(Through The Bible) – REVELATION (Part 2): Zac Poonen (Transcript)

The Silence in Heaven and the Seven Trumpets

Chapter 8, verse 1, says there is silence in heaven for half an hour. Now this is a very amazing thing because generally, every picture of heaven is full of such loud praise, it’s like thunder and mighty rivers. That half an hour of silence is amazing. What is the meaning of this half an hour of silence? It means God is now going to do something which He does not like to do: pour out His wrath upon those who rebel. He does not like to do it.

It is a strange work we read in Isaiah. The acceptable year of the Lord is 365 days, Isaiah 61. The day of vengeance is only one day. The proportion of God’s grace to vengeance is 365 to 1. This is His strange work. He’s reluctant to do it, and that’s the meaning of this silence in heaven.

And the seven angels stand to sound their seven trumpets. We could look at it as a seven-fold trumpet, the last trumpet at which the dead will rise in Christ and we will be transformed. This is the time of the rapture, at the last trumpet. 1 Corinthians 15 also says that the church will be raptured at the last trumpet, not before that. And that also comes here, just before the wrath of God is poured out because the church will not face wrath, be taken up, welcome the Lord and come down to the earth.

The Effects of the Trumpets

It speaks here about this trumpet and various things that happen when the trumpet is sounded. First of all, again, the incense of the prayers, many prayers, verse 4, ascends to God. The trumpets sound:

1. The first one sounded and there’s hail and fire.
2. The second one sounded, verse 8, a mountain thrown into the sea.
3. The third one and a star falls from heaven.
4. The fourth one sounded and a third of the sun and the moon and the stars were smitten.

Various natural calamities happen on earth and in the skies.

The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets

Then the fifth angel sounded in chapter 9, verse 1, and then you see a picture in verses 1 to 11 of a whole lot of demons that are released from the bottomless pit. There are some demons that have been locked up in the bottomless pit right now, who did something worse than those demons that are in the second heavens. They are also released and they come and torture people.

It says here, they torment people, verse 5, for five months. And men will seek for death and they won’t find it, verse 6. You know, Jesus once spoke in Matthew chapter 18, towards the end of that chapter, about a man being handed over to the torturers. Torturers are demons. When does God hand you over to the torturers? Matthew 18:35 says, “So shall My heavenly Father do to you.” You know who? The man who does not forgive other people. You read that passage in Matthew 18. If you don’t forgive others, God hands you over to the torturers.

And then, verses 12 to 17, you read about the sixth trumpet. There are four demons bound in the river Euphrates and they are going to be released and they are going to kill people. And 200 million people, in verse 16, there is going to be a mighty war around the river Euphrates. And just for your information, Euphrates is in the Middle East. It flows through the country of Iraq. And that’s written 2,000 years ago, that there is going to be a lot of conflict around Iraq in the last days, a lot of war, millions of people, armies of countries that have millions of soldiers, 200 million soldiers, armies.

It’s not saying that all 200 million will be there, but armies back countries that have got 200 million soldiers are going to come together and fight in the Middle East. It’s happening in our time. And then it goes on to say about how, verse 20, that the rest of mankind did not repent. The reason why they are punished is because they do not repent. It’s only repentance that God looks for.

The Seven Peals of Thunder

And then we come to chapter 10, verse 1, where an angel comes down and he speaks something. He cried out with a loud voice, verse 3, as when a lion roars, and there were seven peals of thunder. That’s another seven. And John was about to write what the seven peals of thunder spoke and the Lord said, “No, don’t write it.” So we don’t know what the seven peals of thunder said.

I get a message from that and I hope you get a message too. There are some things the Lord tells us, which He tells us, don’t tell anybody else. That’s only for you. You know, just like a husband and wife, they say things to each other which they don’t want other people to hear, right? The Lord tells me certain things. He says, that’s not for anybody else. That’s only for you. And if you walk with the Lord, He’ll tell you certain things and say, don’t write that, don’t publicize that. And if the Lord tells you not to publicize it, don’t publicize it. Keep it to yourself.

That’s what we learned from that passage. And what the Lord tells you to write, you write. Because later on, he says in verse 8, “Now take the book which is in your hand and eat it. It will make your stomach bitter, but your mouth will be sweet as honey,” teaching us that God’s word does a double work. It encourages us and takes us through bitter experiences of trial and tribulation. Both are there in God’s word, particularly in the New Covenant.

You remember when Ezekiel ate a roll, it was only sweet, Ezekiel chapter 3. He was an old covenant person, but in the New Covenant, when John ate it, it was sweet and bitter because God allows us to have joy in him, but he also takes us through bitter times of tribulation on this earth. And once he had eaten it and he went through this experience himself, then the Lord said to him, now you can prophesy. This you can tell others. So what we learn in chapter 10 is certain things you can’t tell others, certain things you can.

But these are the days when the mystery of God, verse 7, is finished. The last trumpet, the seventh angel sounded, the mystery is finished. The mystery of God is the church and Christ as bride and bridegroom. That’s at the end of the tribulation. The church is raptured at the last trumpet.

The Two Witnesses and the Seventh Trumpet

And we see further in chapter 11, verse 1, it says, “Go and measure the temple of God.” God is measuring His church and He speaks about permitting the nations to trample the city of Jerusalem for 42 months or 1,260 days. Now this is the period, the last seven years of tribulation.

You remember when we studied Daniel, Daniel 9, verse 24 and 25 said there were 483 years out of 490 that were finished from the time that the command went to rebuild Jerusalem till the crucifixion of Christ were 483 years. But one year is counted only for 360 days in Daniel and in Revelation. So perhaps I didn’t mention it there. It was 483 prophetic years of 360 days. In other words, if you work it out, 365 day year, 366 in a leap year, it works out to 476 solar years. From the period of the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the crucifixion of Christ was exactly 476 solar years or 483 prophetic years of 360 days.

And now we’ve got a last period of seven years of tribulation. And the second half of that is a period of the great tribulation. And that is the 1,260 days or three and a half years or 42 months. The same period that Jesus had a ministry, Jesus’ ministry was three and a half years and the Antichrist is going to duplicate that. He’s going to have a lordship on the earth for three and a half years.

And in that time, it says in verse 4, there are going to be two witnesses. This reminds us of Zechariah chapter 4, verse 11 to 14, where you saw the two olive trees supplying oil to the lampstand. Here are two olive trees, two lampstands, verse 4. And there are two prophets who have a prophetic ministry in the last days and who speak fire proceeds out of their mouth to devour their enemies and they have power to shut up the sky, verse 6, like Elijah and to stop the rain and they have power to turn the waters into blood, verse 6, like Moses. Two people like Moses and Elijah.

And after that period, after they finished their prophecy, verse 7, when they finished their prophecy, they will be killed. That’s a wonderful verse. When they have finished their testimony, the beast kills them. That means you also, if you walk in God’s will, nobody can kill you till you have finished your earthly testimony. They couldn’t and they can’t do that to you either. They couldn’t be killed before that either.

And then it says their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is Jerusalem probably, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified. And then, listen to this, it says here in verse 9, the people from all the tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies lying in the street in Jerusalem for three and a half days.

Tell me, how can people from all over the world, millions and millions of people, see these dead bodies lying in the street of Jerusalem? Can they travel there? No. It’s by satellite television. Here is the one verse which prophesies satellite television, that every corner of the world will be able to see what’s happening in the streets of Jerusalem. And everybody will be happy when these prophets who preach like that are killed. True to every prophet in history, they are also killed.

But a miracle is going to take place. After three and a half days, they are going to be raised up from the dead and they come on their feet and great fear comes upon everybody and they are taken up to heaven. And there was a great earthquake and one-tenth of the city fell. Jesus said, in the last days there will be wars, famines, earthquakes, a preparation for much more serious calamitous things to happen in the days to come.

And then the seventh angel sounded, verse 15, and the voice says, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ and He will reign forever and ever,” verse 15. And they fall down and they worship God.

The Woman and the Dragon

Now this is a glimpse of the whole future. Now you come to a few details. I told you, the book of Revelation is not in sequence, it gives you a bird’s eye view of the whole future and then it gets down to the little details. We saw one bird’s eye view in chapter 6 and here’s another right up to chapter 11:19, and then a little detail of what’s happened before.

A great sign, chapter 12, and this is a picture of Israel, a woman clothed with the sun, moon, the crown of twelve stars. Do you remember the dream of Joseph where he saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bow down to him? That’s here.

The Woman and the Dragon

Compare scripture with scripture and you know what this refers to. This refers to the tribes of Israel. The woman is Israel, and this woman was bringing forth a child, and that child was Jesus. And at the same time, there was a dragon, verse 3, that’s the devil, who long ago took one third of the angels, verse 4, with him. They are the demons today, rebelled. That’s the verse that tells us that Satan joined up with one third of the angels in heaven and fell away. And this dragon is waiting to swallow up the child. That’s what Herod tried to do, to kill the baby Jesus, but he did not succeed.

And she gave birth to a son. Who is this son? It’s the one who is one day going to rule all nations with a rod of iron, Jesus. And He lived on earth and it says the child was finally caught up to God and His throne. He ascended up to heaven. And the woman, the Jew, the Jewish people, had to flee. Forty years after the crucifixion of Jesus they had to flee into all parts of the world. And in the time of tribulation also they’ll be persecuted for 1,260 days. The dragon hates Jews.

The War in Heaven

And then further we read in verse 7 onwards about the casting down of Satan from the second heaven. Many years ago he was cast down from the third heaven to the second heaven. Now there is a war in the second heaven and the devil is going to be cast down from heaven to the earth. It says in verse 9 he was thrown down to the earth, this deceiver, this accuser. And this accuser of the brethren who has accused God’s people before His throne, verse 10, day and night is cast down.

Overcoming Satan

And how do people overcome Satan? This is the way they’re going to overcome Satan when he comes down to earth and this is the way we overcome him today. Not by argument, not by discussion. One word. The blood of Jesus Christ, verse 11, has cleansed me from all my sin. What are you accusing me about, Satan? What are you accusing me about? The blood of Jesus has cleansed me from every sin.

Whenever the devil accuses you, “Oh, you remember what you did 10 years ago, you remember what you did last week, you remember what you did 15 years ago, you remember that terrible sin you did three and a half years ago.” How are you going to overcome those accusations? Don’t say, “But I’ve become better now.” He’ll overcome you. Say, “The blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all sin.” The word of your testimony, verse 11.

You’ve got to give your testimony to the devil. How many of you have given your testimony to the devil? I hope you have. I tell him many things every day. I tell him, I remind him, “You’ve been defeated on the cross, right? Two thousand years ago you were defeated. You’ve got no power over me. Blood of Jesus has cleansed me. I’m not afraid of you. You can’t do anything to me without God’s permission.” Be bold. Tell the devil the word of your testimony and you can overcome him. And don’t love your life even to death. And don’t join him and accuse other believers, please. That’s the worst part. Okay?

The Persecution of Israel and the Church

And verse 13 to 16, it says that the dragon began to persecute the woman who gave birth to the child. And that’s why throughout history you find Haman tried to destroy the Jews, Hitler tried to destroy the Jews. He has never succeeded. It’s the devil’s hatred. And today the Jews are living in their land. And it says the earth helped the woman and protected her from the attacks of Satan.

And then when he could not succeed with Israel, verse 17, the dragon went to make war with others, that is, with the church who came out of her. You see, the first people in the church were all Jews. That is called her offspring, the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and hold the testimony of Jesus. That’s the church.

The Beast and the Antichrist

And then it speaks about this beast, the devil, coming out of the sea, having ten horns, chapter 13 and verse 1. This is a picture similar to what we saw in Daniel 7, the Antichrist coming up out of the earth and the dragon and the Antichrist being supported by the dragon and people worship the Antichrist. He imitates the resurrection, verse 3, that means from some dangerous wound he got healed and the whole world wonders how in the world did he recover from that injury. He didn’t die and get resurrected, that can never happen, but he imitates it.

And he speaks arrogant words, verse 5, and he opens his mouth and blasphemes against God, verse 6, and he was permitted, verse 7, to make war with the saints and to overcome their bodies.

You know, the only thing that the devil and his agents can do to us is to overcome our bodies and kill them. He was permitted. And so, many saints are killed in those days. That itself proves that in the days of the Antichrist there are saints, there are believers on earth. So clear, so clear that during the time of tribulation the church is here, standing up for the Lord. If anyone has an ear to hear, let him hear.

And who are the people who are standing up to the Lord, standing up to the Antichrist who do not worship him? Verse 8, all earth dwellers, earth dwellers are those whose minds are set on the things of earth. Their names are not written in the book of life, they are the ones who worship the Antichrist. Who are the ones who don’t worship the Antichrist? Those whose names are written in the book of life. Who is that? The believers who are here in the middle of the tribulation.

The False Prophet

And then he goes on to say about another beast. This is a false prophet that comes up from the earth who also joins up. This is the satanic trinity, Satan, the Antichrist who is a political head and the false prophet who is a religious leader. It’s religion, politics and the devil all combined to persecute the church, the satanic trinity. He’s got horns like a lamb, he pretends to be Christ-like, could be some religious so-called Christian leader who persecutes the true believers of Jesus Christ.

There are many Christian leaders, so-called Christian leaders who have persecuted godly followers of Jesus throughout past centuries and even today. And I won’t be surprised if some religious Christian leader teams up with the Antichrist to persecute God’s people. Because he’s got horns like a lamb, like Jesus, but he speaks like a dragon, so it’s really the devil inside. It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

And he’s a leader and he exercises the authority of the Antichrist, verse 12, and he performs great signs. He’s a great magician and hypnotist and he does false miracles and things like that. And it says he makes an image of the beast and makes that even to speak and deceive people. This is some computerized robot that looks just like a human being is made to speak. I’ve seen that in some museums, it looks just like a man speaking, they even move their mouth and deceives a whole lot of people.

The Mark of the Beast

And it says he makes all the people in the world to receive a mark. It’s called the mark of the beast. And now notice this. Now we don’t need to understand the book of Revelation, we need to obey it. The mark can be had either on your forehead, verse 16, chapter 13, verse 16, or on your right hand. You know, inside your hand means nobody can see it. Forehead means everybody can see it.

The devil gives you an option. Be an open follower of me, have the mark on your forehead, whatever it is, lines or stars or whatever it is, or have it in your hand. You can be a secret follower of me or an open follower of me. There are people who are open followers of the devil today. Worship Satan, they say Satan is our God. And there are others, even in Christian churches, who secretly follow the devil. They have secret sins in their lives. They live in sexual sin in secret. They give bribes with their hands in secret. And they come and break bread as holy people in the church with the same hand. Nobody knows. These are secret followers of the devil.

The devil gives you that option. Do you want to follow me openly? You say, no, I don’t like to follow openly, I like to have a little reputation in the church. The devil says, keep your reputation in the church, you can follow me secretly. He says, fine, I’ll give you a lot of things if you follow me secretly. There are people who follow secretly and get a lot of things in the world. And nobody in the church knows that these people are doing wrong things in their private life because it’s hidden in their hand. It’s private, it’s hidden, it’s not on their forehead. But one day it will all be revealed.

The Number of the Beast

And it says here, the number of the Antichrist is 666. Now what does this mean? The word Jesus in Greek is Iesous. If we were to write it in English, it would be I-E-S-O-U-S, Iesous. And each Greek letter has got a numeric value. In English, A-B-C-D don’t have numeric values. The Greek letters, all of them have numeric values.

If you total up Iesous, I-E-S-O-U-S, in Greek, the total value of that is 888. Eight is the number of a new creation. You know, the eighth day of the week is another Sunday. In piano or a keyboard, the eighth note is the beginning of a new octave. Eight is the number of something new, a new creation. Jesus is the beginner of the new creation and 888 means Trinity. Jesus is God and He is the man who began the new creation.

Six is the number of man. Man was created on the sixth day. 666, Trinity, speaks of man trying to be like God. That’s the Antichrist. And whoever the Antichrist is, I don’t know who it is, but one day when we know who it is, you take the number of his name, you take his name and work out the numeric value of it and you’ll find it is 666. I have no doubt about it.

The Followers of Jesus

Chapter 14, in contrast to all this, Jesus has got His followers. But notice, there is a difference. The followers of Jesus are not given the option to have the mark on their forehead or on their hand. The Lord says, only one place, on the forehead. You must be an open follower of Me. No question of being a secret follower of Me. You can be a secret follower of the devil, or an open follower of the devil, but when it comes to Jesus, the mark is only on the forehead.

Now again, the number 144,000 is symbolic, the book of Revelation is signified. And this is a contrast to the great multitude in chapter 7. This is showing that among the great multitude of people who are born again, there are very few who actually follow the lamb, verse 4, wherever he goes. Very few who have chosen the way of the cross among the great multitude whose sins are forgiven.

The Followers of the Lamb

I want to be in this number. Those who follow the lamb wherever he goes, those who, verse 3, sing the new song, the song of Solomon, the song of songs, the song of devotion to Christ, they sing the new song, they have learnt it here on earth, before they go to heaven. Nobody else could learn this song, it says. Nobody else could learn this song, because it’s too late to learn it after you go to heaven. You got to learn it on this earth, the song of devotion to Jesus. And no lie was found in their mouth, verse 5. That’s why it’s so important to get rid of all lying, all acting, all hypocrisy from our life. These are the followers of Jesus, the bride of Jesus Christ.

The Three Angels and the Harvest of Judgment

And then we come to verse 7 to 11, we read of three angels with three woes. And one is saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,” verse 8. And the other one — no, the first one says, “Fear God and give Him glory.” And the next one says, “Fallen, fallen Babylon the great.” And then the third one says, if anyone worships the beast, he will be judged, and the smoke of their torment goes up.

Then it says, at the end of that verse, 14 onwards, is the harvest of judgment. This is not the saints being raptured, that’s finished. This is the harvest of judgment on the earth. The person has come with a golden sickle, golden crown and a sharp sickle. He says, “Put in your sickle and reap, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” Which harvest is this? The harvest of souls who need to be saved was ripe 2,000 years ago. Jesus said to His disciples, “Lift up your eyes and look, the harvest is already ripe.” But the harvest of judgment, the world is not yet ripe for that. So this is not the harvest of souls who are going to be saved. This is another harvest of reaping in judgment.

He’s going to gather the people and collect the grapes. And what’s he going to do? He’s going to throw it, verse 19, into the great winepress of the wrath of God, and the blood is going to come out of that winepress, verse 20. This is the harvest of judgment upon the world.

The Bride of Christ and the Seven Bowls of Wrath

In chapter 15, you see another picture, verse 2, of the bride of Christ that’s come out victorious, standing on a sea of glass mixed with fire. It’s a picture of a life of perfect rest. I’ve seen the sea full of turmoil, the wicked are like the troubled sea, it says in Isaiah, which cannot rest always in turmoil. This is the opposite of that sea. This is a sea of glass. Those who have come to a life of rest in Jesus, who sing the song of Moses, what is the song of Moses? There are two songs of Moses. One is Exodus 15, verses 1 to 4. The other is Deuteronomy 32, verse 42. The theme in both those songs is the same. God has taken vengeance on our enemies. God did it, praise the Lord. We didn’t do it.

And then we move on to chapter 16, where we read of the seven bowls of wrath. These are bowls of wrath. All this may just happen in one day, in 24 hours. The church is taken up, the wrath is poured out upon the earth, and Jesus comes down with the church to reign upon the earth. There are various things there, which are various types of calamities that are going to hit the earth.

And it says here about the great battle of Armageddon, the great day of God, verse 14, when there’s going to be a battle. And finally, the seventh bowl, verse 17, is poured out. Very similar to some of the earlier judgments. And the city of Babylon is split into three parts. The great city was split into three parts, and Babylon was remembered to be judged, and huge hailstones fell.

Babylon: The Religious and Political System

Then we come to chapter 17 and chapter 18, which refer to this religious political system called Babylon. Listen carefully. It’s a religious system and a political system. It speaks of Christianity that joins in with politics in the world, which wants state power and also wants God’s power. You can’t have it. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” You can’t be a disciple of Jesus and have the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of earth at the same time. But Babylon tries to have both. They want all that they can on earth and go to heaven. And in the end, they discover they don’t get heaven. They only get what is on the earth.

First of all, in chapter 17, religious Babylon. There it speaks about, you know, I want to say, notice one thing. It says here in verse 5, “Babylon the great.” Eleven times Babylon is called “the great” in the book of Revelation. Jerusalem is called “the holy” in chapter 21. What’s the difference between great and holy? Great is great in size, quantity. Holy is quality. What is the difference between Babylon and Jerusalem? Essentially, the difference between quantity and quality, great or holy. I want to ask you, do you want to be great in Christendom or holy in Christendom? That’s your choice. But depending on that choice, you’re going to build Babylon or Jerusalem.

If you want to be great, I don’t care what doctrine you hold, you will build Babylon. If you want to be holy, you may not be great, but you’ll build Jerusalem. It’s always a choice that faces us in Christian work. Quantity or quality. If you lower quality, you can easily increase quantity. But everybody will be destroyed. If Noah had lowered his standards, he would have got 800 people in his church and nobody would have been saved. Thank God he kept quality and eight people only were there, but he saved them all.

You can go out and try to bring people to Christ and not make them disciples. Just bring numbers and numbers because you’ve got to write reports. And the end result is you have quantity, numbers. It will be great. It will be a huge church. They won’t be disciples. It will be Babylon.

The Spirit of Babylon in Christendom

And I believe this Babylonian spirit is found in every group in Christendom. Every group, whatever it is, whichever group it’s called, I’ve seen the spirit of Babylon in the churches I have planted. So don’t think it excludes me. Because I’ve seen that spirit comes in so easily among people. The spirit of compromise, the spirit of worldliness, the spirit of seeking honor in this world, seeking greatness in this world, seeking wealth in this world, and also wanting to be a disciple of Jesus. It does not work. You’ve got to either seek to please God or seek to please men. You cannot have both.

Babylon is a system that’s being built in the world today, my brothers and sisters. Don’t ever think you can escape it by going from one group to another group. There are so many people who accuse the Roman Catholic Church of being Babylon, but the people who left the Roman Catholic Church have got Babylon there too. And there are people who’ve left some Protestant church and say we are separated churches and that is Babylon. But there’s Babylon right here too. These pastors are running after money just as much as those, even more than those.

So Babylon is everywhere. You cannot escape it unless you put the flesh to death in your own life. Unless you get rid of the spirit of the world. Babylon is not a particular group with a particular denominational name. It’s not a particular church group. It’s a system, like the world system. It penetrates and permeates wherever there are Christians. And you can sit in the holiest group and be a member of Babylon. Please remember that.

Don’t think because you got out of some church you got out of Babylon. It’s not that easy. It’s a spirit that can be found in you when you sit in the best church in the world. A spirit that mingles Christ with money, God with money, Christ with comfort, heaven with this earth. And they don’t mix. Just like oil and water, you can’t mix it.

But these people don’t realize. And you see this beast has got a woman riding on top of it. The beast is the political leader. The woman is the religious leader. And they are hand in glove with each other. You see in chapter 17.

Babylon as an Economic System

And when you come to chapter 18, you find this is also an economic system. You know, religion has become a great means of making money for many people. Just like in Jesus’ time, there were people selling doves and sheep and all types of things. Not because they wanted to serve people, but they wanted a commission. They wanted to make profit out of selling sheep and doves. And whenever you do Christian work for profit and not for sacrifice, that’s Babylon.

That’s the principle. When you are doing things to make money for yourself, there are people who write books today to make money for themselves, who sell tapes today to make money for themselves. In Christendom, you know it’s happening? This is Babylon. Doing things in the Lord’s name to make money for themselves. There are Christian authors who have written books, got the profits and become millionaires. This is Babylon. In the name of Jesus, they are making money. This is not the work of God.

And Christmas. Think of Christmas. Oh, what a lot of money people make. Christmas cards and gifts and this and that and the other. In the name of Jesus, everybody, all the businessmen are happy for Christmas. Because religion and money making and profit and politics all mixed together. This is Babylon.

True Prophets and the Spirit of Jerusalem

Standing against this whole system are a few people, the true prophets in Jerusalem, who say this is not Christianity. This is not the way Jesus and the apostles did. There’s no money in serving the Lord. You get enough for your needs, that’s okay. But you’re not going to make money in the name of Jesus. If you make money in the name of Jesus and you earn more than you would have earned in a secular job, I would say, my brother, sister, you are probably building Babylon without knowing it. What would you have earned if you were in a secular job? Ask yourself.

The Way of Sacrifice vs. The Way of Profit

And then you ask yourself what you’re earning in Christian work. Many people are earning five to ten times what they would have earned in a secular job. And they say they are serving the Lord. They are not. And most of them get furious with me when I expose it. What are they angry with me? Is it wrong doctrine? No. It’s their love of money that’s getting exposed. Just like they hated Jesus for exposing the people who made money in the temple. It’s the same today. Don’t ever go along that route. Mark my words, you’ll have regret in the final day.

The way of God is the way of sacrifice. Jerusalem is the city of sacrifice. If you went to Jerusalem to the temple, all you see is blood, blood, blood, blood, blood in the altar. It’s a place of sacrifice. Babylon is a place of business, business, business, business, money, money, money, money. Here it is blood, blood, blood. You can choose either way. Make profit in Jesus’ name or sacrifice in Jesus’ name. That’s what determines.

The Fall of Babylon and the Marriage of the Lamb

Then in chapter 19, you read about hallelujah. There are only four times in the New Testament that the word hallelujah comes. Do you know that? Only four times. And all four times is here. And what is the reason for the hallelujah? Hallelujah! Babylon is destroyed. Do you know that? The first hallelujah in the New Testament is because Babylon is destroyed. All four hallelujahs are for that only. Do you say hallelujah to that, Lord, we praise You that this wretched system that led people astray, these money makers who said they were servants of God, the whole thing has been finally exposed and destroyed. Hallelujah! Praise God. We’ll say it louder when it actually happens.

Then they worshiped God and a great multitude began to praise God saying hallelujah. And then we read about the marriage of the Lamb, verse 7 onwards. The bride is ready. The bride has kept herself pure on earth. She didn’t get corrupted to Babylon. This is the contrast of the woman in 17:4 who’s decked with purple and scarlet and gold and precious stones, chapter 17, verse 4, and pearls having a golden cup. That is this religious system with wealth and money and prosperity. And in contrast to that is this simple bride, chapter 19, verse 8, dressed in clean white linen, no gold, no pearls, no nothing. The bride, the simple bride of Jesus Christ in contrast to that woman.

Where do you belong? What is this white linen, fine linen? It’s the righteous life these saints lived. It’s not the righteousness of Christ. Read verse 8, 19:8. It’s the righteous life these saints lived. John is so excited that he falls down to worship the angel and the angel said don’t worship me. Worship God, verse 10. Worship Jesus Christ.

The Return of Christ and the Thousand-Year Reign

And then we see the picture of Jesus coming from heaven, verse 11, onwards riding on a horse, picture of Him coming with the saints. They were taken up and now He’s coming down to earth with them. And He establishes His kingdom. And the beast, verse 20, was taken and the false prophet and they were thrown into the lake of fire. They are the first two occupants of the lake of fire. The lake of fire is a bigger lake than hell. Hell is a small pond of fire. This is the lake of fire.

Chapter 20, we read about Satan being bound in the bottomless pit for a thousand years and Jesus establishes His reign on earth when the lion will lie down with the lamb and those who are faithful will reign with Christ on earth for one thousand years. So Satan was cast down from third heaven to second heaven, second heaven to earth, earth to the bottomless pit. One day he’ll be released from the bottomless pit and at the end of chapter 20 he’s thrown into the lake of fire as well. That’s how Satan goes. Right now he’s in the second heaven.

So we read about the reign of Christ, the first resurrection, verse 6, blessed are those who have taken part in the first resurrection. At the end of a thousand years Satan will be released for a short period just to show people that even after seeing the reign of Jesus for a thousand years, people still want to follow the devil because they are selfish and self-centered and don’t want to submit their lives to God. And many people follow the devil at the end of the thousand years. And in a moment the fire of God comes down and burns them up, verse 9. And the devil, verse 10, is thrown into the lake of fire.

The Great White Throne Judgment

And then comes the second resurrection, verse 11, and the great throne of judgment where God sits and all the unbelievers from all ages will come there. And it says the books were opened, verse 12. In those days books were not like this. Books were like scrolls. And the nearest thing that you can see to that is that videotape over there. The videotape, you know, like it’s rolled up. It says the videotape is taken out, the videotape of your memory. God presses the rewind button, it goes all the way to the time you were born. It says, okay, let’s play it, let’s look at your life. And the whole world will see your life on a screen.

Everything you ever said, everything you ever did from the time you were born, all your attitudes, motives, all your secret sins, all the lies you said, all the filthy books you read, everything. And the Lord will say, what do you think, does this fellow deserve hell or heaven? Everybody will say hell, send him.

See, these people are already in hell. Why are they pulled out of hell? To be shown that they deserve hell. There’s only one way for all those filthy things to be blotted out from your videotape today, repent, ask Jesus to cleanse you with His blood. Then it can be wiped out. That part of your videotape will be blank. Otherwise it’s still there, even the secret sins. And then they are thrown into the lake of fire.

The New Jerusalem

And then chapter 21 and 22, you read about the new Jerusalem and the new heavens and the new earth. And in this new Jerusalem, we read in verse 10, some wonderful things, the overcomers, verse 7, will inherit everything. Verse 8, the people who will go to hell, people who commit all types of sins. And the new Jerusalem, the church. One thing I want to mention here, crystal clear, verse 10 and 11, the thing that’s mentioned about people in the church is they are transparent. There’s no guile in them.

Learn to be crystal clear in your life, like glass through which people can see, not like this opaque type of glass. Many Christians are like this. There’s a double life. They don’t want other people to look into their private life because there are all types of wrong things there. Be like crystal clear glass.

It describes that, and it says here about the twelve tribes of Israel, verse 12, and the twelve apostles of the Lamb, verse 14, proving to me that Old Testament saints and New Testament believers will both be in Jerusalem, the bride of Christ. Abraham will be a part of it, even though some people say no. It says here, the sons of Israel and the apostles of the Lamb representing Old Testament saints and New Testament saints.

And there we see the river of life, verse 22, the tree of life, verse 22, verse 2, chapter 22, verse 1 and 2, and the throne of God and the Lamb, no more curse, verse 3, no tree of knowledge that has been destroyed, no night, verse 5, and in the end of it all it says, verse 7, I am coming quickly, I am coming quickly, be ready. Blessed is the man who has listened to the words of this book. John is so excited, once again he falls to worship. John made mistakes, so he made a mistake a second time. Angel says, don’t worship me, worship God.

Final Exhortations

And the Lord says finally, verse 10, don’t seal up the words of this book. And here is an amazing exhortation in verse 11, let the one who does wrong still do wrong. Let the one who is filthy still be filthy. What does this mean? Have you ever heard in this holy book an exhortation to do wrong and be filthy? It’s here, brother, do wrong, brother, sister, be filthy. What is the meaning of this exhortation? It means, after you have read this whole book and you have come to the last page and you still want to do wrong, you better go ahead and do wrong, there is no hope for you. After you have read this whole book and you still want to be filthy, just go ahead and be filthy, there is no hope for you, that’s the meaning of that verse. If after all this you still don’t repent, there is no hope for you.

Again the word, I am coming quickly and I will give to every man according as his work shall be. Praise God, He is coming. Again in verse 20, He is coming quickly, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

The Old Testament ended with the word curse, the New Testament ends with grace and an invitation to everybody to come, verse 17, and an invitation to believers to overcome. There is a double invitation in Revelation, unbelievers come, believers overcome.

Conclusion: The Devil’s Defeat

So we have seen the end of the book, I think that because we have seen the end of the book, we know where the devil is headed, that’s what should give us confidence today. When you see the devil working, there is a little couplet I read somewhere saying, when the devil reminds you of your past, you remind the devil of his future. When the devil reminds you of your past, you remind the devil of his future.

We know that the devil is going to be cast into the lake of fire. So sometimes when we see the devil working today, say, I already know the end, I read the last chapter, I know what’s going to happen. You know, people in our country are very crazy about cricket, and supposing there was a cricket match between India and England, and India won the match, and here is one chap who did not see the match, and now, five hours later, he is seeing the replay of the match on television along with another person who already watched the match, and as this chap who has not seen the match watches, he is tense, oh, will India win?

I don’t know, oh, it looks as if England is going to win. But the chap who has already seen the match, he is relaxed, he says, I already know India won. So, this is how it is. If you believe the devil has already been defeated, if you have seen the whole match in the book of Revelation, today when you see the devil doing something, you won’t be tense, oh, will he win? Will he win there? Brother, I have already seen, there is only a replay going on now. I have already seen the end. I have seen he has been defeated, so I am not tense. Yeah, a little bit, there will be, he will get that wicket and he will get the other wicket, but ultimately we are going to win. Praise the Lord.

Now, this is only a rush through Revelation, there is a book of mine there called “The Final Triumph.” It goes verse by verse through this whole book, you can read it. If you have an internet connection, you can log on to the internet and go to www.poonen.org/zac, Z-A-C, on the internet, that book is there, “The Final Triumph.” You can study it verse by verse and see the wonderful truth of Jesus Christ triumphant, the final triumph.

Praise the Lord, and we praise the Lord for taking us through this book, this wonderful book of the Bible, and bringing us to this glorious triumphant end. Let’s pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word. With all of our hearts, this is what gives us hope. As we look to the future, Jesus Christ has won the victory, He is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The devil was defeated, our sins are forgiven, the blood of Jesus has cleansed us from all sin. We’ve got a hope for the future, we are sons and daughters of the living God, and we thank You we can be Your witnesses until the day when You come with the clouds and You will take us to be with You forever. We thank You and praise You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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