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Sutherlin SDA Church

War of Thrones

Daniel Pel

Revealing the War Behind All Wars

What Does the Future Hold?

Prophecy’s Signs of the Times

The Ultimate King

The Map to the Throne Room

The Battle of Faith

What Went Wrong with the Christian Religion?

A Moral Compass to Navigate Life

Finding Rest in Today’s Society

Can the Dead Speak To Us?

What is the Mark of the Beast in the Book of Revelation?

How Can I Have a New Start in Life?

Does God Really Burn People in Hell Forever?

The Rise of Mystery Babylon

A People of Prophecy

Home at Last!

Well, you know traveling as I said is a blessing.

I find myself a lot on airplanes But there's also something something special about coming home and you know, this message tonight is really about coming home Because you know how it is when you've been gone maybe on vacation or maybe you have to travel for your work.

When you come back home and you've slept in other places for maybe some days and you just walk into your house, there's something about that familiarity, right?

There's something just about that personal space.

The Bible, when it wraps up this whole story of salvation, when you come to the last chapters of the book of Revelation, it talks about us coming home.

I mean, in the sense of coming home to the place that God has prepared for us, coming home to the place that God has in store for us, our heavenly home.

And so we wanna talk a little bit about that tonight, about our heavenly home and what that is going to be like and some of the events that are gonna lead up to that place where we will be together with Jesus.

And so we're gonna spend some time in the last chapters of the book of Revelation.

Now during this series, we've had 16 evenings in the series War of Thrones, we have been able to look at a number of prophecies within the book of Daniel and in the book of Revelation.

And I'm, by the way, just so glad that Andre is gonna continue to study with you through these amazing and interesting books, Daniel and Revelation.

And so I'm very happy that he's gonna start this group that you can be a part of, where you can come out once a week, and where you can actually systematically, structurally, go through the books of Daniel and Revelation, because there's a lot in those books that we've not been able to cover in the short amount of 16 evenings together.

But we have been able to look at some of the main prophecies in these books that have been very fascinating and hopefully eye-opening and inspirational as we prepare for our final home, as we prepare to meet Jesus when he comes.

And so we want to look at some of the things that are written there in those final chapters of the book of Revelation.

Now, we looked, not yesterday, but on Wednesday, we looked at the topic of the movement of God in Bible prophecy.

And we also looked at the counterfeit movement that is at work in our world today and that was characterized or described by mystery Babylon.

Now, the good news in Revelation chapter 18 is that we read about the fall of Babylon.

Babylon is not the conquering power in the end time.

This superstructure that is going to rise itself against God, this structure that is going to seek to oppose religion upon mankind, is in the end going to be defeated in this war of thrones.

And so chapter 18 describes the fall of Babylon and then as we get into chapter 19 of Revelation we read about Jesus coming back the second time and how he is victorious as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And we're gonna look a little bit at Revelation 19, but we're gonna spend a lot of our time also tonight in Revelation chapter 20.

And Revelation chapter 20, we find what we can refer to as the millennial prophecy.

Millennial is actually a Latin word, mille comes from a thousand, annum, year, so a thousand year prophecy.

And we're going to look at when that thousand years begins and what happens during those thousand years and what happens at the end of those thousand years.

And I think you'll be inspired by that prophecy that we'll be looking at this evening.

And then finally, the last 2 chapters in the Bible, the last 2 chapters in the book of Revelation, they deal with the New Jerusalem and the New Earth, and then we can really refer to being finally at home, at home at last.

And this is the place that God has prepared for us.

I think I mentioned this earlier in this seminar, but I find the structure of the Bible very interesting because when you open your Bible and you're going to read the Bible and you start there in the very first book, the book of Genesis, chapter 1 and 2, the first 2 chapters of the Bible, are dealing with this perfect environment that God has created, where God has a perfect relationship with his people, and where there is no curse and no sin.

There's no suffering, there's no sorrow, there's no death.

But then the conflict begins in chapter 3, and we are we are thrown into this war of thrones, this battle between good and evil.

But then when you get to the end of the Bible and you get to the book of Revelation, it's interesting that Revelation chapter 20 describes the final battle between good and evil.

And then in chapter 21 and 22 you again have 2 chapters where there is no pain, no suffering, death has been conquered, death has been done away with, the devil has been done away with, hallelujah, sin has been done away with, and we are finally at home with Christ, and everything has been restored, and there's this little phrase there in the last chapter of the Bible, Revelation chapter 22, verse 3, and it says, the curse is no more.

And so, you know, I'm holding here in my fingers, here is, you know, if I turn here to Genesis chapter 3, and I'm here in Revelation chapter 20, and I have 2 chapters on this side with a perfect world and a perfect God and a perfect relationship between God and man and no curse and no sin.

The great controversy between good and evil, right?

What I'm holding between my fingers is the war of thrones.

What I'm holding between my fingers is this battle that is raging in our universe today, where these 2 powers are seeking for our allegiance, they're seeking for our loyalty, they're seeking for our commitment and our faithfulness.

And the question is, are you going to be faithful to God in the midst of this battle between good and evil?

And we know that in the end Christ will reign victorious.

As a matter of fact in Revelation chapter 19 we have a picture of the victory of Christ when he returns the second time, And the imagery that is used in Revelation chapter 19 is fascinating because it describes Jesus as coming on a white horse.

And the language here was a language that was understood by the biblical audience of when the Bible was written, particularly because whenever there was 1 army facing off with another army, the army that would win the battle, the army that would conquer, what they would many times do is they would ride across the the field of battle on a white horse and that would symbolize or that would signify that they were victorious.

And so here, Jesus, in the end of time, he rides on a white horse because he is the victorious 1 in this battle.

When this battle finally comes to an end, Jesus will be the King of kings and Lord of lords.

Now take notice what it says in Revelation chapter 19 and looking there at verse 1 and 2.

It says, after these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Alleluia, salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God.

For true and righteous are his judgments, because he has judged the great harlot, " remember great harlot, mystery Babylon the great, who corrupted the earth with her fornication and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her.

Here is the declaration of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and Mystery Babylon, that great harlot that we learned about in Revelation chapter 17, this false power that has set itself up to rule the world and to control the masses of people, This power has been defeated.

Revelation chapter 19 makes it very clear.

In the same chapter, verse 5 and 6 says, then a voice came from the throne saying, praise our God for all his servants and those who fear him, both small and great.

And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude as the sound of Many waters and as the sound of mighty thundering saying alleluia for the Lord God of nippetent Reigns and So Revelation chapter 19 is really a marker in the book of Revelation, because book of Revelation is built up where it describes the battle between good and evil.

And Revelation chapter 1, you'll get this vision of Jesus, and then it leads us right into the history of the church and the events that will occur from the days of John until the end of time.

But as you move your way through the chapters of the book of Revelation, it's like the battle is intensifying and intensifying and intensifying, and you see this beast power that rises up.

And then you have this woman in Revelation 17, which is a the false system of Babylon the great that rises up and seems to control the kings of the earth and control the people of the earth But then when you get to chapter 18 of Revelation, it says Babylon, Babylon has fallen.

This system has not been able to fulfill what it wanted to fulfill.

It's not been able to do what it wanted to do because God is now coming in between.

God is doing his work in this world and Babylon has fallen and Revelation chapter 19 when we come there then the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords comes on the scene Jesus himself reigns and Babylon is no more Revelation chapter 19 verse 7 to 9 says, Let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the Lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

Then he said to me, Write, blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

And he said to me, these are the true sayings of God.

So Revelation chapter 19 brings us to the moment of victory, the moment where Jesus is reigning as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but it also tells us something significant about God's people here on earth.

And what it tells us about God's people here on earth is that they are like a bride that has made herself ready for a marriage.

Well, the Bible tells us it's the marriage supper of the what?

Of the lamb, the marriage supper of the lamb.

Now, this is a theme that runs all through scripture.

This is a theme that, again, we find from the very beginning of Scripture until the very end of Scripture, the idea that God's people, God's movement, God's church is pictured in Scripture as a bride, as a woman.

Jesus Christ is the bridegroom, and so ultimately what will happen in the end of time, according to these verses that we just read, is that the bride will be ready.

God's people will have prepared themselves for the coming of Christ.

The bride is now adorned and the bride is clothed.

And take notice, if I go back here for a moment, what was that, what was the clothing symbolizing?

It says, to her was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, "'clean and bright, for the fine linen is the, " what?

"'The righteous acts of the saints.'" In other words, they have allowed the power of God to fill their lives.

They have allowed for the Spirit of God to take control of their hearts.

They have allowed for God's promises and His commandments to be written in their hearts and their minds.

They're living according to the ways of God and God is empowering them to do that.

And this is symbolized in the Bible by the bride being arrayed in fine linen.

These are the righteous acts of the saints.

And they're not the righteous acts because we have it all together, but it's because of the righteousness of God that has filled our lives, amen?

And it's produced a witness in the world of the glory of God and the character of God.

And so when you actually look at what is written here in Revelation chapter 19, we can ask a very important question, and that is, in the context of this final marriage, in the context of this unity between Christ and the church, actually who is waiting for who?

Is the bridegroom waiting for the bride or is the bride waiting for the bridegroom?

Are we waiting for Jesus or is Jesus waiting for us?

And I guess you can answer yes yes to both of those questions right because of course we are waiting for Jesus.

Yes we are living in a world where we see that the signs of the times are intensifying.

We see that the battle between good and evil is intensifying.

We are seeing the things that Jesus has told would happen take place around us.

We see how the signs are becoming more intense and more frequent.

There are earthquakes, there's pestilence, there's hurricanes, the love of many is waxing cold as Jesus described in Matthew chapter 24, and there's all these calamities that are taking place.

And so we see that we're getting closer and closer to the end of time.

And yes, in anticipation, we're waiting for the coming of Jesus, but, but it's not just that we are waiting for Jesus to come.

It is Jesus that is also waiting for us as the bride of Christ, as the movement of God, to adorn ourselves and to clothe ourselves and to be ready for that marriage, amen, for the marriage supper of the Lamb.

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Series

War of Thrones

Home at Last!

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Bible Study

26m

Alistair Huong: Examining Our Motives

Why Am I A Christian?

41m

Plenary

From the Ground Up

1h

Living in the Day of Atonement

1h 1m

Don’t Lose Heart

50m

A Study in Hebrews

A Study in Hebrews 13: Seek the City to Come

35m

Plenary

Sabbath School 2

55m

The Most Helpful Method: Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

59m

The Cross & The Great Controversy

Content With Christ

33m

Finding Answers In The Sanctuary

47m

The Beatitudes

Blessed Are the Persecuted

29m

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Sanctuary

25 The Feast of Tabernacles

1h 2m

Sound Doctrine