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[0:00] given several different views of this, several different perspectives on this end. Here is another one that is really not so much a description of all that happens at the end, but more of a synopsis, a summary of the two great events that happen when this last trumpet sounds.

[0:26] So we want to read. We're in chapter 11 of Revelation. We will read from verse 14 through 19, and it will not be as involved or complicated as last week.

[0:40] All right? So you can loosen your belts a little bit. So here we go. So if you're able, please stand as I read from Revelation 11, beginning of verse 14.

[0:53] The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is soon to come. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever.

[1:21] And the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, we give thanks to you, we give thanks to you, Lord, the God, the Almighty, who is and who was.

[1:44] For you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came.

[1:55] And the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great.

[2:07] And for destroying the destroyers of the earth. Then, God's temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

[2:28] There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and mega hail.

[2:41] That's how it reads. Mega hail. That's how it reads. Let's pray that we might gain some understanding on what God has.

[2:51] Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for its boldness. We thank you for its clarity. We thank you, Lord. We come to a point in this book of mystery, this book of symbolism, where here we have some declarative statements of what is true.

[3:10] What is certain. And so, Father, we hang our hats and our faith and our hope on this, that you are a God who will finalize things.

[3:21] You will make things right. And so, Father, give us clarity of thought. Give us hearts, Lord, that would be teachable and soft to receive what you are saying today and be encouraged.

[3:36] This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. So, I don't know about you, but I was surprised by the last verse.

[3:55] The temple is open. Okay, we've heard about the temple before. And then the ark. The ark shows up. The ark of the covenant.

[4:07] You know, we've seen movies about the ark. Right? It ends up in some warehouse somewhere, doesn't it? We've heard from Dr. Walt that it's somewhere down in Ethiopia guarded by the guards Templar.

[4:26] Well, I don't think Walt lies, but here's where it is. It's in heaven. But still, it just seems, okay, that's an Old Testament thing, right?

[4:36] The ark. You remember the ark? Right? Little box covered in gold. Intricately detailed by a craftsman on top of, well, inside.

[4:56] Remember what was inside the ark? Anybody know? It's Ark of the Covenant, so the covenant was in there. The law, the two tablets that Moses received from God, written with the finger of God, those are in the ark.

[5:13] Okay, that's pretty important. Ark of the Covenant. Those words spell out the covenant. Those ten words. Right?

[5:23] You shall, you shall, you shall, you shall. Also, there was something of Aaron's put in there, right? A staff, a rod, yeah. Then there was a jar, something.

[5:36] Manu, manu. Manu, manu. Yeah? Which means, what is that? Right? So, that's in there. And then on top is the mercy seat, and then on each side of the ark are cherubim.

[5:54] Cherubim, carved, covered in gold with their wings. Well, we've seen cherubim in heaven. We saw it back in chapter 4. They've got all kinds of wings and all kinds of eyes, and, you know, they're not, you know, Spielberg couldn't come up with a creature like this.

[6:10] This is an amazing heavenly creature. They are over the ark. So, we remember the ark. Yeah, the ark was very significant.

[6:21] It went into the holy of holies, right? You have the temple, and outside of the temple is just the outer court, or you have the burnt offerings.

[6:34] You sacrifice on the bronze altar. Then you go into the temple, and the first room is called the holy place. That's where you have the table of bread, and you have the seven lamps, the menorah, candlelight, always lit, and in front of the veil you have the table of incense that was constantly burning.

[7:00] So, the priest would be in there every morning, every night, making sure the bread's good. Bread, we're good? No, not Monday yet, so bread's good. Candles are lit.

[7:10] Make sure there's oil in the lamp. Make sure the incense is burning continually, continually, continually going up before the presence of God. Then there's the once a year where they go into the veil, right?

[7:22] They, I say they, I mean he. One person only. The high priest. And he's got bells, right, on his robe, just in case he stops sounding.

[7:36] He has gone in there and he's not clean. If he goes in there unclean, he will die. So, oh, I'll do that. So, you get him.

[7:46] I'm not getting him. You get him. Right, so they have a rope to him. If the bells stop dinging, they just pull him out and start over. The Holy of Holies, that's where the Ark sat.

[7:57] We know by, by archaeology and the, and the actual measuring of the Temple Mount, we know that the, the Ark did not sit this way, like we see in all the pictures.

[8:11] It actually sat this way, so the, the high priest would go around and sprinkle on the Ark. We know that because that, that's on the Temple Mount. If you go into the, the, what's the Muslim place there, the Dome of the Rock.

[8:26] If you go into the Dome of the Rock, which they let you in friendly times, go in there, take your shoes off, put your coffee hat, coffee filter on your head, go in there, and you can look at the Holy Rock.

[8:37] And there are, it's rough rock, and the only places that are level is where the foundation sat and where the Ark sat. The very exact measurement of the Ark is the only smooth rectangle in that rock.

[8:53] And so we know it sat that way. Now, why did they do that? So they can pull the poles out. If you put it that way, you couldn't pull the poles out.

[9:04] Because the poles are the very measurement of the room. A little fun detail. But you can see that. I mean, the first time I saw it, I was tearing it back on my head, started, whoa, that's it.

[9:19] That's it. It's real. So the Ark, that Ark, that holy Ark that no one saw when they moved it in the wilderness, anybody get to look at it then?

[9:36] No, they covered it with the veil. It was never seen. The temple was never open. Never.

[9:46] There were signs. Stay out. Stay alive. Not welcome. No.

[9:58] Especially if you're a Gentile. You stayed behind the, there's a third wall over there. That's where you go. But, so all of a sudden the Ark is there.

[10:10] Now the Ark, when they came into the promised land, remember the Ark was significant. The priests would carry the Ark before they went. It would go before the people.

[10:22] So when they crossed the Jordan, they finally get to the promised land, cross the Jordan, the Lord said, take the Ark with the priests and those guys go into the river first. And once their feet go into that river, it will stop.

[10:37] And then you guys hold that Ark in the middle of the river and then all of Israel will cross. Picture of the presence and power of God.

[10:50] Then, when they went to Jericho, remember they used the Ark there too. Do you know the Ark was a fighting tool? It went before them. Into battle.

[11:02] So when they go to Jericho and they are seven days supposed to go walk around, right, walk around the walls, walk around the walls, carry the Ark. The Ark goes first, people follow. Well, wait.

[11:14] First, no, actually, Jericho, seven trumpets go around first. Then the Ark. Then the people. Then on the seventh day, seven trumpets blow. They walk around seven times and the walls fall down.

[11:30] Oh, they blew trumpets again. Interesting. Seven trumpets and an Ark. I don't know. So the Ark is a picture.

[11:42] So I'm thinking, why is the Ark there? Why do we see the Ark? The Ark of the Covenant. Why are we seeing that? Is the God bringing the law back? No, Jesus was the end of the law.

[11:52] Jesus fulfilled the law. No, he's not bringing the law back. Why is that Ark there? Well, it's that picture. It's a picture of God's presence. It's a picture of God's power.

[12:03] Where the Ark was was where God was. Remember the Ark got stolen once? Right? Went to the temple of Dagon. Dagon God. Dagon it.

[12:16] And remember, they put the Ark in there and they come in the morning and poor Dagon's on the floor. Right? Dagon it. It's the presence of God.

[12:29] Everybody wanted that. We want that. But it was not to be taken. Then he finally gave it back. Right? I mean, you take this thing. I don't know. Here's another interesting thing.

[12:43] So, so it's the picture of the presence. So, when Moses was told to have the Ark built in Exodus 25, he was told this. You shall put the mercy seat on top of the Ark.

[12:53] And in the Ark, you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. Which was those two tablets. And there, I will meet with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, there on the Ark of the testimony.

[13:10] There I will meet with you, right in that little space. Because it's a picture of between heaven and earth. Cherubim picture of heaven, heavenly beings, God meeting man in the middle.

[13:26] By the way, Jesus is the fulfillment of that. He's the Ark. He has kept the law. He is our way to God. He is the power of God.

[13:37] The very presence of God. So, Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 3, 16 says, in the future, the Ark of the Covenant won't even come to mind.

[13:51] You're not going to miss it. And you're not going to remake it. Which implies it was destroyed. And Jeremiah is the one of fables that supposedly hid the Ark and buried it.

[14:06] And here Jeremiah is saying, yeah, you're not going to miss it. It's not going to be remade. We're done. Not about the Ark. So now it shows up in Revelation 11.

[14:18] And it's a symbol of the presence and power of God. God's promise to dwell with His people. Now He dwells with His people in the temple. And Revelation 21 tells us when there's a new heaven and a new earth, the temple or the new Jerusalem, which is really the people of God, come down to earth and God dwells with His people.

[14:40] There's no longer a temple anymore either, by the way, in Revelation 21. Temple's a picture. Ark is a picture of presence, power, God.

[14:53] In the end, no more walls. Just God and us. Tears wiped from our eyes.

[15:06] Cheer given to our hearts. Soul refreshed. Can you imagine that? Soul revived and refreshed and at ease.

[15:17] I'd love to have a soul just settled down. That's why Jesus said, I'll give you rest for your soul. That's where you need rest.

[15:29] Okay, so here, the last part of Revelation 11 will come to the seventh trumpet. we've had, as I mentioned, portrayals of the end before.

[15:42] This is our third depiction of the end of history, a representation of the ending, symbol of the final judgment. We saw in the end of chapter 6 of Revelation, when the sixth seal was broken, everything, it's just like a cosmic disturbance happened, right?

[16:00] The sun turned black, the moon turned to blood, all the stars fall to the earth, which is physically impossible, so it's symbolic, falls to the earth like fruit falls from a tree, and the sky is rolled up, and then every mountain, every island are gone.

[16:23] Gone. It's the end. So we have the first portrayal in Revelation 6, just kind of a cosmic, everything disappears. Then, in chapter 8, when we finally open the seventh seal, we think, okay, this will be even more dramatic, right?

[16:42] He opens the seventh seal, the scroll's open, now, boom, and what happens is rather symbolic instead of dramatic. The prayers of the saints are mixed with the fire from the incense, and they're put together, and they're thrown to the earth as a symbolic picture of the last judgment.

[17:06] In other words, the prayers of the saints are so important to God that they get answered definitively in that last gesture. And then, we come to this one, and we will see one more at the end of Revelation 16, with the seven bowls.

[17:25] The seventh bowl is kind of another picture of the end, which will be more of an ultimate end, because everything is done. Everything's done. There in the, in fact, God says, it's done, with the seventh bowl is poured out, it's done.

[17:41] Great earthquakes, cities of the earth fall, hail the size of a, or the weight of 100 pounds each, fall, nobody survives. Okay, that's the ultimate.

[17:51] So, here we come to our third depiction in the seventh trumpet. Instead of being a cosmic or symbolic or ultimate portrayal of the end, it's more of a climactic, climactic, because it kind of says, here's the, here's the final synopsis.

[18:08] Here's the final purpose. It's not just the things that happen, but, but what is God accomplishing in the end? And so, the synoptics of the climactic end is these two final events that are not so much described as they are summarized.

[18:26] Okay, we hear in verses 14 to 17, the kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ.

[18:39] So, in other words, the kingdom of Father and Son are now together. The world's kingdoms are taken away and God's kingdom, so the final kingdom, and then, in verses 18 and 19, we see the final judgment.

[18:52] He doesn't tell us the details of that judgment, just simply says, here's the judgment, the destroyers are destroyed and the servants of God are rewarded. Just summarize.

[19:03] Just, that's it. And then, verse 19, we get the picture of the temples open, ark is seen, and then the fireworks show, right, which we see at the end of every one of those seventh elements.

[19:19] The rumblings and the thunders and the lightnings and the earthquake and the hail. Okay, so, two things. So, first of all, the summary or a synopsis of the final triumph of the Lord's kingdom.

[19:35] Verse 14 reminds us this is the final woe. We've already seen two woes before this. The first woe was chapter 9, first half of chapter 9.

[19:46] The very end of chapter 8 was that eagle, right, flying in midheaven, saying, woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell upon the earth, for the last three woes are yet to come.

[20:01] In other words, a warning that it's going to step up with the fifth, sixth, and seventh trumpet. Things are escalated. Things, and we see, you read chapter 9, all of a sudden, it goes from plague to demonic torment.

[20:16] All right, just another level of pooh. and clearly symbolic stuff. Not physical death, but spiritual death. Not physical torment, but spiritual, mental, emotional torment, right?

[20:31] So we get these pictures of demonic scorpions and locusts and armies and calvaries. And then we see the sixth, right, the second woe was then the sixth trumpet at the rest of chapter 9.

[20:47] And now, then we have the little interlude, right, chapters 10 and 11 were a little interlude to kind of explain what's going on. Now we're back. Now we're back.

[20:59] Okay, the second woe's done. Now the third woe. Third woe, which is the final woe. The scene shifts to heaven. The third woe is the seventh trumpet. The last trumpet.

[21:11] And remember back in chapter 10 that was explaining what was going on. The announcement in chapter 10 was that when the seventh angel blows the seventh trumpet, two things are announced.

[21:24] One, there's no more time. There's no more time. This is the end. No more opportunity for repentance. No more lollygagging around. This is it. Once the seventh trumpet blows, this is it.

[21:36] No more time. And secondly, God's done. The mystery of God is done with the seventh trumpet. So the seventh trumpet is the end. And we're only at chapter 11.

[21:48] What's going on with this book of Revelation? I thought, I thought we don't get to the end until the end. Right? So remember, this is not about chronological historical events. Because when we get to chapter 12, look at chapter 12, verse 1, we're back at the birth of Christ.

[22:05] So we go back and start over again. That's what's going on in these judgments. The seals start with Christ. That's what history's going on. And then a quick view of the end. Trumpets start back with Christ during the span of all historical church history.

[22:20] and then we get with the last trumpet, we get the view of the very end. So we're telescoping, right? So we're getting kind of a broad scope and then a quick telescoping.

[22:31] Here's the synopsis of the end. Not a trumpet, but close. Not as scary. You know, a trumpet's more like a blast.

[22:44] Can I answer and tell Shayla everyone says hi? Tell her we're on the seventh trumpet. There's no more time. So we come to the seventh.

[22:57] So verse 15, we have that final blast. The final sounding. The final wailing. Trumpets can sound like, well, not when Terry plays it, but when I played the trumpet, it sounded more like a whale.

[23:08] Like a whale. And we hear this voice from heaven, verse 15, that declares the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ.

[23:26] He shall reign forever. There it is. Just a statement. The kingdom of the world has become, not will, has become kingdom of the Lord.

[23:41] Well, hasn't God always had a kingdom? Yeah, he had a kingdom on earth with kings. David was the highlight of that time. It was a kingdom on earth, a king ruling on God's behalf on earth.

[23:54] When Jesus came, the kingdom changed form, no longer earthly, but now spiritual. Jesus was even asked by his interrogator, are you truly a king?

[24:06] He said, yes, I am. My kingdom is not of this world. Is my kingdom, Pilate, was of this world? You'd already be toast.

[24:18] Right? And be done. There's not, there's not a contest here. Not really afraid of the Roman army. So, spiritual kingdom. Then it goes when Christ ascends to heaven and takes His throne at the right hand of the Father, it becomes a heavenly kingdom.

[24:35] We are part of that heavenly kingdom. He's made us, we have read a couple of times in this book of Revelation, He's made us to be a kingdom priest. A kingdom of priests.

[24:47] Kingdom slash priests. We do like He did. He was a king ruling spiritually. We are kings or a kingdom. We reign, ironically, by dying like He did.

[25:03] We gain victory by suffering. Just like He did. Not an earthly kingdom. Not a sword kingdom. And priests, we serve God.

[25:16] We are the temple. Right? So, and now, He's talking about now, it's the ultimate absolute kingdom when God says, okay, taking it all back.

[25:28] It's all now. I've given it out. I've given Satan authority for a time. I've given men authority for a time. Now, time's up.

[25:42] Now I'm taking it all back. Now the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord. He has taken all the power. Excuse me. He's taken all the power.

[25:52] It's the end of every earthly kingdom. It's the end of Satan's rule. Remember in Luke chapter 4 when Satan tempted Jesus? He said, he showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world.

[26:05] And Satan said, these are mine. I'll give them to you if you simply bow down and worship me. Very ironic. I mean, here's the son of God who, they're really his.

[26:17] But for the time, they've been given to Satan. And Satan says, if you just bow down to me, I'll give you the power of all the kingdoms. I've got the power of all of them. So in other words, behind every single government, behind every single kingdom of throughout history has been darkness, has been a deceiver, has been what Revelation will call a beast.

[26:46] He's going to describe a beast, but it's a multi-headed, it's like all these world kingdoms right up through time, it's a composite. But behind them has been the dragon, right?

[26:57] There's the beast. Behind them is the dragon who's given the beast its power for a time. But the dragon, of course, we will learn next week if we get that far, gets cast out of heaven, right?

[27:13] And his time is now limited. Now he can't go to heaven anymore. Now he's got to just take out his anger on earth and guess who's on earth? Guess who he takes out his anger on? He seeks to devour, right?

[27:28] Okay, so that has ended. We will get a more explicit description of that triumph of the kingdom in chapter 19 when Jesus gets on his horse and comes with his saints and his armies and with his sword and triumphs, right?

[27:46] So here we're just getting it summarized. So then notice there's a response in verse 16 and 17 of fervent worship. Here come the 24 elders again. This is the fourth time we've seen the 24 elders who sit on thrones and end up on their faces.

[28:04] It's interesting they're described that way. There are 24 elders who sit on their thrones. They are ruling. They are representative, I think, of the church, of the 24 tribes, or the 12 tribes and the 12 apostles.

[28:16] I think the 24 is about that combination of one church, right, 24. But they're ruling. They're on thrones.

[28:27] And when Jesus conquers the kingdom of the world for the final time, they get off their thrones and on their face. He gives us crowns, right?

[28:43] What do the elders do? They cast their crowns. That would be a good name for a group, wouldn't it? Casting crowns. Right? It's a wonderful name for a group.

[28:55] Great picture. He gets all the glory. God honors us for faithfulness in heaven. He's going to give us crowns, whether they're symbolic or whatever, but he will say, well done.

[29:10] And then we'll go, not really you. You really, it was really all you. Well, yeah, that's right. But I was glad you were hanging in there with me.

[29:24] Thanks for listening. So they fall down, they worship, they give thanks. They're grateful, they're humbled and they're thankful. What causes this fervency?

[29:36] Well, the kingdom has turned. Now we give thanks for what? Well, notice, first of all, we give thanks to you. They describe God in this trifold way.

[29:47] Lord, God, Almighty. Lord, and then literally in Greek it is the God, not just a God, but he is the God and he is the Almighty. Lord, the God, the Almighty.

[30:00] And then he gives this other description, this other threefold description that usually is who was, who is, and who is to come, right? Notice, it's changed here.

[30:12] He's not to come anymore, now he's already, he's come. So, who was, who is, who was, and who's taken his power and is reigning.

[30:24] Okay, so that's kind of the, they describe it. He's taken his power and is reigning. So, here's the final triumph of the Lord's kingdom.

[30:35] Paul explains what happens at the end with the kingdom because it's kind of like, okay, what's, what's happening? Get it, this is the final triumph. How did that happen? What's the whole thing about, you know, the, the father and the son?

[30:49] Whose kingdom is it? Is it God's kingdom, father, or is it the son's kingdom? I thought it was Jesus' kingdom. So, here's how Paul explains it in 1 Corinthians 15. He says, he's talking about the resurrection and those things.

[31:00] He says, then comes the end when he, Jesus, delivers the kingdom to God the father after destroying every rule and every authority and every power.

[31:14] For, he must reign, that is Jesus, he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. He's the king.

[31:25] He's the conqueror. And he has been doing that ever since he ascended to heaven in the first century. He has been sitting on that throne putting enemies under his feet.

[31:39] We say, I don't see it. No. Every person that gets saved, guess what happens?

[31:51] Enemy taken out. Transferred into the kingdom. Every demon that speaks up and tries to divert when the sermon of God is being preached is silenced.

[32:10] That's how Jesus preached. Remember? Jesus would be preached. He didn't look for demons. Demons would pop up, go, hey, hey. Jesus would say, shut up. Shut up. That's it.

[32:20] No big battle. Just close the lips there. Jesus is slowly taking charge, putting everything under his feet.

[32:34] And the last enemy to be destroyed is death. That's the final end. When he's conquered, every other enemy conquers death and then we are risen. For God has put all things in subjection under Jesus' feet.

[32:46] But when it says all things are put in subjection, it's plain that he's, he is accepted who has put all things under him. In other words, the father is not subjected when all things are subjected to him.

[32:58] When all things are subjected to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to him, the father, who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all. Okay, so Jesus still shows his, even though he's made the absolute sovereign, he still in the end will say, to God be the glory.

[33:18] To you, I did it for you, father. Subjection, not lesser. Subjection, just a role. Part of unity.

[33:30] But the father has given everything to Jesus in the time. You are now the king, you have conquered sin, death, hell, you reign.

[33:42] Until all the enemies are done, you finish it up, I'll wait. Is that what the father's doing? Just relax. Jesus has got it.

[33:54] I'm kidding. So the seventh trumpet is the last trumpet, the end of the age, the final triumph over all rule, authority, power, and death.

[34:08] He takes back the power, the power that he had given out, now he has taken. So that's the first event. Final triumph of the kingdom. We come to a second one in verse 18.

[34:20] A second synopsis of a second event, the final judgment. It is a judgment of the nations and a rewarding of God's saints. It's both.

[34:31] So notice verse 18 explains the second part. So God has already taken the reign, he's already taken the power.

[34:42] Verse 18, the nations raged, but your wrath came, the time for the dead to be judged and for rewarding of your servants. So notice there's two. There's judgment of the dead, there's rewarding of the servants who are the prophets and saints and those who fear your name, both small and great.

[34:58] And then finally, then it's also the time for destroying the destroyers. So judgment is the reward of the saints and a destroying of the destroyers.

[35:10] So I want you to notice first of all, this is about justice. Notice that the punishment fits the crime. Verse 18, the nations raged.

[35:24] They were wrathful. They were angry. So what do they get for their wrath and their anger? Your wrath came. God's wrath came. Wrath for wrath.

[35:36] Notice at the end of verse 18, destroying the destroyers. What is done to destroyers? They're destroyed. Punishment fits the crime.

[35:47] You reap what you sow. You receive what you deserve. Okay? This is about justice. The prayer in chapter 6 was how long, O God, until you avenge and judge?

[36:01] Well, the time has come, according to verse 18 here, the time has come to judge. So then the judgment. What is the judgment?

[36:12] It's a time of judgment. Verse 18, the time for the dead to be judged. So what is judgment? Judgment simply means to separate.

[36:25] We make judgments all the time, right? You've heard the world say to Christians, thou shalt not judge. Misquoting Scripture, right? Well, what Jesus really said was, judge not lest you be judged.

[36:44] Right? Because however you judge, that's how you'll be judged. You will reap what you sow. Punishment fits the crime. So if you judge somebody with a log in your eye and better than them kind of thing, guess what's coming back out at you?

[36:58] Rather, he says, don't judge until you've removed the log, right? Take it a good look at yourself, then you judge.

[37:09] We make judgments all the time. We have to make judgments. It's simply, we're separating things. We're separating truth and lie. We're separating fact and fiction.

[37:20] We're making judgments. That's judgment. So Matthew 24 describes, Jesus says, when I sit on my glorious throne and I come and I judge, I will, remember he describes, I will separate the sheep from the goats.

[37:34] That's judgment. I will separate. I'm separating. Here's the sheep. Here's the goats. Why are these the sheep? Because they loved me or those who represented me.

[37:46] The world will be judged for how they treat the church. You know that? They're going to be judged for how they treat, did they give us, water? Did they visit us in prison?

[37:57] Well, how do you show that you're a Christian? Well, you act like Jesus. You visit the sick, right? You do those kind of things. Whereas the goats are, no, we didn't do any of that. And of course, the sheep are confused with Jesus because they're like, when do we do that?

[38:11] When do we see you sick? Well, when you did it to one of my brothers, you did it to me. Because I'm the head and that's the body and we're the church.

[38:22] So if you touch any part of the church, you're touching me. So that's separation. Separating the sheep and the goats. So he's rewarding his servants.

[38:33] He defines his servants as the prophets and the saints. Those who fear God. And so we get a synopsis, really. It doesn't go into how, okay, it just kind of announces it.

[38:47] Rewarding of the servants and destroying the destroyers. It's just a synopsis of the judgment. We're not seeing how the judgment unfolds, but just a synopsis. When we get to chapter 17 through 22, all of this will be expanded and defined.

[39:03] Okay, right now we're just kind of getting a quick view. When we get to chapter 17, we start, okay, here comes the judge. Here come the judge. I didn't mean that. The judge and the judgment.

[39:15] Here's Babylon and why she should be judged. Chapter 18, here she's judged. Chapter 19, Jesus returns, captures the kingdom, right, slays.

[39:27] Okay, everything gets explained in more detail later. Right now we're just getting a synopsis. Got it? Then we have the surprise ending, verse 19, a surprise symbol of justification or confirmation, affirmation that God is with his people.

[39:43] A picture of the temple opened. The temple was never open. Now it's open. Now there's access. Now you get to go in anytime you want.

[39:54] Because of Jesus, now we can go in. We have access. Jesus broke down the barrier wall, right? He broke down the law that kept us out. And then he even repaired this relationship between Gentile and Jew.

[40:12] Brought us together so that now we're one. We're not separate. We're one. We're not Jew or Gentile. We're just church. We're just Christ. And so he repaired all that.

[40:26] It's not about Jews sit over there, Gentiles sit over here, rich sit over here, poor sit over there. We're all the same at the cross. We're all the same.

[40:39] So access, ark is seen, tells us that's his presence, that's his promise that he will meet with us. We are the temple that dwells with God.

[40:51] Then we see the flashy end, right? Lightnings, rumblings, peals of thunder, earthquake, heavy hail. Same thing we see at the end of the seventh trumpet.

[41:01] We see at the end of the seventh seal, seventh trumpet, seventh bowl. Same expressions, all these flashes and thunderings and sounds.

[41:13] It just means it's over. Period. Done. Chapter 12. Let's start over now. Okay? So all these echoes from this chapter here are echo from Psalm chapter 2.

[41:31] I don't know if you heard some of that. God bringing his wrath through his son. Here's how Psalm 2 goes. Why did the nations rage? Well, that's the very words used in verse 18.

[41:43] The nations raged. Why did the nations rage and the people plot in vain? Why do they do that? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against Yahweh.

[41:54] How ridiculous is that? They take counsel against the Lord and against his anointed, which is, in other words, the Christ, the Messiah, saying, saying, let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.

[42:09] Isn't that not what the world says? We don't want your morality. We don't want your law. We don't want your judgments. We don't want you to impose yourself on us. We do what we want.

[42:25] You ain't telling me what to do. Now, they justify it away and say, there is no God and blah, blah, blah, but they know. And the psalm directs it, it is against Yahweh and it is against his anointed.

[42:45] So what's God's response? Is he worried? Is he afraid? Oh no, they're rebelling. He who sits in heaven laughs. Come on, people.

[43:00] Come on. And holds them in derision. Then he will speak to them in his wrath and terrify them in his fury, saying, now, think about it.

[43:14] He's wrathful and terrifying and yet these next words, a little strange for her wrath and so, he says, as for me, I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.

[43:31] That sounds scary? Depends on who his king is. I will tell of this decree. The Lord has said to me, you are my son.

[43:44] Now the anointed one is speaking. Yahweh said to me, you're my son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me and I will make the nations your heritage, the ends of the earth, your possession.

[43:55] In other words, the world is yours. Everything in it. And you, anointed one, you shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.

[44:11] So, there's God's fury and his wrath. His fury and his wrath is expressed by the sending of his son. His son didn't look that scary, did he?

[44:23] He didn't look that scary. He didn't call down fire. He didn't kill people with his sword. He spoke truth.

[44:35] He spoke truth. And those words, if they were rejected, meant death. And those words, if they were accepted, meant life.

[44:48] That's how he broke them. His rod was his tongue. His sword was his tongue. And we know that was a powerful tongue.

[45:03] When he went to Abraham, when he went to Lazarus' tomb, what did he say? Lazarus, come! Here he comes.

[45:15] When the storm was heavy and the experienced fishermen thought they were going to drown, he's sleeping, they wake him up, what does he do?

[45:26] Hush! Peter falls on his face saying, get away from me. I'm sinful. Get away from me. You're not what I thought.

[45:40] So he is terrifying. In a way. If he directed that toward me. Okay?

[45:50] So, Psalm 2 ends. Therefore, O kings, be wise. Be wise. Make good judgments.

[46:01] Be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear and rejoice with trembling. You know how to do that?

[46:13] Rejoice with that. That's the 24 elders on their faces saying, thank you. Thank you. That's Peter in the bottom of the boat going, you're it.

[46:27] Not trembling like, oh, I'm going to die. Trembling like, wow. Wow. Wow. Kiss the sun.

[46:39] This is the Old Testament. It says kiss the sun. In other words, the feet of the sun. Kiss, worship. Kiss the feet.

[46:50] Kiss the sun. Lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled. And then Psalm 2 ends with this great call.

[47:02] Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Is that you? Are you wise?

[47:14] Do you serve him? Do you rejoice? With trembling do you take refuge? I mean, this is Jesus. This is one that we, he embraces us and we fall at his feet.

[47:29] Both. He thrills us and he terrifies us. A good terrifying. A cleansing terrifying.

[47:41] A wake up, come to Jesus moment terrifying. Jesus said, this comes from John chapter 5. Jesus said, The Father judges no one but has given all the judgment to the Son that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

[48:02] Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

[48:18] not will be saved. Whoever hears, believes, has eternal life. Life forever.

[48:29] He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. So when we talk about the final judgment, we get to skip that. Okay? If you know Jesus Christ, you get to skip that.

[48:43] Get in on the reward part. All right, just in case you're thinking about that. There's a separation, yeah, but we're not judged.

[48:54] We're not condemned. There's nothing. Fire's already erased all our dross. Okay? He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.

[49:09] God is a holy judge. and every one of his creatures, every one of his images of himself are held accountable to what they know.

[49:22] God has sent his son to rescue those of us who recognize we cannot measure up to God. And so all who believe in Jesus are made right.

[49:36] all who believe, all who hear and believe. Have you heard and believed? I hope somebody heard today for the first time. That's cool.

[49:49] Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Lord, like the 24 elders who fall on their face and worship you and just express their humble gratitude.

[50:02] We thank you that there is a day you make everything right. There is a day that you will call to account every evil, selfish, earthly ruler.

[50:19] You will take away from the evil and give to the good. Lord, we thank you that Jesus is already doing that in many, many ways that we don't visibly see.

[50:33] We thank you that Jesus is on his throne and because of that we can be confident. So comfort us with these words we pray in Christ's name.

[50:47]  Amen.