Revelation chapter 11. This is why I had lots of boys. They're my retirement plan. I'm gonna raise them up to give me 10% of their income and I'll be set for my life, you know? And how are you supposed to do it? Revelation, you boys listen, this is good. This is good theology right here. 10% to the church, 10% to daddy. And you probably ought to give your mama something. She birthed you, so. Anyways, I'm getting off topic. Revelation chapter 11, we'll read one verse and then we'll jump right into the message this morning. The first verse, Revelation 11, one, the Bible says, and there was given me a reed likened to a rod and the angel stood saying, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that worship therein. And we looked last week, we began into this message and I got to the first point. The rest of the message will be a lot faster than that first point, but we looked at that ending of the verse there in verse number one, them that worshiped therein, and we asked the question, how do you measure up? Our Father in heaven, Lord, we come to you now in the preaching hour. God, I pray that you give me an unction as I preach. Lord, help us to be able to turn away from all the distractions of life in this next hour. Let us turn our hearts and minds toward heaven and expecting a word from heaven. God, would you speak to us? God, would you help us move in our hearts and cause us to have courage and boldness in these last days? Lord, give us that which you'd have us to have and let us be strengthened by it, Lord, that we might go forth and do the work that you have set before us. We pray that you have preeminence, that you be lifted up. I pray for the children downstairs, Lord God, get ahold of their hearts and let them be drawn to you, Father, that should you tarry, they should raise up a generation who is faithful to God, one that seeks after Almighty God in all their days. We ask these things and pray in our precious Savior, Jesus Christ's name, amen and amen. Last week, we began to look out there in the first several verses, the two witnesses. We saw number one, it was the representatives of the Lord. and who they are, and so we looked at the possibility of who they could be. It was my thought that it's one of three people, or two of three people, either Elijah, I believe it is Elijah, just because of some of the things we read, and I won't recap all that. You can go back and listen to the message to catch it back up on that. But we believe it will be Elijah because he was told in Malachi, the prophet told us that he would come, Elijah would come again and he would come in the day of the Lord. The Bible said, and he shall turn the hearts of the father and children and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. So he said he's going to send Elijah. Then we speculated that the other witness could be Enoch because he did not die and he had a nearness to the Lord. He was close to the Lord and I believe that it could really possibly be him because of that very thing. I think God reserved them for his purpose and because they walked with him. And just to be honest with you, I have a great desire to be like Elijah and Enoch in that I get near to God, so near to God that he is willing to translate me out of here. That's what I'm hoping for, to be quite honest for you. I'm hoping that I'm translated through the rapture, that I don't have to face death, that I'll be a part of that rapture. That's one of those great events, and we see several great events through the Bible, great things that happen. Pretty powerful times for instance when Jesus walked the earth. Can you imagine what it must have been like to see Jesus Christ? With your own eyes what an incredible thing that must have been to behold especially for those who believed before It's a sea of their eyes with their eyes the the Messiah who came the one they've been waiting for all that they had imagined in their mind, and here's his babe born in a manger, he grows up as a carpenter, and then they watch as his creation, all mankind, turns against him, and smites him, and plaits a crown of thorn, and then they see him crucified, but then they see him resurrect, and ascend back into heaven. What a time, what an incredible period it must have been to be alive in the earth in those days. I think about to being alive back in the days before Noah's flood, their creation of course Adam and Eve and then as man began to multiply and God spoke in an audible voice at times and He showed His great power and demonstrated what it must have been like to be the Israelites as they left out of Egypt and to experience God as a pillar of cloud and as a pillar of fire and to see God open up the Red Sea and allow them to walk across on dry land, to experience even in the rebellion that God would feed them manna from heaven and then quail and that their shoes would not wear out. What an experience, what a time it must have been to live in that day and age. But in all those things, you and I live in 2024 and if we're not careful, we'll look at everything going on and think, Man, God, why'd you put me in this time? But can I submit to you today that we perhaps live in the greatest time because we're in the day and the final moment of the grace period, the church age, when he's about to call out his church and everybody who's born again, who's put their faith and trust in Jesus is gonna rise up out of here. Starting with those who are in the ground resting, they'll depart out of this world and then the Bible says, we which remain alive and well, we're gonna be caught up together with them. What a time it will be if we experience the rapture. But in all that said, you and I, regardless of the period that we're in, we've been put in this period to do God's bidding. He draws all men to Him. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that every man should get saved. That's God's will. That's His desire. And He uses you and I to take that message to the world. What a task to be an ambassador for Christ. What an incredible thing that's been given to us. I'm just so grateful that God took me where I was and he's put me where I am. And I hope that I can remain faithful to God and I look to him to keep me strong so that I can serve him a lifelong. I don't want to find myself away from God. I want to experience the blessing of God with every breath I have in this life. And these witnesses arrive on the scene here in Revelation 11, and they've got a message to declare. And we saw, regardless of who it was, whether it's Elijah, whether it's Enoch, whether it's John, it could be possible, we saw that in verse number 10, the last verse there. Whoever it is, they're witnesses for the Lord and for His glory, and they come and pronounce a message, and they deliver a message by their testimony. They speak from first-hand knowledge of who God is. They have spent a great deal of time, regardless of who they are, they've been there for at least 2,000 years, and they've spent all this time in the nearness of God in heaven, and they're sent back as two witnesses to deliver a message that's so powerful that the world hates them. They're tormented, the Bible says. And so we saw these two witnesses And these representatives of the Lord, we saw their power, we saw their position, that they were in Christ and they were delivering a message in boldness. And then we saw that they were prophesying in verse number seven, because they knew Christ intimately and they were sharing their testimony and drawing, as we read there in Malachi, that they're drawing and pointing men back to Christ and showing that he is the one, in fact, in whom they've been searching for. And then we come to our second point here in Revelation chapter number 11. In verse number eight through 13, we find the rebellious against the Lord. We're looking at different types here, and we see there first those representatives of the Lord, but then we find the rebellious against the Lord. The Bible says in verse number eight, and their dead bodies, talking about those two witnesses, their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city. which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. We're talking about Jerusalem. And they of the people, and kindreds, and tongues, and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and a half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves. And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall because of these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth. And after three and a half days, three days and a half, the spirit of life of God entered into them and they stood upon their feet and great fear fell upon them which saw them, and they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, come up thither, and they ascended up into heaven in a cloud, and their enemies beheld them, and that same hour was a great earthquake, and the 10th part of the city fell, and the earthquake was slain men 7,000. The remnant were frightened and gave glory to the God of heaven." We find these rebellious people, those who have heard these two witnesses, they've experienced something miraculous, that's the word I'm looking for, something miraculous from them in the fact that not only were they declaring a message, it was going worldwide, but they would breathe out fire to anybody who tried to consume them. I was meditating on that and just thinking about that. Thinking about here recently, and of course it's been in the news quite a bit in several other ways, but there was an attempt of assassination on our former president. And to think that somebody can stay from afar off and shoot somebody. The Bible says concerning these two witnesses that anybody who attempts to kill them, they will breathe fire out and smote them. They will die. What a powerful display has been put up. And these people who saw that, These people who heard that message, these are the people at the end of verse number 10, the Bible says, were tormented by them because they stopped the rains. There's not a person on earth that will not be touched in some way or fashion by these two witnesses. And yet in all of that, and the miracle and with certainty proclaiming Jesus Christ as Lord and declaring the scriptures to be truth with certainty. They hear all of that and they are rebellious against God. Can I tell you, dear friends, that as we look at Revelation, which is this period of tribulation that takes place, a seven-year period of tribulation in this world, the last seven years in this world before Jesus is gonna rule for a millennium, we see this taking place and all these horrors taking place, but can I say that as we get near to those seven years, we are seeing all these things in a small scale as a warning of what's ahead. We're seeing rebellion against God worldwide. You saw it on display in the Olympics on national television in every country in the world, could at some place in their country, look on television and see an outright blasphemy against the God of heaven. They have turned against God, they're becoming rebellious and the more the preaching is declared and the more that we have avenues like live streaming to declare the word of God, there is more and more rebellion. These are rebellious against the Lord. And I want to remind you and I that as we hear and see all the rebellion against God in our days, be careful to remember that we have, we're just pilgrims here. First Peter says this, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lust, which war against your soul. We must be careful that we are not rebellious against our God, because He's bought our soul. The Bible says that our body and spirit are His, because He's bought us with His blood. If you were born again, you would have been bought by the blood of Jesus. When the Bible says to abstain from flesh and lust which war against your soul, I want you to think that maybe you can write that down, 1 Peter 2.11, go read that verse and underline that and meditate on that this week, which war against the soul. Satan uses our body and he uses the avenues in which we allow things to enter in through our eye gate and our ear gate and he causes that, he causes our body, our flesh to war against our soul. His soul is not his no more. And you know that when we give into sin and we allow our body to desire and crave evil things and things that are against God, then there's this struggle going on. The Bible calls it a war. It's a war against your soul. Hebrews 11 says, speaking of those who have gone before us, and even these two witnesses, it says, these all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims in the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had the opportunity to have returned. But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city." Verse 15 in Hebrews 11, I just read there, says that if they had been mindful of the country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. And so the warning goes out to you and I, the same warning these two witnesses are delivering there. They're saying, listen, if you have turned your attention toward God and you have called upon the name of the Lord and you have been born again and accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, dear friend, be careful not to look back and desire the things that you used to have. Sting from those worldly lusts. Why? Because it causes a war in your soul, and because it draws you away, and because you may return back to them. That's what it said right there in Hebrews 11. If you keep looking at those things in the world, you're going to be drawn away and you'll forget your purpose. And that is to tell everybody about Jesus Christ. So we see this rebellious people against the Lord. And we see in verse number eight, first of all, they're spiritually perverted. Look at verse number eight, if you will. Talking about those rebellious people, the ones that have rejected the two witnesses here in the last days. And I'm going to try to point out, before the end of the message, some doctrine we find here in Revelation 11, some support to doctrine that we have. Verse number eight, the Bible says, and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt. where also the Lord was crucified. Spiritually, they're called Sodom and Egypt. Now, don't think for one second that these rebellious people here are not religious. Don't forget, Satan's ultimate goal is that you and I and Jesus Christ bow down and call him God. He wants to exalt himself. He wants to be God. And don't you think for one second that if you can not bow down to the Lord Jesus Christ here on this earth, that Satan won't try to get you to bow down to him, because that's his ultimate goal. That's what he's doing through all this perversion, all these movies, and all this music, and all this wickedness, and this evil. He is getting you to turn away from God, to be rebellious against God, and to bow down before Him. And we see that they're spiritually perverted. God doesn't waste words. And he puts in words on purpose and for the intent that we might come to understand the warfare that we're in in this world. Do you see those words towards the end? Spiritually it's called Sodom and Egypt. Sodom. They were lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God. They were the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes. It was all about them and their desires. Spiritually speaking, Jerusalem here, these men who were tormented by these two witnesses who rebelled against God and rebelled against the message that was preached to them for this period of time of three and a half years, they rejected it out of rebellion and they were, because they were lovers of their own self, they were lovers of pleasure and they would not have God to rule over them. So the Bible says they were spiritually as Sodom. And we know what happened to Sodom. It was so wicked that God destroyed it and cast down hailstone and brimstone, fire and brimstone upon them and destroyed it. By the way, I love watching these videos. One wonderful thing about these videos like YouTube, is I love watching these videos where archaeologists go and dig up and they have, in Sodom, they find all these sulfur balls, millions and millions and millions of sulfur balls, 99.9% pure. They can see that Sodom happened, there's no disputing it, it happened right where God said it happened. We see that they're spiritually perverted, God calls them spiritually as Sodom, and then he says as Egypt. As Egypt, having a form of godliness is what I'm reminded of when I think of them being as Egypt. Egypt had gods. Oh, they had lots of gods. They had gods of fertility. They had gods of everything you can think of. They worshiped everything but the one true God. The Bible says that these people were rebellious and they would not worship Him, but they had gods in their life. Can I say that if we were to take a step back this morning and look at our nation as a whole, and we were to look at America, we would see a land that is filled with gods, but is denied that there is one God. They no longer trust in God. They put their trust in their own power and they've got gods. They've exalted those gods all around them. They have become spiritually perverted as they are spiritual as Egypt was. The Bible says of Egypt that they had all these gods and they worshiped gods and they had a mind, a form of religious activity. The Bible tells us in the last days they'll have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. And we see a lot of that in churches now. They have the pride of life. There spoken of Sodom and Egypt is all three of the things that brings every man to his spiritual knees of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. So we see they're spiritually perverted. We find in verse 9 and 10 they're socially putrid. The word putrid means a state of decay. depraved, or evil. In verse number 9, in verse number 10, we find that these men are finally killed, the beast overcomes, and the power is given to them, and they leave these people laying in the street for three and a half days. As they're dying there, they leave them there, and then the Bible says in verse number 10 that the people that dwell on the earth, and by the way, that word dwell means house permanently, Remember I just talked about how we're pilgrims passing through, these are the people whose mind is only on this earth. Who have rejected God and they've rejected Him ruling over them, they've rejected the preaching, they don't want it, they want to live in this world and for this world only. And he says, them that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry and shall send gifts one to another. What a terrible, what a terrible mind that these people, here these people are dead, laying in the streets, and they make merry, they have celebrations, they throw parties, it's like Christmas, they send gifts one to another, this is a socially putrid people who are rebellious against God. My dear friends, if you were to turn on the news for any moment of time, what you'll find is our nation is that very way. We are socially decayed, we are socially putrid. The stench from our... They're doing things in the street that we could never imagine. Some of you lived in a day when people respected one another and you've got to be looking at what's going on in this country with disgust. It must bring a feeling of sickness to your belly to see how, just plain, matter of fact, they're desensitizing everything. They no longer say if somebody kills somebody in cold blood murder, they don't call it murder. They say that that person is unalived. Why? Because it desensitizes. It makes it just, oh, it's no big deal. Life is worth nothing. Oh, by the way, that started with abortion. It's been desensitized. Preachers have been preaching it for a long time, but people have been rebellious against hearing the word of God. And so we see here that these rebellious people are spiritually perverted. You say, preacher, what's the point of all this? One, it ought to drive you to tell others about Christ, compel you to tell others about Christ. Number two, it ought to help you to look in a mirror, spiritual mirror, and check yourself. Are you spiritually perverted or are you founded on sound doctrine? Does your social life stink? Is it putrid? Is it kind of rotten? Listen, we're born again. We're no longer The Walking Dead, we're living. There was a show that came out, it was called The Walking Dead, and back then I was a youth pastor when it came out, and I would look at all these television programs and I would make a spiritual application and show the children, and it was mind-blowing. That show was called The Walking Dead. It was, that's what the world is. It's the walking dead. They're all dead until they're born again. And they stunk and they decayed. And when you read what the movie was about and the shows were about, and there was books that you read what they're about, and it talked about they stunk, there was a stench there. And the only way to kill them was through the head. It was a picture of a spiritual thing. but we ought to self-reflect there. Verse 11 through verse 12, we find out that these rebellious people sadly perish. Verse number 11, then after three days and a half, the Spirit of Life of God entered into them. I like what happens here, watch. They stood upon their feet, and great fear fell upon them which saw them. And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. These two get resurrected. By the way, it's the same words that come up hither. It's the same word you find over in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17 concerning the rapture. He's already raptured the church in this period though. He's going to rapture out these two witnesses and they're going to ascend up, the Bible says right there, and they ascended up to heaven in a cloud. Now watch what the word is. It's important we see the words because we want to compare Scripture to Scripture so we understand our doctrine. And it says, "...and their enemies beheld them." I believe when the rapture happens, it's going to be in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye. The Lord, the Bible says the Lord's going to descend with a shout as a trumpet, with a loud voice as a trumpet in the clouds. He's going to ascend with the clouds. The Bible says as He went up, He's going to come again. And I believe, according to scripture that we see here, and as we look at other scriptures concerning the rapture, I think the world is going to hear that trumpet, and I'm talking about the ones that stay here, they're going to hear that trumpet, they're going to see them going up into the sky, and even in that, they're going to rebel against God. They do it here. The Bible says there in verse number 13, in the same hour was a great earthquake, 10th part of the city fell, 7,000 men die and those who remain, this is the turning, this is what the witnesses were there for, 7,000 men in Jerusalem are gonna die and then the rest of them are gonna look to God and glorify God and say, you know what, there's the ascension that was talked about when Jesus was on this earth and he ascended up and he said his like manner, you know what, they're gonna start putting all those pieces together and said Jesus was Christ. And now begins something very terrible, something horrible, something that we can't even imagine. But I want to point out some things to you very quickly. I want you to look at verse number 7 quickly. The first part of verse number 7, the Bible says, And when they shall have finished their testimony, I believe now there's some that teach the doctrine and that the seven year tribulation, some people believe in pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation and post-tribulation. I don't think there's any evidence whatsoever for post-tribulation. I think that I believe in pre-tribulation. It's the stance of this church. We believe in pre-tribulation. There's some that believe in mid-tribulation and you could maybe make a somewhat of an argument there. But I believe this is one of those verses that grounds us and make sure that our doctrine is steadfast for pre-tribulation. It says, and when they had finished their testimony, how long were these two witnesses testifying for? The Bible said there in verse number two, in verse number three, they were there 1,203 score days, three and a half years. And when they finished their testimony, then the Bible says, the rest of verse seven, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them. He rises up out of the bottomless pit. You're going to find out as we study Revelation that he comes out and this beast comes out of the bottomless pit and Satan's going to give him power. He's going to kill these two witnesses. And now from that moment, he breaks his treaty. So at the end of the three and a half years of their testifying, that treaty's broke. In the next three and a half years, there's going to be a pursuit to kill by the beast. And then the next beast, it's going to be for the pursuit to kill all Christian saints and the Jews. They're going to pursue him. Now we see in verse number 18, and the nations were angry. Talking about those rebellious people. And thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged. Stop right there. He's talking about, he says the time of the dead. He's not talking about those who are in hell. He's talking about those who are on the earth who are dead. They're not born again. They're without Jesus Christ. Before Jesus saves us, before we're given life, we are dead. We're dead in trespasses and sin, the Bible tells us. Now I want you to see something here in the second part. This is more doctrine that we get for our doctrine. Watch this, it's talking about the dead, that they should be judged and that thou shouldest give reward. unto thy servants, the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which should destroy the earth. All right? There, the second part of verse number 18, we find that during this tribulation period, there's going to be this, the judgment seat of Christ. There's the marriage supper of the Lamb that takes place, and there's the judgment seat of Christ. The judgment seat of Christ is not being judged for your sins. The judgment seat of Christ is to judge your rewards. Everything is going to be tried by fire. Everything you've ever done, good or bad, the Bible says, is going to be tried by fire. I imagine in my mind a conveyor belt. And on it, the Bible says, gold, silver, wood, hay, stubble. And they're going to pass through the fire. Of course, the gold and the silver are going to be refined down to God's glory. And all the wood, hay, and stubble, the things you did for your own glory and to steal glory from God, and you just did it just because you wanted man to lift you up, those things will burn up. Or if you did it with the wrong attitude, the good and the bad, they'll be burned up and what comes out the other side will be your rewards. That's what it's talking about. And it says that's going to take place while this is taking place. Go back to verse 15. We saw that these witnesses come on the scene for three and a half years. Verse number 15, And the seventh angel sounded, and there was great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever. If you read verse 14, it says, The end of the second woe has happened, here comes the third woe. As we continue to study, you're going to find out that third woe comes in the end of the tribulation period. And so we find the beginning of the tribulation up to the midpoint, Satan is unleashed. Again, Revelation is not in order. And then in this time period, now the beast is unleashed, he kills the two witnesses and now he's going to fully pursue being worshipped by all men and wage war against Christians and Jews and set up himself and commit the abomination of desolations by sitting on the throne there and sacrificing there in the temple. And then we find that end of the tribulation period, all that is mentioned right here in chapter 11. Deals with three important doctrines here in chapter 11. And we find from verse 15 through verse 19, the righteous and the Lord. the righteous in the Lord. I've jumped around for the purpose of time, but I want you to see the end of verse 17, saying, we give thee, these are the four and twenty elders, we give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and which was, and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and I want you to see those last three words, and hast reigned. Here's the significance and the power of the King James Bible when we compare translations. See that word, hast? That word demonstrates for us past, present, and future. It's removed in every translation I looked at. I didn't go through all of them. But every translation I looked at, I saw that word was removed. It removes the fact that He has to reign from the beginning. He is Alpha and He is Omega. He was reigning before this world was created. He's been reigning the whole time. And when it's all said and done, our Lord and Savior is King of kings and Lord of lords. By the way, Satan has stolen the dominion of this world. It was given to man. As a matter of fact, I probably skipped over that. I don't think I mentioned it, but there in the end of verse number... I want to show it to you. Verse number 18. And see there at the end, he's talking about those who are in the judgment seat of Christ. And you get to the end, it says, "...and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Man was given dominion over the earth back in Genesis. And then sin, they gave dominion of the earth over to Satan. Through the foolishness of man, Satan took over and Satan's been the prince of the power of the air ever since. And the Bible talks about, because remember before sin entered, God gave instruction to mankind. This is important for you and I. God gave us instruction. He put man in the garden to tend the garden. We were to take care of things. We were to have dominion over all the animals. We were to care for them and to keep them and to train them and to do things, make them useful for God's glory and for our purpose of survival. Man handed over that dominion, enters in, of course with sin came all the thorns and the thistles and all the beasts and all the animals became violent against one another. By the way, in the last days in this tribulation period, the animals are going to turn, as we've already looked at, against and they'll be devouring people. God's going to punish those who have rejected Him and they're going to stand accountable for destroying the earth. Think about that. See, the reason I bring that up, friends, and I'm at the end of the message, we're concluding. The reason I bring that up is because there's such a disunity in America. You got this one side over here, we'll call them leftists, and we got the people on the right, and they fight, and they just hold on to these ideas. And some of the things that the leftists say, there's some truth to it. You ought to care for the planet. You ought to care for things. Now, they've got the wrong idea on many of the things they're off on. But we're to care for things. We're to care for animals. The Bible teaches that. We're to care for the masters who take care of their animals. And all that to say this, you and I as Christians living in this world, we're pilgrims here passing through. But we are to be righteous and we're to exalt God and we're to worship Him and we're to be a witness to the world as these two witnesses were, even though there's enemies against us, but we had also made sure that we take care of everything that God gives us. And I'm talking about everything. If God's blessed you with a car, if He's blessed you with a home, if He blesses you with any kind of material things, you take care of them to the best of your ability. You don't worship them, you don't exalt them, you don't, I'm not taking that over there because it'll get dirty, no. But we take care of what we have. God shows here that He cares about His earth. This is still His earth. It may be overrun by the sin curse, but it's still His earth and Jesus is coming back. He's going to rule and reign for a thousand years with a rod of iron. I don't know who that was for, but you're welcome. The righteous and the Lord, we see three things and I'll conclude, I'll just give you these three things, you write them down, you meditate on them. Verse 16, we find that they bow, prostrate. Philippians 2.10 tells us that at the name of Jesus every name should bow. Things in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth. The characteristics I'm talking about of these righteous in the Lord, these four and twenty elders, these people who worship God, and these people that are going to receive rewards. One thing we find is common amongst them is they bow before the Lord. Friend, do we bow before the Lord? I'm talking about saved people. We're not careful, we forget we're pilgrims and we forget to bow before the Lord. We find in verse 15 and verse 17 that they boldly proclaim. Every blood-bought Christian ought to boldly proclaim Jesus Christ in their day-to-day walk. And then in verse 18 we find that these righteous in the Lord bring promise. They bring promise of the woe for those who reject. Do you bring warning for those around you? Are you warning the world that they're about to perish? and they'd promise a reward from Christ Jesus. Dear friend, if you're the righteous, if you have been blood-bought by Jesus Christ, then you should be bowing before the Lord. You ought to be boldly proclaiming Jesus. You ought to be warning those who are in sin, both those who are lost, that they need to get saved, and then those who are Christians who are still dabbling in sin. You need to boldly proclaim to them and remind them that they need to walk in the Spirit of God. And then you need to remind others that there is a promise. Because listen, if you're not careful, you'll become weary with well-doing. You'll get tired. This world can drag you down through the everyday, the mundane of work and facing people who don't care about God. It will drag you down. We need to, that's why it's so important to gather in the house of God. We need to constantly be encouraging. Don't forget, you get a reward. There's a promise of a reward. I might just start doing that every time I come visit you or see you or talk to you on the phone. Don't forget, there's a promise of a reward. It will give you enough to press on. Our measure, back to verse 1, here we are, we're done. Verse 1, He was given a reed like unto a rod, and the angel stood, saying, Arise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. How do you and I measure up? Our measure ought to be to Christ, and nothing else. Always within the church, and never without. See the last word of verse number 1? Therein. He goes on to say, verse two, He said, don't measure out the court outside. That's given to the Gentiles. They've polluted it, they've destroyed it. There'll be a time Jesus takes that back over and there'll be everything set to right. He said, don't measure what's on the outside. I want you to measure it from the inside. And you and I come to the house of God to get under the preaching of the Word of God that we might take the Word of God and that we might apply it to our life and let the Holy Spirit of God convict us and point us and direct us and lead us and guide us so that we know how we ought to act and how we ought to serve Him and how He might use us for His glory. But we have to measure with this. Any other way, if you measure compared to your neighbor, to somebody in your family who's spiritual, your measure will be all wrong. But if you'll measure it from the Word of God that comes through the preaching of God. You'll find out that those things are what they ought to be, and you'll find out that your measure is correctly, and you'll hear those words one day, well done, thou good and faithful servant. And so I ask you this morning, Miss Jean, you head to the piano. I ask you this morning, what will you do