OK, I know we're kind of off, so we're going to do a healthy review this morning, because last week, as I've been reviewing and preparing, I know it's kind of weird when you miss a week. I miss y'all. I miss teaching. I miss being in front of y'all and speaking. And we had a great discussion the last time we met. And I appreciate that, and I encourage it. Your homework assignment was to read the book of Revelation and focus particularly on chapters 4 and chapter 5, because that is what we are covering. today. But also, I asked you to write out your testimony. And we talked quite a bit about our testimony, or really our salvation experience, which should be the beginning of your testimony, and then going out from there. And then we paralleled it to the seven churches of Revelation. We looked at it historically, we looked at those churches doctrinally, and then we looked at them spiritually. And you can apply each one of those spiritual applications from each one of those seven churches to your Christian walk. And there's highs, and there's lows, and there's times when we get backslidden, and there's times when you are so close to the Lord that it's just invaluable and can carry you so far. And it's very cyclical. I mean, you will run in a cycle, and before you know it, you're in a new place and in a new way of living. So I'm just curious is there anybody out there that wants to share anything that was brought to their attention as they were writing out their testimony as They were kind of praying through it and writing down writing down your testimony is a wonderful If you've never written out your testimony or given your testimony, I highly encourage you to do so I did not give my testimony till I was probably a 26 years old and I was asked by Sunday school class with Jeff and I Jeff was traveling at the time So I typically would go to church by myself But we were in a series and it was a couples class and we were asked to give our our Testimony and I wrote mine out word for word and I remember standing up there with my sheet and reading it But it was a very eye-opening experience for me to realize how much I Jesus, the grace has covered me and mercy has covered me and how he has preserved me. And by him and him alone did that happen. But you really see how he has worked in your life. Yes, ma'am. And she said, when she was a little girl, you had to, even at 11 years of age, one of the requirements of the church was to stand up and actually give your testimony before you could actually join the church or become an official member. And some of you, I see you shaking your heads. You remember that experience. And I don't know how I feel about it, except we are missing accountability in the church today. and we are getting away from accountability. I think that's what's so important about walking the aisle, that if you need to, for salvation, number one, to actually come forward. If you can't walk that aisle and stand before 500, 1,000 people that love you, what on earth are you going to do when the heat's turned up? How are you going to stand for Him? How are you going to stand for him? And I know he talks about in Matthew that he said, you know, some of you I never knew. And I don't quite know if I get that, but I pray and I know it's not, I'm almost positive it's not me he's not going to say. I know where my salvation is. I know where my eternity is. But that's a scary verse. That's a scary verse. And I do think that the accountability is so important. Mm-hmm. Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we've got about one more minute, and she was sharing, let me just repeat real quick, she was sharing how she was actually writing out her testimony, just an aha moment, a prayer, which is so important, and Jeff and I were even talking about it last night, that if you've, y'all have lived here this week, and you've seen the news, and the things that are happening in America in the news, And our prayer life needs to increase. And we're going to look at that today how it even applies. That as the heat's being turned up and things are coming against Christianity, our biggest defense is to get on our knees and to pray. And as a believer and as a mother, my prayer life, though it has increased, is still not what it should be to battle this world and prepare my kids to battle this world. So absolutely. So sometimes writing your testimony is just those aha moments. Yes, that's when I learn to pray and I hold on to that. One more. Anybody else want to share from their testimony? If you have not done it, I encourage you to write out your testimony. And we talked last week. Hopefully you have that assurity that you know, that you know, and I know I harp on that, that you know that you're a child of God. And it might be blurry, the date and the time, and that's between you and the Lord. I even spoke with somebody after the lesson that you pray it out and He will show you. He says if you seek Him, He will not run from you. He wants to be found. And if you cry out to Him, He will answer you. And just let Him solidify that in the deepest part of you, that you are His. Okay, did you have something? Yes. And we're going to look at that. And today, things kind of change in the book of Revelation. And as Kay shared, that reading through the book and take your homework, and I leave the homework very subjective, up to you how far you want to take it or how deep you want to go with that. I encourage you to read through the book of Revelation for that week at least one time. Some of you can do it more, some less. Life's hard. Life's busy. And I encourage you to do that. Your homework this week is to read through the book of Revelation, focusing on chapter 6, which is the 7th seal, that go over to chapter 8, 8.1, 8 verse 1. We'll close up the 7th seal. So I encourage you to read that. And then, There's some verses on the back, and I encourage you to memorize at least one of those verses. Why? Because as we study Chapter 4 and we study Chapter 5, we will spend eternity saying one of those verses, if not all of those verses, and singing a new song. We might as well start practicing now. So they are on the back, and we'll go over that as we finish. All right, Revelation, Chapter 4 and Chapter 5. There's about three main areas I want to focus. So it's going to be a little broken down more into an outline, hopefully, and we'll cover one point, and then we'll hit the second point, and then hopefully the third. The first point is obviously the divisions that we'll look at. The second thing I really want to focus on is those four cherubims. and then digging in deeper that there was a fifth cherubim. And we're going to look at who that was and what he was and what has happened to him and how that affects us. We're going to dig into that today. And those are those beasts that you look at or we've read about in chapter 4. I think that's very important for people to know their purpose, why you're here on earth. And it has something to do very much with that fifth cherubim that fell. So we're going to look at that. And if we have time, we'll go into the others. But I want to start with, as we read in Chapter 1, as we built on that with Chapter 2 and Chapter 3, John the Apostle, who wrote the book of Revelation, which is a revelation of Jesus Christ, was told to write this book, all 22 books, three different purposes. And I have them at the top of your sheet, and it's based on Chapter 1, verse 19. John is to write about the things he has seen. He is also to write about the things which are, and he's also to write about the things which shall be hereafter. And if you take those three divisions, you have to have two pillars, one between the seen and the are, and one between the are and the hereafter. And I have that on your sheet, and we'll add some more details to it. But it's going to look like, here's the first section. Let me get these even. Hold on. As we get going. All right. The first section, the second section, and the third section. And upon those, you would have two pillars or two dividers. To make three sections, you have to have two dividers. And we're going to look at those dividers and what they are. Because they start, the first divider begins in chapter 4, verse 1. And I have that on your sheet, and as I read it to you, you can follow along. Revelation chapter 4, verse 1. As John is told to write the things that he has seen, which are, and which shall be hereafter. In verse 1 it says, After this I looked, I being John, I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet, talking with me, said, Come up hither, and I will show you the things which must be hereafter. Verse 2. And immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one set on the throne. So just at the base of these two verses, where is John? Where is John at the beginning of Revelation chapter 1. He's on the island of Patmos, right out in the Mediterranean Sea, almost across from those seven churches. He is on that island. We know he has been isolated there. This is his imprisonment. And we know at some point in that time of imprisonment for him, of isolation, We know that the Lord comes to him. Either the Lord himself, the Spirit, or an angel sent by the Lord directly to him has come to him and said, OK, you want to know truly why you're at the island? Yes, I know what Domitian's doing to you, and I know he is punishing you. You want to know your true purpose for being on this island? Here we go. 22 chapters, bud. And he begins to tell him. And that's where we get chapter 1. And that's where we get chapter 2 and chapter 3, where John is just pouring out God's words to him to the specific seven churches. And as he's writing those, and we looked at those last week, or the last week before, the application of those churches. But then when you enter chapter 4, things change. John is on that island. Most likely he has already written chapter 2 and chapter 3 or is beginning to go through that process and that mental of the seven churches and putting them in order and the good things of them and the bad things of them and the things that we are all to remember. And he's on that island and he looks up and he hears that voice. And it's the voice that he heard in chapter 1. And that voice tells him something very specifically. He says, come up hither, come up here. And we know, finishing out verse 1 and verses 2, he's talking about heaven. And he calls John up to heaven, and it says immediately he is in heaven, and the story continues. I believe, personally, I believe you have a picture of the rapture. Because starting in 4.1, the church is not mentioned again in the book of Revelation. And we do know, if you're part of that church, we do know that we are on a timetable. Just as He worked through the Old Testament on a timetable with the Jewish people, and He worked through the temple, and He worked on a timetable with David. And as it fell to Solomon, and it fell to Solomon's two sons, and it split, they were warned. That's why the prophets came. You are warned. This time is splitting. Captivity is coming if you do not get it right. Though we do not live in the Old Testament, we do live in the time of grace. And we do know there will come a day when grace is over and we've ushered in a new time. God Himself ushers in a new time. Because there are things in the Old Testament and the New Testament that have not been fulfilled. And we serve a God that every single one of His prophecies have been fulfilled. And if they have been fulfilled, then we know the rest of them are going to be fulfilled. So you have a door open in heaven. That's unusual. Nowhere in Scripture is a door opened in heaven. You have a door opened again a second time in Revelation 19.11. And 19.11 is so very clearly the second coming of the Lord. So it would make sense in Revelation 19.11 if you have the second coming Then in 4 verse 1, you have something going up. You have something going up because in 1911 you have something coming down. John is a perfect picture of the church. John was an apostle. He was a Jew. Before he ever became an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ or a disciple, he was a Jewish man. And as far as we know, he was a fairly good Jew. We know he was probably middle to lower class, had a fishing business with his family. And we know he did to the best of his ability, the way of the Jews, to keep the temple going, to satisfy those Old Testament laws and the feasts. But he had the privilege of seeing the Lord Himself come to him and call him, and he followed him. And as we study in chapters 1 through 3, John is the only faithful one. He's the only one that stood there at that cross when the other men could not handle it. Either their faith was tested or the doubts came. John stayed. John is the picture of the church. John is the one that is called Beloved. We, the church, is the body of Christ. We are His Beloved. We are His Bride. We are the bride of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 4, 1 through 2, Paul tells us, he gives us a mystery. And Paul has given us seven mysteries that are to the church specifically. A few of those mysteries we'll look at as we continue on through the study of Revelation. But he gives us a mystery, and a mystery is things that, as Paul wrote, that we look through a glass unclearly or darkened that one day will become clear. We as believers and have the indwelling Holy Spirit have those mysteries. And I believe we can understand them to a certain depth. I do not believe we understand them completely. I do think one day, I know one day when we get that new body and that new mind, it will completely, what we had to look at darkly will become clear. And I think that's where faith comes in. I know that's where faith comes in. We are to live by faith and not by sight at this time. So if y'all want to turn to 1 Corinthians 4, we'll look at this mystery that Paul has given us. Chapter 4, verse 1 and verse 2. These are words written from Paul. We know that Paul was an apostle at a due season. He was a Jew. He was a Pharisee, a Pharisee's nobody. obeyed the law like Paul. If the law could have gotten you to heaven, Paul would have been there. Paul never would have had the Damascus experience. But we know that it wasn't complete. We know that it was in the works. We know that it was in the flesh. And we know that Paul had some experiences in acts of actually pursuing and being an active role in murdering Christians. And he met the Lord on the road to Damascus. And it changed his life forever. And we are part of the benefit of that. Paul was called out. He started to the Jews. You can tell Paul's heart. He continued to go to the temples. Every time he'd go to a new city, he'd go to the temples and he'd preach, begging the Jewish people, almost like parallel to Moses, begging, please take me. Do not turn your wrath on these people. And Paul, you have prayers of Paul saying, please, It's better for me to die, save these people. And finally, through the book of Acts, about midway through, God turns and He goes to the Gentiles, and He begins the ministry through the Gentiles. And as we get into 1 Corinthians 4, verse 1-2, it says, Let a man so account of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Verse 2, moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. So we are to be stewards of these mysteries. And there are seven mysteries. We're going to look at a few of them later on. I'll touch on them briefly. But the first one, one of the mysteries is the rapture of the church. And that's what we're going to look at in the second verse in 1 Corinthians. In your second reference in 1 Corinthians 15. But we are to be stewards. And a steward is one that is just to take care of. One that comes alongside. one that guards, one that meets the needs of. And we are to take this mystery and be stewards of it. So if you'll turn a little further right, stay in 1 Corinthians and go to chapter 15, we have the mystery from Paul that Paul explains. So we know that we are, as the church, we are to be stewards of these mysteries. There are seven mysteries. A few of those other mysteries is God in you, God in the flesh, God in the church, the Israel, the blindness that's on Israel right now is a mystery. The son of perdition or the sin of iniquity, the mystery of iniquity is one of those. And in 1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 53, Paul gives us the mystery that we're talking about that I believe is being fulfilled in Revelation chapter 4. It says, Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trump shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed." Verse 53. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. To build on that, that's that mystery that Paul's talking about. I'm in 1 Corinthians 15. It's on your sheet. It's up at the top. Got it? 1 Corinthians 15, 51 through 53. That's the mystery that Paul... We're going to go in a little depth. Go to the right some more. Go over to 1 Thessalonians. 1 Thessalonians. It's in the T's. Go past Ephesians. It's the first one of the T's. 1 Thessalonians. Just gives us another picture. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 15 through 18. Paul has continued to write to the church at Thessalonica. And please, keep in context, when you're looking at Corinthians and you're looking at Thessalonica or Thessalonians, we have the privilege of having all 66 books. We have the privilege of standing on 2,000 years of church history or church doctrine. These people were most likely, the majority of them were Jewish in faith. If they were not Jewish in faith, they were pagan in faith under Roman rule. or Greek rule. They were pagan and they had to deny all that and God was starting and the Lord fulfilled a new work. So everything is new to them. So this is about 20 years. If I look at the date on my Bible, it says 54 A.D. in 1 Thessalonians. You're talking 20 years of a new thought. that we have 2,000 years of. And it's very hard to lose the tenderness. It's easy to lose the sweetness of this verse. Because we take it for granted sometimes that these people were clinging to And in 1 Thessalonians 4, verses 15 and 18, Paul gives us another look at this mystery that he gives to the church. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. Verse 16. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Verse 17, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Verse 18, wherefore comfort one another with these words. Amen. That's right. And that's the whole point. This whole point of chapter 4, verse 1 is these words are to comfort you. And as we get further in in our study in Revelation, and next week we will look at the Tribulation. That is not a time of comfort. There is no comfort when you read through Revelation. And if you've read through the Old Testament on those second coming prophecies, it is not a time of comfort. So we look at these. And if God is talking to the church, if Paul is writing to the church, it is a time of comfort. And I know I've said it week one, and I mean it, and I don't mean to make it ill effect or juvenile, but the time to get saved is today. Because we live in grace. And when the church is raptured up, grace is over. that the time of grace ends and God begins a new work. And it's because His wrath will be poured out. His cup of wrath that He has been waiting for 6,000 years will finally be poured out. And we live in grace. And I don't think, and I know a lot of people, you know, I don't understand how we can avoid some of this, and I don't understand this. I don't understand it either. I don't. But I think that's grace. Grace. We barely hold on to the concept of grace. Grace is getting what we don't or not getting what we deserve. Is that right? Let me think. Is that mercy? Hold on. I get those confused. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Grace is getting what we don't deserve. Absolutely. Hold on just a second. We deserve the tribulation. Absolutely. Sin deserves going through the hell of the seven year tribulation. Absolutely. No, not worthy. But that is the picture. That is the picture of what Jesus did for you and for me and for everybody that has ever lived. He went to that cross. And it just paints that picture of what He took on when they stretched out His hands. And He completed every dot until He fulfilled. Yes, ma'am. For this reason, God has sent them as followers of the religions so that they believe in the lie and so that all world is condemned. We have nothing to do with what has allowed us to live in it. And what the Lord is saying is, you have that option, you have that faith in Christ, and if you turn your back on it, when he does come back and take deliverance wisdom, that the people that turn their back will have a belief and will not have a second chance. Now, we'll be looking after that. It's really not a bad thing. But that's the only thing to behold. Yes. Well, she she has gone to second Thessalonians 2 verse 10, which talks about a delusion that is left upon people that that is almost like blinders that is left on people that have rejected the gospel. And in that reference of second Thessalonians, Paul is talking about entering the time of the tribulation. That is a disturbing thought. But that is what Scripture says. And Jeff and I, we talked about this last night, that there is a blindness that will happen. And some people say that's not fair. But one opportunity to hear the Gospel is enough. By grace, once you have that one opportunity of a salvation message, and you reject it, you're on borrowed time. And that clock is ticking. Now, statistics say, George Varna used to be, when I was a kid, it would take seven witnessing opportunities for someone to come to salvation. Seven opportunities. And that's where you get the, when Jesus is teaching us in Matthew about the sower and the seed, some are reapers and some are sowers. And it's not our place to say, well, I want to be a reaper. Well, you might be a sower. We needed, 10 years ago, seven of them for somebody to come to salvation. Today, George Barna's statistics is 13. It takes 13 witnessing opportunities for somebody to come to that point of salvation. Why? I think this week alone, what was put out in the media and the news and what was publicized is proof. People are just being brainwashed. And we've got to be stronger and we've got to put the message out there. But when you're a man who is 100% God and 100% human, never sinned, was perfect, it's not fair what he had to do. And there is no way you can balance that one out. Sure. What do I think? Her question is, is it easier to witness to somebody that is completely unchurched or somebody that comes from a Catholic background? The only experience with Catholicism that I have had has been I student taught. I was missing one credit to graduate. And part of my student teaching was you spend so many in a younger class and then so many hours in a third, and I was missing one hour. So I do believe to this day, I had a privilege of teaching for three weeks in a Catholic school. And it was an eye-opening experience. The thing I believe, from what little I know about Catholicism, is it is very tradition-oriented and is very family-rooted. And so when you step out and leave the Catholic Church, you are also denouncing, or your family denounces you. You are hurting your family. And the closest experience I have to that, and I'll get very personal with you, my mom grew up Christian scientist. And I don't know if you know much about that religion. It is very self, it is a cult from what we have learned today. But my grandmother was very high up in the Christian science church. And she was a practitioner, she is one of the people that you would call if you needed healing. And they would dialogue through. And my mom, met my dad first week in college. My dad witnessed to her. After about six months, she turned on a Billy Graham crusade on TV and she accepted Jesus as her savior. And coming from a very strong Christian science background, my mother got saved and they began, God took those two as Ephesians has and just put a man and a woman together and grew them, but continued to witness to my grandmother. And my grandmother, at 86 years old, went to her deathbed denying the Lord. I believe her last words was she told my mom to leave. And we were in a nurse practitioner, a Christian science healing place, and she wanted those Christian science women to come in and pray their prayers with them. And she denied it. And I think that is my experience of somebody from a different faith. And my grandmother was, she was in it deep, obviously. So going back to your question about Catholicism, I think that's two things. I think the thing, when you deal with a Catholic, I think the thing that you have to get down to brass tacks with is it's Jesus and Jesus alone. And I think the thing that makes it hard with Catholicism is they take Jesus Nobody can explain the virgin birth better than a Catholic. And nobody can touch on the Trinity and teach the Trinity better than a Catholic. But the problem is they take that plus confession, plus covenants, plus infant baptism, plus marrying a Catholic. And that is where you miss it. As a whole, that is where they miss it. Now, it's not just Catholics. There's a lot of faiths that do that. You know, Lutherans take Jesus plus, you know, just if you hear it, you get saved. They're basic. And then a lot of, you know, put works with it. And I think that's where it's difficult with a Catholic. On a non-believer, on a non-believer, you've got to find that common ground. How can I start dialoguing with you about this? about something. I don't know. I know there's nothing easier. They say if you want a family to get saved, go after the man. And if you can get the dad saved, typically you can get the wife saved, and then you can get the children saved. Not us getting them saved, but that salvation, the Lord Himself. And that's what they say. And sometimes, you know, a friend or a family member is going to hear your message easier than a total stranger. And what I would say, and I have to tell my children this, and it's so difficult, because we live in a world of rejection, that your job is to put the message out there. It is not your job for them to receive it. You cannot make somebody receive it. Your job is to put that out there. And as we're looking at the rapture, it is so overwhelming to look at But I have never seen it except for this last year so clearly. How? And in my whole life, how could a rapture happen and the world not turn to the Lord? Because it is so dark now is how. I personally believe that this event is going to happen and the world's not going to miss a beat. I think Christianity is so fading. I think the real people that are truly saved I think is so small. I think we have so many people playing Christianity. Prime example, Jeff was visiting with a man that had been on the mission field for years and had witnessed and witnessed and witnessed to this man of a different faith. And for 15 years, he gets saved. And for 15 years, he's living it. And this man has since gone to another location. And his friend that was a believer for 15 years has totally denounced Christianity. and gone back to His previous face. Not my place to judge. I am not judging, but the fruit reveals the root. Where you are planted in is what you're going to grow. And I think there are lots of that. And I think we talked about it last time we met about how do we know? We don't know. We don't know. It's between the Lord Himself. But I hope that answered your question. We jumped on many. I think number one, the best witnessing opportunity you can have is to somebody that you have a relationship with. I don't know. I don't know. She said this man that... I don't know. to her words, or how can somebody that, quote, unquote, we're going to put that in quotes, saved 15 years, go back to their former faith, denounce those 15 years, I don't know. I do know it is appointed men once to die, and then the judgment. And the Lord himself is the only one that knows. And I'm going to go ahead and get on this area. Oprah Winfrey claims that she's a believer. And grew up in Mississippi, and Bible Belt, so it would not shock me if she was a believer and made a profession of faith as a child. But what she is doing and promoting for the last 20 years, oh my! And that's between her and the Lord. But oh my, she will face judgment. She will face judgment. But that is no different than Tracy Myers. You went to school with that person for 15 years and you never witnessed to them? You lived next to that neighbor for six years and you never opened your mouth and shared the gospel? That is no different. The gospel also tells us in Paul's witness, to whom much is given, much is required. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. And Ms. Suzette, I'm going to repeat it for the audio, has said that everybody is preaching some form of gospel. What we have to have, and I pray this for my children and I pray this for Jeff and I, we have to have discernment like never before. And just sometimes, as you pointed out, sometimes you just keep your mouth shut and you watch. And you look at that fruit. Yes ma'am? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes ma'am. Yes. Yes, ma'am. And I think one of my big things is you want to be careful of the word Christian. I know what the word Christian means, but it doesn't mean the same thing to everybody. And just because somebody says that doesn't mean. A Christian, according to the Bible, is what the pagan people were looking at the Christ followers and they called them Christians. They didn't run around and go, I'm a Christian. I'm a Christian. And what was it? Those were the people that denounced whatever their other faith was, whether it was Jewish or whether it was pagan. They denounced it and said, Jesus was the Messiah. He came, he died, he was buried, and he rose again. And he took all my sins upon himself. And upon that alone is salvation. Yes, but you cannot have a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ until you come to that point of confession. And it's just like a relationship with me to y'all. We have been here six months. And I know some of you. I know Mr. Loris better than I know... I don't know your name. Yuna. Why? Because I met Mr. Loris back in April. We began conversing. And time has taken place. And we shared prayers and texts. And it's no different than with the Lord. That relationship grows with time and you getting on your knees and through prayer. Yes, but the faith. But I understand what you're saying. She is saying that just because somebody claims to be of another faith, you cannot say they're not a Christian. a believer, a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Okay, I get that. I will take a stand on any faith, any other faith than that Jesus is the only way. I personally struggle with, if you believe that Jesus is the only way, why would you stay in that other faith? Because that other faith is a false faith and teaching false belief It is leading people to hell. Now, that might be realized... I mean, it might take you years to realize that. If you grew up in that faith, absolutely. That's grace. And God's going to work on you in His indwelling Holy Spirit, and you're not going to be able to sit there. You should not be able to sit there and listen to what the preacher has to say. One more, and we've got to move on. Yes, Mr. Lewis. Yes. Yes. And he does. He gives us four examples on that. But we as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ are not to be fruit inspectors. You are to be planters, and it's as I teach my kids, and I have to remind, and y'all say it, and every church we've been a part of says, how can Jeff keep preaching and nobody walks the aisle? I totally agree with you. But that is not Jeff's responsibility. Jeff's responsibility is to put it out there. And it's your, or his, or hers, or my responsibility on what we're going to do with it. And that responsibility to a pastor or a shepherd is the same responsibility that every believer has. We are to put the message out there. And then you leave the rest up to God. And that's very difficult to do. OK, we've got to move on. All right, did you all see that fall? All right, there we go. All right, so covering the rapture. All that to say in 4.1 that a door is opened. John, as a picture of the church, when Jesus was talking to him and Matthew, remember him and Peter and John getting a discussion? And Peter wants to know what's going to happen to him. And Jesus tells Peter, he says, what does it care if this man He sees all that is to come. What difference is it to you? I question here in 4.1, is John getting to see all that is to come? John was the last apostle living. John was the beloved. John was the faithful. And remember, Jesus said in Matthew, He says, all this will take place, and then the generation will die. Is John that generation? Is John that generation? And so I place it as, these are the things that have been seen. John goes up, a picture of the rapture. These are the things that are. And these are the things hereafter. So before 4.1 are the things that are seen. That's the fulfillment of Paul's letters in the New Testament and the Gospels. and chapters 1, chapter 2, chapter 3 of Revelation. The things that are are chapter 4 through chapter 19. Because from here on out in the book of Revelation, the church is not mentioned. And there are things that we will begin to study that have not been fulfilled. And I know some people say, oh yeah, they have been fulfilled when Nero took over Jerusalem. And I think those are those birth pains because that did not affect the whole world. And when you get into the tribulation, when the moon is dark, and the water turns to blood, and locusts are coming out of the pits, and a man comes and reigns in the temple, it affects the whole world. Not just Jerusalem, or Turkey, or Iran, or you name it. It will affect the whole world, and it has not happened yet. And then after 19 through chapter 22 is the hereafter. And this is ushering in the millennium and eternity. Just to give you a perspective of where we are in the book of Revelation. And then you have this beautiful picture John gets to see in Revelation chapter 4. Revelation chapter 4. John goes up. Jeff and I had this discussion. Paul had this experience. This is not unheard of, God. The word rapture is a Latin word, raptizo. It is not in Scripture, but we do have the experience. It is what he did with Elijah. We have the picture, and Jeff preached on Sunday. I mean, Jeff, I could just play his message and it would be your lesson today. It was so cool to take all those notes. That when Elijah comes, it's a picture, because he's coming back. But John goes up, and Jeff and I had this discussion. Was John physically up there, or was it spirit up there? And we don't know. We don't know, but we do know that Paul said, whether I was in the body or out of the body, I don't know, but I was in the heavens. And we do know, absent from the body is present with the Lord. And as this verse says, immediately he was there. And as we read in 1 Corinthians that it said in the twinkling of an eye. It is immediate. It is immediate. And all that, to conclude on the rapture, is our job as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, when the rapture happens, you are to be living life abundantly, as He tells us in John 10. Because when the rapture comes, your job is for people to miss you. Your job is for people to go, I get it. She was right. I missed it. And I know what it says in 2 Thessalonians 2 about that delusion, and that's for the Lord to work out. But we are to live a life that when my kids are missing out of those classrooms, that the other 25 kids in that room go, where is George? Where is Marshall? And your job is to, when you are gone, if the rapture happened right now, your neighbors are to miss you. And they're supposed to hear, oh my word. They were living it. And I missed it. That's the greatest thing about the Tim LaHaye Left Behind series. If you followed it, who is left? The pastor. And some of the congregation. That is scary. That is scary. But it finally dawns on them. And the pastor that left in the Left Behind series is the one that left the video and the messages for them to play during the tribulation. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. No, I agree. I don't know. I don't know. And I will tell you as a mother of young children who have made that profession of faith, that verse bothers me. Because I was there when they prayed the prayer. I heard their words. But they are so little in their faith. And I just pray. I pray it was real. I pray God continues to solidify it in them. But ultimately, everybody's profession of faith is theirs and theirs alone. Yes, ma'am. Yes, absolutely. That's your nations and your tongues. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you've been reading the book of Revelation. I can tell. She's been doing her homework. Because she's been studying. And God is not done. When the rapture happens and the tribulation begins, God is not just going to sit back on His throne and say, watch this. He is active and participating. But it is time for His cup of wrath to be poured out. And that is a time of overcoming. And that is a time of endurance. And as we get through Revelation, we'll look at the salvation will happen during the tribulation. It's just different. No different than the Old Testament. In the Old Testament, they could not go to the cross and claim Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because He hadn't come. They couldn't go under that blood. He hadn't gone to the cross. It was a hope of the Messiah, and it was following those Ten Commandments in the Levitical Law to the best of their ability. I don't know. During the Tribulation? During the Tribulation, she's asking, again, going back to 2 Thessalonians 2, the ones that have heard and denied it, versus the ones that have never heard it. And I don't know. I do know we live in a time now, like never before, how many people have never heard the name of Jesus. In America, how many people have never heard the name of Jesus? And I don't know. I don't know. Alright, going on. So John has this incredible experience. And immediately in verse 2, he was on the throne and he was in heaven. And he sees one that's sitting on the throne and he gives an incredible defining of this person's appearance. And it was of jasper and sardine, which are bright red and bright green and bright blues and whites. And then it talks about this rainbow that surrounds the throne that goes all the way around the throne. and then an emerald at the end. This incredible being, and I paralleled it to Ezekiel 1, 26 through 28, which goes into a little more detail of the appearance that Ezekiel had in the temple. But if you've ever had the privilege of visiting with a Jew and you talk to a priest and the garments that they put on, and they put on that breastplate with all those brightly colored stones, And you get a picture of what we, with human hands, make that John is seeing in the original form. And God Himself is there. You have the Trinity present here in chapters 4 and chapter 5. That is God sitting on His throne. And as we get into chapter 5 in a minute, you'll see both Jesus and the Holy Spirit. But I want to go on down to these elders and these beasts and creatures. And verse 4, and it says, And around about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders, sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Verse 5, And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And verse 6, And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf. And the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them, I'm in verse 8, six wings about him. And they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come. I'm at the bottom of your outline now, the four living beasts that are described. These are created beings. These are forms of angelic beings. And there is a hierarchy or different forms of angelic beings. Angels throughout all of Scripture are messengers, and they are ministers, and they are fighters. And through all Scriptures, those are their roles. They minister, they are messengers, and they are fighters. And then God gives us specific classifications of some of those angels. The first one is the Seraphim, which is only mentioned in Isaiah. But when Isaiah goes to the temple, when Isaiah is broken and knows that captivity is coming, he has this experience in Isaiah chapter 6 where the Seraphim come and they have to take the hot coal off the censer and they burn Isaiah's lips because his lips are unworthy. And right after that moment, Isaiah says, I'm ready. Send me. Those are the seraphims. Then you have two that are named. One is Michael the Archangel, which Jeff preached on Sunday. When Michael shows up, you've got a battle. There is a war taking place, particularly for Israel. When Michael shows up, he is defending and fighting for Israel. And then you have Gabriel, is the only other angel named. And Gabriel is a messenger. When Gabriel shows up, he has a message. He's the one that spoke to Mary. He's the one that spoke to Joseph. When Gabriel shows up, he has a message. And then you have this last group, the cherubim. And here in the Revelation passage, there are four mentioned, and one has the face of a lion, one has the face of a calf or an ox, One is a man or a cherub, and one is the face of an eagle. We know that they have wings. Here it says six wings. In the Ezekiel reference, it is four wings. But those wings are to cover the Lord who is in the midst of them. The first time cherubims are ever mentioned is in Genesis 3, 24, and it's in the garden. And it's when the garden, when Adam and Eve have fallen, and they have to be kicked out of the garden. And once they are kicked out of the garden, the garden is closed and there's cherubims placed outside with a sword to guard it. And then the next time we have reference to cherubims is in Exodus 25-19, when Moses is giving the people the instruction to build the Ark of the Covenant. and all the items that go in it and how it is to be covered with the gold. But in the middle of it is the Holy of Holies that is surrounded by two cherubims and the wings that come over. And that is where we get the idea of the four. It gives you a picture of what those four wings. If they are up here, they're going, and this way, and under. And they're covering the Holy of Holies. You get that picture in Revelation, that these four cherubim surround that Holy of Holies. They surround the Lord Himself. This was the place that once a year on the Day of Atonement when they would go and put that blood sacrifice in the Holy of Holies and it would burn up and the Lord would consume it. It was between those two. And then we have a picture of Him here in Revelation. It says they do not rest day and night. And we see in verse 4, in chapter 4 and chapter 5, that they are continually awake surrounding His throne and they continually sing a song of worthy and holy and are praising Him continually. I'm going to jump over to those elders that we get introduced to. OK, hold on. Hold on. Is Lucifer one of these? We're going to go there. I'm watching our time. We've had a good discussion. But I don't want to go somewhere that I can't finish. So what I'm going to probably do is start that and then on Lucifer. And we'll probably begin next week. Because it's too important not to know and to talk about. So I'm going to jump over to the elders, the 24 elders. The magic question is, who are they? I have no idea who the 24 elders are. I can tell you it's not me. Most theologians and commentaries will say, you take the number 24, split it in half, 12 and 12, which is the complete number of God. It's the number of Israel. Most likely, 12 are from the 12 tribes of Israel. And the other 12 are from the 12 apostles. That's as good an explanation as I could ever give. I was talking to some ladies Saturday at the Super Bowl party, and I opened my big mouth and said, well, how can it be the 12 apostles? Because John's there, and John's not sitting on the throne. And I just threw a huge kink in, who the 24? I have no idea. I know it's not me. And I know I'll be a saint. Because every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ in part of the church is a saint. I know there are crowns and there are rewards, but I know there's some person in Southeast Asia that hasn't eaten in weeks, and has been beaten for their faith, and has held true to the Lord, and has witnessed, and watchman me who was in prison for his faith and continued to write sermons and sneak them out Those are saints. Those are saints. And I'm doing the best I can. And I will continue to do the best I can. But I'm just grateful I get up there. And I'm going to be there. And I'm going to praise Him for eternity. And be in His presence. And be with my loved ones for all of eternity. And I'll take that. I don't quit. You continue on. And you do better the day than you did the day before. But those are saints. And I have no idea who those elders are. I know at this time, based on Matthew 27, there is a rapture that takes place already. In Matthew 27, Jesus is gone. He's been dead. He's been buried. And it says, The tomb of the saints, those Old Testament saints have been opened. Remember they walk around. And they preach. I don't know if I quite understand it. But it's in Matthew 27. I believe it's verse 52. Because I see your puzzled faces. But we'll probably end on this note and we'll pick up. Yes. Matthew 27 verse 52. 52. Yes, ma'am. If you look in verse 27, Jesus has been delivered to Pilate. He's been interrogated by Pilate in Matthew 27. Barabbas has been released. He's been crowned with thorns. He's been crucified. He completes it all. He says, I am finished. It is finished into Your hands, Lord. I commend my spirit. And He's gone. And then in verse 52 it says, The graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints which slept arose. Those are your Old Testament saints. Those are your Davids. And your Jeremiah's and your Isaiah's. And as Jeff preached about the body of Moses on Sunday. They preached for 40 days. And they preached a message. You know, God often works in threes. It is not unheard of for God to work in threes. Typically He does. The Trinity is in a three. But if this is the first fruits of a rapture, if this rapture that takes place in 4-1 is the harvest, you still have gleanings. There is another rapture to come, and we'll look at it during the tribulation. And you talked about the Jewish people. And you talked about how to get saved during the tribulation. And we're going to study that in depth, but there's possibly a third rapture to come. Because these Old Testament saints in Matthew 27, verse 52, when they're walking around and they're preaching, you get the same picture as Jonah. As Jonah was spit out, what was Jonah to go do? Go preach. Finally, would you go to Nineveh? We could have avoided this whole thing. I believe Jonah preached like never before after what he experienced in the belly of that whale. I bet you he could not have gotten to Nineveh faster. Could you imagine what he looked like? Smelled like? Could you imagine what these Old Testament saints must have looked like? They had everybody's attention. I mean, could you imagine? And still, people, we get to the same conclusion every time. People still rejected Him. But it was their job to go preach. And then you get the picture in Acts 1, verse 8, when Jesus goes up, that these Old Testament saints go with Him. When we're not in the Millennium. The Old Testament saints. At the end of the Millennium. Well, you're jumping way ahead of me. Yes, yes. She's already going to the millennium and we'll get there. We will get there eventually. But you get the picture when... Because you know one of the mysteries is the sin of iniquity and the antichrist has to be revealed, the son of perdition has to be revealed. And when the one that lets quits restraining, then the son of perdition, the antichrist will reveal himself. And typically, commentaries will say that it is by the Holy Spirit Himself that the Antichrist has not revealed who He is and His plans. And you get the picture that when the Holy Spirit is removed, then the tribulation can begin. That's one of those mysteries. As a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, upon my salvation, what do I receive? The Holy Spirit. And I receive all the Holy Spirit I will ever get. I will not get any more Holy Spirit on my journey in Christianity. It's my job as a believer to be filled with the Holy Spirit. And I'm going to jump on to what you brought up about Lucifer. As Lucifer said, and we'll study this next week in Isaiah and in Ezekiel, I will. I will ascend. I will ascend above you. That is the fight of the flesh every day. Is it going to be Tracy's will or the Lord's will? Are we going to do what Tracy wants to do? Or am I going to do what the Lord has asked me to do? And that's that battle every day. But upon my salvation, I received all the Holy Spirit, and it is my job daily to surrender to it and to be filled with it. And every day for Him to have more of me. And that's a battle. That is a battle. Now, going back on the Holy Spirit, because I see your faces. What is she saying about the Holy Spirit? In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon people and it left people. People in the Old Testament were not sealed with the Holy Spirit. Picture of David. When David committed the sin with Bathsheba, he cried out in the temple, Please, I know I deserve it. And I'm paraphrasing here. I'm probably doing a terrible job. But I know I deserve, Lord, the Holy Spirit leaving me. Please do not. Please. And he didn't. Saul. King Saul. It says the Holy Spirit left him and he did not know. Now, how do we put that into the church age for today? We live in a time of grace. And you are sealed with that Holy Spirit. And once you're sealed, that seal is not broken. And again, I think it goes back to what we talked about earlier. It's the time of grace, and I do not think we can possibly understand the full concept of grace. But I'm going to try. And I'm going to enjoy it. And I'm going to embrace it to the best of my ability. But it's grace. And how can all the horrible things that we're going to read in chapter 6 and chapter 7 and on through, how can they take place? Because the Holy Spirit is removed. And do you not see it? I mean, have you not watched the news and watched the media? The things that are being proclaimed and behavior I tell Jeffery, it's like the Holy Spirit took a step back. Still in me. Still filling me. Still wants to do a work in me. I'm talking about the big picture Holy Spirit here. He's taking a step back. Because I'm telling you, God has been patient. He has been patient. The Lord is a prince in waiting. He wants His throne. And it can only take place once that cup of wrath is poured out. His second coming comes in layers. Remember it talked about, we read in 1 Corinthians and in Thessalonians, that He comes, we come to meet the Lord in the air. He didn't touch on the ground yet. He's almost there. He's in those clouds. But we're going to go meet Him. Next time He comes, He's touching the ground. And God often works in layers. There's layers to a second coming. That's what makes the Old Testament, and particularly the prophets, difficult to understand. Because you'll read a verse, and you'll get to a semicolon, and the first part of the verse is this first coming. And then you hit that semicolon, and the second part of the verse is this second coming. Because it's layered. It is layered. All right, we have about three minutes. So let me give you your assignment. Your homework is the same. Read chapter six and chapter eight. We'll cover the seals. But I'm going to start next week with the last part of your outline about the cherubim. We're going to go into detail on that. There was a fifth cherubim. Look up those verses. Read it. We'll spend probably the first 20, 30 minutes talking about that, talking about the cherubim. and that fifth cherubim, particularly, because I think it's very defining. And then we'll conclude with chapter 5 and go into chapter 6 and touch on chapter 8, verse 1. Any questions before we leave? We've talked about a lot. Yes, Ms. K? Yes. A list of the seven mysteries. Any other questions? Is anybody interested in the crown and those five crowns? We'll get on the crown. I'll get your crown. Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Yes. Okay. Trump is not trumpet. So separate the two. Two different words. Trump and trumpet are two different words. At the last trumpet. So again, it's that layered second coming. Okay? Give me your verse, give me your verse. Okay, I got where you are. Okay, hold on. 2 Thessalonians and we'll conclude on this. 2 Thessalonians 2. Resurrection is not a rapture. Rapture is what Elijah did. Body, gone. Body, bones, everything, as far as we know, but the blood can go. Okay? Now, resurrection is a resurrected body back on earth. When the rapture comes, we're not resurrected. Your body is... Let's go back. Let's address the first Corinthians and the Thessalonians. He says, the dead in Christ. What is happening in Thessalonica is these believers, new believers, and their friends that were believers or their family members have died. And it comes into question, what happened to them? Okay? What has happened to them? Now, the minute the church starts, I get the picture that the rapture could then happen any moment. Once the church starts, and things begin to become fulfilled in the church, and the church begins to do their purpose, the rapture can take place any time. So we are on borrowed time. We are a blessing. We are a gift. We are grace. So these people have begun the church, and they're like, OK, Jesus, why haven't you come back? Why haven't you come back? And he has it. And so Paul is comforting them by saying, those that have died, you do know where they are. But they're going, yeah, but their grave's right there. And then he begins to tell them about the rapture. One day, those in debt in Christ, their bodies will come up and meet their spirit with the Lord, and then we which are alive and remain will meet them. And we will be taken up. So that is the rapture. That is the picture of the rapture. Going into 2 Thessalonians, I'm going to start in verse... Well, let's start in verse 2. It says, "...that ye not be soon shaken..." He's talking to believers. Again, all this is new. And they're going, why haven't you come back, Lord? 2 Thessalonians 2, and it says, "...that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." Remember, we've already talked that day of Christ ultimately is His second coming, but it is layered. It is layered. Things have to happen before He ultimately comes second coming and lands on earth and begins His rule. It says, verse 3, "...let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come." It's not going to come yet. His second coming is not going to come. The concluding, all of it, Rapture, seven years, second coming, is not going to come until there is a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who is the Antichrist. I'm in verse 3. Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember, I'm in verse 5, remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things. Alright. So, you want to know about the falling away first. Okay? The falling away, we've talked about it, those believers that don't think they're believers, or this man, I'm going to allude to the man that witnessed to the man that supposedly became a believer, and 15 years later, he's totally denouncing it. That's a falling away. Now, there's going to be a falling away here, and there's probably a falling away here. The church is raptured, but there's people that are claiming to be believers in the Lord that aren't believers. And don't you think when the rapture takes them and it all makes sense to them, like, well, I didn't believe it anyway. That's a falling away. And then the son of perdition, the Antichrist, will reveal himself. Now, the big concept and the big thought is, is the Son of Perdition, is the Antichrist already on earth now? I have no idea. Would not surprise me, because a rapture could happen any moment. The minute the rapture opens, and you do know, and I'm going to jump ahead, the temple has to be built. There is a temple during the tribulation. The temple has not been built, but if you follow Jewish ministries, or if you've been over to Israel, they could build that temple in a day. They, I mean, they are ready. You have to have the temple. And then once the church is raptured, the son of perdition will reveal himself, the Antichrist. Tribulation is seven years. Three and a half years are quote unquote good, if that's possible. The second three and a half are called the Great Tribulation, capital T. All right, did that answer anything? Yes, I see a shake. Does that help? And every week we will build on that. Because honestly, that's why you're here. And please, keep in mind, once chapter 4 begins, the church isn't mentioned again. And you all said it. I didn't have to say it. God turns His focus. And remember that pause button He pushed on Israel? When they rejected Him, He's going to push play. And that's how it starts rolling. Yes? Mm hmm. Yes. Yes. I personally believe that you can allude to that, that there is the first fruits that Paul talks about, the harvest and the gleaming first fruit. Is that rapture there? Those Old Testament where you have to answer yourself or ask yourself, where are the Old Testament saints? And then how did they get there? Well, when you read in Matthew 27, verse 52, that's them. They're there and they're preaching. And then you have the harvest. We, as the church, are going to be the largest harvest there is for the Lord. And then gleanings. If you go back to Ruth, remember gleaning Ruth? She pretty much is picking up the crumbs at the outside of the field. Is that not the tribulation? There are not going to be more believers in the tribulation than non-believers. It is not going to happen, what they have to endure. And then we see, and all this to conclude, every the hell that they have to endure, there are still people in the tribulation that look at God and shake their fists. And that's amazing. But it does, it does. So, all that, we will talk about this, we will go back there, we'll go back over the rapture again, and we'll look at those cherubim. Any other things? We need to go, I know. Okay, thank you all.