We'll turn to Revelation Chapter 11. There's going to be a lot of Scripture tonight. This is a Bible study. There's going to be a lot of Scripture. Revelation Chapter 11. Isaac, can you open us up in prayer please? Amen. All right, Revelation 11, 14, the Bible says, And the second woe is past, and behold, the third woe cometh quickly. And then 15 is we're going to spend a lot of the service here today. In verse 15, it says, And the seventh angel sounded. And there were great voices in heaven saying the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. Now as I've shown you in the book of Revelation, you'll see that the tribulation begins and ends four times and here we are. coming to the second account of the ending of the tribulation. So we've already seen it end once, and then the Lord tells it from a different perspective, and we're coming to the end, and you'll see once again that number 7 shows up, there's your number of completion. And so it's the 7th trumpet sounding, and it's showing that the Lord is coming back, just like that happened just a few chapters ago, you saw the Lord coming back, and the 7th was at the vial, I believe. And so now you've got the seventh trumpet and you have a great verse. Arguably one of the most important verses in the Bible as far as understanding doctrine. When we started teaching through the beginning of the book of Revelation, I talked about we're pre-millennial. And there's a lot of religions out there that are amillennial. So we believe we are pre-millennial. Millennial is the millennial, the thousand year reign of Christ. And we believe that Jesus Christ comes back pre, before, and then reigns for a thousand years. But most religion teaches either an amillennial, that there's no rain at all, even though I'm gonna show it to you here in a little while, or they believe in a postmillennial, and that is that they're pushing out that we're gonna rule for a thousand years without Christ here, that's the Roman Catholic Church's whole setup, is that the world is getting better and better and better. Anybody paying attention? It's not getting better, it's getting worse, but they, oh, we're gonna make it better and better and better without Jesus here, And then he's going to come back at the end like, wow, good job guys. And we need him to be here. And so that's what you have in verse 15. It says, the kingdoms of this world are become, so that's what, it's future, it hasn't happened yet, it's going to happen. The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and He shall reign forever and ever. Now first I want to draw your attention to the word kingdoms. Plural. So that's USA, and that's New Zealand, and that's all your communist countries, and that's all your Muslim countries, and that's him ruling and reigning kingdoms. And it's important for you to know that every new version, all of them, changes it from kingdoms to kingdom. And they make it just like, just kind of spiritualize it. Well, he's going to have a kingdom. No, no, no, no, no. He's going to take the kingdoms. As remember the Titan says it, this is not a democracy, it's a dictatorship, amen. And he's going to rule and reign. And all of them mess that thing up. Even though, listen to me, the manuscript evidence It all leans towards kingdoms. The vast majority of our manuscripts that have Revelation 11-15, all the Greek manuscripts, almost all of them, say kingdoms plural. But for some reason they all switch it. They all mess with it. What is that? It's an underlying spirit trying to take away glory from God and make it look like He ain't coming back. And so they do it again, turn to the book of John and you'll see them do it again. All the new versions do it. And so in John you're going to see him do it again and almost all the new versions do it here. Look at John 18, look at verse 33. Here's Jesus Christ, He's on trial here, standing before Pilate. Or actually this is Him just privately with Pilate here. John 18.33, Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did the others tell it thee of me? Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What hast thou done? Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews. Here we go. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Now. So almost all the new versions take out the word now. And so what the new versions say is my kingdom is not from hence. One day it's going to be. We just read over there that it shall be. The kingdoms of this world are going to become the kingdom, but not right now. But all the modern whatever religions out there, they'll actually say that's what the Roman Catholics, you know what the Roman Catholics teach? Right now. The Pope and the Vatican, they teach that the kingdoms actually right now belong to God. Japan belongs to God right now. Russia belongs to God. America belongs to God right now. No, it doesn't. But that's what they teach and they believe. And so the verse right there, it says it's important. It says, not right now. Now, listen, you know what it says? He says, if it was right now, my servants would fight. What happens when it is his kingdoms? His servants come back and they fight. We'll look at that here in just a little while. And here's another thing. That word now, it's in all the Greek manuscripts. even the ones, even the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus, all the families of manuscripts that are out there have now, but the new version's ripping out. No reason to. Now the Lord doesn't rule this world right now. This is important what I'm about to say. God is in charge of who's in charge. He allows it, but He's not ruling and reigning right now. I'll show it to you. Look at Jeremiah chapter 27. This is an important thing. Jeremiah 27 and it's part of the answer, it's not all the answer by the way, but it's part of the answer of why does bad things happen to good people? Why do terrible things happen? It's not the full answer. I don't think we get all that answer until heaven. But part of the answer is that the Lord has allowed someone else to be in charge. Look at Jeremiah chapter 27 verse 4. And command them to say unto their masters, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Thus shall ye say unto your masters, I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are upon the ground, by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet unto me. And now, there's that word again, now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, my servant, and the beast of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him and his son and his son's son until the very time of his land come, and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. You know what it's saying? Do you see what's going on right there? The Lord says, all of it's mine, and I'll give it to whoever it seems right for me to give it. And I picked that wicked devil over there to give it to. He looks at Nebuchadnezzar, one of the greatest types of the Antichrist in the Bible, a wicked, wicked devil of a man, killing Jews, hates the Jews, takes him into captivity. He treats himself like a god, makes an image of himself. You better worship that or I'll kill you. The Lord says, yeah, him, that's the one I want. look at Daniel. What that really has to do with, folks, is that he's actually giving it to the devil himself. Because Nebuchadnezzar is a type of antichrist. Who do you think is in Nebuchadnezzar pushing and pulling? Who do you think is in Hitler whenever he's in charge? Who do you think is in Napoleon when he's wrecking Europe? Who do you think is in there? It's the devil. But the Lord's allowing it. Look at Daniel. I started talking and turned to Psalms. Hold on. Daniel chapter 2. Actually, chapter 4. Daniel 4.17. I didn't write this one down. I've been trying to remember where it was. Daniel 4.17. This matter is by the decree of the watchers and the demand by the word of the holy ones to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men and giveth it to whomsoever he will and setteth up over it the basest of men. That's what he does. The Lord, he says, well I'm in charge, but he's in charge over who's in charge. And then he says, go ahead and run it. Look at Luke chapter 4. Luke chapter 4. I know I'm going to places you know well, but I just kind of want to show you this thing of why the world is in the wreck that it's in. Luke 4 verse 5, And the devil, taking him up into a high mountain, showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them. For that is delivered unto me, and to whomsoever I will, I give it. So when Hitler gets in charge, that's the devil handing it out. When Nero's in charge and he's butchering Christians, the devil gave it to him. That's how that goes. And when Trump gets in, the devil gave it to him. When Biden got in, the devil gave it to him. That's exactly how it goes. Verse 7, If thou therefore would worship me, all shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. He could have said, you know you have it because I gave it to you, right? Look at Romans chapter 13. Of course, he's quoting scripture. I know he did it right, but he could have said that. Look at Romans 13. What a prideful thing for the devil to do, by the way. That's like a manager of a Walmart taking the CEO of Walmart and being like, I could give you all of Walmart. And he's like, I own all the Walmarts. What are you talking about? Romans 13, 1. Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers that be are ordained of God. and he allows it. That's a wild thought that when Saddam Hussein is in charge over there, the Lord goes, I let it go. I ordained it. And you know why he does some of that stuff? It's the same thing that happened in Jeremiah chapter 27 where he says, Nebuchadnezzar, my servant. As the Lord is looking out at the way that men live and how vile and wicked they are and how much they hate and despise God and they despise His words, And the Lord looks down and sees a man like Nebuchadnezzar, as wicked as he is, and he goes, he'll whip my kids for me. He'll bring judgment for me in my place, so he's my servant, I'll use him. That's how that thing goes. Okay, I go back to Revelation 11. I just want to read the verse again, as we take it and move along here. Revelation 11, 15. And the seventh angel sounded, and there were great voices in heaven saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. So that's literally going to happen. One of these days the Lord is going to come and rule and reign over this world. And literally reign over the kingdoms. And He'll physically be here and He'll physically rule and reign. Look at Isaiah chapter 9. Isaiah. It's wild how much scripture you're going to find about this right here. The Bible calls it the day of the Lord. It's His day. And He's going to rule. It's His second coming. It's all about that second coming. Do you know how we preach on that thing about it's not about the first birth, it's about the second birth? That one's so much more important than the first. All through the Bible, the firstborn's not important, it's the secondborn, right? It's not Cain, it's Abel, right? It's not... It's not Esau, it's Isaac, or Jacob, I'm sorry. It's not Ishmael, it's Isaac, all that stuff. Well, the thing is, at the end of the day, thank God for His first coming, but it's really about His second coming. Because there's way more prophecy about the second one than the first one. Way more. It's about the second one. And the Lord is interested in His Son getting glory. And so that's what we're looking at right here. Look at Isaiah 9, look at verse 6. For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, and of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. And upon the throne of David and upon his kingdom to order it and establish it with judgment, And with justice from henceforth, even forever, the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this." And it just keeps going. It just rules and it just reigns and reigns. Look at Revelation 19. Revelation 19. And we don't have to read all, we'll read it. Revelation 19.11, And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written, that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, and out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron. And he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God, and he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. That's his second coming. And it is so different than his first coming. Because His first coming He walked around and preached and did signs and then died and gave His life so a bunch of Gentiles could get in on it. But the second time He doesn't mess around. He comes back and He stomps out the nations. And He comes back and He rules with a rod of iron. Look at Zechariah 14. He's coming back to reign and it's forever and ever. Zechariah 14. Zechariah 14, let's look at verse 4. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east. And the Mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley. And half the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. Skip down to verse 8. And it shall be in that day that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea. And summer and winter shall it be. and the Lord shall be king over all the earth in that day. Excuse me, over all the earth. In that day shall there be one Lord and His name one. Look at verse 16. I want to show you this just real quick. I'm going to show you a few different places about this. But what you have is the world is going to be under the control of the Lord Jesus Christ at that time. And all those nations and all the kings of the world Listen, if they decide to turn against God during this time, watch how the Lord deals with those nations. Look at verse 16. And it shall come to pass that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth under Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up and come not, that have no rain, there shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. That's a little different than the First Advent. The First Advent, he says, come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Come put your faith in my blood, put your faith in the Son, and I'll save you, and put you into my family, and guarantee heaven, all that stuff. And now it's way different. He sets that thing up and it's a physical kingdom. It's not about faith anymore. They can see Him. He's going to physically rule and reign and they're going to have to come there year by year. Look at Isaiah chapter 60. I know it's just a lot of prophecy right now, but the Lord put it in here for a reason. Isaiah 60 verse 10. Isaiah 60. And look at verse 10. And the sons of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister unto thee. For in my wrath I smote thee, but in my favor have I had mercy on thee. Therefore thy gates shall be opened continually, they shall not be shut day nor night, that men may bring unto thee the forces of the Gentiles, that their kings may be brought. For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish, yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted. That's what the Lord thinks about a Gentile nation that doesn't love his son. It's a wild thought. It's wild the way the Lord deals with that thing. Look at Daniel chapter 2. There's more verses there but for time's sake look at Daniel chapter 2. Daniel 2, look at verse 44. Daniel 2 verse 44 Bible says, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. And the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Isn't that a wild thought that the kingdom never dies? Where's Rome now? compared to what it was. Where's the glories of Greece? Where's Babylon? Where's Syria? All those things, all these places, where's the Persians? It's nothing. I mean, one of these days people are going to go, where's America? Where's the USA? Where's England compared to the power that it used to have? Well, it fades. It goes away. There's a kingdom coming that doesn't fade. It's eternal. Why? Because its ruler is eternal. Look at Daniel 7. There's a lot more in there than love your neighbor. Daniel 7, verse 26. Daniel 7, verse 26. But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it unto the end. It's talking about the Antichrist. And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey Him." Look at Micah chapter 4. Micah 4. And look at verse 8. And thou, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion, the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. Look at Zephaniah 3. I know there's a lot of minor prophets here, but a lot of good stuff. Zephaniah. Zephaniah 3. Look at verse 8. Zephaniah 3 verse 8, Now listen, If you get a man determined to do something, he can get it done. But if you get God determined to do something, He's going to do it. And He gathers the nations. "...that I may assemble the kingdoms to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger. For all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all Call upon the name of the Lord to serve Him with one consent. Look at Isaiah chapter 40. Just one more about this. Isaiah chapter 40. Isaiah 40 and verse 15. Isaiah 40 verse 15. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket. and are counted as the small dust of the balance. Behold, he taketh up the aisles as a very little thing, and Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beast thereof sufficient for a burning offering. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity." You know what that is? You know why the Lord looks at a nation and says it's less than nothing? Because a nation is just a bunch of men that say, we can set something up of ourselves. We can be one nation. We can rule. We can conquer. We can do all this stuff. And the Lord looks down and says, you didn't do it with my power. You didn't do it with my blessing. And you know what happens to most nations is they get real proud. Look at our flag. Look at our kingdom. Look at our castles. Look what we've done. Look at our history. And the Lord goes, I resist the proud. And he looks down and he says, that's nothing. You know what I love though? I love that in this very same passage, look back at verse 11. It says, he shall feed his flock like a shepherd. He shall gather the lambs with his arm and carry them in his bosom and shall gently lead those that are with young. You know what that means? The Lord looks at a nation and all its pride and all its pomp and all its glory, supposed glory. He says, nothing. Then he looks at something that's his, something that he takes care of and he has love for it and comfort and care. It makes me think about what he does with each and every one of you. If you're saved in here today, that's how he takes care, that's how he cares for you. He can look at a nation of heathens and go, I don't care. It's nothing to me. It doesn't belong to me. It's not mine. They don't love me. They don't love my son. I don't care. Oh, you put faith in my son? I'll take care of you. I'll gently lead you. I'll provide for you. I think that's a blessing. Alright, the other thing, you don't have to turn back there, but in Revelation 11, 15 it says that He'll reign. He's going to reign. And it's future. It's a prophecy. Isn't that a wild thing? That's going to happen. One of these days it won't be Trump or Biden or anybody. It won't be anybody except Him. It won't be Trudeau, thank God. Amen. It won't be any kings or queens. It won't be any generals. It won't be any dictators. It'll be the Lord Jesus Christ. It's going to happen. I was listening to a couple guys this week and they were talking about the Bible. And one of those guys was talking about how out of date it is. My thought was you're not reading it. He wasn't saved either. Talking about how out of date it is and the other guy who was a Christian was like, well, you know, back then it was written to them. It wasn't really written to us. It was written for them and their time. Man, he's got it completely wrong. He's sitting there dealing with a lost guy and doesn't even realize how bad the information is he's giving. Because what you have is a book that's timeless. It's not just up to date, it's out ahead of you. And we're catching up with it. And it's way out ahead of us. Literally. It's future. And it's going to happen. He's going to reign. Look at Luke chapter 1. Luke 1 verse 33. Actually 31. And what you have here is Jesus Christ being the final King of Israel. And the Antichrist will show up and he'll be a false king, but here's a real king. Luke 1.31, And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest. And the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Look at Hebrews chapter 1. Listen, I'm not telling you you shouldn't vote. I'm not telling you you shouldn't care about some of that stuff. But you know that Trump's reign is going to end. That he's got a term. There's a limit. And I hope the gas prices go down. I hope the economy is a little better. I want to save some money. But it's going to end. And someone else will get in. And culture will shift. We're in kind of an interesting time right now. The culture, it's a very wicked, very, very fleshy, carnal culture, but there's some conservatism that's kind of filtered in, and these conservative ideas are there, but they're lost. It's a bunch of lost men pushing it. They're not saved. You've got guys like Jordan Peterson and stuff, and they're pushing some type of masculinity, but it's not Christian. It's not sanctified. And the thing is, man, they put all this emphasis on, we've got to change the culture. It's going to fall. It'll shift again. It'll go woke again. You need to put your stake in the king. He fixes it. Look at Hebrews 1, verse 8, But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is forever. and ever. A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows." It's God saying that God's gonna be in charge forever and ever. Now go back to Revelation chapter 11. 1116 four and twenty elders which sat before God on their seats fell upon their faces and worshipped God, saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art and was and art to come." Now this is so important, and most of the commentaries and universities, Christian universities will mess this up. Because, "...thou hast taken to thee thy great power," watch what it says, "...and hast reigned." past tense because the verses that follow come after the millennium. And what happens is because people don't realize that you have multiple accounts of the tribulation, they'll get to this and then they don't know what to do with verses 18 and 19. And what you're about to see in verses 18 and 19 is God's wrath, and His judgment, and the great white throne, and they're trying to figure out where this judgment is, and what it really is, is that the hast rain from verse 17 is showing you that it's not giving you an account of the millennium, it's just saying that the millennium happened. He rained forever and ever, and that thousand years happened. And so what you have, and I'm just going to say some of this, because I know some of you are newer to some of this, and I just don't want to be throwing out terminology that not everyone understands. According to Revelation chapter 20, Jesus Christ is going to come back and He reigns for 1,000 years. 1,000 year reign. We call that the millennial reign of Christ or the millennial day of Christ. And what you see there in verse 17 is hast reign. That's putting that reign behind Him. And then what you have, everything from verse 18 onward is past the 1,000 year reign going out into the judgment and going out into eternity. So verse 18, watch. and the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come." Okay, now hold your place, just do this for me, hold your place in Revelation 11 and turn to Revelation 20 and you'll see all this stuff taking place. Revelation 20 We were just in Revelation 11, 15. The kingdoms of this world have become the kings of our Lord and He shall reign forever and ever. So in Revelation 19 you have the Lord coming back. There's the picture. You've got the horse. He's coming back on the horseback and we're with Him and the army has come down and we wreak havoc. claim a place for the Lord. That happens in chapter 19. So Revelation 20 verse 1 says, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more. till the thousand years should be fulfilled, and after that he must be loosed a little season." Skip verse 4, actually the end of verse 4 says, "...and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." That's the thousand year, that's the millennial reign of Christ taking place. Okay, so back in Revelation 11, 17 it says, verse 17 says, "...and hast reigned," verse 18, "...and the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come." Look at verse 7 of Revelation 20, Revelation 20, verse 7. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison and shall go out to deceive the nations. So when he goes out and he makes the nations angry, that's what you're getting back in verse 18 of chapter 11, the nations are angry. I don't know what he says. I have some ideas, I have some guesses, but I don't know what he says. He might get in there and say, well you guys have had to go up year by year for a thousand years to worship this guy. And doesn't he have a big head? Isn't he awful stuck on himself that he really has to, he's the creator of everything and he has to have your worship every year? Look man, I'm your only chance. I almost whipped him once. Give me another try, I'll get him this time. And that's what probably happens. Revelation 20 verse 7, When a thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and passed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city. And fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. And that's what you have back in verse 18. It says, And the nations were angry, and thy wrath is come. Okay, so it comes and it destroys the place. Now watch, go back there, back to verse 18, watch what happens right after the wrath has come, "...and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give rewards unto thy servants, and the prophets, and to the saints, and to them that fear thy name, small and great, and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth." Go back to Revelation 20 and look back at Revelation 20 verse 10. And the devil that deceived them was cast in a lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw a great white throne and him that sat on it from whose face the earth and heaven fled away and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead. Here's the wording small and great stand before God. And you're seeing the great white throne judgment take place. It's just a cross reference passage. That's what's going on there. Okay, back to Revelation 11.18, and I'll hit on some of this for a minute and then I'll be done. Revelation 11.18, just read the verse. And the nations were angry, and that wrath has come in the time of 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 destroy the earth. It talks about saints there. Now, that is not a special title. Some religions teach that. But in the Bible, it's not a special title. In fact, we're called saints in the New Testament. I'll show you that here in a minute. But in the Bible, there are different types of saints. The word saint itself will actually help clarify the whole thing. The word saint, it means a holy or a sanctified person. So if anyone here is born again and saved, You're holy and you're sanctified because of the blood of Christ. So you're a saint. But what you have, first of all, let me say this, it's not some kind of special blessing. It's just by being born again, are you saved? Did you pray and ask Jesus Christ to be your savior? You're a saint. You didn't have to be sainted by somebody. You're a saint because you're holy and sanctified by the blood of Christ. But what that actually shows you is that in the Old Testament before the blood of Christ they were saved different. It's actually just a proof that they're saved different than we are. Because there are Old Testament saints. Well, how are they holy and sanctified without the blood of Christ? Well, they're following the commandments. They're having to do good works. Look at Psalms chapter 31. I'll just show you a few verses. Psalms 31. We'll hit a few and I'll wrap up. Psalms 31 Psalms 31 verse 23 Old Testament Psalms 31 23 Oh love the Lord all ye his saints for the Lord preserveth the faithful oh they're doing something and then it says and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer now I heard a Bible believing preacher one time say that's the only positive reference to pride in the Bible it is not a positive reference He's just saying that he's going to reward. You looked at the word reward wrong too, buddy. That's what he did. He's going to reward the evildoers. You find that all through the book of Proverbs where it says he rewards the transgressor. Actually, just the other day, I should have looked it up. I heard somebody quote, I heard somebody quote, what's that really famous passage in the Bible? It's in the Psalms where it says, Clap your hands all you people, shout to the Lord with a voice of triumph. That passage, if you go and read that thing, you know what it says? It says something about the excellency of the Lord, or something like that, or the excellency, and the new versions have changed it to proud, or pride. No, pride is always sin. We just say it wrong. You say, I'm proud of you. You're not saying it right. Pride is always wrong. You're saying I'm pleased with you. It's changed, the semantics have changed over time. I am not even on my notes now. Look at Matthew chapter 27. Those new versions making the Lord proud. No way, man. No way. Matthew 27. Matthew 27, look at verse 52. Matthew 27, 52. Actually, verse 50, Matthew 27, 50. Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost, and behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom, and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent. And the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. That's Old Testament. So you have Old Testament saints. Okay, well, you have Old Testament saints. You also have saints right now, New Testament saints. Look at Romans chapter 1. Now this is just, I just grabbed a couple real quick, you could go through almost, Paul's books mentions it over and over again. Romans 1 verse 7, the Bible says, To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints. All? He's talking to all of the church that's in Rome. The entire congregation of Christians in that church. Paul calls them saints. Look at Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 27. And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. He's talking to any Christian. Anybody in the passage, you're a saint and he's interceding for you. Okay, but then there are tribulation saints. Look at Daniel chapter 7. So there's Old Testament saints. You'll hear us say that sometimes. Brother Matt's teaching through Matthew, so a lot of it's very doctrinal and he'll say, well, an Old Testament saint. Or you'll hear us say a tribulation saint. And what that is, is that that's somebody that's part of the Lord and serving the Lord and a part of the Kingdom and all those things, but it's not the same as us. Daniel chapter 7, verse 18, Daniel 7, 18. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. Skip down to verse 25. And he shall speak great words against the Most High. That's talking about the devil and the Antichrist. And shall wear out the saints of the Most High. Now stop for a second. Stop. There's something really interesting happening in this passage. Doctrinally speaking, what's going on in verse 25? Doctrinally, the devil and the Antichrist is wearing out tribulation saints. But spiritually, I can apply that to you and I. Doesn't he wear you out? Doesn't an enemy that's endless and can just keep going wear you out sometimes? Sure, but what's the doctrinal application? Now, what I think is interesting is look at verse 27. It says, And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominion shall serve and obey him. And all of a sudden you've got all the saints. because I'm gonna rule and reign with Him. You're gonna rule. I mean, you could. You can. Potentially we can rule and reign with Him. Isn't that right? So here I'm gonna show it to you just real quick and I'll be done. Look at Ezekiel 37. Just go back one book to Ezekiel 37 and I'm gonna show you that the saints of the Most High are gonna rule and reign with Him. Could be an Old Testament saint, a New Testament saint, or a Tribulation saint. Look at Ezekiel 37, 24. And David my servant, that's Old Testament Saint, right? shall be king over them. Look at verse 25. And they shall dwell in the land that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers have dwelt, and they shall dwell therein, even they and their children, and their children's children forever. And my servant David shall be their prince forever. So the Old Testament Saint rules and reigns. Okay, with that in mind, look at Revelation chapter 2. The Old Testament saint can rule and reign. Revelation chapter 2. Here are the tribulation saints. And you know that because of how they get saved. Revelation 2, look at verse 25. But that which ye have already, hold fast till I come, and he that overcometh. Well, the Bible says you and I have already overcome by putting our faith in Christ. That's 1 John chapter 4 and chapter 5. He that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a rod of iron." So a tribulation saint has the same chance to rule and reign as an Old Testament saint, and then you and I do as well. Look at 2 Timothy 2, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 2 Timothy 2.11 It is a faithful saying, for if we be dead with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us. And that doesn't have anything to do with Him taking away your salvation. He's denying you a reign. So you know what the Bible says all through it? It talks about your inheritance in the Kingdom of God. It'll talk about the inheritance of the Kingdom of Christ and of God. And it'll say that if you do certain things and live like the devil and do works for the flesh, He takes away the inheritance. He does not take away your salvation. He's denying you a chance to reign with Him, but He gives you a chance to. He says, go through some things. Why do you think on Sunday I'm standing before you as your preacher and I'm saying, why don't you suffer a little reproach for him? Because you can't suffer much more. But you can suffer a little. You can stand on a street corner and hold a gospel sign. You can have somebody mock you and say, I don't want that. Get that out of my face and reject the gospel tract. Suffer a little reproach, can't you? Do you realize I'm looking out for you when I'm saying, why don't you come out to the street preaching? Why don't you knock on a door? Why don't you look like a fool? Why? Because I'm trying to give you a chance to reign. But some of you say, I won't suffer anything. I'm going to just sit at home. I'm going to do my own thing. I don't need to suffer. Yes, you do. And I'm not asking you to be burned at the stake. I'm not asking you to translate the Bible and get chased over all of England for it and eventually die for it like men did. I'm just asking you to suffer a little. I'm just pleading with you to suffer a little. Look at Romans 8. Romans 8. Romans 8. And look at verse 16. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs. Heirs of God, and join heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together. Notice it's a conditional thing. It says heirs, joint heirs. Heirs of what? Heirs of a kingdom. Heirs of a reign. But it's if. Isn't it interesting? You can go to the book of Hebrews written to tribulation saints and you find if all the way through it. Paul doesn't have a lot of ifs. Put your faith in him, you're saved. All of a sudden on this there's an if. If you'll suffer. Verse 18. For I reckon that the suffering of this present time are not... Suffering, excuse me, of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed on us. What is that? A chance to reign. But it's conditional on you suffering. You know why I believe this? Do you know why I believe the Lord allows things to come into people's life like cancer? Because we don't live in an age that has a lot of suffering in it. And the Lord's still giving the church a chance to reign. So he looks down at somebody who's doing right, the devil shows up like he does with Job and say, if you give brother John cancer, he won't take it right. And the Lord says, yeah, he will. And I'll let him suffer a little while because it's not even worthy to be compared. Look at Philippians 1. Philippians 1.29. And outside of the gift of salvation, there's another gift that he gives you. And I don't like it. But it's a gift. Philippians 1.29, for unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for His sake. You realize salvation is a free gift, but suffering is too? But the Lord looks at it as a gift. Why? He's going to allow you to suffer because He knows what's up ahead. The Lord looks out into eternity and He says it's a good trade-off. The Lord sees that thing and He says, just suffer for a little while. Just go through a couple things for me, just here and there. Now and again, just go through something and take it right, and there's a chance for you to rule and reign with Him. And you can rule alongside your Savior for a thousand years. One more place, look at Psalms 122. I think it's a good trade-off, don't you? Psalms 122. Look at verse 1. Psalms 122, verse 1. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Do you realize you can read this verse as it's you? Because it's going to happen. And during the millennial reign of Christ, you will not be locked down in the mountains of Colorado. because you'll have an eternal, perfect body like Him, and you're going to have to go and you're going to rule and reign, and if you don't rule and reign, the Lord will probably have you sweeping some steps or something. But you can read this, "...our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem." Jerusalem is built as a city that is compact together. Whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, under the testimony of Israel, to give thanks under the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. They shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces. I'm reading this because I'm trying to just give you an image before we close of what that looks like. Can you imagine peace in Jerusalem? They've been trying to make it happen for a long time. It won't happen. Not without the king. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sake I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good. One of these days, that's what it's going to be like. Now, do you want to be inside? Do you want to be ruling somewhere? Do you want a chance to rule and reign? You ask me, Preacher, what does that look like? I don't know exactly. I don't know that the Lord's going to... Maybe He gives you a city. He gives you something. You know how I know? The book of Luke, there's some servants there, they're given a pound, and it's Gentiles, Brother Matt was talking about it on Sunday. You know what the reward is for those guys? He gives them cities, except for the one that doesn't have anything to give back. He doesn't lose his salvation, but he loses his chance to reign. Alright, any questions about that? Anything?