Participants: Lawrence Dorsey
Series Code: UR
Program Code: UR000001
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00:59 Hello and welcome to a very, very special series of
01:02 presentations by my friend, our friend, pastor, and evangelist 01:07 Lawrence S. Dorsey. 01:10 We are coming to you live from the Ambassador Seventh-day 01:14 Adventist Church in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. 01:17 And the pastor of this very beautiful facility is 01:20 Pastor Henoc Paulicin, an old buddy of mine, colleague from 01:24 the northeast, both made his way down to the south, 01:27 and wanted to give us words of greeting. 01:29 Thank you, Pastor, for allowing us to come to your 01:31 very beautiful church. 01:32 Thank you very much, Pastor Murray, and I want to extend the 01:36 gracious greetings of the Ambassador Church to the 3ABN 01:41 family watching throughout the world. 01:43 We are located in lovely Lauderdale Lakes, and we hope 01:46 that if you ever come to Lauderdale Lakes 01:49 that you would come and pay us a visit. 01:51 I know that we have friends from Kenya, and Brazil, 01:54 and South America who've let me know that they are listening. 01:59 So if you're watching, we want to wish you our greetings. 02:02 We want you to prepare to join us each and every evening 02:07 at this time for what we know are going to be a powerful 02:10 series of meetings as the man of God preaches 02:14 from the Word of God. 02:15 We're not bringing you out here for fables, or for fun, 02:18 or for fancy, but to know and understand the Word of God 02:21 as we prepare for the second coming of our Lord 02:24 and Savior, Jesus Christ. 02:25 And so bring your Bibles, bring a spirit of praise. 02:28 Join us each and every evening. 02:30 God will be here, and we want you to be with us also. 02:34 God bless you! 02:56 God is my Shepherd, I shall not want. 03:07 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. 03:18 He leadeth me beside the still waters. 03:27 Oh He restoreth my soul, He restoreth my soul, 03:35 He restoreth my soul, He restoreth my soul, 03:52 He leadeth me beside the still waters, 04:00 for His names sake. 04:09 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 04:24 I will fear no evil for thou art with me. 04:29 Thy rod and thy staff they do comfort me, 04:34 they do comfort me, they do comfort me, 04:40 they do comfort me, they do comfort me. 04:55 He prepareth a table before me, in the presence of my enemies, 05:15 He anointeth my head with oil, my cup just runneth over. 05:35 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, 05:55 and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever and ever, 06:03 forever and ever, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord 06:11 forever and ever, forever and ever. 06:16 And I shall dwell the house of the Lord forever and ever, 06:23 forever and ever. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord 06:31 forever and ever, forever and ever, Amen, Amen, Amen. 06:46 Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen. 07:54 Can we give our young people a hearty Amen? Amen! 07:57 And that should be the desire of all of us to be able to see 08:02 ourselves by faith dwelling in the courts of heaven forever, 08:07 and ever, and ever. Amen! 08:09 We welcome you all here today, those of you who are here live, 08:12 and those of you who are listening at home. 08:15 And I want you to know that this two week series that we will 08:20 have through the eyes of John, will be a series where we will 08:25 have an opportunity to look a the book of Revelation through 08:30 John's special eyes. 08:31 John was the disciple that Jesus loved, and the love that He had 08:36 for Jesus was one that allowed Him to be transformed by 08:41 the Spirit of the living God, to become more like Christ 08:46 than any of the other disciples. 08:48 And he alone was used to give not only an epistle that he has 08:55 as the fourth synoptic gospel, but he was also left to give 09:00 the book of Revelation to you and I today. 09:03 So without any further ado let us ask the Lord's presence 09:07 on our meeting tonight, and as we study God's Word. 09:11 Loving Father, again we are thankful for Your goodness 09:13 and mercy towards us, and we ask that as we open the Word 09:17 tonight that You will enlighten, and encourage, and most of all 09:21 empower us with its words. 09:23 Let Your will be done, and as we leave this place, Lord Jesus, 09:28 let our hearts be thrilled with the light of the love of the 09:33 gospel of Jesus Christ is our prayer in Jesus' name, Amen. 09:38 Through the Eyes of John. 09:40 This series gives us an opportunity to open up one of 09:45 the most mysterious, most misunderstood, 09:49 and most misinterpreted books of the Bible. 09:52 You see some people say that the book of Revelation is a book 09:55 too hard to comprehend. 09:57 Some people say that the book of Revelation is a closed book, 10:01 or it is sealed, and that because of all of the symbols 10:05 literal and those symbols that are prophetic, 10:08 that people really can't understand 10:11 the true meaning of it. 10:13 But friends I dare to differ today. 10:16 The reason being first of all because the name of the book 10:21 is The Revelation of Jesus Christ to Saint John. 10:26 That word Revelation means a act of disclosing. 10:31 In other words it's something there that has to be revealed. 10:35 It is an act of revealing, an opening up of something that 10:41 you didn't know before. 10:43 So when we look at this and we see the book of Revelation, 10:46 and a book of disclosure, a book of revealing, it has to be 10:51 there for you and I to be understood. 10:53 I mean, truly, when we look at our Bibles and we see Amos 3:7 11:00 it tells us, Surely the Lord God will do nothing but He reveals 11:04 His secrets unto His servants the prophets. 11:07 So if He gave this book to us, if He gave it to us with all of 11:13 the spectacular way in which He revealed it to John, 11:16 and we will get into that as we continue, 11:18 it has got to be there for a reason. 11:22 When we look at our Bibles in Romans 15:4 it tells us, 11:27 whatsoever things were written aforetime, 11:36 So if God didn't want us to have it He wouldn't 11:38 have given it to us. 11:39 And when we look at the name of it, 11:41 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, it's telling us it's an 11:45 unveiling, or an opening up of something for our eyes, 11:50 our minds, that Jesus has given to us for this day and time. 11:54 If you would turn with me to the first chapter of Revelation, 11:57 Revelation 1:1-3, it reads thusly: 12:18 So, first of all, in this first verse, chapter 1, Revelation 1, 12:22 it says, God gave it to Him, to Jesus, to show His servant, 12:27 so it can't be something that secret. 12:29 He's showing it to us. 12:31 He continues to say, the things which must shortly come to pass 12:35 and He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John, 12:46 Now when I look at verse 3, I know the book of Revelation is 12:50 something for us to read and understand, 12:52 and to cherish for it says: 13:03 So not only did God give it to us, He has proclaimed the triple 13:08 blessing as we read, hear, and do the things that are 13:12 are in the book of Revelation. 13:13 Somebody ought to say Amen to that my friends. Amen! 13:16 For we are truly opening it. 13:18 We are reading it. 13:19 And by God's grace, we will keep the things 13:21 in the book of Revelation because the time is at hand. 13:26 You see Revelation was given as a part of the Bible, 13:29 and we need to understand this as the secret key 13:32 of understanding the Revelation. 13:34 The Revelation is as much a part of the Bible as Genesis, 13:40 is as much a part of the Bible as the Psalms. 13:44 It's as much a part of the Bible as any other book 13:49 in the New Testament. 13:50 When you look at the Revelation closely you will find that 13:54 there are 505 direct, or indirect, quotations from 39 14:00 of the other 65 book of the Bible. 14:03 Now I know there are 66, but I'm taking Revelation out, 14:06 so those of you who are sitting at home with your calculators 14:08 trying to criticize, make sure you get it right. Amen? 14:12 Okay, so out of the 66 books 39 quotations, 39 books have 14:20 received, or given, 505 direct or indirect quotations 14:26 to the Revelation. 14:27 I heard one teacher saying, when I was at Oakwood, that all the 14:31 books in the Bible end and meet in Revelation. 14:34 You see, when you look at the entire Bible, we find that Jesus 14:38 is revealed in the Old Testament and its prophecies. 14:42 When we look at the gospels we see Jesus in His early life. 14:46 We see Him in His ministry. 14:47 We see Him in His suffering. 14:48 We see Him in His humiliation. 14:50 We see Him in His death. 14:51 We see Him in His resurrection. 14:53 And praise God, we see He has given us words of prophecy 14:57 to let us know when He is coming. 14:59 When we look at the book of the Acts and the epistles, 15:02 we see the early working of the church moved by the power 15:07 of the Holy Spirit. 15:08 And we see that ministry that was given to the church in its 15:13 early days to take the gospel into the whole world. 15:16 You know, I love where the Bible tells us that they turned 15:19 the world upside down. 15:20 And truly we need to turn the world upside down 15:23 for our Jesus Christ so we can go home. 15:26 But when we come to the Revelation, ladies and 15:29 gentlemen, we see something very different. 15:32 Not only 505 direct or indirect quotations from other portions 15:38 of the scripture, but we see Jesus as 15:41 the Alpha and the Omega. 15:42 We see Jesus as the beginning and the end. 15:45 We see Jesus as the resurrection and the life. 15:48 Somewhere He is called the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. 15:52 When we look at the book of Revelation we see Him, 15:55 and this is one of my favorite titles for Jesus, 15:57 we see Him as King of kings, and Lord of lords. Amen! 16:02 A famous Bible writer, Roy Allen Anderson in his book entitled, 16:07 The Unfolding of the Revelation, he says that Jesus has upon 16:11 His head a crown, seven crowns in one, with number 7 being 16:15 the number of completeness. 16:16 And with Jesus being King of kings and Lord of lords, 16:20 He has a crown that has seven parts to it. 16:23 And he said in his book, Unfolding the Revelation, 16:26 that He is the King of the Jews, which is racial. 16:29 He's the King of Israel, which is national. 16:33 He's the King of the righteous, which is spiritual. 16:35 King of the Ages, which is historical. 16:39 King of the Saints, which is ecclesiastical. 16:42 King of Heaven, which is celestial. 16:45 And King of Glory, which is supernatural. 16:48 And all I can say to all of that is Amen, because He is all 16:52 of that and more. Amen! 16:54 But, folks, in the book of Revelation there's something 16:56 else that we see that Jesus has a title that is given to Him 16:59 and He has called it 28 times throughout the whole book, 17:03 and altogether 29 times in the New Testament. 17:07 And that is the title that He has received 17:11 as the Lamb, the Lamb of God. 17:15 When John the Baptist saw Him standing on the shores 17:18 of Jordan, he was moved by inspiration and said, 17:22 Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away 17:25 the sins of the world. 17:26 And then we heard the Father's voice say, This is My beloved 17:29 Son in whom I am well pleased. 17:32 It was an affirmation of His ministry. 17:35 It was an affirmation of who He is, and who He was, 17:39 and who He shall ever be. 17:41 When we look at Jesus in the Revelation as the Lamb 17:44 28 times, each time He is called the Lamb. 17:49 I mean this is something that we will see as we continue 17:51 in these two weeks together. 17:52 Each time we see Him called the Lamb, it has to do with our 17:57 personal salvation. 17:59 You see, when you look at Revelation 7:14 it tells us that 18:04 we shall wash our robes in the blood of the Lamb, 18:09 and they shall be made white. 18:11 When we look in Revelation 7:17 it says that the Lamb, 18:17 who is in the midst of them shall feed us. 18:19 In other words, He will take care of His children. 18:22 When we look at Revelation 12:11 it tells us that they overcame 18:28 him, and that's the enemy, Satan himself, that deceiver, 18:31 that liar who has walked up and down planet Earth causing 18:34 all this pain and destruction, and sorrow, 18:37 and heartbreak and sickness. 18:38 He is the one who is the author of lies, and because of him, 18:42 because he is the author of lies and sin, 18:44 he is the author of death. 18:46 And it says, ladies and gentlemen, that we shall 18:48 overcome this foe, this adversary, this individual who 18:53 was once standing in front of God, this individual who 18:57 was destined to die, when Jesus says in Matthew 25:41, 19:01 who hell was made for. 19:03 It says, We shall overcome him by the blood of the Lamb. Amen! 19:08 Then, Ladies and Gentlemen, this sweet text, Revelation 14:4, 19:13 it tells us when we get to glory and we are free from the sin 19:16 of this world, when we are free from aging, and sickness, 19:20 and pain, and death. 19:21 When we are free from temptation and disillusionment, 19:24 and disappointment. 19:25 When all of those things pass away; when we are on the 19:28 earth made new, ladies and gentlemen, it says in Revelation 19:31 14:4 that we shall follow the Lamb wheresoever He goes. 19:35 In other words, wherever Jesus goes throughout His great 19:40 universe, after we have been redeemed from the planet Earth, 19:44 and we have come back here, and it has been restored 19:46 as the very center of Heaven, and the book of Revelation 19:50 tells us that, that we will go with Jesus, 19:54 those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. 19:57 Wherever Jesus goes we will go with Him as His trophies that 20:01 people might see through all of the unfallen worlds, 20:05 that we are the ones who made a sacrifice, 20:08 and we were faithful, and we were true, and He saved us by 20:12 the blood of the Lamb. 20:13 And He will show us off to all the universe. Amen! 20:18 Wherever Jesus goes we will be there with Him. 20:22 And ladies and gentlemen, there's one other thing, 20:24 and like I said, there are 28 different things about the Lamb, 20:28 but this one here is one that's very important. 20:31 It says in Revelation 21:27, that because of the Lamb, 20:37 we are able to have our names placed in the 20:40 Lamb's book of life. Amen! 20:42 And if your name is in the Lamb's book of life, ladies 20:45 and gentlemen, we will be able to walk through the 20:47 gates of the city of God. 20:49 It is our passport because Jesus put our names in His Lamb's 20:56 book of life, and it has been sealed in Heaven, 20:59 therefore sealed for eternity. Amen! 21:03 All in the book of Revelation. 21:06 When I think of that just these things that have excited us 21:10 to just hear, and there's so much more in the book, 21:14 it lets me know in my heart that I am right 21:18 and what the Bible says. 21:19 It is a revelation in unfolding, and unveiling for you and I, 21:23 to know that we should not be afraid of the 21:26 book of Revelation, but that we should go to it, 21:29 and with a prayerful heart, and spirit we should study it, 21:32 and ask God to give us wisdom and understanding that it might 21:38 help us in these last days, for we read in verse 3 of chapter 1 21:42 of the book of Revelation that these things are here for us 21:46 because the time is at hand. 21:49 And folks, the time at hand is the time of the end. Amen! 21:55 We look around the world today and we see 21:57 it's the time of the end. 21:59 There's wars and rumors of wars, there's floods, 22:03 and there's famines, there's pestilence. 22:05 We've seen man's inhumanity to man, which makes it so we look 22:10 at the texts of scripture where it tells us that there's 22:13 wickedness in the hearts of men continually. 22:16 We see things happening in nature. 22:19 Ladies and gentlemen, things that are even unexplained 22:22 as we are on the air today. 22:25 Birds by the thousands falling out of the sky! 22:28 Fish turning up dead. 22:31 We see all of these things happening around us, 22:33 and these, ladies and gentlemen, as it says in Matthew 24:8, 22:37 they are nothing more but the beginning of sorrows. 22:41 But Jesus tells us not to be afraid. 22:43 Just endure until the end. 22:46 And if we hold on to the end, by God's grace, we shall be saved. 22:52 Amen! I look at the book of Revelation and I see it has 22:57 to be something that we have to understand. 23:00 It is something there that we really need. 23:04 You see, in verse 1 it says, the Revelation of Jesus Christ 23:08 which God gave to Him to show unto His servants. 23:14 Ladies and gentlemen, are you a servant of the living God? Amen! 23:19 Are you really His child? 23:21 Is that your opinion or does it have the authority of the Word 23:25 of God to tell you you are truly His son or daughter? 23:30 If you would turn with me to the book of Romans, 23:33 Romans chapter 6, Romans chapter 6. 23:36 There's a little test that you and I can take to see if we are 23:40 really servants of the living God. 23:43 Excuse me! It says: 24:03 In other words, if we say we're a servant of the living God, 24:06 ladies and gentlemen, then we will obey Him. Amen! 24:10 Fear God and keep His commandments, 24:12 for this is the whole duty of man, Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14. 24:18 For these are the things, ladies and gentlemen, 24:20 that will be taken into account of in the very judgment of God, 24:24 that the book of Revelation tells us has already begun 24:29 in Revelation 14:7. 24:32 It says, Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour 24:37 of His judgment is come, not coming, is come. Yes! 24:42 So when we look at these things, ladies and gentlemen, 24:44 when we read them, and we see that it says something like, 24:48 the judgment of God has come, we need to know when 24:51 it takes place, or when did it start? and what does it entail? 24:55 When we continue with this study here night after night, 24:59 we will see exactly, by the Word of God, 25:01 especially the book of Revelation, and the other books 25:05 of the Bible, where the judgment is right now in our time, 25:10 for we are living in the last days, and Jesus is soon to come. 25:14 Ladies and gentlemen, the judgment must already have 25:17 started because when Jesus comes every case is already decided. 25:23 Amen! I look at my Bible and I read this about being a servant. 25:30 You see, ladies and gentlemen, a servant of the living God 25:34 must obey His will, to do what He says. 25:38 We can't come with our own interpretation. 25:41 We can't do what we feel like doing. 25:45 When we look throughout the scriptures, we see that the 25:49 Bible is not there left to us to decide what we want to 25:54 believe, and what we don't want to believe. 25:56 You turn in your Bible to 2 Peter 1, 2 Peter 1, 26:02 and it says something here for us. 26:03 It says, we have also: 26:32 And I want to emphasize that. 26:33 The book of Revelation is a book that is often misunderstood 26:38 and misinterpreted. 26:40 When we look at what the Bible says, it says, no prophecy of 26:47 the scripture is of any private interpretation. 26:50 You see, the secret of understanding the book of 26:53 Revelation is in knowing that the Bible is its own expositor. 26:59 We don't have to go somewhere else to find out what the Bible 27:05 is saying; the Bible will tell you what it's saying. Amen! 27:10 It says here, Knowing this first that no prophecy 27:14 of the scripture is of any private interpretation, 27:17 for the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man, 27:21 but holy men of God spake as they were moved 27:25 by the Holy Ghost. 27:26 In other words, what we need for our salvation, and if you go 27:29 back to that text that we looked at, Romans 15:4, 27:33 For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written 27:37 for our learning, that we through patience, and comfort 27:40 of the scriptures, might have hope. 27:41 When we apply that to Revelation and any portion of the Bible, 27:46 the things that we need for our salvation, they're right here. 27:51 It's right here. That we might, 1. We might have what we need, 27:58 through patience, and comfort of the scripture. 28:01 Patience is the ability to endure without complaining. 28:04 In other words, when we see all of these things happening around 28:07 us, don't fret, don't get nervous, be patient. 28:11 That means learn to wait on the Lord without complaining. Amen! 28:16 And it says, with the comfort of the scriptures know that these 28:21 words in this book did not come from men, but Holy men of God 28:26 spake as they were moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. 28:29 In other words, there's supernatural power here, 28:31 available to you and I, that we can access 28:36 that can motivate us, that can keep us by having a faith in 28:40 Him who is in charge of all things. 28:43 Because faith is the substance of things hoped for, 28:45 the evidence of things not seen. 28:47 So when we look at this, ladies and gentlemen, and we see these 28:51 precious words of scripture, and we understand that they 28:55 are there for our learning, it lets us know that we have a sure 29:00 hope in the Word of God. 29:02 If we have the Word of God, Jesus Himself says, It's firmer 29:06 than the very ground we stand on. Amen! 29:10 Turn with me to 2 Peter 3, 2 Peter 3, looking at verses... 29:23 I'm sorry, 2 Timothy, 2 Timothy 3:15, 16. It says: 29:41 And we just talked about that faith. 29:42 Now verse 16. It says: 29:57 That the man or woman, or boy and girl of God may be perfect 30:02 thoroughly furnished into all good works. 30:05 So when I look at that, ladies and gentlemen, it tells me 30:08 that when I want to deal with Bible doctrines, I have to come 30:13 to the book. I can't come with my own interpretation. 30:17 I can't go by what a preacher says, or some other person says, 30:21 or some so-called authority. 30:23 I have to let scripture define scripture. 30:27 Here a little, there a little, precept upon precept, 30:31 line upon line, and as I do that with a prayerful spirit 30:34 the living God, whom we serve, ladies and gentlemen, 30:38 who has died and has died to save us, and who has been 30:42 resurrected again, will send His Holy Spirit to give us 30:46 the discernment we need, ladies and gentlemen, 30:49 that we can make it to glory. Amen! 30:52 And when we look at these things, and we see and hear, 30:56 in this special book, the book of Revelation, it lets you and I 31:00 know that God really cares about us. 31:03 You see, in the book of Revelation, it explains some 31:08 things that we really don't understand. 31:10 If you would turn with me to Revelation 12, Revelation 12, 31:15 it tells us that even before our world came into existence 31:21 there was a sin problem, a sin problem. 31:24 In the book of Revelation it tells us about it, 31:27 Turn with me to Revelation 12 beginning with verse 7. 31:42 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called 31:46 the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. 31:49 He was cast out into the earth, and his angels 31:52 were cast out with him. 31:54 Ladies and gentlemen, the book of Revelation gives us a 31:57 clear-cut view of what took place in glory before our world 32:02 came into existence. 32:04 So when I look at what we're going through here, 32:08 this great controversy, we are in the middle, if you please, 32:15 but I thank God we're not left to ourselves, because the Lamb 32:20 of God, that Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, 28 times in the book of 32:24 Revelation He is called the Lamb. 32:26 He is the One that has stood up for us. 32:28 He is the One that fights the enemy for us. 32:32 He is the One that gave up His life that we might have life, 32:35 and He is the One that will see us through. Amen! 32:39 You see, in the same book of Revelation, I know somebody 32:42 is going to make it. 32:43 I know someone's going to make it. 32:45 And that's why you have to have faith. 32:47 And you turn to Revelation 15, Revelation 15, 32:50 looking at verse 2. 32:52 I want you to read these things, and I want you to place 32:55 yourself in this picture. John says: 33:27 In other words, he saw, ladies and gentlemen, those individuals 33:32 who not only got victory, as it says here, over the beast, 33:36 over his image, and the mark, and over the number of his name, 33:39 but individuals who got over personal sin in their lives. 33:45 That's every one of us, ladies and gentlemen. 33:47 Because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. 33:50 But because of the Lamb, because of the Lamb, because of His 33:56 caring, because of His love, because of His dedication, 34:00 because of the relationship with His Father, For God so loved 34:03 the world that He gave His only begotten Son, 34:06 that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 34:09 but have everlasting life. 34:10 It tells us in the book of Paul, talking in Corinthians, he says, 34:14 God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself. Amen! 34:20 You see, Jesus came here to do three things: 34:24 1. He came to reveal to us the character of His Father. 34:29 He showed us by action that God is love. 34:34 He proved that. Who else would do what He did 34:39 unless he loved us? 34:40 He Himself says, greater love hath no man than this, 34:44 that a man lay down his life for his friends. 34:46 And He laid down His life for us, ladies and gentlemen, 34:50 and even when we were enemies, when we didn't know Him, 34:54 when we didn't care about Him. 34:57 Even in our relationships today those individuals who have had 35:00 a relationship with Christ, we have backslidden, and we have 35:04 embarrassed Him, and we have betrayed Him. 35:06 But His love will not let us go. 35:08 Thank God for that! Amen! 35:09 He still reaches out to us every single day. 35:13 It's because of the Lord's mercies that 35:15 we are not consumed. 35:17 They are new every morning. 35:19 Great is His faithfulness to us. 35:23 So when we see Jesus as this Lamb of God who has promised us, 35:28 and when we see this scene in chapter 15, beginning with 35:32 verse 2, in the book of Revelation, where the Saints are 35:36 standing before the very throne of God, you and I must have the 35:40 faith to say when you read these verses you see yourself there. 35:48 You have to see it. 35:49 Without faith it's impossible to please Him. 35:53 Him that cometh to God must believe that He is, and He is a 35:58 rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6. 36:03 By faith the Christian sees him or herself in possession of the 36:08 things that have been promised to you. 36:11 And, folks, Jesus has promised us a crown. Amen! 36:15 He's promised us eternal life! Amen! 36:18 He's promised us a mansion in glory. 36:21 It's here in the book of Revelation. 36:23 There is no deeper, or greater description of what heaven 36:27 looks like except you find it in the book of Revelation. 36:31 Revelation 21:1. And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: 36:35 for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; 36:38 and there was no more sea. 36:39 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from 36:42 God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 36:46 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, 36:48 the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with 36:51 them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall 36:54 be with them, and be their God. 36:56 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; 37:02 and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, 37:05 nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former 37:08 things are passed away. Amen! 37:12 That's in Revelation. 37:14 That's not sealed. 37:16 It's in Revelation. 37:18 It's open for us to think about. 37:21 It's open for us to contemplate. 37:24 It's open to us to pray for, ladies and gentlemen. 37:28 It's open for us to know that we must do the things that God has 37:32 asked us to do because we are His servants. 37:35 I look at Revelation 22, Revelation 22, and to me this 37:40 is one of my favorite texts, Revelation 22:14. 37:44 It says, Blessed are they that do His commandments. 37:49 In other words, you have to be a servant. 37:50 If you do it: Blessed are they that do His commandments, 37:55 that they may have right to the tree of life, 37:58 and may enter in through the gates into the city. 38:01 Ladies and gentlemen, in the book of Revelation it shows the 38:04 Saints of the living God going through the gates of the city 38:08 because they have been obedient to the love of Jesus Christ, 38:12 and they follow His commandments. 38:14 Jesus says in John 14:15, If you love me, keep my commandments. 38:19 If you love Him you'll keep His commandments. 38:21 If you keep them in spirit and truth, ladies and gentlemen, 38:24 that means the motive from your heart is based on love. 38:28 It says you can go through the gates. 38:31 Amen! It's in the book! 38:35 The book of Revelation shows the city made of gold. 38:40 It tells us of jasper walls 216 feet high, transparent that you 38:45 might see through the glittering delights of heaven. 38:49 It tells us the river of life rolls through there. 38:52 And not only that, it says the tree of life is there 38:55 in the midst of the city. 38:56 And it says that it will bear twelve manner 38:59 of fruit every month that will be there for the 39:01 Saints of the living God. 39:03 Oh ladies and gentlemen, I want to go. 39:05 It is not a sealed book. 39:07 It is not a closed book. 39:09 But it is one that we should internalize, 39:11 we should look at, and study, and pray about that we might 39:15 understand all the things in it so we can be ready 39:19 to meet our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen! 39:23 The book is a book of books. 39:27 It is a book that allows, ladies and gentlemen, not only do we 39:32 see how the conflict started in heaven, not only does it show 39:36 the tree of life, and the river of life, but it also shows the 39:40 animosity that the evil one has for you and for me. 39:44 For when we read Revelation 12: 17, and this is very important, 39:49 especially in these last days, because it gives us a specific 39:53 idea of the spirit and attitude that is against us 39:58 in these last days. 40:00 For it says in Revelation 12:17, And the dragon,... 40:05 That's Satan... was wroth... That means angry. 40:08 with the woman... That is symbolic of the church. 40:11 ...and went to make what? war! 40:14 ...went to make war... 40:15 Now war is not a play thing. 40:17 War is till the death, to conquer, to overpower. 40:23 It says here that the dragon, Satan himself, was angry with 40:27 the woman and went to make war with the 40:29 remnant of her seed. 40:32 Those, ladies and gentlemen, are the people who 40:34 are living in the last days. 40:35 And guess what, that's us! Amen! 40:38 Satan is angry with us. 40:42 He's angry tonight because we're studying the Word of God; 40:45 especially this book. 40:47 One Bible writer says when the book of Revelation and Daniel 40:50 are studied it brings revival and reformation in its wake. 40:55 In other words, it opens us up that we might see the events 40:59 that are taking place around us, ladies and gentlemen, 41:03 that we might know where the Bible has us in prophecy, 41:07 and in time, that we might be ready for the very second coming 41:11 of Jesus Christ. Amen! 41:13 It snaps open our eyes, and our minds that we might see the 41:17 spiritual things that we need, that we might be prepared 41:20 for the conflicts and tribulation of earth's 41:23 last days of history. 41:24 It says, and the dragon was wroth with the woman 41:27 and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, 41:30 which keep the commandments of God, and have the 41:32 testimony of Jesus Christ. 41:34 Again, we see God's commandments in here, 41:36 in the midst of Revelation. 41:38 You see, Jesus has given us not only a revelation 41:44 of the Father, but He has given to you and I, 41:49 ladies and gentlemen, a spirit of reconciliation that we might 41:59 do the things God needs us to do as we are 42:04 reconciled back to Him, which keep the commandments of God 42:10 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 42:15 And Revelation 19:10, ladies and gentlemen, tells us that the 42:21 testimony of Jesus Christ is the spirit of prophecy. 42:25 And when you look at prophecy in the Bible, all the prophecies 42:31 that take place, they end and meet in the book of Revelation, 42:36 and they are there for you and for me. 42:40 I believe as we study night after night this magnificent 42:47 book we will have questions answered. 42:50 We will see the things that are happening around us, 42:54 and put them in their proper place that we might know 42:59 Jesus is not only coming soon, but He is even at the door. 43:05 I challenge you to cherish your Bible. 43:11 Love it, read it, and with a spirit of prayerfulness and 43:17 humility let it open unto you the light for this 43:26 time on planet earth. Amen! 43:45 Give me the Bible star of gladness gleaming, 43:54 to cheer the wonderer, lone and tempest tossed. 44:02 No storm can hide that peaceful radiance beaming, 44:10 since Jesus came to seek and save the lost. 44:18 Give me the Bible, holy message shining, 44:26 thy light shall guide me in the narrow way. 44:35 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 44:43 till night shall vanish in eternal day. 44:52 Give me the Bible, holy message shining, 45:00 thy light shall guide me in the narrow way. 45:08 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 45:16 till night shall vanish in eternal day. 45:41 Friends, how many of you want to have a closer 45:43 walk with Jesus Christ? 45:44 How many of you want to be able to understand the Bible 45:48 with a better way? 45:49 I'd like for you to just stand at this time 45:52 if that's your desire, that you would like to have a closer 45:55 walk with Jesus, and to be able to study the Word 45:59 of the living God. 46:00 You see, when I look throughout its pages there's so many 46:03 promises that are there for us that will allow us 46:07 to realize we are somebody. 46:09 We are very special. 46:11 If you look at 1 Peter friends, 1 Peter 2:9 it tells us that we 46:18 are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 46:22 and a peculiar people. 46:24 That we should show forth the praises of Him who has called 46:27 us out of darkness into His marvelous light. 46:31 Ladies and gentlemen, isn't that sweet? 46:33 He says, Which in times past were not a people; 46:36 but now are the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, 46:40 but now have obtained mercy. 46:43 In other words, the Lord Himself knows we weren't always perfect. 46:47 And we know it, too. 46:48 Come on, say Amen. Amen! 46:50 But because of the mercy of God, because of His love, 46:53 because of the cross of Calvary, ladies and gentlemen, 46:57 He take us in our imperfection and He says to His Father, 47:02 They are My children now. 47:04 These are My sons and daughters. 47:06 I will transform them by My sweet Holy Spirit, 47:09 by the renewing of their minds, and they are mine. 47:13 And when He says that about us, ladies and gentlemen, 47:16 it comes with not only the authority of heaven saying 47:19 that we belong to Him, but He says He will be with us 47:22 through thick and thin. 47:24 He'll be with us through the storm. 47:26 He'll be with us through the river. 47:27 He'll be with us through the fire. 47:29 Why? because He's God, and He's our Savior, 47:33 and He's our Lord, and He wants to see us face to face in glory. 47:37 And He desires of us to have a spirit of sharing. 47:42 And ladies and gentlemen, if you would just turn, 47:43 and even as you're standing, if you would turn with me 47:46 to the book of Corinthians 2, Corinthians 2. 47:51 2 Corinthians 4, I'm sorry, and read these words, 47:57 what He has given to us, His very special children. 48:00 He says, Therefore, seeing we have this ministry, 48:03 as we have received mercy, we faint not; 48:06 But we have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, 48:09 not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God 48:12 deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the truth, 48:16 commending ourselves to every man's conscience 48:19 in the sight of God. 48:20 It says, if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: 48:25 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them 48:30 which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel 48:33 of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. 48:38 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; 48:42 and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. 48:47 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, 48:51 hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge 48:55 of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 48:59 Friends, can you say Amen to that? Amen! 49:02 A commission that God has given to you, and to me, 49:06 to let our light shine for Jesus Christ. 49:09 And if it's your desire today not only to stand to your feet 49:14 for Jesus Christ, but to come down here, just now, 49:17 as Sister Dorsey just comes back and continues to sing that song. 49:20 Bringing your Bibles, coming down as we consecrate ourselves 49:24 to Him, as we go through this series. 49:26 Just come on down wherever you are to have a special prayer 49:30 for the power of the living God to infuse us with His Spirit 49:37 that when we study His book, you and I will one day be able 49:42 to walk on the sea of glass, because we have been faithful. 49:45 Just come on forward now as we have prayer. 49:48 Just now, men, women, boys, and girls, come on down. 49:54 Let's sing it if we know it. 49:55 Precept and promise law and love combining, till night shall... 50:06 Let's sing it like we believe it. 50:08 ...vanish in eternal day. 50:11 Give me the Bible. 50:12 Give me the... Hold your Bible up! 50:15 ...the Bible holy message shining. 50:20 Hold your Bible up! 50:21 Thy light shall guide me in the narrow way. 50:29 Precept and promise, law and love combining, 50:37 till night shall vanish in eternal day. 50:47 Shall we pray? Loving Father in heaven, we are so thankful 50:51 tonight that we can come out and to worship unmolested 50:57 in Your house of worship. 50:59 We pray, dear Lord, that as we open the book of Revelation 51:04 along with the other books of the Bible, we will find in it, 51:09 Lord, the treasures that will enlighten our hearts, 51:13 and our minds, and give us the encouragement to continue 51:17 day by day, moment by moment, following Thy Presence 51:22 and Thy Spirit. We ask that as we read the Word of God 51:26 it will make clear to us the current events that are 51:30 happening around us. 51:32 And, Lord, they are so frightful when we see them night after 51:36 night on the evening news that sometimes we want to even just 51:41 shun them, and not even turn it on. 51:43 But, Lord, take the fear away, for perfect love casts out fear, 51:47 and give us a spirit of discernment that we might 51:53 be able to see the things that are happening around us, 51:56 and then be able to pinpoint them in the scriptures, 51:59 and to know, Lord Jesus, that You're coming, 52:02 and You're coming very soon. 52:04 Oh Lord, take away everything from us that is not like Thee. 52:08 Give us the desire to be clean, to be pure, to be holy, 52:14 to be righteous. Take away from us the spirit of 52:18 procrastination, and let us do what we need to do for You 52:22 today and not tomorrow, for tomorrow is not 52:26 promised to any one of us. 52:28 Let Your Spirit Lord come into our lives and break the shackles 52:33 that the enemy has held onto us with for so many years. 52:38 And even as we stand here as we pray, and those individuals who 52:42 are listening on line, and who are watching on the air, 52:45 we as that Your sweet Spirit would be in their hearts 52:48 and motivate them to seek Your face, and reach out to You 52:52 and ask You to do what we are asking You to do for us, 52:56 and that is to set us free for You said, If the Son of God 53:00 sets us free, we are free indeed. Amen! 53:03 So free us Lord from sin. 53:05 Free us from guilt. 53:06 Free us from pain. 53:07 Free us from doubt. 53:09 Free us from disappointments. 53:10 Free us from the hand of the enemy because, Lord, 53:13 we want to be Yours. 53:14 We say like David, Create in us a clean heart, 53:17 and renew a right spirit within us. 53:19 We're asking you to do it now, not tomorrow. 53:22 Right now is the day of salvation, 53:25 for You are God and You are mighty, and You are able. 53:29 So even now, tonight Lord Jesus, as we stand here, 53:33 as we open our hearts, as we confess You as our Lord 53:37 and Savior, as we hold up Your Bible as the only 53:42 authority on divine things, we ask You to do for us 53:48 what we cannot do. 53:50 Now take us to our various homes. 53:52 Give us a good nights rest. 53:54 Let the Holy Spirit, let these things grow into our hearts. 54:01 Give us a desire for spiritual things. 54:05 Give us a hunger to know and to read, and feed us Lord till we 54:11 want no more. And Lord let that be the day when we see You 54:18 from the clouds of glory, and majesty, and holiness, 54:23 and in righteousness. 54:25 These things we ask in Jesus' name. 54:29 Let God's people say, Amen and Amen. 54:33 Let's sing that again as we go back to our seats. 54:36 Give me the Bible, holy message shining. 54:46 They light shall guide me... 54:50 We have had a powerful word from the Word of God, 54:54 through the man of God. 54:56 We ask you to join us tomorrow morning at 11:00 a. m. EST 55:04 as we continue our walk through the book of Revelation, 55:09 through the eyes of the seer John. 55:13 And then again on tomorrow evening, 7:00 p. m. EST 55:17 we will be back again. 55:19 Did you enjoy the Word of the Lord this night? Amen! 55:22 Was it plain to you? Amen! 55:24 Now most importantly, do you plan to do it? Amen! 55:29 For the Bible says we need to be doers of the Word, 55:33 and not just hearers of the Word. 55:36 Because the city is promised to those who do the will of God. 55:41 Amen? Amen! And Amen. 55:44 Wonderful, wonderful days in which we find ourselves. 55:47 We are going to be among those, I truly believe, that will see 55:51 the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen! 55:55 Cannot last much longer. 55:57 Time is winding up. 56:00 Every day we see time is winding up, and Jesus is soon to come. 56:07 I'm going to ask you to bow your heads with me just now 56:09 because we want to close out this broadcast with prayer 56:12 that not only this group sitting here, but our brothers 56:16 and sisters all around the world. 56:18 There are many who are suffering for Jesus tonight, 56:21 all around the world, that Christ will be their 56:24 comfort and their strength. 56:25 Father in heaven, we just praise You now because we know 56:30 You're doing a new thing on this old planet. 56:33 You are giving us new lives for old, warm hearts for cold, 56:42 and we praise You for that, Dear Father. 56:45 We praise You and thank You because You are God, 56:49 and God alone, and there is none like You. 56:53 Father this night help us to put into practice that 56:58 which we have heard. 56:59 We want to be overcomers. |
Revised 2014-12-17