In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the book of Revelation and the second coming of Jesus Christ. He begins by referencing Revelation 19:17, where an angel is seen standing in the sun and calling the birds to gather for a great feast. The preacher then connects this passage to the book of Daniel, specifically the vision of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream, which symbolizes different kingdoms and the ultimate destruction of these kingdoms by a stone hewn from a mountain. The preacher emphasizes the significance of Jesus Christ as the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. He highlights the importance of Jesus' sacrifice, which washes believers from their sins, and the future judgment that awaits those who do not know God or obey the gospel. The sermon concludes with a reminder that Jesus will come with clouds, and every eye will see him, causing people from all nations to mourn. The preacher encourages the audience to ponder these revelations and to believe in Jesus, who will be glorified in his saints on that day.

Hello, this is Brother Denny. Welcome to Charity Ministries. Our desire is that your life would be blessed and changed by this message. This message is not copyrighted and is not to be bought or sold. You are welcome to make copies for your friends and neighbors. If you would like additional messages, please go to our website for a complete listing at www.charityministries.org. If you would like a catalog of other sermons, please call 1-800-227-7902 or write to Charity Ministries, 400 West Main Street, Suite 1, EFRA PA 17522. These messages are offered to all without charge by the free will offerings of God's people. A special thank you to all who support this ministry. Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus this morning. Praise God for the words that we've already heard. I wonder if you heard them. I just feel like we could stop right here on that and not go any further. The Word of God, such a treasure, such a treasure we have. God has been so good to us in this land. We all have one of these. I have my own. I get to mark in it and write in it and circle it and study it. And I can do it in freedom. Aren't you glad for that this morning? God has been so good to us. But to whom much is given, much is also required. So, we thank God for the emphasis this morning already and the stirring in my own soul as I listen to the exhortation. I want to remind you that there's something else that D.L. Moody said at the end of his life when he was about to die. Someone asked him what the key to the success of his ministry was. You know what he said? He said, there came a point in time in my life when I blocked out all my schedules and all my busy life and I set aside hours of time to soak my heart in this book. And there, my ministry began to be fruitful. God is no respecter of persons. At least, I'm one. I believe that. What God did for one man, God will do for another. If he's willing to rise up and follow it and do it, God will do it for someone else. And I'm glad for that. Well, this morning, we're going to have a little study on the book of Revelation. I don't know how that sets with you. Some people are afraid of the book of Revelation. But it's part of the Bible. God has put it there for our learning, for our instruction, for correction and direction for our lives. The book of Revelation. I'm going to give a little title to the series that I'm teaching on here. We're going to call it, Revelation's Timeless Doctrines. Revelation's Timeless Doctrines. And I'm giving it that title because I'm not planning to go into all the little details and interpretations in the book of Revelation, but rather to draw out of the book of Revelation the timeless doctrines that can sanctify our lives even in these last days. I have been reading the book of Revelation for the last two years, and it's in the course of my regular Bible reading, but I do it a little bit different with the book of Revelation and the book of Hebrews. I kind of shift my Bible reading around so that when I read those two books, I can read them in one sitting. I don't know if you've ever done that with the book of Hebrews or the book of Revelation, but I tell you, it's a revelation to read the book of Revelation in one sitting. Chapter 1 through chapter 22. So I've read it many times in the last two years, and I read it a little bit different maybe than you do. I read it out loud. I go up in my study where I can be alone, and I preach the book of Revelation to my own heart as I read it, out loud, slowly, meditative, with strength and meaning, verse by verse. It's an awesome experience. God has begun to unfold to my own heart, my own personal life, the tremblings, the exhortations, the challenges, and the warnings that are in the book of Revelation. And I'd like to share some of those practical gleanings that I've gained from this experience over the last two years. This little study is actually for the Bible school students. It was set aside for Bible school. But the Lord, He's in charge, and He said no to the Bible school. He said yes for this weekend. So, the young people have to get the tapes. I want to say a few words about the nature of the prophetic, because the book of Revelation is a prophetic book. It is a prophetic utterance. It is full of dreams and visions. It's full of future predictions. It's full of all kinds of things that, as we look at it, we may not even understand it. This is the nature of the prophetic. It is supposed to be that way. In the prophetic, we find veiled realities. Can I say it that way? They are there. They are realities. They speak very clearly to our hearts. Yet, at the same time, we look at them, like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13, through a glass, darkly. They are veiled realities. We see them, yet we don't see them clearly. But you see them enough that they have a gripping effect upon your heart, if you will open your heart to them. This is the nature of the prophetic. Also, the nature of the prophetic is to have mysteries in it. Mysteries that you don't understand. Statements that you cannot figure out. Things that make you scratch your head. Things that make you put question marks in the side of your Bible. That's what I do when I don't understand something. I just put a question mark there and hope, maybe I'll find it some day later. But I know that some day later, I will have all those answers. Question marks. God has designed the prophetic that way. That it brings question marks to our own heart and our mind. It causes us to ponder and to wonder. And it has an exercise of searching in our heart. What does this mean? God wants it to do that to us. It is the nature of the prophetic. Another thing about the prophetic, that I would like to note before we get into the study here, is that the prophetic, in fact, it is given to those that it was written for. When God moved upon the heart of a prophet to speak forth words, He moved upon that prophet in the midst of the situation and circumstances that the prophet was living in. So, the nature of the prophetic is for those who were living in the day that it first came. However, it also reaches out into the future. And you cannot put the prophetic in a box. It reaches out into the future and it could go two or three jumps down into the future before you will get it all figured out. An example of that would be Joel 2, where it speaks about the outpouring of the Spirit of God in the last days. And that was given in Joel, which would have been, oh my, maybe 500 years before. Pentecost. And so there we have the nature of the prophetic, and God used it in Joel's day, in the lives of the people of Joel's day. But then we jump over into the day of Pentecost, and there Peter uses those Scriptures and says, this is that which was prophesied by the prophet Joel. But I want you to notice that there are also verses that he listed there, that were listed in Joel, and also listed in the book of Acts, that have not been fulfilled yet. And so God stretches that thing way out here, and we sit there looking at it and wonder, what does this mean? That's good, brothers and sisters. It's good for us to be there. God, what does this mean? And so we find ourselves gazing into the future with awe and wonder, but not knowing exactly what we're looking ahead to. This is the nature of the prophetic. The prophetic is designed, it is supposed to make us think and wonder and question. The prophetic is supposed to make us ask God questions. If I could just illustrate that, you know, it was the prophet Daniel who was reading the Word of God, and came upon those verses by Jeremiah that said something about 70 years, and Daniel wanted to know what that meant, and he sought to seek the Lord, and he fasted and he prayed 21 days for an answer to his question as he gazed into the mysteries of the prophetic. And aren't we glad he was serious enough about it to seek God the way he did there. Maybe we ought to be doing a little more of that, amen? We live in the last of the last days. The nature of the prophetic is designed to make you alert to current events. You read into the prophetic, you live in the world that you live in, and the prophetic makes you alert to the current events that are happening around you. You cannot help it. These are days when all kinds of things are unfolding before us that we do not understand. But the prophetic and current events often run side by side. And lastly, the effects of the prophetic is that it tries and proves us and should affect our will. It should affect our will. And what I mean by that is simply this. God, it's alright if God veils powerful things in the mysteries of the prophetic, and it's alright if He does that and calls upon us to make decisions though we do not see it all very clearly. That's okay. We shouldn't have to see everything. We shouldn't have to know everything. You shouldn't have to wait until the day you see the locusts with scorpion stingers in their tail to all of a sudden decide you're going to wake up and get serious with God. You ought to be able to just look into that book and wonder what that means and say in your heart, I'm not sure what all that means, but I'm going to get serious with God. This is the nature of the prophetic. Now, I want to hasten to say as we get into this study, I am not an expert on prophecy. I am not. I do not claim to be. In fact, I feel very ignorant on the subject, but I still spent the last two years going through the book of Revelation. So, there are things that have come out to my heart that I want to share with you. I'm not an expert on prophecy. And my motivation here in these sessions is not that at all. May I say it this way? Rather, I feel very ignorant when I think about prophecy. There are many, many other brethren who have studied prophecy way more than I and have very good insights into all of that. And I'll leave it to one of them to teach us all the intricate details and what they think they mean in the book of Revelation. That is not my motivation as we look into these things, but rather, I desire to draw out of the book of Revelation the timeless doctrines, the teachings that are in there, that are practical, that affect our everyday living. And we want to look at those in these three sessions. I must admit, though, that I am forming my opinions as I read and as I study. And I'm planning to be wrong on some of them when the Lord Jesus Christ does come. I am not one of those dogmatists about prophecy that I believe I see what this means and that means and what this is going to be and all that. I'm not one of those. I think we're all going to be surprised. But let's be ready, while we are surprised that it came out different than what we thought it would. That's where I would be at. I'm not dogmatic on the details of these things. And I would encourage you, as children of God who live in the last days, read the book of Revelation through. Then read the book of Daniel. Then go back and read the book of Revelation. Then read the book of Daniel. You'll find some very interesting things in there that will speak to your heart about the present age in which we live, if you will do that. Gleaning will come. And a carefulness will also come with the gleanings that you get as you go back and forth reading in those two books. The word revelation in the book of Revelation is the word apokalypsis. That's the Greek word. And it simply means revelation or the revealing. And it's interesting to me. You know, it says here in my Bible the revelation of St. John the Divine. And the word divine there in the Greek is theologian. St. John the Theologian. Well, whoever thought of the book of Revelation being a theology book. But there's much theology in the book of Revelation as we will see as we begin to go down through it. Without nitpicking on little details of what this is and who this might be, this book of Revelation is filled with theology. It is filled with a theology of God. It is filled with a theology of God's people. And how that they should relate to the end of the age that they live in. We want to look at it that way. In Revelation 1 and verse 1, it's interesting to note the words in which this book begins. The revelation of Jesus Christ. I don't know if you ever considered that, but maybe we could say that the book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Go through it one time that way. Just take that little thought which begins the whole book and read through it saying, this book is a revelation of Jesus Christ. This book is the revelation of Jesus Christ in the end of the age. You could do it that way. Consider these words found in other places in the New Testament. Peter. The book of Peter. Chapter 1. Notice what Peter says. I find it very interesting in light of that verse that we just read in chapter 1 and verse 1. 1 Peter 1 and verse 13. Peter says these words, Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober and hope to the end, for the grace that is to be brought unto you when? At the revelation of Jesus Christ. Just hide that one in your heart. And also, 2 Thessalonians and chapter 1, verse 7 through 10. Again, note these things. Hide them in your heart. And you ponder them like I ponder them. And wonder what all of it means. First, 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse 7. And to you who are troubled, rest with us when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power when He shall come to be glorified in His saints and to be admired in all them that believe because our testimony among you was believed in that day. To be glorified in all them that believe in that day. What day? In that day when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed. We've been studying the book of Daniel in our family devotions for just a few days now. And you know how it is when you study your Bible, connections get made all the time in different ways because of where you were just reading or where you're going to be reading. And we've been reading in the book of Daniel and we read about the dream, the vision that King Nebuchadnezzar had. You know, he saw that big image and the image had a head of gold and it had a chest and arms of silver and it had loins of brass and it had legs of iron and it had ankles and feet which was made of iron and clay. And according to that revelation that was given to King Nebuchadnezzar, there was a stone that was hewn out of a mountain and that stone smoked that image and broke that image into pieces and the stone which was hewn out of the mountain became a great mountain which covered the whole earth. Beautiful! Well, maybe that's what the book of Revelation is, huh? It is the stone hewn out of the mountain that breaks the image in pieces. The stone that became a mountain and covered the whole earth. That's a different way to look at the book of Revelation. Now, in Daniel, you see it all in one thing. Up stands this big image. This big stone is hewn out of the mountain. The stone smashes into the image and breaks it into pieces and the stone grows into a great mountain and covers the whole earth. Boom! Just like that. Well, in the book of Revelation, maybe we have 22 chapters to explain that one little picture. And brother Mo says, Amen! So maybe that's right. I don't know. I don't know a lot about those things. The theme of the book of Revelation is the conflict of Christ and His church with anti-Christian powers and their ultimate defeat. There's a nice theme, isn't it? The conflict of Christ and His church with anti-Christian powers and their ultimate defeat. Hallelujah! We read the last chapter. Everything is taken care of. It's not a matter of whether those things are going to come to pass. The matter is whether you're going to be in the midst of it all, whether you get to be on the glory side of it all when it's said and done. And the last chapter is sealed. That's the question this morning, brothers and sisters. Reading in Revelation again in chapter 1, if we could. Chapter 4. I'm sorry, verse 4. Revelation 1, 4 through 10. Just to get the... I'd like us to get the pastoral aspect of this old apostle John. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come. And from the seven spirits which are before His throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness. There we have the Trinity, isn't it? Right there in those first few verses. From Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. Aren't you glad for that this morning? That He loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him and they also which pierced Him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him, even so. Amen. John begins to give us a glimpse of what he is going to describe in detail in the chapters to come. Now, listen to John. I, John, am a man of faith. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. What a wealth of wisdom he just gave in those words. The great apostle, the wise apostle, this old man, ninety years old, I, John, am your brother, your companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. I, John, was in the isle that is called Patmos. Why were you there, John? For the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. They put me here because I love the Word of God and because I love the testimony of Jesus. Because I love the Word of God and because I testified of my Lord Jesus. I am here on the isle of Patmos and I am a companion in tribulation. But John goes on to give a bit of his credentials. I'm glad these are here. In verse 10, I, John, was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. We're not going to read any further there, but I want you to note that that John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Do you know what it is to be in the Spirit on the Lord's day? I went to church on the Lord's day. I read my Bible on the Lord's day. I sang the songs on the Lord's day. But John was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. That's where God wants every one of us to be, brothers and sisters, in the Spirit on the Lord's day. But that's where John was and that made the way for the great apostle to minister to us 1,900 years later because he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Praise God. I want us to also notice here that there were things to be gleaned for these seven churches. The book of Revelation was written to those seven churches. It wasn't just written as a prophetic revelation for somebody who lives off in the future, but it was written to the church, those seven churches of Asia. It was written to them. It was for them. It was breathed out by God to them and for them. And there's a wealth of understanding as you go through the whole book of Revelation if you just think of it in light of that. It's not just some mysterious thing that is going to happen way down there somewhere. And many people have just kind of pushed the book aside because of that. Many. They look at it and say, I can't figure that thing out. I'm not even going to read it. Others have looked at it and said, it's so confusing. It can't be inspired. But I'm here to remind you this morning that it is the Word of God and a revelation of things to come. And it is packed full of wisdom for us to glean from in 2002. I hope that we can do that through these sessions as we go through them. Having said all this, I want to move into the practical teachings of the book of Revelation. Many men have made many predictions. And these predictions have filled many conferences with people who want to hear these predictions. I'm sure you're aware of that. Thousands of people gather together to hear the latest man and give the latest interpretations of the things that are happening in the book of Revelation. And I'm not against some of that. I think we need to do some of that ourselves. But I believe there are some deeper things in the book of Revelation than the tantalizing, interesting interpretations of what we think this head means and this crown means, and on and on and on it goes. Because I believe if we come to grips with that which God is trying to get across to our hearts in the book of Revelation, those kind of prophetic conferences would change the whole United States. But yet they go in their tens of thousands to look at what the ten toes mean, the ten crowns and all those things, but how much of it does change their everyday life and prepare them for the end, which is drawing nigh so fast? It's a question that I raised this morning. Not critical of them. I'm not against some of this. But there are clear, simple, practical teachings that these seven churches receive for themselves in their day. And there are clear teachings for us in our day. in our day. Us upon whom the end of the age has come. Amen? Paul said that to the Corinthians 1900 years ago. How could he say that to them and then God let another 1900 years go by? Hey, I don't understand all those things. I don't understand it. Except that that is the nature of the prophetic. It's just that way. I ponder many things. I'm sure you do too. Israel became a nation again in 1948. I ponder that. I wonder what that means. I watch that little nation. Little bitty Israel. One of the smallest nations in the whole world. And it gets more attention than the United States of America. Why? I'm not sure why. But it seems like God, in His wisdom, just keeps focusing the eyes of the whole world on that little piece of land called Israel. I ponder those things. What do they mean? Communist Russia fell. In a moment, just like that, the face of the whole world seemed changed. Communist Russia fell. I ponder those things. God, what does this mean? I'm living in this age when these things are happening. The European nations are aligning themselves and becoming a world power. I ponder those things. I look at them and I think, what does that mean, Lord? How does it fit into Your book? Give me wisdom. I want to be like David's mighty men who had understanding of the times and the seasons that they lived in. I want to be that way in the day that I live in, having understanding in the times and the seasons that I live in. Financial calamities abound in every part of the world. We need a Savior. We need a Savior. That's what the world would say. We need a Savior who can come and save the world. You will get one. You will get one. The New World Order is in the news all the time. They're constantly talking about getting everybody together and putting all the money together and making just one kind of money. All these things they're talking about. I ponder those things. I wonder what they mean. I don't know that I have all the answers to it, but when I ponder those things and I read through the book of Revelation, things go on inside of my heart. It makes me wonder what day and age we live in. World religions are coming together. The Protestants are opening their arms to Rome. And Rome is opening its arms to all the religions of the world. How can that be? Oh, God can allow anything to happen. You know, even a hundred years ago, if you would have told the people who lived a hundred years ago that the Pope would bless the Muslims and their religion, they wouldn't have believed you. But today, He blesses them and invites... Who's that man from Tibet? What do they call that guy? I can't say it, but all the world leaders of the world religions gather around Rome for a blessing. I ponder those things. Because you know, and you know this, religion is religion the world around. You know, it might have some different shapes, some different flavors to it, but religion is religion the world around. And true Christianity is the dividing line for every one of those religions. I ponder these things. The things that we are going to be considering will help you and keep you, even if you never know what the ten toes in Daniel's image represent. So, we want to look past the ten toes these next three days and look at Revelation from a very practical standpoint. There are many sevens in the book of Revelation and they are significant, no doubt. But I discovered that there are many twos in the book of Revelation also. And that's where we're going to be looking. Throughout these sessions. We're going to be looking at the twos and not the sevens. Sorry. Not going to look at the seven seals and the seven trumpets and the seven plagues and all those things. We're going to look at the twos. Okay? There are two kings, two armies, two peoples, two worlds, two cities, two women, two reapings, two judgments, two marks, two places, two kingdoms and two types of Christians in the book of Revelation. That's what I want to look at. And therein is much wisdom for us. Much wisdom. Brothers and sisters, we better be on the right side of those twos as the day approaches. We had better be on the right side of those twos. First of all, two kings. The first king is the king of all kings that you find in the book of Revelation. He is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness. He is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the first begotten of the dead. He is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Prince of the kings of the earth. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the One that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father to give Him glory and dominion forever and ever. He is the Lord Jesus Christ who cometh with clouds and every eye shall see Him. He is one of those two kings in the book of Revelation. Chapter 5. If we could read there, Revelation chapter 5, we get a glimpse of this king. He is a different kind of king. He is a beautiful king. Like Isaiah said, Mine eyes have seen the King. Mine eyes have seen the King. This King that we see in the book of Revelation, Isaiah said, Mine eyes have seen the King. Revelation 5 verse 5 and 6, And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not, John. Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. That's a king, by the way. The Lion of the tribe of Judah is the ruling king over all the kings of Judah. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. He hath prevailed. My King hath prevailed. My King hath prevailed. Oh, how did my King prevail? Let me tell you how He prevailed. He did not march like other kings march into a city with His royal robes on, holding His golden scepter in His hand. That's not the way my King prevailed. But my King prevailed. Oh, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, He hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. How did He prevail? What did He do to get such honor to open up such book when He couldn't find anybody to open the book? No, not in all the earth. No, not under the earth. No, not anywhere around the earth. Only this One prevailed. What did He do to prevail? Did He march into the city with all the pomp of a king with an army behind Him? No, He marched up a hill called Golgotha and laid His life down on a cross for you and me. Yes, the Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. He's my King, like the old black preacher used to say. You ever hear that little sermon? He's my King! But my King marched up a lonely hill and laid Himself down on an old rugged cross and gave His life there for you and me. That's one of the kings in the book of Revelation. So John, he hears this word, this encouraging word. Don't weep, John. The Lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and the four beasts and in the midst of the elders stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. What a different picture that is! He turned, expecting to see a Lion. He saw a Lamb. That's right. You see, my brothers and sisters, that's how you become a Lion in God's Kingdom. You lay down like a Lamb. That's how you become a Lion. The strength of God is made perfect in weakness, brothers and sisters. And Jesus is the most beautiful example of that to all of us today. And He's the King in the book of Revelation. Do you know Him today? Do you know Him? It doesn't matter if you know President Bush today. It matters if you know the King of Kings that is revealed in the book of Revelation. When everything is said and done, when all the pages are done, and we stand before God, it won't matter one flip if you were the best friend of the President of the United States. What's going to matter is whether you know the King that is revealed in the book of Revelation. He's the stone hewed out of the mountain. Have you fallen on the stone which the builders, the religious people, rejected? The stone that has become the headstone? Have you fallen on the stone that was hewed out of the mountain? Oh, may I recommend to you this morning that you fall on the stone which is hewed out of the mountain because that stone is going to become a great mountain and it will grind everything to powder that has not fallen upon it in brokenness and yieldedness and reverence and adoration. Have you fallen on the stone which is hewed out of the mountain? Or do you wait for it to grind you to powder? It's a good question for us to ask ourselves here today. You know, I wonder how many testimonies I've heard of people who were not right with God but had lots of knowledge about the Bible and the end times. I wonder how many times I've heard the testimonies of people say as God was bringing them under conviction, I hoped that Jesus wouldn't return because I didn't know Him. This King is the lowly lamb. This is the lowly lamb who became our Savior. He is the one all heaven adores. He is the one all hell fears. He is the King revealed in the book of Revelation. We need to be rightly related to the King. The Creator has become our Savior. The Word made flesh and dwelt among men. Have you met the King like Paul did? Have you met Him? Have you said, Who art thou, Lord? And have you said, What wilt thou have me to do? This is a proper response to the King that's revealed in the book of Revelation. Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, King of kings and Lord of lords. I am Alpha and Omega. I am the beginning and the end. And I have the keys of death and of hell. And I am the King. Yes, Lord! And what will you have me to do, Lord? O thou King of all kings! Have you met the Deliverer and been set free? There is another King in the book of Revelation. Not quite the same. Not quite the same at all. But we need to look at Him. We may deal with Him someday. We just may deal with Him someday. Another King in the book of Revelation. The Antichrist. We need to know about Him. You decide after we look at Him also which one you want to relate to. Revelation 13, if we could read there a little bit. Revelation 13, verse 1 through 8. And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea having seven heads and ten horns. And upon his horns, ten crowns. And upon his heads, the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard. And his feet were as the feet of a bear and his mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death. And his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. And they worshipped the beast saying who is like unto the beast and who is able to make war with him. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his name and his tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Very different king, isn't he? Read yet with me also in 2 Thessalonians again to get a little bit more of a glimpse of this king. And I can't decipher all these things, you know. There are those who know so much more about Bible prophecy than I do who would say that we don't have anything to worry about. All these things are going to happen after we're gone. You won't have to relate to the Antichrist. You don't need to worry about the mark. There are those who would say all those things. I'm not sure about that. I'm not sure I could boldly say that. I'm not sure that I could. I couldn't stand before the crowds of Christians in America and tell them, don't worry about a thing. It's all going to turn out right before it gets tough. We'll be caught up and out of the way. Brothers and sisters, you try to convince the suffering church in China on that kind of a doctrine. They won't buy it, not for a minute. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 1, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto Him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind or be troubled neither by spirit nor by word nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you these things, Paul says. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. Only he who now letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of His mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. Very different kind of king, isn't he? Very different kind of king. Let's just get one more little glimpse of this king in Daniel 7, verses 7 and 8. After this I saw in the night visions and behold a fourth beast, dreadful, terrible, strong exceedingly, and it had great iron teeth. It devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it. And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it and it had ten horns. And I considered the horns and behold, there came up among them another little horn before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things. Now we get a picture of this king as we look at all these different portions of Scripture. This king and this king's kingdom is represented to us in the Bible as a beast. A beast. A growling beast. An animal. A leopard. A bear. A treacherous animal with iron teeth. And what I get the picture of here is a man of treachery, a dictator, a ruthless leader who will destroy everywhere he goes and yea, of a truth when those who lived before us said, surely it must be Hitler. They said that because he fit the descriptions that we've been reading. But there will be a king in the last days. Very, very different than the king that we were talking about before. Which one do you want to be related to? Which one do you want to serve under? These are pertinent questions for every one of us to ask ourselves and to answer. There will only be two choices in the last of the last days. Yes, there may be here and there around the world, but as I understand the things that I've studied, there's only going to be two choices. Which king are you going to serve? The king of kings and the Lord of lords? The altogether lovely one? The lily of the valley? The sweet lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world? Or this treacherous beast with iron teeth destroying everywhere he goes? I don't know about you, but I believe I'll just stay away from that fella as far as I can. And don't count on me to vote him in office. No way. No way. I want nothing to do with that. The Bible says that the spirit of antichrist doth already work. We read the verses there. The mystery of iniquity, it prevails all over the world even today as we look around this land where we live in, we would surely say the mystery of iniquity is at work in this land of ours. But that is only a foretaste of the iniquity of the iniquitous one. It's only a foretaste. Number two, and that's all we're going to get time to go through here today. Number two, not only are there two kings and we can learn a lot about those two kings and how it relates to us, but there are two armies. Just two. Just two. Revelation 19. If we can turn there. Two armies. Revelation chapter 19 and verse 14. First, ah, we ought to read from verse 11 of 19. And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he that sat upon him was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Amen. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns. And he had a name written that no man knew but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood, and his name is called the word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Hmm. He has an army with him. The army of the saints and the angels. Oh Lord, I want to be in that number, like the little old song says. I want to be in that number when the saints go marching in with the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I want to be in that number when the last battle between that which is evil and that which is right, between God and Satan is finished. I want to be in that number. How about you this morning? Which army are you going to be in? That's a good question this morning. You say, well, I'm not going to be in that other army. My dear friend, if you're not enlisted in the one we just read about, you're going to be in the other one. You'll be forced into it. Which army are you going to be in? I want to be in the army of the saints and the angels. I want to be in the army of the redeemed. I want to be in the army of the blood-washed, consecrated ones. Amen? Or you can choose to be in the army of the Antichrist. Ponder that one a while. And maybe not you that are sitting in this room, but you that are listening to the tape, you ponder that one for a little while. Are you going to be in the army of the Antichrist? You know, they all lead there. Every army leads to the army of the Antichrist in the end of the age. Every army. Verse 17 of chapter 19. Let's look again. And I saw an angel standing in the sun. And he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of captains and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of them that sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free and bound, both small and great. And I saw the beasts and the kings of the earth and their armies. You get the picture? I saw the beasts and all the kings of the earth who brought all their armies underneath the beasts gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. Only two armies here, brothers and sisters. Only two. And the beast was taken and with him the false prophets that wrought miracles before him with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse which sword proceeded out of his mouth and all the fowls were filled with their flesh. Not too mysterious, is it? Not too mysterious. Two armies, brothers and sisters, this morning. The army of the Antichrist. The soldiers in this army will war against the saints and persecute them. The Bible says the Antichrist will make war with the saints and wear them out. How will he do that? He will use an army to do that. Which army are you going to be in? The soldiers in this army will try to force the people of God to worship the beast. The soldiers in this army will starve the people of God. Won't let them have any food to eat unless they take the mark. We were thinking about that the other day in family devotions. I gave the children a little bit different perspective. Imagine. Imagine imagine getting put on a 50 day fast and you fast and pray and fast and pray until you pass into the presence of God Almighty. Oh, what a way to go. Right? No food for you unless you take the mark. Fine, no problem. We'll fast and we'll pray till we enter into the presence of God Almighty. Which army will you be in? The army of the Antichrist will kill the Christians by the millions in the last days. And finally, as we read here already, they will gather together with the beast to fulfill Psalm chapter 2 in its entirety. Remember Psalm chapter 2? Hmm? Psalm chapter 2. Let's just read there real quickly. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed saying, let us break their bands asunder and cast away their cords from us. But, he that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath and vex them in His sore displeasure. I have set My King upon My holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree the Lord hath set unto Me. Thou art My Son. This day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron. Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel. Be wise now therefore, all ye kings, the instructed ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. Rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and ye perish from the way when His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in Him. Which king are we going to serve and which army are we going to be in? You see, there's only going to be two armies in the end. That's a good thing for every one of us to consider. That's a good thing for every young man to consider. You know, they throw around all these ideas about just wars and all that stuff and it's okay to be in this army and that army, but I'm telling you every one of those armies leads to that army which we just read about and I don't want anything to do with any of that. I want to be in the other army, blessed God. A soldier of the cross. A follower of the Lamb. That's the army that I want to be in, brothers and sisters. These are very practical gleanings from the book of Revelation for us in this day that we live in because upon us has come the end of the age. And oh, I wish somehow we could all transport ourselves over to China for about a week and lay in a prison cell for a couple of days and let them beat on our head with a stick for a couple of days and let them throw us in a pile of manure and lay there for half the night and let us sit in the midst of some of those persecuted brethren in China and then come back in here and sit down and look at the things that we're going to look at. And all of a sudden, they would look very, very important to us because it is upon us that the end of the age has come. And we, as American Christians, we need to wake up. We need to wake up. Which army do you choose? Don't play foolish games. How close do you want to get to the other army? Not I. Not I. The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He's my King. Amen? Let's stand together for prayer. Our God and our Father, we stand in awe, Father. We stand in awe as we consider these things. It's really going to happen. All of it. It's really going to happen, Lord. Oh, I pray, Father. Wake us up. You know how dull we are, Lord. You know how we can't see very clearly. You know, Lord. You know so much more than we do. We acknowledge it with our heads, but we don't know it very well in our hearts. Oh, God, I pray. Open the eyes of our heart, Lord, and let us see where we really are, us Americans, God. Open the eyes of our heart. God, I pray, let us glean from this book of Revelation. Bless us, Lord, as we read it and hear it and keep the sayings that are in this book. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.