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Hello, I'm Shelly
Quinn and welcome again to
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Issues and Answers. Today
we are going to be talking
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about the apocalypse. What
does that word mean, apocalypse?
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Let me share a scripture with
you and it comes from Revelation
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1:1. Actually Revelation is
known as the apocalypse of the
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New Testament. This is
what the Bible says: This is the
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revelation of Jesus Christ. God
gave it to him to disclose and
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make known to his bond servants
certain things which must
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shortly and speedily come to
pass in their entirety and he
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sent and communicated it through
his angel, or his messenger,
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to his bond servant John. You
know what? When the Bible says
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this is the revelation, in the
Greek it is saying this is the
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apocalypse's of Jesus Christ and
we're going to find out what all
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of that means. I am so excited
to introduce our special guest
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for today and he is not a
stranger on 3ABN. Our special
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guest is James Rafferty and
James you are the director or
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co-director and speaker
for Light Bearers Ministry.
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That's right, Shelly, and
it's good to be here with you.
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Oh it is good to have you
here. Often when you're on 3ABN
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you've got your cohort Ty Gibson
We're just thrilled though to
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have you here today
to talk to us about this.
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Yeah, this is my favorite book,
the book of Revelation and the
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apocalypse describing the book
of Revelation is a term that's
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been misunderstood especially
in these last days. So I'm
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really excited about what
we're going to be studying here
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together. Well
let's just begin then and
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talk about what this word
apocalypse means. It seems when
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I'm talking to people out in the
community that most people have
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very different viewpoints
about the word apocalypse.
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Definitely, and the reason for
that is because if you go into
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the secular world and especially
just the basic understanding,
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the dictionary definition for
example of the word apocalypse
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what you're going to come up
with is a word that is defined
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as doom and gloom, foretelling
disaster, foretelling future
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events that are negative. And
there's no other definition for
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that word apocalypse that you
find in the secular world than
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one that is negative. And this
is in direct contrast with the
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verse that you referenced there
in Revelation 1:1. Not only that
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it's in direct contrast with the
Biblical definition of the word
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as well as the Biblical use
of the word. So I think for our
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audience sake what we need to
do is we need to go through and
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look at how the Bible not only
defines the word but uses the
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word in various
verses in the New Testament.
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That's wonderful. So how does
the dictionary define it. Do you
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have that dictionary definition?
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I do. The dictionary definition
of apocalypse: It's a warning
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about or predicting a disastrous
future outcome. It relates to
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events in the book of Revelation
in the Bible involving
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widespread destruction
and devastation or a total
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destruction or devastation of
something. An instance of this
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happening, or a revelation made
concerning the future. All of
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that when you read those
definitions, all of that seems
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to indicate, even the one that
points to the book of Revelation
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seems to indicate the negative,
the disastrous, the finality, if
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you will, the end of
the world type of thing.
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Destruction and it's an
overwhelming thing. Most people
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when they use that word
apocalypse, it's like this is
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the end of it all. But now what
does the Greek, how does the
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Greek define
the word apocalypse?
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In contrast to that dictionary
definition, and it's really
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interesting because you wonder
well how did you get to this,
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this contrast. In contrast to
that dictionary definition, the
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Bible actually reveals
this word to be an uncovering, a
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disclosure or revealing, if
you will. It's a very simple
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definition. There's not a
lot of negative in there. It's a
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manifestation, it's an appearing
The word apocalypse simply means
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to uncover, the revelation, to
uncover, to disclose, to show,
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to reveal. So there's nothing
negative. There's nothing doom
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and gloom about that
in its actual definition.
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So actually the book in
the Bible, the last book in the
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Bible that we know as
The Revelation to John is the
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apocalypse's, the unveiling
to John and this verse that I
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started with, this is the
apocalypse's, the revelation.
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His unveiling of the
divine mysteries of God.
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Absolutely. In fact it's the
revelation, the apocalypse of
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Jesus Christ. Now we know just
from that verse that it does
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involve end-time events, it does
involve pictures or visions of
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future events that some of them
will be dramatic and will be
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disastrous but to isolate that
word to mean only that is to
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take it out of the context of
it's Biblical definition. It is
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the revelation, first and
foremost, of Jesus Christ, not
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just a revelation from Jesus but
a revelation of Jesus. Now we're
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going to see this, this might
be a little controversial, but
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we're going to see this as
we look at the word as it's used
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throughout the
Bible, the New Testament.
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So really when this verse begins
right here in chapter one of
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Revelation, there is a blessing
pronounced on anyone who reads.
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In verse 3, it says: Blessed is
the man who reads aloud the word
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of this prophecy. And it's
because this prophecy is an
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unveiling of God's truth. There
are warnings in it, there is an
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explanation of what we can
expect not only to the churches
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of that time but what the
churches in the history of
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the church age can expect to
happen. So it is a blessing to
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understand what Revelation means
and it is the unveiling of the
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divine mysteries of God. James,
do you remember and I don't know
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if you're old enough to remember
but I believe... First of all
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growing up in the church in
which I grew up we were told
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not to read Revelation. The
denomination that I grew up,
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was reared, in told us you
cannot understand it. Do not
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read this book. And I remember
when I first read through the
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Bible for myself and I read
Revelation and I got to verse
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three saying blessed are you if
you read this and I'm thinking
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why was I told not to. But I
remember, can't remember how old
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I was but there was a very
popular movie that came out some
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time after the Viet Nam war and
it was called Apocalypse Now.
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And I confess that when
the word apocalypse was used I
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associated it with something
incredibly negative, but when I
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started studying the Bible and
particularly looking up words
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in Greek and referring to that
I found out that's not at all
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what God's word was saying when
it talks about the apocalypse.
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No, in fact, even though
when you look at the book of
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Revelation you do see a lot of
the end-time events that seem to
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be disastrous, the main theme
of the book of Revelation is not
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that at all. Yes. The main theme
of the book of Revelation is
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Jesus Christ. And it's
interesting because when you get
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away from that theme you are
not only going to find things
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that are negative taking place
in relation to end-time events
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but even as a Christian, as you
admitted, even as a Christian
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you're going to be afraid
of this book. This book, unless
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it's saturated with that
theme of Jesus Christ, unless it
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becomes a revelation of Jesus
Christ will not be a blessing.
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It will be a curse. My wife was
raised in a Christian home and
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she remembers, she can still
pinpoint, her first nightmares
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and they began when she was
introduced to an evangelistic
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series that was talking about
and moving through the book of
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Revelation with a focus on end-
time events without the focus on
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Jesus Christ. Oh,
Amen. And what other books
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would you consider apocalyptic
literature in the Bible?
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Well, New Testament specifically
you've got Revelation and then
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you've got one chapter in
Matthew 24, one chapter in Mark
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13 and one chapter in Luke,
Luke 21. And then Daniel, the
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book of Daniel is highly
apocalyptic. In fact, many
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scholars have called Daniel
a twin book with the book of
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Revelation. But those two should
be studied together and I think
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it's going to be significant for
us to look at the book of Daniel
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along with the book of
Revelation as we look at this or
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understand this
word apocalypse's.
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This is something that I don't
want to keep us too long here
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but I will say until I
understood that apocalyptic
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literature is very symbolic
in nature, it was not until I
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started studying the book of
Daniel and when I found out that
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was the key that unlocked the
symbols in Revelation, that's
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when understanding began.
Well let's look at some of the
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scriptures in the Bible that
use this world apocalypse's.
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Okay, Luke chapter 2 and verse
32 and that one is really simple
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really short. It's talking here
about Christ and it says that he
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will be a light to lighten the
gentiles and the glory of thy
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people Israel. Now that
word lighten is the same word
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apocalypse's. It is the same
word that is used in Revelation,
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apocalypse. And so here we have
the word lighten and for those
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who don't know how to study the
Bible I just want to put in a
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little tidbit here because I
think it's so important for us
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to be able to study scripture
for ourselves. You get a good
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Strong's Concordance or a good
Young's Concordance and you go
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out and look up these words
and I like to recommend the King
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James Bible for study purposes
because every word is there.
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It's exhaustive with the
Strong's. You look up the word
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apocalypse in that concordance.
It's A to Z so apocalypse would
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be right in the beginning of
the concordance and you run it
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across once you hit Revelation
1:1 to a number and that number
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is going to be in this instance
602. You take that number back
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to the Greek dictionary which is
in the back of the concordance
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and when you get there you'll
find the original word and how
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to pronounce it and then you'll
find a definition, apocalypse
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disclosure, uncovering, etc.
and then you're going to find as
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you follow this number through
the concordance, you're going to
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find all the different verses,
all the different places, that
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this word is used in the Old or
New Testament, well specifically
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in the New Testament with 602.
The Old Testament will have a
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different number. Then you'll
find all these different verses
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and it will really enhance how
you understand this word. So if
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our listeners have a
good computer, Bible program,
00:11:29.18\00:11:35.19
it's the easiest way to do
it. I mean you can download that
00:11:35.23\00:11:38.06
software for free and you just
click on the word, it'll give
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you the number, you click on the
number, it'll give you all the
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different verses it's used in.
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Then you can do a quick study.
OK, this word means this. How is
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it used? Once you go to the
Bible and find out how the word
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is used then you have a firm
foundation for understanding
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Biblically what this word means.
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And so here the word apocalypse
is a light to lighten,
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apocalypse, it's the unveiling
and it's like Psalm 119:130 says
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The entrance of his word brings
light. This was why Jesus was
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coming to be a glory,
that shining glory of God.
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Very positive use of the
word here. Very important. Now
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Romans 2 verse 5 is another
verse where this word is used.
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This one is balanced, you know,
with the good and the bad but
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it's really good too. Paul here
is speaking to Jews primarily
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and talking about them hardening
their hearts, he says, but after
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they hardness and impenitent
heart treasures up unto yourself
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wrath against the day of
wrath and the revelation of the
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righteous judgment of God. Now
this word revelation, of course,
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you can see it right there.
It's the same word apocalypse's.
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It's the same word that's used
in Revelation 1 verse 1. The
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revelation of the righteous
judgment of God. So again even
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though the context of this
is talking about the judgment of
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God the primary use of the word
is to reveal, to disclose, to
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uncover something. And
we have to remember too that
00:13:03.11\00:13:05.81
judgment isn't always...
most people think of the word
00:13:05.84\00:13:09.11
judgment in a negative
connotation but you know we see
00:13:09.15\00:13:12.35
clearly in Daniel that judgment
is pronounced on behalf of the
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people of God. So judgment can
be a good thing. I used to fear
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that word so much, James, and
then when I studied that out and
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thought wow. See this is
one of those words that I did go
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through and look up and thought
it's wonderful that I don't have
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to fear the judgment.
00:13:31.16\00:13:32.33
Yeah, the judgment is made in
our behalf. That's a very, very
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important study. Romans 8:19
says the earnest expectation of
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the creature waits for the
manifestation of the sons of God
00:13:40.61\00:13:44.93
Now the word manifestation here
is the same word in Revelation
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602. The revelation of the sons
of God. That's a very positive
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thing that we're talking
about here in Romans chapter 8.
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The apocalypse's again.
The revelation of the sons of
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of God. Here's a another one:
Romans 16:25: Now to him that
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has the power to establish you
according to my gospel and the
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preaching of Jesus Christ
according to the revelation
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of the mystery which was kept
secret since the world began.
00:14:10.28\00:14:14.11
This is all about the gospel,
this is all about Jesus Christ.
00:14:14.14\00:14:17.91
This is all about the mystery
which has been kept secret since
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the world began, the mystery
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
00:14:21.42\00:14:24.84
And it's talking about a
revelation being made of this
00:14:24.87\00:14:27.71
gospel. Very
positive use of the word.
00:14:27.74\00:14:30.28
The apocalypse of the unveiling
of this mystery of Jesus Christ.
00:14:30.32\00:14:35.29
That's beautiful. And
see this verse I think ties
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in powerfully with the book of
Revelation and really gives us
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some footing as we move into the
book of Revelation to understand
00:14:42.36\00:14:45.91
what the focus of Revelation
really is. The next one here is
00:14:45.94\00:14:49.80
from 1 Corinthians 1 verse
7: Paul is speaking here to the
00:14:49.83\00:14:53.62
church in Corinth and he doesn't
want them to come behind in any
00:14:53.66\00:14:56.65
gift waiting for the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, or the
00:14:56.69\00:15:00.18
revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ which is a very positive
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thing, because this world is
full of sin and suffering and
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pain. The revelation of Jesus is
going to bring that to an end.
00:15:06.06\00:15:09.03
And that revelation he wants
them to have, not just at his
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coming but now, have Christ
revealed to us, have Christ
00:15:13.63\00:15:18.10
unfolded to us even now so the
pain and suffering and sin in
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our lives today presently can be
alleviated by an understanding
00:15:21.83\00:15:25.46
and a focus on Jesus.
00:15:25.49\00:15:26.72
So the world coming here is
apocalypse's in the Greek and so
00:15:26.76\00:15:31.53
now we're seeing that it can be
lighten, this is for apocalypse,
00:15:31.57\00:15:36.55
I mean the apocalypse. To
lighten, to reveal, to manifest,
00:15:36.58\00:15:41.44
and for the coming of Jesus
Christ, the light of the world.
00:15:41.47\00:15:45.45
Something we really want. It's
something that ties in with that
00:15:45.48\00:15:49.43
verse that you read in
Revelation 1:3, the blessing;
00:15:49.46\00:15:51.90
blessed are those that see,
blessed are those that receive,
00:15:51.94\00:15:56.12
blessed are those that have the
apocalypse, the coming of Jesus
00:15:56.15\00:16:00.16
Christ. Amen. Galatians 1 verse
12 is the next one: Paul says
00:16:00.20\00:16:04.18
here that the church in
Galatia, for I neither received
00:16:04.21\00:16:07.28
it of man, that is a revelation,
neither was I taught it but by
00:16:07.32\00:16:11.19
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Paul here is talking about the
00:16:11.23\00:16:15.07
gospel. There's a lot of
conflict taking place in the
00:16:15.10\00:16:17.33
church in Galatia. There's a
legalism that is springing up
00:16:17.37\00:16:20.23
among the Jewish converts.
It's very difficult for them to
00:16:20.27\00:16:23.10
embrace fully the gospel
of Jesus Christ and Paul is
00:16:23.13\00:16:26.65
contending with this legalism.
He's saying listen, my gospel
00:16:26.69\00:16:29.67
that I preach, that God gave
to me, didn't come from man, it
00:16:29.71\00:16:33.50
came directly as a revelation,
same word, apocalypse's, a
00:16:33.53\00:16:37.29
revelation from Jesus Christ.
00:16:37.32\00:16:38.55
And so when Jesus got Paul's
attention on the Damascus road
00:16:38.59\00:16:45.04
he not only revealed himself,
the apocalypse, of Jesus to Paul
00:16:45.08\00:16:50.99
on the Damascus road and he told
him, I manifested myself to you,
00:16:51.03\00:16:56.91
I'm shining my light into your
darkness. Now I'm sending you
00:16:56.94\00:17:01.29
out to open blind eyes, to turn
them from darkness to light,
00:17:01.33\00:17:06.17
from the power of Satan to me.
So again we see apocalypse is a
00:17:06.20\00:17:11.01
beautiful unveiling, a
manifestation of the life and
00:17:11.04\00:17:15.10
the truth of
Jesus Christ to Paul.
00:17:15.13\00:17:17.37
That's a really good connection,
Shelly. In this verse we're
00:17:17.41\00:17:20.40
connected all the way back
to road, the Damascus road, and
00:17:20.43\00:17:24.06
what did Paul see? He saw Jesus.
It's the revelation of Jesus.
00:17:24.10\00:17:27.75
Take that same picture that same
Biblical definition into the
00:17:27.78\00:17:30.91
book of Revelation and we're
going to see that same picture
00:17:30.94\00:17:35.40
unfolding there as we move into
that book. Galatians 2 verse 2:
00:17:35.44\00:17:39.87
I went up by revelation
and communicated unto them that
00:17:39.90\00:17:43.58
gospel which I preached among
the gentiles but privately to
00:17:43.61\00:17:47.08
them which were of reputation
lest by any means I should run
00:17:47.11\00:17:51.82
or had run in vain. Paul here
is speaking of his desire to
00:17:51.85\00:17:57.01
communicate to the brethren the
gospel that he had been shown
00:17:57.04\00:18:01.15
by Jesus. He wanted to make
sure that he was affirmed by the
00:18:01.19\00:18:04.55
church, that they were in
harmony, he was in harmony with
00:18:04.59\00:18:08.10
the church. He had a rough
background, he was a persecutor
00:18:08.14\00:18:11.62
of the church and so
immediately before he engaged
00:18:11.65\00:18:15.19
fully in the work that God
had given him directly, God had
00:18:15.23\00:18:18.49
communicated him directly, he
went to the brethren and shared
00:18:18.52\00:18:21.75
with them what God had shown
him, the revelation God had
00:18:21.78\00:18:23.92
given him which was
the revelation of Jesus.
00:18:23.95\00:18:25.75
So he went to them and said this
is the apocalypse. He appeared
00:18:25.79\00:18:30.92
to me, he changed my life, he
converted me. I was the worst of
00:18:30.95\00:18:36.05
sinners, out persecuting
the church but the apocalypse of
00:18:36.08\00:18:40.13
Jesus Christ when I saw him for
who he was and I understood his
00:18:40.17\00:18:43.67
truth, I'm a converted man and
this is what he taught me and
00:18:43.71\00:18:46.85
I'm here to prove to you that
I'm no longer a persecutor, I'm
00:18:46.89\00:18:51.27
no longer the one... See isn't
it true that, it just hit me and
00:18:51.30\00:18:55.94
I don't know if I can articulate
this, James. When we don't see
00:18:55.97\00:19:00.86
Jesus in revelation, the book of
Revelation, then our minds are
00:19:00.90\00:19:06.54
clouded and we don't see that,
we become persecutors of the
00:19:06.58\00:19:12.19
truth. Absolutely. OK.
00:19:12.22\00:19:13.97
Without Christ, see Paul was a
persecutor of the truth without
00:19:14.01\00:19:17.72
Christ. Once he saw Christ then
he became a preacher of that
00:19:17.76\00:19:21.30
truth. Amen. And that is why
Satan hates this word and that
00:19:21.34\00:19:25.07
we would understand this word
Biblically. This is one of his
00:19:25.11\00:19:28.34
devices in the end of time so
that we will misunderstand the
00:19:28.37\00:19:31.57
entire focus of apocalypse.
Because apocalypse as it's
00:19:31.60\00:19:35.53
defined in the Bible, apocalypse
changes lives and changes hearts
00:19:35.57\00:19:39.98
Apocalypse converts people.
Apocalypse is revelation and
00:19:40.01\00:19:44.13
revelation primarily of Jesus
Christ and Satan doesn't want
00:19:44.16\00:19:47.37
that revelation. He doesn't
want people to gain the blessing
00:19:47.40\00:19:50.59
that's pronounced in Revelation
1 verse 3. He does not want any
00:19:50.62\00:19:53.89
of us to see Jesus for who
he really is. He loves for us to
00:19:53.93\00:19:57.13
focus on end-time events, on the
things that are going to happen
00:19:57.17\00:19:59.92
without Christ being in the
picture because he knows that
00:19:59.95\00:20:03.40
it will either scare us or it
will drive us totally into this
00:20:03.43\00:20:06.85
extremism that we see among
many Christian denominations
00:20:06.88\00:20:11.26
today, just focusing on these
events and wars and calamities
00:20:11.30\00:20:15.51
etc., and not really seeing
Jesus in all of it and what the
00:20:15.55\00:20:19.73
gospel means in the
context of all of that.
00:20:19.76\00:20:21.63
You know something, James, I
was just thinking as you were
00:20:21.67\00:20:23.64
talking that when the Lord first
called me to full time ministry
00:20:23.68\00:20:27.01
one of the things I did, he
had me sit down and I was going
00:20:27.04\00:20:30.49
through the Bible with, trying
to take off the blinders and
00:20:30.52\00:20:34.35
what I thought I understood,
I found, contrary to the way I'd
00:20:34.39\00:20:39.52
been taught that Jesus Christ is
on every page of the Bible from
00:20:39.56\00:20:44.66
Genesis to Revelation. If you
study, looking for Jesus, you
00:20:44.69\00:20:48.84
will see Jesus, the apocalypse,
the unveiling of Jesus Christ
00:20:48.88\00:20:53.00
throughout the Bible. And
without that understanding I
00:20:53.03\00:20:56.59
think that's who so many people
misinterpret the different books
00:20:56.63\00:21:01.73
of the Bible.
00:21:01.76\00:21:02.79
Absolutely. In fact the
very study we're going through,
00:21:02.82\00:21:05.21
Shelly, was amazing to me. I
mean when I began to study this
00:21:05.25\00:21:09.38
word through the scriptures, I
was expecting to find oh a Bible
00:21:09.41\00:21:13.63
verse here and there and maybe
a few verses that were positive
00:21:13.66\00:21:17.85
and a few verses that
were focused on prophecy as a
00:21:17.88\00:21:20.56
negative destructive, doom and
gloom type of thing and I was
00:21:20.60\00:21:23.63
overwhelmed with the amount of
evidence that I found here and
00:21:23.66\00:21:26.13
we're skipping through a lot of
these verses. We're not reading
00:21:26.17\00:21:28.84
them all, but I was overwhelmed
with the amount of verses that
00:21:28.88\00:21:31.80
I found here that were all
focused on Christ, on the gospel
00:21:31.84\00:21:35.29
on the manifestation of who he
is, on how he impacted the lives
00:21:35.33\00:21:38.75
of people like Paul who had
turned against the gospel but
00:21:38.78\00:21:42.49
were now converted through a
revelation of Jesus to preach
00:21:42.52\00:21:46.11
the gospel. I was amazed at what
the focus of this word really
00:21:46.15\00:21:49.57
was. I thought to myself, you
know, we've got to share this
00:21:49.60\00:21:53.44
with the world because people
need to see that this word has
00:21:53.48\00:21:57.80
been kidnapped, this word has
been distorted and that the true
00:21:57.84\00:22:02.13
meaning of this word is
something that is vital for us
00:22:02.16\00:22:05.01
especially in the end
of time to understand.
00:22:05.04\00:22:08.10
Because Satan would have us
fear quote, unquote, apocalyptic
00:22:08.14\00:22:12.07
literature because we're looking
at it as something that is all
00:22:12.11\00:22:17.16
doom and gloom rather than
as the Bible is presenting it as
00:22:17.19\00:22:22.17
this is the manifestation of the
truth of God, the revealing, the
00:22:22.21\00:22:26.34
unveiling and these are the
beauties of the divine mysteries
00:22:26.37\00:22:31.26
of God. Absolutely.
In fact, let me just
00:22:31.29\00:22:33.40
add one more thought. Not only
so, but when you misunderstand
00:22:33.44\00:22:37.34
or interpret the word itself
then you will take that word as
00:22:37.38\00:22:41.18
a magnifying glass or as a
way through which you will view
00:22:41.22\00:22:44.90
scripture. So what happens is
instead of viewing prophecy in
00:22:44.93\00:22:48.64
the context of Christ, we start
viewing prophecy in the context
00:22:48.68\00:22:52.49
of doom and gloom and antichrist
So much so that we will actually
00:22:52.52\00:22:56.30
take scripture that points
to Jesus and apply it to the
00:22:56.33\00:22:59.87
antichrist.
Twisting scripture to our own
00:22:59.90\00:23:03.14
destruction as Peter says.
00:23:03.17\00:23:04.34
This is exactly what has
happened in the context of
00:23:04.38\00:23:08.19
Daniel and Revelation. A lot of
scripture that points to Jesus
00:23:08.23\00:23:11.28
and we might get a chance to
look at this a little bit, has
00:23:11.31\00:23:14.36
been taken now to point to the
antichrist rather than pointing
00:23:14.40\00:23:17.96
to Jesus Christ. Because we've
defined the revelation as a
00:23:18.00\00:23:21.59
revelation of the destructor
and the one who destroys, the
00:23:21.62\00:23:25.18
antichrist, etc., and so
therefore, when we look at
00:23:25.21\00:23:28.25
Revelation, we're looking for
the antichrist and we're more
00:23:28.29\00:23:31.31
inclined to interpret the verses
as applying to him rather than
00:23:31.35\00:23:34.34
to Jesus Christ. Well
we need that spiritual
00:23:34.37\00:23:37.85
eye salve, we need the lens
through which we are focusing
00:23:37.89\00:23:40.83
and studying the Bible needs to
be the Holy Spirit and not what
00:23:40.87\00:23:44.10
Satan is trying to give us as
a description. Exactly, Exactly.
00:23:44.14\00:23:47.34
OK, let's go on. The
more of these verses we look
00:23:47.37\00:23:49.07
at the better. Ephesians 1
verse That the God of our Lord
00:23:49.11\00:23:54.50
Jesus Christ, the Father of
glory, may give unto you the
00:23:54.53\00:23:58.58
spirit of wisdom and revelation
in the knowledge of him.
00:23:58.62\00:24:02.64
The spirit of apocalypse.
00:24:02.67\00:24:04.85
Yes. And the wisdom and
revelation, the wisdom of
00:24:04.89\00:24:09.59
apocalypse. And notice the
context again in verse 17 of
00:24:09.63\00:24:12.84
Ephesians 1: In the knowledge of
him. The word revelation is used
00:24:12.88\00:24:16.82
in the context of having
a knowledge of him and not a
00:24:16.85\00:24:20.01
knowledge of the antichrist or
a knowledge of the doom and the
00:24:20.05\00:24:22.69
gloom and the destruction but
the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
00:24:22.72\00:24:26.50
Ephesians 3:3: How that by
revelation he made know unto me
00:24:26.53\00:24:30.24
the mystery; and again this is
talking about the mystery of God
00:24:30.28\00:24:33.41
it's talking about the gospel
of Jesus Christ and it comes to
00:24:33.45\00:24:36.55
Paul by revelation, by
apocalypse, apocalypse's.
00:24:36.58\00:24:40.61
So we see this word as very
positive. God is communicating
00:24:40.65\00:24:44.11
through Paul that this is what
we need. We need to be given
00:24:44.14\00:24:47.57
the spirit of wisdom
and revelation, apocalypse.
00:24:47.60\00:24:49.96
We need to understand apocalypse
in the context of understanding
00:24:50.00\00:24:54.48
the gospel of Jesus
Christ. The next one here is in
00:24:54.51\00:24:57.90
2 Thessalonians 1 verse 7:
And to you who are troubled rest
00:24:57.94\00:25:02.06
with us when the Lord Jesus
shall be revealed from heaven
00:25:02.09\00:25:06.07
with his mighty angles. Now
this word revealed again is the
00:25:06.10\00:25:10.14
apocalypse and here's where we
find the balance. I believe that
00:25:10.17\00:25:14.41
that word does have a balance.
It's not all positive but for
00:25:14.44\00:25:18.45
everyone because when Jesus
returns God's people are told to
00:25:18.48\00:25:22.11
lift up their heads, their
redemption draws nigh, and say
00:25:22.15\00:25:25.32
Lo this is our God, we have
waited for him, he will save us.
00:25:25.36\00:25:28.63
In the context of the Bible you
also find that there are going
00:25:28.67\00:25:31.91
to be a number of people,
Revelation 6:17, for example,
00:25:31.94\00:25:36.41
tells us, verses 15-17, who
will run for the rocks and the
00:25:36.44\00:25:40.21
mountains and say fall on us
and hide us from the face of him
00:25:40.25\00:25:43.99
that sits on the
throne and from the Lamb.
00:25:44.02\00:25:45.55
Because they know they're
going to be destroyed by the
00:25:45.59\00:25:47.68
brightness of his coming. This
purity, they can't stand in the
00:25:47.72\00:25:50.84
presence of God. And
they have been conditioned
00:25:50.87\00:25:53.88
for that by refusing to see the
revelation of Jesus Christ right
00:25:53.92\00:25:58.85
now. We prepare to stand in
his presence at his coming by
00:25:58.88\00:26:02.87
opening his word now and getting
glimpses of that brightness and
00:26:02.91\00:26:06.67
of that glory right now. It is
when that glory manifests itself
00:26:06.70\00:26:10.89
in the small glimpses that
we see through the Bible that we
00:26:10.92\00:26:14.68
prepare ourselves. It's kind of
like someone who's in darkness
00:26:14.72\00:26:18.10
and I go through this on a daily
basis. You know, you wake up in
00:26:18.14\00:26:21.41
the morning and everything's
dark. You open the curtains, the
00:26:21.45\00:26:24.69
light comes in and your
eyes kind of have to adjust and
00:26:24.72\00:26:27.40
squint and it's the same way...
Now I don't know about you but
00:26:27.44\00:26:30.11
there are times when I wake up
late and when I wake up late the
00:26:30.15\00:26:32.79
light's already coming through
the curtains. My eyes have
00:26:32.82\00:26:35.41
already half adjusted to it, so
getting the rest of the light in
00:26:35.45\00:26:39.86
there is not a big deal. My eyes
are half adjusted. But when I
00:26:39.90\00:26:44.28
wake out of darkness and I
go into light there is a major
00:26:44.31\00:26:48.14
contrast taking place there.
God wants us to adjust to that
00:26:48.18\00:26:51.94
light gradually through his word
so that when Jesus does finally
00:26:51.98\00:26:54.90
appear we can look and behold
his glory without wanting to
00:26:54.93\00:26:58.53
hide in the darkness of
the rocks and the mountains.
00:27:00.63\00:27:01.66
We've got about 40 seconds left.
Let's get a couple more of these
00:27:01.69\00:27:03.71
scriptures. OK. 1
Peter chapter 1 verse 13,
00:27:03.74\00:27:06.54
a really good one here:
Wherefore gird up the loins of
00:27:06.58\00:27:09.07
your minds, be sober and hope
to the end for the grace that
00:27:09.11\00:27:12.42
is to be brought unto you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
00:27:12.46\00:27:15.87
Grace is connected with the
disclosure or the revelation
00:27:15.91\00:27:19.29
of Jesus Christ.
Powerful verse right there.
00:27:19.32\00:27:23.17
So we are out of time.
But we see that there are two
00:27:23.21\00:27:26.79
revelations. There's a
revelation of destruction
00:27:26.82\00:27:30.33
and a revelation of Jesus Christ
and the devil has captured this
00:27:30.37\00:27:34.41
word. You've got to come back.
We've got to do some more of
00:27:34.44\00:27:37.17
this. Yes, Yes.
Let's see where this
00:27:37.20\00:27:38.37
leads us as we study more into
prophecy in relation to this
00:27:38.41\00:27:41.51
definition. Thank you
so much for being with
00:27:41.54\00:27:43.36
us today, James. And for those
of you at home, I hope you'll
00:27:43.40\00:27:46.86
see that the apocalypse is the
unveiling of God's truth. It's a
00:27:46.89\00:27:50.32
word not to fear. Now may
the Lord richly bless you and
00:27:50.35\00:27:54.20
multiply his mercy,
love and grace to you.
00:27:54.23\00:27:56.18