.
• Each tree yielded fruit
  every month. Some people ask if we will eat when we get to heaven in our
  transformed bodies. Well read luke 24:41-43 you will find out (Luke 24:41-43:   ⁴¹And
  while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them,
  “Have ye here any meat?”⁴²And they gave Him a piece
  of a broiled fish and of a honeycomb. ⁴³And He took it and ate
  before them. ). Also in John 21:12-14 where it says¹²Jesus said unto them,
  “Come and dine.” And none of the disciples dared ask Him,
  “Who art Thou?” knowing that it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus
  then came and took bread and gave it to them, and fish likewise. ¹⁴This
  is now the third time that Jesus showed Himself to His disciples after He
  was risen from the dead. – Jesus enjoyed fruit after his resurrection. Gen
  18:6-8 the angels ate with Abraham (Genesis 18:6-8:⁶And
  Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, “Make ready
  quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the
  hearth.” ⁷And Abraham ran unto the herd and fetched a
  calf, tender and good, and gave it unto a young man, and he hastened to
  dress it.⁸And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had
  dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and
  they ate.). In Rev 19:9, there was a great reunion between Jesus
  and his people. It was the Marriage
  supper of the Lamb. Some will eat and others will be eaten.
• The tree represents the
  healing of the nation. The Greek word means help giving. This word therapeania,
  meaning help giving, is where we get the English word therapeutic. The trees
  in heaven are help giving. The environment in heaven is that of pure help.

 

• Why is this
  significant? Because there is no disease in heaven. There is nothing there
  that can cause disease, therofore there is no disease, but healing there.
• We always talk about
  what we can talk about bringing out of heaven like Kingdom authority or
  finances into our situation. One the thing you can get now, is kingdom health.
  You can have all the money in the world, but if you are not healthy enough
  to enjoy it, you can’t benefit from it. God wants you to be in good health
  as your soul prospers.

 

• Verses 4-5-There will
  be no more curse. Remember the curse that came in Genesis 3, when the
  curse came in when man sinned, it bought labor pains, cramps, friction
  between sexes, and man had to work hard all because of a little peace that
  Adam and Eve couldn’t say no to..

 

• In the end, the curse
  is done away with. Heaven is not a place of leiseure, it wil be a place where
  we will serve God. We will get to see him face to face. Moses was denied
  the privilege in
• Exodus 33 of seeing God
  face to face. The bible says we will see him face to face.
• We will see him in our
  risen bodies. Paul says in 1 Cor 13:12-It is an amazing story. You will
  know what God looks like, but God is spirit. You never in your flesh have
  seen a spirit. Flesh can’t see sprit.
• Jesus was a human manifestation
  of God. God wrapped himself into flesh which was all that we could
  comprehend. When God made Adam, he made him from the dust. God took his
  breathe and blew into Adam. It was God’s spirit blown into Adam. Adam was
  an earthly vessel, not alive. When God blew the breath into him, Adam came
  to life. When you die, God takes it back and your body goes back to where
  you came from. You are not what you see i the mirror. You have never seen
  you. The living part of you is your spirit. This is why when you connect
  with soembody; they have to connect with your spirit. They might be a 6
  ounce coke bottle today and a 2 liter tomorrow, but if they like you, they
  will stay. No matter how fine or handsome you think you are, there is somebody
  always done the street a little bit more fine and handsome than you.
• We can’t see God in our
  flesh. When we get to heaven we will see him face to face. Not only will
  we see him, but we will see ourselves for the first time. Some people got
  these songs that say when I get to heaven, I am going to tell how you
  treated me…Another is when we get to heaven, I am going to talk to Job,
  Paul, Peter is used in sermons, but we just got to tell you, Bishop Walker
  says all he is trying to do when he gets to heaven is see God face to
  face.
• We will have his name
  in our four heads and reign with him forever.
• No more curse- It represents
  perfect restoration.
• The throne in the midst
  of city- It represents perfect administration
• Servant that shall
  serve him-Represent perfect subordination.

 

• We will see him face to
  face – Represents perfect transformation.
• The names on our
  foreheads- Represent perfect identification.
• God lights up the
  city-Represents perfect illumination.
• Reigning forever and
  ever- Represent perfect exaltation.

Revelation 22: 6-7 – The Time Is Near

6 Then he said to me, These words
are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to
show His servants the things which must shortly take place.7 Behold, I am coming
quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. 8 Now
I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to
worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.9 Then he said
to me, See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your
brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship
God. 10 And he said to me, Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book,
for the time is at hand. 11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who
is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous
still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.

• Quickly means suddenly
  here.

• Verse 11- After hearing
  this book of Revelation and you have been taught it. After knowing  all these things that are happening in
  the earth today, every now and then, we think God is reminding us that he
  ain’t playing. If this doesn’t change you after learning 10 weeks of
  Revelation, nothing will change you.
• He is coming quickly,
  suddenly. There will no fore warning or nothing that will indicate that he
  is coming.

Revelation 22:12

Jesus Testifies to the Churches

12 And behold, I am coming quickly,
and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. 13 I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.14
Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the
tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are
dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and
whoever loves and practices a lie.16 I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to
you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the
Bright and Morning Star.17 And the Spirit and the bride say, Come! And let him
who hears say, Come! And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him
take the water of life freely.

• His reward is coming
  with him. He started it and he will end it and he will still be after all has ended. And he
  will still exists God said he is on both sides. He was before the
  beginning began and he will be after the end ends.
• What are we trying to
  say? God says that he wants us to follow these commandments, because you
  have the right to the tree of life and you can enter into the city,
  because outside the city there are dogs, sorcerer, and all types of
  immoral people. Jesus said he sent his angels to testify that he is of the
  off spring of David, he who the prophets spoke of, and he who is coming
  back. He says I am not a figment of your imagination. I was Isaiah 55:1 says ¹“Ho, every one that
  thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy,
  and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.

Revelation 22:18- 21 – A Warning

18 For I
testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone
adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this
book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are
written in this book.

- I Am Coming Quickly –

20 He who
testifies to these things says, Surely I am coming quickly. Amen. Even so,
come, Lord Jesus! 21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

• Verse 19-Don’t add or take away from this word

• Verse 20-21- Says he is
  coming as sure as we hear and alive. May the grace of God rest on you so
  that you can get right before he comes. When he comes, it ill b e Amen. We
  thank God that we are ready and sealed by his Holy Spirit and covered in
  the blood. We thank God that when he comes back, we don’t have to worry,
  because we know we are saved. We ought to pause and thank God that we are
  saved. We hadn’t done all that is right, but we thank God for being saved.

Revelations 9, Bible Study 08/31/11

Revelation 9

Synopsis of Bible Study 08/31/11

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Last week we talked about the Fall of Babylon which dealt with a world system that diluted the word of God and caused religious people to conform to the world, rather than being transformed by the renewing of their minds. This is significant, because this world system was so influential over Religious Babylon, it literally influenced them to go ways that God never intended.   Commercial Babylon represented this whole consumption of vanity. There were so many people caught up, trying to misappropriate the gifts of God, rather than being good stewards over the blessing of the Lord. They used them for their own personal gain and really x’ed God out of the equation.   Tonight we see that in heaven the response in heaven was different than the earths. On the earth, the world mourned or grieved when Babylon fell, but in heaven, the bible says there was great rejoiciing. This is where we will start today.   Chapter 19 Revelation 19:1-5 – Heaven Exults over Babylon1 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! 2 For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her. 3 Again they said, Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever! 4 And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, Amen! Alleluia! 5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying, Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!

• We see the great multitude, the 4 creatures and the 24 Elders who are at the Throne of God saying Alleluia. This appears 4 times in Revelations 19. It is important to note, however, this is found nowhere else in the New Testament. In Hebrew, Alleluia means praise the Lord.
• They are saying Alleluia, because God’s judgments are righteous. In other words, how God judges the earth and how he judges Babylon is right. Always remember that even though God’s judgments may seem harsh to us, they are literally always right.
• The bible also said that he judged the harlot and avenged the blood of the servants that were shed by her.

Revelation 19:6-9 says 6 And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns! 7 Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. 8 And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.9 Then he said to me, Write: Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb! And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God.

• This is not the first time we heard the thunder, lightning, and water representing the voice of God. What is interesting is that the worship going on at the throne was not some half-hearted worship. It was given all the way. When we think of the omnipotence of God and how awesome he is, our reaction should be that of exuberance. There should never be any doubt; people should recognize who God is through our response. If we are hesitant to reverence God or we are timid about reverencing him, it suggests that we don’t have a clear understanding of how awesome God is.
• When you are clear on who God is, it happens organically. It is not forced or coerced by someone else. You just automatically say Alleluia.
• Some people have problems saying Alleluia here on earth. If you have problem on hearth, you going to be out of place in heaven!
• The marriage of the Lamb
  • Remember the Lamb is Christ who was slain. The bride of the lamb is the church.
  • Prophetic References to this are:  Hosea 2:19-20 which says ¹⁹And I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies.²⁰I will even betroth thee unto Me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the LORD., Isaiah 54:5 which says⁵For thy Maker is thine husband” the LORD of hosts is His name” and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; the God of the whole earth shall He be called., and Ezekiel 16.
  • Verse 7 says … and His wife has made herself ready – The wife represents the church meaning Ecclesia or community of faith. Here we are not talking about a denomination or building. We are talking about people or a community of faith who obey God and who are God’s children.
  • Some people would love for you to believe that their church is the only one that’s going to marry Christ, but the devil s a liar.
  • Look at how the church or bride has made themselves ready for the coming of the Lord. Ephesians 5:25-27 says²⁵Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for it, ²⁶that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the Word, ²⁷that He might present it to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.
  • The washing of water by the word…- This suggests that the church in and of itself is you and I, but it is important to note that we have never seen a virgin or pure church, you and I are in it. If you find one don’t join it, because you will mess it up (you will cause it not to be perfect). God has no perfect churches, because there are no perfect people.
  • How does imperfection become worthy of this marriage? It is through the redemptive act of Jesus Christ at Calvary. Through this act, we were made righteous. At the point we accepted Christ, everything you did prior to that was washed away. As a result, regardless to what people remember and know about me or you, doesn’t matter. All people can do is remind us of what we used to do. They have no idea about your redeemed life. This is why we can’t come to church and be quiet. The bible says let the redeemed of the Lord, say so.
  • The comparison to the wife and the church in parallel is interesting. The bible says in verse 8; … fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. – She (the church) is viewed as clean and righteous, because she is wearing white linen. When a wedding happens and a bride puts on a white dress or wedding gown and we presume she is pure, innocent, and a virgin. We have had some brides that should have been in dark gray. The point is, at that moment you are made righteous, because of what happened before then doesn’t matter, because you are coming into a covenant brand new. It is the word of God that washes us every day.
  • When you are part of a word church, you have envy, strife, hatred, and etc… You come to church saying that you just refuse to like this person today, but the word of God washes it away and positions you to be a prepared bride of Christ when he returns. This means a lot of you is leaving and more of his word is coming inside of you.

Revelation 19:10 – 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

• John said the only thing he could do is fall to the angel’s feet and worship, but the angel told him to worship God. Anything that is created is not worthy of worship. The only thing that was not created is the creator, God. The creator made the creation to give worship to the creator. Don’t let yourself even be worshiped.

Revelation 19:11-16-Christ on a White Horse 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 12 His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. 13 He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

• This is an amazing scene of Christ coming on a white horse. Isaiah 1000 yrs earlier pleaded with God for this day to come. Isaiah 64:1-2 says ¹Oh, that Thou wouldest rend the heavens, that Thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at Thy presence–²as when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil– to make Thy name known to Thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Thy presence!
• In biblical times, soldiers were foot soldiers, so if you had a horse, you had an advantage. So this horse spoke of power, honor, and speed. The color of this horse spoke of victory.
• The bible says faithful and true- In other words; he is a keeper of his promises. Verse 11 also says … in righteousness, he judges and makes war. His eyes were like flames of fire… – When he starts this war, his eyes were like flames of fire, which means there is nothing he does not see. He is aware of all things at all time. Every thought, contemplation, or event that we participated in, God saw it.
• On his head crowns:- There is a Greek word, Stephano, which stands for crown of achievements. We are not talking about this one. We are talking about diadems which represent crown of royalty and authority.
• Clothed with rob dipped in blood- This represents Calvary. Jesus also has an army from heaven behind him.
  • Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword- Paul says the sword of the spirit is the word of God. The word of God is like a two edged sword. There are many references for this. Why is this important? It is because God conquers with the word. Throughout scripture, repeatedly we are told by God that we conquer by the word. In John 15, it says ⁵“I am the vine, ye are the branches… ⁷If ye abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
  • Rule with the rod of iron – This is a reference to Psalms 2 where it explains how God rules with a rod of iron.
  • His name is on his thigh-Written on his thigh is King of king and Lord of lords. His name is on his thigh representing prominence, because as he sits on the horse, it is visibly seen that he is King of kings and Lord of lords.
  • He is called the word of God- Why is this interesting? John wrote Revelations and the gospel of John. John is not one of what we call the synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke). Synoptic means to see together. Mathew, Mark, and Luke start by saying Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary in the Bethlehem. When you get to John, he saw it different. He starts out by saying in the beginning was the word and the word was with God, the word was God, and the word became flesh. He called Christ the word of God.
  • He had a name that no one knew but himself- God can never be comprehended perfectly by man. No matter how much knowledge or theology you attain, you will never totally comprehend God. There comes a point that everyone has to say, “I just don’t know.” Sometimes you have to say you just don’t know. Ex- You might not know why one person dies in an accident and the other lives.
  • Some people think that the secret name was yhwh: yahweh-secret name of God

Revelation 19:17-19 – The Beast and His Armies Defeated 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, 18 that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.

• A voice comes down and says to the birds that they can now eat of the flesh of them-What is this about? This is the preparation for the great slaughter of Armageddon.
• Flesh is repeated 5 times. Those who walk in carnality and in the flesh must now die by giving up the flesh. Because they lived in the flesh, the birds come to eat up their flesh.
• When birds were dropping were falling out of the sky a few years back, many wondered was this a sign that Revelations had begun. The answer is no. These birds will not die. The scripture says these birds came to eat the flesh. If you see this happening and you are still here, may God bless you.
• Four different suppers:
  • The supper of salvation – This was a supper that invited us to come into relationship with Jesus Christ. Luke 14:16-24 says ¹⁶Then Jesus said unto him, “A certain man made a great supper and bade many. ¹⁷And he sent his servant at suppertime to say to them that were bidden, `Come, for all things are now ready.’<sup>18</sup>And they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said unto him, `I have bought a piece of ground, and I need to go and see it. I pray thee have me excused.’¹⁹And another said, `I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to test them. I pray thee have me excused.’<sup>20</sup>And another said, `I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’²¹So that servant came and showed his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, `Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and the maimed and the halt and the blind.’<sup>22</sup>And the servant said, `Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.’²³And the lord said unto the servant, `Go out into the highways and hedges and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. ²⁴For I say unto you that none of those men who were bidden shall taste of my supper.’”
  • The Lords supper – Commemorates the Lord’s crucifixion.
  • The marriage supper of the Lamb-This is the marriage supper between church and the Lamb.
  • The supper of the great God- This is when the birds are called to eat the flesh of the kings and the men of the earth.
  • If you reject the first supper (a relationship with Jesus Christ), the second supper will mean nothing to you (communion), then you will not be present during the 3^rd supper (when the church is married to the Lamb), but you will be present at the 4^th supper (when the birds come and eat up your flesh).
  • Everyone gets to attend at least one of these suppers. Some will come to eat and others will be eaten.

Revelation 19:19-2119 And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. 20 Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

• The armies gather together to make war against him that sit on the throne. Imagine seeing the King of kings coming on a white horse with diadems on his head. He is saying, “I have a name that no one knows except myself, Lord of lords and Kings of kings is written on my thigh, and I come with a sword (the word of God in my mouth). I come as the reigning king of glory and the kings of the world want to war against this?” We call this the incurable insanity of sin. They try to make war against this.
• The battle of Armageddon is really laughter of God against the climax of man’s arrogance, because the Beast (the Antichrist) was captured. The false prophet was as well and they both were cast alive into the lake of fire.
• The Antichrist and False Prophet is in the lake of fire.
• Now Babylon has fallen, the Antichrist and False Prophet has been cast into the lake of fire. Birds have also eaten the flesh of the kings of the earth.

Chapter 20 Revelation 20:1- Satan Bound 1000 Years 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand.

• Have this anonymous angel that comes down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a chain.
• It is not Jesus, or Michael, Gabriel, or any other high ranking angel. This angel is a low ranking angel for a reason. After all the power that the devil claimed to have, when God got ready to chain him up, he sent one of his lowest angels to chain him up.

Revelations 20:2-32 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

• Satan was bound up with the chains for 1000 yrs.
• Some want to know what kind of chain was this that could bind Satan for 1000 years. – We do know chains were used to bind spirits. Jude 1:6 says⁶And the angels who kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, He hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great Day—
• Satan is put into chains and put into the bottomless pit which was sealed for 1000 yrs. Remember the only power the devil had was deception. If you think about anything that has every hurt you, it can be traced back to some sort of deception. This is why 1 Peter 5:8 says ⁸Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walketh about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
• The devil was into the bottomless pit for about 1000 years and then he was released. This is what we call the millennium. There is no more deception on the earth during this time. It is a literal 1000 yrs.

Revelation 20:4-6 -The Saints Reign with Christ 1000 Years 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

• Those who have been beheaded were those that have gone through or martyred. Everything you go through sets up for you to reign with Him.
• Verse 5 says this is the first resurrection. The rest of the dead did not live again, until the 1000yrs was finished.
• By this time, everyone was dead, but there were some that were dead, but yet still alive.
• Verse 6 says this is the resurrection of blessing. It is resurrection of power and privilege. We become priest of God.
• This is:
  • A resurrection blessing.
  • A resurrection of power- The second death has no power over us.
  • A resurrection of privilege- It is because we become priest of God.
  • John 5:28-29 says ²⁸Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in which all that are in the graves shall hear His voice ²⁹and shall come forth — they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.- When you die and are saved, you rest. You have consciousness of peace. When you die with no relationship, you instantly know you are in hell. Ex- Jesus gives a parable of a rich man and poor man. The rich man opened his eyes and instantly realized he was in hell. He saw the poor man in the bosom of Abraham. This is representative of resting in Christ. The rich man asked if the poor man could dip his finger in water and put it on his tongue, because it was so hot where he was. This man (the rich man) was talking which indicates that he had awareness. There is awareness that when you die out of the Lord, you know you are in hell. There is also awareness when you die in the Lord as well. It is different though. It is an awareness of peace. Ex- Bishop explains that he has had some real good sleep before as he was coming out of anesthesia. This was some of the best sleep Bishop has ever had. Imagine that best sleep times a trillion. We really would like to tell you what this rest is really about, but none of us have ever died and come back to tell what it was like. We can however tell you people that have had near death experiences all have had the same testimony. All those who knew the Lord and died, but was revived all say they experienced an incredible peace during this time they really died.

Revelation 20 7-8 -7-Satanic Rebellion Crushed Now when the thousand years have expired, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, whose number is as the sand of the sea.

• The bible says Satan will be released after 1000 yrs. He will go out to deceive the nation in the four corners of the earth.
• Gog and Magog is a reference to the prophetic enemies of Israel coming from Ezekiel 38:2-3 which says ²“Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him ³and say, `Thus saith the Lord GOD: Behold, I am against thee, O Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
• We are reigning and Satan comes back after 1000 yrs thinking he is going to mess with us like he used to.

Revelations 20:9-109 They went up on the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of the saints and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. 10 The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

• Where is the Devil? He is in the lake of fire along with the antichrist and the false prophet. They are tormented day and night forever and ever.
• The antichrist, the false prophet, and the devil are now in the lake of fire.
• Hell is a different place than the lake of fire. Hell is where those who die and are not saved go. Now the devil himself is cast into the lake of fire.
• Think about your great test struggle in your flesh. That thing that stands between you and who we supposed be in God. Now say to yourself, “Lake of fire, torment day and night, forever and ever. “ This ought to make you have a different perspective on the things you struggle with. Maybe you ought to put this in your phone under some of your contacts. This way you will see this saying when they call.
• This is a rap for the devil. The devil as we have known him is gone from this point on. The devil came to the earth in gen 3- reve 20 he is done.

The devil has let some residue we got to deal with: Revelation 20:11-13 – The Great White Throne Judgment 11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. 13 The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works.

• The great throne represents status and power
• White means pureness and wholeness.
• Throne means kingly sovereignty.
• Who is this on the throne to judge? John 5:22 says ²²For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son, – Our churches have gotten so soft and perverted, we have gotten intimidated to tell people what God said, out of fear that people will look at us and say, “you can’t judge me!” You are not judging them, because you choose to tell the truth.
• John says in the previous verse that the Father doesn’t judge, but who does? John says the Son. John says that the one that rides the horse is called the word of God. This means it is not us judging people. It is the Word judging. Ex-If you drive 100 mph, it is not the officer that is judging you, it is the Law. Plead you case, but know the judge won’t judge you. It will be the law judging you. This is why some people don’t want to hear the word. They know it will call them into greater accountability.
• Lots of people reject the word, because they know the word will hold them accountable.
• The scripture says…committed all judgment unto son… You are not judging them when you tell them to truth. The one riding the horse is called the word of God. It is not me judging you; it is the word of God.
• All of us has to go before the judgment. 2 Corinthians 5:10 says ¹⁰For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or bad.
• Standing before the judgment scene
• This is not a trial, it is a judgment. The dead has already been condemned. This is the punishment phase.

Revelation 20:14-1514 Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.

• Death is a byproduct of the Devil. It comes in the world in Genesis 3. The moment Adam and Eve ate of the fruit, death came in.
• The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Jesus said he came that we may have life and have it more abundantly.
• Death itself, which is a product of sin, is cast into the lake fire. The Devil caused us to make bad choices and those choices caused us to sin. Since the devil is gone, God says he needs death gone too.
• What about Hades? This is the place where the dead was, that didn’t know God. They knew they were at this place also called hell. Hades was cast also into the lake of fire.
• Hades is literally hell. Sheol, the Hebrew word for hell, was called the place of the dead. It is called the world beyond Sheol in the Greek. Imagine hell being cast into the lake of fire. Imagine living down here and having the choice born once of mother, die a natural death, end up right in hell, die again, and end up in lake of fire. Of course you can make the other choice; born of your mother, born again in Christ, and die only once. This is just moving from life to life. Can you imagine being in hell down here, and then turning around and dying again just to end up in the lake of fire? That’s just too much hell.
• The earth is being prepared. There is no more deception. Satan is in lake of fire along with Antichrist, the False Prophet, and those who followed them and refused to give their lives to God end up in the lake of fire. There are those reigning on the earth and the stage is being set for the final act. This is why God had to get sin, death, and devil out.

Behold I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. When the corruptible shall put on incorruption and the mortal shall put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh death where is though sting? Grave where is thou victory? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through Jesus Christ our Lord. Therefore, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in work of Lord, because you labor is not in vain. Every tear you cried and all the stuff you dealt with and every time you turned the other check, God said it will be worth it when we get to the final act. Tell your neighbor it’s going to pay off. For everything you had to endure and all the times you kept trusting God and loving folk that didn’t like you, God says it will pay off.