Amen. We have so much to be thankful for. There was a young girl who asked me what the meaning of this picture here was. Were they bowing down to idols or is this praying to God? This is a picture of early Christians being killed basically for their faith under Nero. And they are praying to God and looking forward to going to heaven, is what that picture is about. So I just thought, just in case there's others wondering, we'll set that wondering aside. The reading, we've gotten to the next section, and that's actually the last paragraph of our introductory principles. And it's on page 16 of your bulletins, reading from the majority text. I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance in Christ Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and on account of the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard a voice behind me, loud as a trumpet, saying, Write what you see in a book, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Berkamas, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Amen. Father, we thank you for this, your Word. We pray that as we study it, that our lives would be conformed to it, that we would learn to worship you with everything that is in us in every circumstance. We commit this continued time of worship to you in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. I know some of you have been reading through the book of Revelation every week and trying to do so through the lens of the clues that we've been going through in these introductory verses. Well, we've come to a couple of new clues, three actually in verse 9. And in the process, this verse, I believe, gives us a healthy philosophy of life. John was a companion, or more literally, he was a fellow sharer in three things. Tribulation, kingdom, and endurance. And we're only going to look at the first of those three things, but they do belong together, and I want to emphasize that in this introduction. Unfortunately, there are many Christians who unhinge those three things, or they go to the opposite extreme and they try to embrace those three things without the strengthening power of the Lord Jesus Christ, which ends the clause. John was a sharer in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance, it says, in Christ Jesus. Okay, it was Christ's grace alone that could enable John to be a sharer with those churches and those three things. But back to the first extreme, There are many modern Christians who view the kingdom as something that completely excludes the ideas of tribulation or endurance. They think that they are mutually exclusive concepts. And furthermore, they see the kingdom as something that Christ exclusively does, not something that we do by God's grace. And they don't see Satan's current resistance to the kingdom. as being a resistance to the kingdom. The very fact that there is resistance is proof to them that we don't live during the time of the kingdom. But Beal's commentary on Revelation shows how the one Greek article, the, followed by three words, it's a special form of grammar, the three are in the dative. if you know Greek, shows that tribulation, kingdom, and endurance, they're all one unit of thought, and the first century saints were going through all three, and each word helps to interpret the other two. And even though it refers to the first century, by way of application, it gives us a general philosophy of life that extends even to our time. If you give up at the least resistance, you've got a faulty view of the kingdom. Resistance and persecution, they call for endurance. Now of course if Satan's not resisting you, it's very probable you're not resisting Satan. Okay, you're not resisting his kingdom. Those three words rise and fall together in terms of the themes of this book and I believe they must continue to define the believer. It's become very, very popular in some circles to believe that Christians will not go through the great tribulation, and that both tribulation and kingdom are future to us. And then thirdly, that endurance is optional. And it's not just the carnal Christian theory that holds to this viewpoint. That's very distinctive of dispensationalism. And they say that endurance and obedience and repentance, that's optional for the Christian. If you want to get rewards, yeah, you do that. You can get to heaven on a free ticket even though you're living like the devil and you're not enduring at all. But it's not just the carnal Christian theory that is messed up on this. They name it and claim it health and wealth prosperity gospel, which is really a false gospel. has also bought into this idea and it is made for a flabby Christianity that has had very little impact upon culture despite the fact that millions upon millions of dollars have been spent on various church programs. And I must say that the idea that Christians are exempt from going through tribulation is a weird American concept. There is no way you would get The believers who were in North Korea to come up with this idea, oh yeah, we're going to be raptured out of here, we're never going to go through tribulation. No, they have endured unbelievable tribulation, and you're not going to pawn off this idea of a pre-trib rapture upon people in the past who managed to survive some of the horrors of the Armenian genocide, or the genocide of the Kulaks in Russia, or the Ukrainians, or the Cambodians. They all have experienced the horrors of tribulation. Now granted it wasn't the great tribulation, but it was tribulation nonetheless. And so in contrast to modern American Christians who hold to a pre-trib rapture, and who believe that we are not in the kingdom yet, and who believe that there is no need to endure much of anything. John says that he is a companion, and the Greek is literally a sharer together. Same word for communion really, koinonia. He is a sharer together with them in three things. He shares with them in the tribulation, the kingdom, and the need to endure, and all through Christ Jesus. All through Christ Jesus. And today we're going to just focus on the first word, the Tribulation. Since John claims to be their companion in the Tribulation, we should expect that the churches have already been experiencing this Tribulation as well, and they have. I want you to look, for example, at Revelation 2, and verses 9 through 10. Jesus says, I know your works, tribulation, and literally it's the tribulation, and poverty, but you are rich, and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation 10 days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life so that church had already been experiencing some aspects of the tribulation and there's the Greek article there the tribulation but verse 10 says that they were going to have 10 days of it again And this trouble, probably torture, would lead to death. And it is one of many hints in this book that the Great Tribulation came in stages and was not experienced everywhere in the empire with equal severity. For example, if you flip over to the next chapter, Chapter 3, verse 10 says to the church of Philadelphia, because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which is about to come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. So there was at least one church that was spared from having to go through the tribulation. The regional governor decided not to carry out Nero's commands. But almost every other Christian experienced the tribulation. We saw last week that it was worst in Israel from 62 through 66 AD, but it was worst in most parts of the empire from 64 through 68 AD. According to the Roman historians, Nero engaged in arson in the city of Rome. He didn't like the ramshackle way the city was laid out. He had plans to make this a beautiful, concentric city so he was lighting arson fires all over the city ended up burning the city down and people knew it had to be Nero and when he started getting flack and there were riots and different things like that he started getting scared and his wife Jewish wife Papaya and other advisors urged him to pin the blame on Christians And so that's what they did. The Christians became the scapegoats and very, very intense persecution. I had already started earlier, but it really took off. So anyway, there is another reference to tribulation. Now, verse 22 speaks of great tribulation. And if you turn over to chapter 7 and verse 14, You will see that term again. Chapter 7, verse 14. Verse 9, first of all, speaks of a multitude which no man could number from all of the nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. And when John looks at them, one of the elders talks to John and says this. Well, let's begin reading at verse 13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, who are these arrayed in white robes and where did they come from? And I said to him, sir, you know. So he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So John and the seven churches had already experienced the Great Tribulation and it was about to heat up for some churches and within two years, within two years, a vast multitude of Christian Gentiles are predicted to be martyred in chapter 7. Well when you once realize that the Great Tribulation is not future to us, it was in the first century, there are a lot of other things like dominoes that fall into place or fall out of place depending on which perspective you take. But suddenly you realize that the all of the other connected things, the resurrection, the imminent coming of Christ and judgment, there's a whole bunch of things, first resurrection, coming of Christ and judgment, that fall and hang together. So it's a very huge key to understanding the book. So where do all mills, this is the first question I want to answer. Where do all mills and premills get the idea that the Great Tribulation is future to us? Well there are four main things that have led them to this conclusion and you can understand it when you're looking at it from their perspective. The first is that they have failed to distinguish between the Great Tribulation of 62 through 66 AD and that came only upon Christians. and the Great Wrath of 64 through, excuse me, 66 through 73 AD are the dates of the Great Wrath. And by the way, even some partial preterists have confused these two events, but they are quite distinct events, and because I spent so much time on it last week, I'm not going to continue with them. But that's the first error. They confuse the Great Tribulation with the Great Wrath. The second thing that they can get confused about is that 1 Thessalonians 5 verse 9, which is a very key verse in their theology, says that Christians are not appointed to wrath but to salvation. So if they think that God's wrath and the tribulation are the same thing, well it makes sense that they're not going to go through the tribulation. If they're not appointed to wrath, then they're not appointed to tribulation. So the first error, confusing the great tribulation with the great wrath, leads to the second error, that since Christians won't face God's wrath, they won't have to face tribulation. That's a wrong conclusion. And before we get to the third error, let me demonstrate that the second error is contradicted over and over again in the Bible. For example, 1 Thessalonians 3, verse 4, says, for in fact, we told you before when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation. There's no promise to escape from the tribulation. In fact, it was a guarantee that the church would suffer tribulation. In contrast, the church escaped from the great wrath of God that is listed in your outline. They didn't escape from tribulation, but they did escape from the great wrath. Early church fathers tell us that in obedience to Christ's command, and the church in Jerusalem saw Jerusalem being surrounded by Roman armies, just like Luke talked about, They did not go back down into their houses. They didn't go back down to their fields. They immediately took off and fled from the city. And remarkably, what happened at this time is that the Jewish unbelieving factions, they thought God was behind them. They ran out of the city. and attacked the Romans that were out there. And by some strange, remarkable providence of God, the Romans fled, and they were massacred. And this gave great hope to the insurgents of Jerusalem, and it made them think God is behind them, and they endured all the way through the war. but the Christians who were fleeing at exactly the same time that the others are running out of the city were not involved in that conflict instead they were able to flee through a split in the Mount of Olives which by the way you can see in maps even today if you take a a Google map and look down at it, you can see it. And they fled to the city through the Mount of Olives to a city called Pella, where they were protected for the duration of the war. So they were not appointed to wrath. God was not angry with those Christians. But they had clearly been experiencing intense tribulation at the hands of Jews since 62 AD and they had been experiencing general tribulation long before that. And the Greek term used in 1 Thessalonians 3 verse 4 is the term for nearness, mellow. Literally the text says, for in fact we told you before when we were with you that we are about to suffer tribulation. It was imminent when Paul was with the Thessalonians. And I've listed a bunch of scriptures in your outlines that show that Christians not only went through general tribulation, but they were guaranteed to go through the great tribulation. And I'm not going to do an in-depth study of the distinctions that I've listed for you in the outline there, but I think they're important at the end of that first major heading point. It's important to keep in mind there's a distinction between general tribulation that any Christian can go through, the great tribulation which only the first century saints went through sometimes called the tribulation and then the great wrath which was against the unbelieving ungodly Jews of the first century now doesn't mean that God doesn't have wrath against other nations he does but that first century fulfillment shows how God generally works So the first error, confusing wrath and tribulation, leads to the second error, that since Christians won't faith God's wrath, they won't face tribulation. But the third reason Amils and Premils believe the Great Tribulation has to be in the future, is that Jesus made this prediction in Matthew 24 verse 21. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake those days will be shortened. They think it just can't be true that the greatest tribulation that the world will ever see happened in the first century A.D. They think that just can't be true whether you think the tribulation involves Christians or Jews or Gentiles or all three mixed together. Surely the tribulation that Chinese Christians faced under Mao was a whole lot greater. Surely the tribulation Christians faced under Stalin was greater. How do I answer that? Well, to the Amillennialists, we would say that the phrase, nor ever shall be, you know, until this time, nor ever shall be, indicates that there is history after the tribulation, right? Whereas the Amillennialists say, that the Great Tribulation will be the last three and a half years of world history. There is no history after their views. That doesn't make any sense out of nor ever shall be. So the immediate context speaks against the Aumil view, but the context of the whole chapter speaks against any futurist view on the Great Tribulation. Let me just deal with their insistence that there is no historical evidence at the first century tribulation was greater than the tribulation faced by Christians in the last two centuries, say. And by the way, many people see the tribulation as not having to do with Christians at all. They see the tribulation as being strictly applied to the Jews, and so they will say, look, The tribulation that Jews went through in the first century, certainly it was great, but it couldn't possibly be as great as the tribulation that they went through under Hitler. Six million Jews being killed. That's their objection. Now once we get through this book, you will have no such illusion, but let me remind you of a quick hint that we've already given. Prior to the war Jews constituted 15% of the entire Roman population. Various historians have looked at the census figures 15% of the entire Roman population and after the war they were negligible. So even if you hold to the six million figure of number of Jews that died under Hitler, which the Red Cross, by the way, absolutely thought was impossible, impossible figure. But let's say that it is true. It appears that the Holocaust in the first century was still greater. The Bible Encyclopedia says the Jews were almost exterminated, unquote. The Jews were almost exterminated. And several other scholars have said the same thing. It was massive. And in fact, it wasn't just millions of Jews who died. Millions of other nationalities died throughout the empire during that seven-year period. So if you include the Jews, the Gentiles, and the Christians in the equation of the Great Tribulation, as many, many books do, It is a staggering picture of death and destruction. Now, as you know, I don't hold to that. I hold that the Great Tribulation was only against Christians. So the burden of proof on me is much more difficult than it would, say, be with David Chilton or with Kenneth Gentry, who kind of lump the two together. Was there really a greater number of Christians slain under Nero than under Islam or communism? And I have a number of points designed to answer the skeptics. First of all, Paul promised that the tribulation, the tribulation, was about to happen. The word mellow requires that it be first century. 2,000 years later is not about to happen, okay? So that automatically rules out their view that it's still future to us. Jesus promised that the great tribulation would happen before that generation then living would pass away in fact in the verse that deals with that great tribulation it says no greater than up to what this time nor ever shall be so again even there he's indicating that it's a first century concept so no matter what historical evidences are available or are not available those biblical statements should be sufficient But history makes it quite clear that multiplied millions of Christians were tortured in the most hideous ways and killed for their faith between the years 62 and 68 AD. B.H. Warmington examined the secular evidence of persecution of Christians in Rome, the city of Rome, for example, and he believed, quote, that almost the entire Christian community at Rome was destroyed. The Right Honorable Charles Kendall Bush expands this and says that Tacitus and Suetonius show that, quote, Christians were persecuted and almost exterminated by Nero. I mean, it's no wonder that chapter 7 says the number of martyrs from among the Gentile Christians was an innumerable multitude, more than any man could number. And it's no wonder that Jesus said that the Great Tribulation would have to be cut short or no one would survive. For the sake of the elect, he says, he's cutting it short. Otherwise, none of them would have survived. So it was massive. And Daniel prophesied that what would happen before 70 AD was exactly this tribulation, exactly the almost extermination of Christians. That's Daniel chapter 7. So everything about the kingdom before 70 AD was provisional on what Christ had done in his life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coronation. Just think of it like Joshua's conquest of Canaan. Forty years before he was given the land of Canaan, but he has to take the conquest of Canaan, possess his possessions. In the same way, Christ is given the kingdom at his ascension, but 40 years later, that's the beginning of the possessing of their possessions around the world. But it wasn't just the numbers of Christians that make this the greatest tribulation, it was how widespread this tribulation was. There was no nation in the known world that this tribulation did not extend to. Revelation speaks of a first century multitude of martyrs from all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. And of course Jesus had predicted that exactly this would happen within a generation of His death. Matthew 24 verse 9, Jesus says, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by what? By all nations for my name's sake. And even amillennialists, by the way, and most historic premillennialists say, verse 9 has to be first century. So there is something in first century, a tribulation that's extensive enough you could say all nations were engaged in it. But this brings us to the fourth reason that premills and omnils believe that tribulation is future to us. In fact, you can turn there if you want. It's Matthew 24. and verse 14 and following, make clear that the gospel had to go into all the world and be heard by every nation before the great tribulation could occur. And they say, look, Kaiser, the gospel hasn't even to this day gone to every tribe and nation. There's still many nations that have not heard the truth of the gospel, you know, primitive cultures. and tongues that are out there, and therefore the great tribulation still has to be future to us. Every nation has to hear the gospel before the tribulation can occur. And it's actually an interesting point. So look at Matthew 24, and we've already looked at the context last week of what the tribulation was all about, but I want you to notice their objection from verse 14. Verse 14 says, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. And it goes on to talk about the tribulation. They claim that the gospel was not preached in all of the world prior to 62 AD, so our interpretation of the imminency passages surely must be mistaken in some way. Or maybe there's a double fulfillment is what some people say. We still haven't had the gospel preached to all the nations. You see their argument? It's actually their best argument. This is a really good argument on their behalf, but I think it is quite easily disposed of. The first problem is that it still doesn't take seriously the imminency passages that are in every passage of the Old and the New Testaments that deal with this thing. It ties it to the first century. And I'm just going to read you one once again. It's verse 34. Well, I'll just remind you of it. Verse 34 of this passage says that everything, all these things he's just finished talking about in verses 4 through 33, all of these things had to happen before this generation passed away. okay that includes the gospel being preached in all the nations that had to happen before this generation could pass away in a generation is 40 years so it had to happen by 73 AD of course they have an answer and their answer is that this generation is not at all referring to the generation of Jesus He said, look at the context, they say, the generation that would be living when the fig tree of verse 32 starts blossoming. And premillennialists say that the fig tree is a symbol for Israel and it refers to Israel coming back into the land. So earlier, premills believed the fig tree was the Balfour Declaration that said to the Jews, we're making a land available for you, a state of Palestine that you can move into. And that was in 1917. Well, you count forward 40 years, 1957, when the tribulation hadn't happened yet. They thought, well maybe it's not the Balfour Declaration, maybe it's when Israel actually became a state in 1948, and thus the name of a book, 88 Reasons Why Christ Must Come Back in 1988. Well when that didn't happen, they thought, well maybe it's the Six Day War in Israel. But in 2007, 40 years after 1967, it came and went and they are beginning to realize this is really problematic to try to put it in the future. In any case, they're missing the point. The point is not that the fig tree symbolizes Israel here because the parallel, and Luke says this, look at the fig tree and all the trees. He's not just focusing on a fig tree. Look at the fig tree and all the trees. So he's using an analogy of any tree that buds. When it starts budding, you know that summer is going to be coming soon. So he says, look at those trees. When they're already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place. notice he says when you see these things happening what things the things he's been talking about in the previous verses he's not talking about Israel becoming a nation or Israel winning a six-day war that's not even mentioned in the all of it discourse he's talking about the earlier verses when you see the things predicted then know that it is near and All of those happened to a T in the first century. But more importantly, the phrase this generation never once in all of scripture refers to a future generation. And I can give you numerous scriptures that I've written down here that this generation refers to a generation that's talking about the generation that Jesus was living in when he spoke that phrase. So it's a twisting of language to put it off into the future. Okay, so that's the first. Argument that I would give second the word world or oikumene is defined by the dictionary as quote the world as Administrative unit the Roman Empire unquote and if you don't define it that way you get yourself into trouble with a number of scriptures like Luke chapter 2 verse 1 that says that Caesar Augustus taxed the whole world Oikoumene, same Greek word here. Well, unless you're willing to say that Caesar Augustus taxed North America and China, then you need to be fair and use the same approach to Matthew 24, not use one more extensively than you would use the other. You can't insist that it means the whole planet Earth in Matthew 24, 14. I'm not actually dogmatic on what the word means there. It probably refers to the Roman world, oikumene. But thirdly, I point out even if you were to take it as a reference to every nation in the whole globe, You still need to deal with the exegetical evidence and the historical evidence that by 70 AD the gospel had reached every nation in the whole world in some sense of the term. For example, Acts 2 verse 5 says about Pentecost, And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. Wow, that's pretty universal. Every nation under heaven? So even if you want to take Matthew 24 verse 14 literally, you would still have to say that it was fulfilled in the first century because men from every nation under heaven get converted. They have the gospel, right? Acts 2, 5, and numerous other scriptures say so. In fact, I'm going to actually have you turn with me because this is something that may be a bit skeptical of. But turn first of all to Colossians chapter 1 and verse 6. Now this verse uses the term cosmos which often does refer to the whole planet. Oikumene is only a reference to the Roman Empire. But cosmos often does apply to the whole planet even though it doesn't need to. And yet Paul claims that the gospel has gone to every part of the cosmos. And actually let me start reading at verse 5. because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, all the cosmos, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth." The gospel, he says, had already gone out to the whole world. Now take a look at verse 23, Colossians 1-23. If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister. Now the last clause probably should not be translated to every creature, probably should be as most versions have it, in, not to, it's the Greek word en, in the whole creation under heaven. But either way, it's incredibly universal terms. World and every part of creation under heaven. Now did that really happen? Well, there's a lot of historical evidence that it may indeed have happened. By 66 AD, the apostles and other Christians had brought Christianity to Europe, Russia, China, India, Africa, Asia, Britain, and a whole bunch of other countries. The ancient history books tell us that all of the Christians in some of those regions were completely wiped out in those days and the apostles themselves were martyred. So there's a sense in which even these nations that are outside of the Roman Empire were part of the Great Tribulation because it was exactly the same time period. And we need to understand it's not just Nero. This was a demonic, satanic attempt to wipe out Christianity completely in the first century. But anyway, it's astounding how far the gospel reached if we can believe the historians of the first few centuries. Now I want you to turn to Romans chapter 1 and take a look at verse 8. First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. The word used here is cosmos. It's often more universal than Roman Empire, and yet Paul says that news about the Roman church had gone throughout the whole world. Now however you interpret that, whether literally or non-literally, it is the same kind of universal language used in Matthew 24. And it shows that in Paul's mind, Matthew 24 verse 14 was already fulfilled when he wrote Romans. Look at Romans 10 and verse 18. Paul in this verse quotes a prophecy as proof that all the Gentiles had to hear the gospel before Israel would be judged. In other words, before the great wrath. And in that chapter, the judgment of Israel was very soon. But anyway, verse 18 says, but I say, have they not heard? Yes, indeed. Their sound has gone out to all the earth and their words to the ends of the world. Turn over to Romans 16. and verses 25 through 26. Now to him who was able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now made manifest and by the prophetic scriptures made known to all nations according to the commandment of the everlasting God for obedience to the faith. So we've seen that prior to the first century tribulation The gospel had already gone to all nations, to the whole oikumene, to the whole cosmos, and to all creation under heaven. Now with such universal language, I don't know how anyone can say that Matthew 24 verse 14 has not yet been fulfilled. Paul explicitly says that it has. So however you take the universal language, they fit together like hand and glove. Now, we've seen so far that it was the greatest tribulation of Christians ever because of the numbers involved. Secondly, because of the percentage of Christians that faced this tribulation, virtually all of them. Third, the fact that it extended to every nation of the known world. But fourthly, it was the greatest in terms of the widespread infliction of torture. Now, Christians have been tortured all through the centuries for their faith. but never on the grand scale that Nero took it to. I won't read you the most sickening and perverted ways in which these tortures by Nero happened. And as I mentioned before, it wasn't just Nero. He sent commands out everywhere, and it seems even beyond where his authority extended, it seems like Satan was doing his utmost to stamp out Christianity. But even the tame reports of the Roman historian Tacitus use words like exquisite tortures, extreme punishment, glut of cruelty that happened to virtually all which he describes as an immense multitude. That's tacitus. Some of what was described by the early historians is not fit to be spoken from the pulpit, but suffice it to say Nero was not satisfied. It was like he had a craving for more and more sadistic cruelty. He was constantly trying to come up with new and unusual ways of torturing and killing Christians. Some were torn apart by dogs and other animals. Others were tortured by fire. Others were covered with tar and put all over the place on his palace grounds and he would invite people to parties, orgies really, and he would light these Christians to illuminate the parties. They were candles, so to speak. The guy was sick. He was a demon-possessed man and none of the tortures after Nero can compare to the sadistic and twisted things that he did to multiplied millions who died under his hands. By the way, the demon that made Nero so beast-like must have been a very very horrible demon because God had confined him to the bottomless pit up until the beginning of this tribulation and he was confined to the pit cast back down into the pit after this great tribulation so it must have been a particularly vicious kind of a demon And if you didn't realize that there was a demon called the beast who came up and possessed Nero, read Revelation chapter 11 verse 7 and chapter 17 verse 8 because both passages talk about the beast that came up out of the bottomless pit. Well, what comes out of the bottomless pit? It's demons, right? It's not humans who come up out of the bottomless pit. And he was cast back into the bottomless pit when his work was done. And we'll look at that more when we get into chapter 11, chapter 17, and the whole issue of how do you deal with the demonic? How do you overcome Satan when there is demonic affliction against you? So any angle that you look at the tribulation, and let me list the nine angles we've covered so far. First of all, it's precursors. Second, its connection to the beginning of the kingdom. Third, its imminency. Fourth, the fact that John was experiencing the tribulation. Fifth, the seven churches were experiencing the great tribulation. Sixth, the extent of it in every nation. Seventh, the numbers of Christians. Eighth, the percentage of Christians who suffered. And the ninth, the external testimony to it. Every angle you might look at the Tribulation, it meets all the criteria, all of the definitions of every passage that deals with the Great Tribulation. It is not future. It is past. But because of the way that all of these 30 interpretive points that we've been looking at kind of hang together, and it's actually more than 30 because I've divided up some of them, but if the tribulation is passed, the first resurrection that we looked at last week is passed. Not the second resurrection, but the first. The imminency passages about Christ's coming and judgment are passed. The kingdom is started, which is the subject we'll look at next week. You settle firmly in your mind one of these and the other connected pieces, they fall in place. Now before I end the sermon, I want to emphasize that just because the greatest tribulation ever has already occurred does not mean that Christians are exempt from tribulation. It is critically important that we not buy into the health and wealth gospel that promises prosperity and healing and comfortable living to all who live by faith. I'm just blown away how many times that Rodney and Gary and I, without even talking with each other, our talks kind of mesh together. But this just ties in perfectly with Rodney's introduction. But Matthew 13, 21 says that if Christians are not prepared to face tribulation, it is likely that they will stumble. Okay, let me read that. Matthew 13, 21, Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. You will get disillusioned if you have the impression that believing in Jesus fixes all of your problems and removes any possibility of things going wrong. You know, when I was a teenager, there was a TV ad that Christians were putting out that was kind of a takeoff from the Pepsi ad. And it was saying about Christianity, try it, you'll like it. Okay, try it, you'll like it. Now, there's a certain element of truth to that statement, because in Christ, we do have joy, we do have satisfaction, but we also have tribulation, we have suffering. And it is simply false advertising to not tell those that you are witnessing to about the cost of discipleship. Jesus did it with everybody. He told them, you can't even be my disciple if you're not willing to pick up your cross and follow me. What does it mean to pick up your cross? It means that you're willing to die on my behalf. Certainly it means that you're willing to suffer on your behalf. And sometimes the greatest tribulation, which is a word that just means trouble, The greatest tribulation to new converts is fighting against the intense urgings of the flesh and defeating those urgings. Wow, can that be tough. It is a kind of tribulation. It is very troubling in the earlier stages until you finally gain mastery over them. If you are suffering right now, you have joined a worthy crowd of saints from the past who have suffered for Christ's sake. And it's important to be convinced that no one is absolutely exempt from tribulation and trouble. Paul assured the Thessalonians that all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, 2 Thessalonians 3.12. As long as Satan is not yet bound in the pit, and I don't think he's bound in the pit yet, as long as there's any demons around on this planet Earth, they're going to do everything that they can to destroy Christianity. And we're seeing exactly that as you see persecutions of Christians around the world. Now there is coming a time of peace when every demon, Satan and every demon, will be bound in the pit. But even then, you're still going to have your flesh to contend with. And in this book, all Christians are called to be overcomers and to endure. It occurs over and over again in this book. And that's the third thing that John shared with these saints, endurance. We'll look at it, Lord willing, next week. Take kingdom and endurance together because Your conception of the kingdom requires endurance. And if it doesn't, you've got a faulty view of the kingdom. And the same with tribulation. It requires endurance. But let's embrace God's call to pursue first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, even if it means suffering. God promises a crown of life to those who endure. In Revelation 2, verse 10, he says, do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer, Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life." But my final admonition is that you not try to endure in your own strength. Christ has promised to help you through it. The first full clause ends with the words, In Christ Jesus. We should not approach any of these subjects just in ourselves. It is only in Christ Jesus that we have the strength to face tribulation, to pursue the kingdom with all of our hearts, and to endure until we see the victory. And so make sure that even tribulation is approached from a firm dependence upon Jesus Christ. Our whole life must be lived by faith in Him and in His provision. May it be so, Lord Jesus. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word and the warnings that it gives. That it does not promise us all a happy-go-lucky life. That there are sorrows, there are griefs, there are troubles that Christians go through. And even during the millennium, there's going to be the sorrows of death. And there are going to be the sorrows of fighting against our flesh and seeking to gain the victory. And I pray that you would help each one here to be forearmed and realize that we are called to endure trouble, to endure difficulties, to endure tribulation. And Father, may they do so by your strength. May they constantly, daily, moment by moment, live in the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and be able to have Paul's testimony that it is not I, but Christ living through me that accomplishes our Christianity. May we not live our Christian life by what our own flesh could accomplish, but may we be more like the Sermon on the Mount, accomplishing things that it takes grace alone to be able to do. Help us, Father, to not minimize our Christianity and to not have a flabby Christianity, but vibrant in the power of Your Holy Spirit to be overcomers and to endure. We pray all of this in Jesus' name. Amen.