The Power of Words - Revelation 13:5-10

[0:00] You guys can open your Bibles to Revelation 13, where we'll be. And what a privilege that the Lord gives us His name.

[0:11] ! It's not something that we can't speak, that we can't approach, that He gives it to us as a gift to be able to speak. To be able to speak on our temporary, mortal, fallen lips.

[0:30] The Lord is so good. All right, Revelation 13. So tonight we're going to look at the power of words. Words of power. We're going to get a few more verses into this.

[0:43] We've gotten through verse 4 last time. We finished Revelation 12, jumped in 13, and started looking at the beast. The beast who is empowered by the dragon. The man of sin.

[0:54] The man of lawlessness. The Antichrist. The one who is to come. The one, unfortunately, who will come in his own name, as Jesus said. Another will come in his own name. In him you'll believe, but me you won't.

[1:06] And this man will come in his own name. And the world will eat this up. This will be the best system the world has ever experienced. The best man's system. It's the best system since Babel will be the beast's system.

[1:18] And so we got into that. We got into looking at who he was. Again, Revelation, the book, is more heaven's perspective of what's happening on earth. It's not from earth's perspective. You read the Gospels.

[1:29] The Gospels is very much earth's perspective of the Son of Man, the Son of God coming to earth, coming from heaven. Revelation is heaven's perspective of all that's taking place on earth during this time.

[1:41] And so the beast, as we're told in Revelation 13, it gives us almost his whole genealogy, history. It's another word I'm thinking of.

[1:51] But anyway, it gives us the whole thing in a snapshot. And it's like, well, when did this start? When did this take place? And it's the event of his life. So I stood upon the sand in verse 1 of chapter 13 and saw this beast arising out of the sea.

[2:06] Is this just happening now in Revelation 13? Is this happening right now at the midpoint of the tribulation? No, he's saying, this is what I saw. I saw the beast. He came out of the sea. And that would be in the beginning of the tribulation.

[2:20] Revelation chapter 4 and 5 as the seals are open. And he quickly brought us up to speed to the present with the beast of where he's writing about now. He said, I saw as though one of his heads in verse 3 were wounded to death.

[2:34] His deadly wound was healed and they all marveled at the beast. And they worshiped the dragon which gave power unto the beast. And they worshiped the beast saying, who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?

[2:45] And so as the Antichrist goes into the temple to set up the abomination of desolation, the Jews' eyes, that veil is removed. It's open. And they say, oh my word. We had the wrong guy. And they flee.

[2:57] They flee down into the wilderness. And God says, gives them wings to flee into the wilderness. And then the dragon in his wrath, because he's been cast out of heaven, his location is now bound to this dimension in the earth.

[3:07] It says that he sends out of his mouth a great flood. He sends out armies after them. But the earth opens up and swallows these armies. And so God protects his people. And so the beast here, this is post now, post midpoint of the tribulation, as we're going to see here, as he begins to have a certain dimension of power that he'd not have before, which the dragon is giving unto him to make war against the saints.

[3:32] This is part of the third woe. We saw that there were three woes. The first was the fifth trumpet. The second were the two witnesses.

[3:43] And then the third one is the dragon when he comes to earth. And this is all part of that. The dragon when he comes to earth, something happens that has not yet happened at this point when he comes to earth and he begins to act through the beast in a way that we've not yet seen before.

[3:55] Daniel 7, verse 7, told us that the beast, in Daniel's vision, we get a glimpse of him. After this, I saw in the night visions, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible and strong exceedingly, and had great iron teeth, devoured and break in pieces and stamped the residue with the feet of it.

[4:15] And it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. And so the beasts before it, each one representing a kingdom that ruled over the earth at the time, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persians, the Grecians.

[4:28] And here's this empire that's coming now. And it was diverse from all the others, and as it had ten horns, as we saw last time. Turn to 1 John, if you would, briefly.

[4:39] 1 John chapter 2. I've read this multiple times, but it's good to ramp back into this. It's been a couple weeks since we've been here.

[4:52] We're going to pick up in verse 18. John faithfully is warning or apprising the church of what is currently their circumstances and of future circumstances.

[5:10] He says, Little children, verse 18 of 1 John chapter 2. It is the last time. And as you have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists, whereby we know it is the last time.

[5:21] And again, like we said before, last time just means there's nothing else that needs to happen after this. There's no other covenant. There's no cross after this. There's no other Savior to be crucified. This is it. This is the last time.

[5:32] There's nothing left in God's sequence of events that needs to take place. This is the last time. At the end of this is the end of all things. And they went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have no doubt continued with us.

[5:45] But they went out. But they might be made manifest. They were not all of us. Interesting. The Antichrist will have a part of him which is linked to the church. He came out from that. He was not of the church.

[5:56] But there's a part of him that is linked to that, that has his roots or in essence, his beginnings there. But you have an unction or you have an anointing from the Holy One.

[6:07] And you know all things. And what is it we're to know? I have not written unto you because you know not the truth, but because you know it. You're not going to be deceived by the Antichrist. You know the truth. But no lie is of the truth.

[6:19] That's the whole point. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, that he would bring all things to our remembrance, guide us into all truth. But because you know it, no lie is of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ?

[6:33] He is opposite Christ. He is against Christ that denies the Father and the Son. We're going to see that as we get into these next few verses here. Let's pick up here in verse 5 now in Revelation chapter 13.

[6:47] And so the beast, as we read, the one who, as it were, wounded to death and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world wondered at the beast. Says in verse 5 that there was then given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies.

[7:05] Words have power. The power of words. There was given to him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies. And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.

[7:16] The beast will have rule and authority over a kingdom of blasphemy, based in blasphemy. Again, looking back to Daniel 7, we looked at verse 7 of Daniel 7.

[7:28] Verse 8 says, 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. Horns representing the kings.

[7:40] Behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man and a mouth speaking great things. One of the, a guy who's no longer with us, a Bible teacher, great man of the faith, Chuck Missler.

[7:51] He always used to call him Mr. Big Mouth. You know, the Antichrist is Mr. Big Mouth. He's just going to speak all kinds of crazy things. In Daniel chapter 7, if you jumped down to verse 25, it says, And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out.

[8:06] He's going to wear out the saints of the Most High. He's going to think to change times and laws. And they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of times.

[8:17] And this would be three and a half years. Turn to 2 Thessalonians, if you would. Chapter 2. The one who is given a mouth speaking great things.

[8:32] Words matter. They matter greatly to God. Jesus is the word made flesh. In the beginning was the word. Word was with God.

[8:43] And the word was God. So, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 in verse 1. We'll read five verses. It says, Now we beseech you, brethren, Paul writes, By the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together under him, you 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.

[9:07] No matter how powerful the words may seem, if they don't line up with this word, they have no value. And they have no real power. As that the day of Christ is at hand.

[9:20] Verse 3. Let no man deceive you by any means. For that day shall not come, except there come first the departing, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. And what does he do? He opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped.

[9:36] So that he, as God, sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And then Paul says, Don't you remember that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? Guys, I told you all of this, and now I'm writing to remind you.

[9:49] Remember this. So if I repeat myself, you know, Paul repeated himself. It's okay. So this man of sin, this man with the big mouth, he will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God.

[10:06] There will be no gods on the earth that will not be subject to the beast at this time. But he will declare himself as God. There will be only one group of people who will not bow to that, will not go along with that.

[10:18] The ones who know the one true and living God. James chapter 1. James writes in verse 19 regarding words. He says, Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.

[10:32] If you're quick to speak, what follows? Probably wrath somewhere in that quick speech. Verse 6. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So is the tongue among our members that defiles the whole body and sets on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell.

[10:51] Sounds like a southern saying. Tongues of fire, a world of iniquity. It's set on fire of hell. It's our tongues. How important is it to guard our speech?

[11:05] As Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, verse 36, I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Words are important to God.

[11:17] Speech is important to God. He doesn't take it lightly. For by the words thou shalt be justified and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Right before this is the scripture that says, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

[11:30] The words simply show what's already in there. The words are what justify or what condemn. Not deceitful words. Not words with a lying tongue, but words that come from the heart.

[11:43] Psalm 33, verse 6 says, by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. Those are some powerful words.

[11:54] Those are some amazing words. Those are real words of power where we see here that this beast, this antichrist, the power will be given him and it'll be given to him a mouth to speak great and blasphemous things, but not one of those words can create.

[12:09] Not one of those words can put a star in the sky or take it out of the sky. Proverbs chapter 30, verses 5 and 6. Every word of God is pure.

[12:21] You never have to fear the Bible. You never have to open it. I hope it doesn't defile me today. You know, I hope it doesn't lead me astray. You know, you have to have a certain amount of training to understand the Bible.

[12:32] About as much training as Peter and the other apostles. Just spend time with Jesus, be filled with his spirit and trust that the Bible is a self-correcting process. You can study the Bible and it'll only ever lead you into truth.

[12:43] It's self-correcting because we have the Holy Spirit. Every word of God is pure. He's a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee and thou be found a liar.

[12:57] And where are liars go? Revelation says. They're thrown into the lake of fire. Lest he reprove thee. I don't want God to reprove me. I don't want to reprove me because of my words. Even worse, I don't want him to reprove me.

[13:08] I don't want him to say, Jared, why did you say my word said that? It didn't say that. You told the people it said that. We're going to eventually get to where Moses in Numbers is, you know, he's going to strike the rock and he says, oh, you wicked and rebellious people.

[13:21] God's so angry with you. Bam, bam, bam, bam. God's going to say, Moses, I didn't say that to them. I never said that to them. So words are powerful. Words matter.

[13:32] Words are weapons. Proverbs 18.8 said, the words of a tail bearer are as wounds. The words of a gossip, when he spreads information and they go down at the innermost parts of the belly.

[13:44] Words are weapons, aren't they? Who's been hurt by words? They can hurt worse than, they take longer to heal. Wounds from words take a lot longer to heal than if someone just came up and slapped you in the face.

[13:54] Psalm 64 verse one and verse three. Hear my voice, oh God, in my prayer, preserve my life from fear of the enemy who wet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words.

[14:14] He says, oh God, preserve my life from the enemy. The enemy is attacking me with words. Their words are shooting at me. Words are weapons. Man, that tongue set on fire of hell. It's like a sword.

[14:26] Those words are like arrows, even bitter words. You shoot an arrow, right? You can't take it back. We know the Proverbs tells us that. An arrow sticks, doesn't it? They don't pull out cleanly. Not that I've ever pulled one out of myself, but they don't pull out cleanly.

[14:40] Ephesians 6, 17. Words are weapons. The word. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. You know, in Peter, when they came to take Jesus and Peter pulls out his sword and he cuts off Melchus's, I think his ear, the servant of the high priest.

[14:58] Because before that, Jesus has said, do you, remember I told you not to have a sword and not to take anything? Like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Does anybody have a sword now? And one of them's like, yeah, I got a sword now. He wondered like, wait a minute. Jesus said not to have a sword.

[15:09] Why do you have a sword? Well, you never know. He's like, yeah, we got one. He said, that's enough. That's enough. You don't need more. Well, who was the one with the sword? Peter. And he strikes the guy's ear off and Jesus puts it on and he says, Peter, I could call, I could call legions of angels, you know, and Peter, he says, put away your sword.

[15:28] And there's no sword given to the church after that, except this one. There's no other sword given to us. We don't have a sword. You know, Constantine, he saw supposedly a vision of this sign and it was the cross on like a white field and it said, by this sign, go forth conquering to conquer.

[15:43] So he put that on all the shields of his army and then he went forth and conquered. well, that's, that's not my, my Lord. My Lord said, no, no, put up your sword.

[15:54] The only sword the church has given is this one. It's the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. The next time we see a sword, a physical sword, in a sense, will be the one we get into the end of revelation. It'll come out of Jesus's mouth and it'll go and it'll clean everything up.

[16:09] But this is our weapon. Hebrews 4, 12, the word of God is quick and it's powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword. piercing even to the dividing of thunder of soul and spirit. Joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

[16:22] It cuts so deep, it cuts so true, and it cuts so, it divides so perfectly. No physical sword can do that. 2 Thessalonians 2, 8, and then shall the wicked be revealed.

[16:37] This is that son of perdition, the blasphemer, the antichrist, the beast, whom the Lord shall do what? He shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.

[16:48] And as we talked about that sword that shall come from his mouth, is Revelation 19, 15, and out of his mouth goes a sharp sword, and that with it he should smite the nations and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.

[17:00] And he treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. Out of his mouth goes a sharp sword. Words are weapons. They can be used to hurt, to harm, to defend, to combat the enemy.

[17:17] How sad when we use them to wound each other. You know, when you let those arrows fly, when we take a jab. But words are important. Words are important because of the importance of the word.

[17:29] Words are important because of the importance of the word. As we said in the beginning was the word. And the word was with God. And the word was God. And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

[17:41] And we beheld his glory. The glory of the only begotten of the father. Full of grace and truth. See, speech is a gift. The animals don't have that. They don't have speech.

[17:52] They can't communicate like we can. Speech, words, is one of the ways we bear the image of God. The image of the word. By having words. It's a gift. They are important. Very important.

[18:03] Because of the importance of the word. In Genesis, Noah's come off the ark.

[18:15] He's blessed his sons. And they've gone their separate ways. But not too far. And they all kind of stay together. And they start this new thing. Called a city.

[18:26] They build a tower. So that it might reach into the heavens. And it says, they covered it with pitch. Just like they did the ark. So it might be waterproof. So it might be tall.

[18:38] So they might be able to be out from any of the water that may come in again. And it was also to reach into the heavens. The heart behind it was that they would reach into place where God was.

[18:53] But at that time, they were so industrious because of communication. Communication made all the difference. They didn't have iPhones. They didn't have a 5G network. They didn't have excavators.

[19:05] But communication made all the difference. And it says that God came down and said, well, there's nothing they can't do. Because they are all of one word.

[19:15] They're all of one speech. And so he confuses the language. He confuses. He essentially takes a very central aspect of the image bearing of God. He says, and he confuses that among them.

[19:28] He doesn't take it away, but he confuses it. And therefore, it's a name called Babel because the Lord there did confound the language of all the earth. Speech is a gift.

[19:38] It's used wisely. And here in Genesis, they took that gift. And instead of honoring the God who gave it to them and obeying him, they worked against him. And so God confused the language.

[19:50] The Antichrist and his blasphemous system, they've existed since day one. Essentially, the system of blasphemy. However, it's only once the abomination of desolation takes place that then the Antichrist's word receives power.

[20:05] There's something added to it. The blasphemous system is here today, guys. The spirit of Antichrist is alive and well in this world. The one that denies the Father and denies the Son. But it doesn't have a certain amount of power behind it.

[20:16] It doesn't. It's very, compared to the power we have with the word we have, it's like, what is the chaff to the wheat compared to the lies of the Antichrist with the truth of the word?

[20:31] Verse 6, And he opened his mouth in blasphemy. This is back in Revelation 13. He opened his mouth in blasphemy against God. To blaspheme his name, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.

[20:45] Tabernacle, we've been talking about that all over the place on Sunday in Exodus. Proverbs 17, 28 says, Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise. And he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.

[20:59] Because what happens when you open it? You just show everybody you're a fool and you have no understanding. It's better when you're quiet. Just be quiet. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise.

[21:12] It's a wise thing. Even a foolish man can be considered wise when he holds that tongue, the thing that's set on fire of hell. He that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding. He opens his mouth in blasphemy.

[21:24] Blasphemy is to slander, it's detraction, to speak commonly of that which is sacred. To speak in such a way of something sacred to bring it down into the realm of commonality where it slanders it and it detracts from it, essentially.

[21:39] It's not always to say, oh, you know, gosh darn it or whatever, or to use the Lord's name in vain. That's blasphemy, yes. You're making it common when people in the world use it as a curse word, for sure.

[21:53] But more importantly, it's to where we take something that we know is sacred and we bring it down to a place where we slander it and detract it. Now, the world doesn't know it's sacred. There's an innateness, I guess, in a sense, but they don't know Jesus.

[22:09] For you and I, to slander, to blaspheme, to detract? The Antichrist knows what he's doing. He knows who he's blaspheming. He's blaspheming against God.

[22:21] The beast would have the authority here to frame a defaming narrative regarding four things. He opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, against his name.

[22:34] His name is Jesus. As we just sang about over and over. His name is Jesus. Jesus. His tabernacle. Where does God tabernacle? He tabernacles in heaven. And them that dwell in heaven.

[22:47] Who's dwelling in heaven at this time? This would be the raptured church. So he's blaspheming. He is defaming, slandering God, Jesus, heaven.

[22:57] That supposedly Jesus came and took these people to heaven. No way. This is an alien abduction or who knows what. He's going to blaspheme against it. He's going to slander it. Those, they aren't in heaven.

[23:08] God's not in there. There's no God. Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise. Even the Antichrist could be considered wise if he'd hold his tongue.

[23:21] But he knows what he's doing. He knows who he's slandering. And it was given unto him in verse seven to make war with the saints. The word given there is to grant, to give over into one's care or power.

[23:36] It was given unto him. The saints were given over into his power to make war against them, to overcome them. The word there in the Greek, the words to make in the Greek is one word and it means to authorize.

[23:52] He's been given authority. He's been authorized to have this authority over the saints. The word saints just means the ones who are most holy, the ones most holy.

[24:06] And he will overcome them. That's the same word we see in Revelation 2, 6 where Jesus says, I hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans. The Nikeo, the conqueror.

[24:17] Nicolaitan would be Nicolai like conqueror of the people, but Nikoe, conquer, to overcome. And to overcome them and power was given under him.

[24:29] Power, exousia is in the Greek. Authority, permission, justification, jurisdiction. I'm sorry, not justification. Authority, permission, jurisdiction was given to him.

[24:43] Authority and ability cannot be taken. It must be given. If you take authority, if you think you're taking authority, what does that make you? Makes you a tyrant.

[24:54] You don't have authority. Makes you a tyrant. Authority and ability is given. It's not taken. It says it's given to him. It's not like he's fighting against God and wrestling God for it. This is given to him. This is, God allows this as the dragon gives this to him.

[25:07] 1 Corinthians 4, 7, speaking of what's given to us, says, for who makes you to differ from another? And what have you that you did not receive? Now, if you did receive it, why do you glory as if you'd not received it?

[25:23] Authority and ability, it's all given. Something we have to receive. Something has to be given to us. We can't demand it. You say, well, God, here I am now and I'm ready to do all these different things. And God says, well, this is what I have for you.

[25:35] I'm willing to give this to you. I don't want to receive that. I'm looking for something else. And what we'll end up doing is we'll spin our wheels for who knows how long because we can't take anything from God that he hasn't already given us.

[25:48] So the beast, he will be given permission and he will be given authority to conquer the most holy ones. That's what it says here. The beast has been given permission and authority to conquer the most holy ones.

[26:02] Who are the most holy ones? Are we saints? Yes, yes, we are most holy ones. But there's a problem here. Here the beast, who the dragon gives him this power, it represents Satan.

[26:15] He's given permission to overcome and to conquer the most holy ones. But Jesus says in Matthew 16, 18, I say unto you, Peter, after Peter declares that you are the Christ, the son of the living God, that you are Peter, little rock, little pebble, and upon this big rock, great rock, the declaration that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God, upon that declaration, I'll build my church.

[26:35] And what I build, that church upon that great rock, the gates of hell shall not prevail against. It's not possible for them to. The gates of hell cannot prevail against us, saints, holy ones.

[26:47] So, is this, in Revelation, speaking of the church? No, it's not. The church is in heaven. The church has been raptured. This is speaking of saints, holy ones, most holy ones that are there at the time.

[27:00] Revelation 12, as we read, I don't know if we covered this last time or the time before, verses 10 and 11, said, I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, now has come salvation and strength in the kingdom of our God and the power of his Christ.

[27:12] For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. So, Satan is cast into the earth. The one who did currently, so we're reading, this is a future event, he'll be cast down.

[27:24] Currently, he is doing this, he's accusing the brethren before God day and night. But they, the brethren, overcame him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of their testimonies and they loved not their lives unto death.

[27:38] You and I have overcome that. He will not overcome us. He's not been given authority over us. We have all authority over him. Speaking to the church, letter to one of the churches in Revelation 3, verse 21, to him that overcomes, will I grant to sit with me in my throne?

[27:56] Even so, I also overcame and sat down with my father and his throne. In light of what we just read, how do you overcome? By the blood of the lamb, by the word of our testimony, by not loving our lives to the death, by putting our faith in Jesus Christ.

[28:08] We don't overcome because we're going to hunker down or we're going to go out and take our swords and chop things off. And Jesus says, in the same way, I also overcame. He overcame by the blood. He overcame through his death.

[28:20] So, where it says here that authority, the beast will be given permission and authority to conquer the most holy ones, it'll be the most holy ones that we read about last time at the end of Revelation chapter 12. The dragon was wroth with the woman and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[28:38] It'll be believing Israel at that time. It'll be the believing Jews and any other believing Gentiles at that time. Yes, the beast will overcome them, but ultimately, they will overcome the same way we did.

[28:49] They may be overcome in this life, but fear not him who can kill the body but cannot touch the soul. Verse 8. So, 7 for context.

[29:02] Power was given unto him over all kindreds, tongues, and nations. Overall, there's no place now that's safe. There's no place to hide from the beast.

[29:16] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. All that dwell upon the earth, except for one remaining group that will hold out, whose names are not written, all will dwell, I'm sorry, all will worship him whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.

[29:35] All shall worship him. There will no longer be any safe space. There's not going to be any place you can go. Well, I, you know, I'm not so sure about this Jesus thing, so I'm just going to wait and see if it all falls out, and there really is a rapture, and then there's a tribulation, and an antichrist, and so I built a really big bunker and with some food, and if it's true, the rapture happens, and then I'll just stay there, and I'll say, yes, I believe in Jesus, and then when he comes back, he'll get me, right?

[30:02] No, it doesn't work that way. All that dwell upon the earth shall worship him. There's no place you're going to hide from him. There's no place, well, I'm just going to, I'll just have my own little kingdom over here. Whatever's happening spiritually at this time, Satan, his power, working through the beast, will force all to worship him unless their name's written in the Lamb's book of life.

[30:22] There's no longer any space that's safe. No space will not be given over into the beast's hands. All things will now be into his hands, and the line between life and death, look what it's drawn on, worship.

[30:36] They shall worship him. The line between life and death will be a line drawn on worship. What will you choose to worship? Not you and I, but what will, at that time, they choose to worship? The word worship has many meanings.

[30:50] It means to kiss the hand in token of reverence, like a monarch bowing before him, to fall upon the knees and touch the ground with the forehead. It means kneeling or prostration to do homage or make obeisance.

[31:05] All that live on the earth will be brought to this place before the beast at this time. They shall. Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says in verse 19, he says, lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth.

[31:22] You know what? It's going to fade away. For moth and rust is corrupt and thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourself treasured in heaven. What are you going to worship? The line is drawn at worship.

[31:33] Where neither moth or rust are corrupt and neither thieves break through and steal. Thieves or steves won't break through and steal. For where your treasure is there will your heart be also. And you're in a worship where your treasure is.

[31:46] Your heart will follow. Heart's meant to be led. So the lines will be drawn in worship, but the names will be drawn in a book. Look at this book. It said it is of the Lamb slain, the book of life of the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world.

[32:03] Words have meaning and words have power. To be a bibliophile is a lover of books. Right? You know, there are many books contained in the books of the Bible.

[32:14] There are many books talked about in these books. I mean, there's the book of the Bible and the 66 books of the Bible, but there's a lot of books talked about in the Bible. A bibliophile is a lover of books.

[32:25] I think we should be Bibliophiles. A lover of the Bible. God's books are 100% consistent. They don't contradict and there's no plot holes.

[32:38] Have you ever read a good book and you get to the end, you're like, but you didn't wrap up. This one, it really bothered me. There's no plot holes. So what are the different books in the Bible?

[32:50] Well, the books in the Bible, in this book, there's a book of remembrance in Malachi 3.16. It says, then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it.

[33:02] And a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord that thought upon his name. Do you fear the Lord? Do you think upon his name? Do you talk about it? Then your name's in that book. It's a book of remembrance.

[33:13] Someday, the Lord's going to, we're going to be like, hey Jesus, what you doing? I'm just reading chapter 75,436 and look, there you are on September 3rd of 2025 thinking on my name.

[33:25] I wrote your name there. There's a book of tears in Psalms 56.8. Thou tells my wanderings, put thou my tears into thy bottle.

[33:36] Are they not in thy book? So there's a bottle with tears too. Because aren't they already in your book, Lord? And then there's this other interesting book in Psalm 139.

[33:47] I don't know if this is possibly the book of life it's referring to as well or the book of man's image. But he says this in verse 15, my substance was not hid from you when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest part of the earth.

[33:59] Thine eyes did see my substance yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members were written which in continuance were fashioned when as yet there was none of them.

[34:09] So God, God wrote you down. He sketched you out before you ever came about. You're like, Lord, why is this one arm shorter than the other one? You know, he's like, oh, I sketched that out. You know, I needed to show my grace and my love and my glory.

[34:23] You know, there's no person alike. There's no sketch the same. Some of us have the same names but they don't represent the same person. Why? Well, I think because God is so vast and so big and his love and grace is so wonderful that each one of us are just a facet on the many faceted jewel of the body of Christ.

[34:41] And his love and his grace shines through you in a way that it can't through me or through someone else. There's other books book of remembrance, book of tears, book of man's image.

[34:52] The Bible also talks about a book of life. It comes up quite a bit. A book of life. Exodus 32, we'll get to it eventually on Sunday morning. Verse 33, I'm going to back up and start in verse 31.

[35:06] Moses returned unto the Lord and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin and have made them gods of gold. Yet now, if thou will forgive their sin, Moses said, oh, God, forgive them for their idolatry.

[35:20] Yet now, if you will not forgive their sin, if not, well then blot me out, I pray you, out of thy book which thou hast written. He said, to blot me out of some book his name is in.

[35:33] He says, blot it out. And the Lord said unto Moses, whosoever has sinned, whosoever has sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. He says, Moses, I can't, I'm not blotting you out on behalf of someone else.

[35:44] Each man will bear his own sin, but whatever this book is, their name gets blotted out of. To blot out means to wipe off, wipe away, obliterate, erase. It also has within it the idea of whitewashing, of being covered with lime.

[35:59] So it's to disappear, to wipe it off, wipe away, obliterate, erase this book of life. Psalm 69, 28 says, speaking of the wicked, let them be blotted out of the book of the living and not be written with the righteous.

[36:15] So now we have, there's this book, it's the book of the living and the psalmist says, blot out the wicked. There will be names there, but they'll be the names of the righteous. Blot out the names of the wicked.

[36:27] Revelation 3, 5, we read this, he that overcomes, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life.

[36:38] Not the book of life of the lamb, the book of life. But I'll confess his name before my father and before his angels. So he that overcomes, again, how do we overcome? By the blood of the lamb, by the word of our testimony and not loving our lives unto the end.

[36:50] We don't prioritize this life, we prioritize that life by putting our faith in Jesus Christ. He that does that, God says, we will be clothed in white raiment. We'll be given a robe of righteousness and your name will not be blotted out.

[37:02] Who are the names that got blotted out? Well, as the psalm says, the name of the wicked get blotted out. Fast forward in Revelation, Revelation 17, 8. The beast that you saw was and is not, the one that seemed to die and come back to life, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and he shall go into perdition.

[37:21] And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder. And those are the ones who wonder who are they? They are those whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is.

[37:34] So at this time, they're going to be amazed that the beast has been overthrown. Who are the ones who are going to be amazed? Well, only those whose names were not written in the book of life. They're not there. They're gone.

[37:46] Blotted out. Blot out is a wonderful phrase when it's applied to the correct thing. Isaiah 43, 25. I even, I am he that blots out.

[37:57] I wipe away. I wipe off. I obliterate. I erase your transgressions for mine own sake and I will not remember your sins. They're gone.

[38:08] They're blotted out. Colossians chapter 2, 13 and 14. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh has he quickened together with him having forgiven you all trespasses.

[38:20] Praise God. Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us. Satan accuses the brethren night and day and he goes and he grabs the book of Jared Bromka and he opens it and he goes, look at this page.

[38:32] He blotted that one out too. It's all been blotted out. The handwriting of ordinances that was against me was blotted out on the cross. It was contrary to us but he took it out of the way nailing it to his cross.

[38:46] Clearly the names in the book of life they're not necessarily permanent. And yet it is paramount that our names be in that book. If our names are not in that book then we are like the wicked we've been blotted out but they're not permanent.

[39:01] But we need to have our names there. Jesus says in Luke 10 verse 20 he says don't rejoice over the spirits being subject unto you. All the disciples have been sent out and they come back and they're so excited and he says don't rejoice that the spirits are subject unto you but rather rejoice your names are written in heaven.

[39:19] Rejoice because your names are written in heaven. They need to be there. They've got to be there. When Jesus comes and wraps this whole thing up at the end of a thousand years in Revelation 20 verse 12 we read I saw the dead small and great stand before God and the books plural were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books plural according to their works and the sea gave up the dead which were in it and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them and they were judged every man according to their works and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire this is the second death in verse 15 of Revelation 20 and whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire you and I it is paramount that our names be in that book and yet as we've read it's not a permanent list and yet the names that are in Christ do appear to be permanent

[40:24] John chapter 6 Jesus says all that the Father has given me shall come to me and him that comes to me I will not cast out I will in no wise cast out means like for any reason or any purpose for I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me and this is the Father's will this is God's will this is why the Father sent the Son that of all which he's given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day and this is the will of him that sent me that everyone which sees the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life and what's the different and what's the definition of everlasting life it's everlasting this is in a future event this is a present tense may have currently actively everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last day so can believers have their names blotted out of the book of life is it possible you say why is it so important to know this what's the big deal over a couple words well words have power words have meaning words are important you know a lot of false doctrines and cults exist today because of a couple words

[41:29] Jesus is God Jesus is like God there's God the Father God the Son and God the Holy Spirit there's God who is a Father and a Son and will be a Holy Spirit he changes mode that's called modalism that's a belief that God he can present himself as a Father as a Son and as a Holy Spirit but not that there's three separate entities words are important words have meaning words have power and here in Revelation chapter 13 what we read is there's another word that's added in here the book of life of the Lamb book of life of the Lamb as we just read in verse 8 all that dwell upon 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 Revelation 21 27 says speaking of the New Jerusalem there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles praise God neither whatsoever makes works abomination or makes a lie but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life those that enter into New Jerusalem must be written in the Lamb's book of life it appears we have two books we have a book of life all names are written but not all names remain and then there's the book of life of the Lamb the Lamb's book of life not all names are written in it not all names that have come into being so all names of all created people they start out they're in the book of life but they can be blotted out what is the factor here that determines whether they're blotted out well if they're names in the Lamb's book of life see in the Lamb's book of life it does not contain all names but all the names that are written in it they remain very important that difference hangs on whether

[43:23] Christian you can feel like you can be secure in your salvation because otherwise if these two books are the same then it says that man my name can be blotted out of the book of life I can have my name blotted out of there how do I know I'm secure if they're the same one in the same book it doesn't matter the Lamb's book of life and the book of life they're pretty much the same thing no no they're not not at all not at all because one the names can be removed and one they are never removed one they're removed covered over removed essentially by blood and one they're written in blood Acts 4 12 neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved all names that are written in the Lamb's book of life will be the names that remain in the book of life so all the names that are written in the Lamb's book of life are the names that will remain in the book of life in

[44:27] Revelation was it 20 where we read that the books plural and the book of life I think one of those books is going to be open is going to be the Lamb's book of life and you have the book of life and you and their dead will be judged and is your name in here your name needs to be in both of these because if it's in one at that time it's going to be in the other so my name's got to be there somewhere well I think your entry used to be here but I can't tell it's been blotted out you see every name is essentially covered in blood but only those names that are written in blood will be those that enter into the New Jerusalem the plan of the Lamb also was something that was not done on the fly this wasn't unlike you know it may have been a bestseller but it wasn't a quick right the Lamb's Book of Life it says here the Lamb that was slain from before the foundation of the world foundation is laying a laying down it means a laying down of that which is fundamental which is underneath before the world was laid down before the very fundamental the world the plan of the Lamb was a done deal before anything else was ever revealed it was that was a book written essentially before any other book the entire event of creation of the fall and of redemption was a story that was already written before the earth the foundation was ever laid before anything was laid down

[45:52] Paul uses this phrasing before the foundation of the world in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 he says according as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love having predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will to the praise of the glory of his grace wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved entire event of creation fallen redemption is a story already written your entire event of life is already written not pre-programmed but written out just as God is writing out here the book of revelation because he stands above time he sees the event he said let me tell you about this event but not pre-programmed the people that we read about here whose names are names of those that will worship the lamb and then those who will not worship the beast God's not forcing that or twisting anyone's arm yes it's a fact it's going to happen but anybody can choose that Romans chapter 8 verse 29 says for whom he did foreknow!

[46:57] he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren moreover whom he did predestinate them he also called and whom he called he also justified and he justified he also glorified foreknowledge predates predestination so we were predestined well yes you have a predestined is just there's a destiny pre-planned for you absolutely 100% but you have to choose it you have to God says here's the destiny I pre-planned for everybody there's not one person in the book of life that is like well I didn't I don't have destiny pre-planned for you no he did before knowledge predates that God knows God says okay I see what you're going to choose praise God he knows the choices I'm going to verse nine if any man have an ear let him hear words are for everyone if any man let him hear words are for everyone this words for everyone words are only though as powerful as how well they're received what good are these powerful words if you don't receive them what good is this if you never read it and never receive!

[48:24] it Revelation 2 7 he that has an ear let him hear what the spirit saith unto the churches to him that overcomes I give to eat of the tree of life there's a book of life which is in the paradise of God but those words those powerful words are only as powerful as how well they're received!

[48:45] gotta receive! them! We must! Allow! Our understanding of the! understanding of the Bible is guided by what this book says about itself not by what people say about it my understanding of the Bible is based on the scriptures we just read that says there's a book of life and a book of life and they perfectly match up there's no contradiction there's no plot holes verse 10 he that leads into captivity shall go into captivity he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword here's the patience and faith of the saints God's giving some hope here in the midst of all this as he's saying hey everybody's going to get their heads cut off if they don't go along with the beast so this is a job description for the employees of the beast right here Revelation 13 7 said and you're going to have you're going to be able to make war with the saints and overcome them you're going to have power over everyone on the earth

[50:03] I like that idea what are the benefits well the benefits are that he that kills with the sword must also be killed with the sword and he that leads in the captivity will go into captivity not the greatest retirement plan but this is what it is!

[50:24] nothing more captivating than the flesh nothing more bound that keeps us more bound life everlasting a place in the new Jerusalem the right to the tree of life your name in the book of life and the lamb's book of life and let us not be weary in well doing for in due season we will reap if we faint not here is the patience and faith of the saints Jesus tells a parable about a landowner that sowed seed farmer went out and he sowed good seed and that night an enemy came and he sowed wicked seed good seed and wicked seed and he sowed tares among the wheat and tares and wheat look exactly the same as they're growing they until they start to mature and so his employees say do you want us to go and rip up the tares now that they're starting maturing we can tell he's like no don't if you rip up the tares you're also going to rip up the wheat don't do it don't do it and then he says in

[51:42] Matthew 13 verse 41 the son of man shall send forth his angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire and there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth those tares are the ones that may look like a believer but they're not but you see they will reap what they sow and eventually they will reap a harvest that will lead to destruction then shall the righteous shine you see it takes patience it takes patience and faith to wait until the final chapter you may want to jump in sooner but you might do more harm than good have patience the enemy is not going to overcome us we're not going to be overcome we have overcome by the blood of the lamb by the word of our testimony we love not our lives to the death he can't overcome us Satan doesn't have any power right now he's not been given exousia or a very little bit all he does is accuse takes patience and faith to wait for this final chapter and no matter how tragic the moment there is a happy ending so wait for it wait for the ending for our conversation our citizenship our life to come it's in heaven from once also we look for in the

[53:07] Greek we look for is to eagerly and patiently wait for we eagerly and patiently wait for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ no matter how tragic the moment may seem with whatever the enemy is doing right now there's a happy ending and we can wait for it that's what we're doing we're waiting for him to return and in the meantime what we get the privilege of doing is adding names to the book of life hey do you want to have your name written down here if you do you're going get another book because once you're in the book of life you're going to be so amazed that Jesus loved you and he saved you and you're going to think about him and talk about him he's going to write in the book of remembrance there's going to be some hard times though it's going to be difficult and the enemy is going to overwhelm you there's going to be tears but don't worry he's going to write that down in a radiance of the light of the glory of

[54:09] God shining through I don't know what it's going to be but I know one thing I'm going to Lord you have blotted out my sin so that my name would never be blotted out God you have given me access to life by first going down into death yourself what a wonderful treasure we have Lord Lord you look at our tears and you go I'll take that thank you Lord take my tears Lord you give the oil of joy Lord you give the oil of joy for heaviness Lord thank Lord we love you you have enriched us so much you have given us great powerful wonderful words and words matter your word matters it matters a lot to us

[55:17] Lord Lord I pray that we would allow it to speak into our lives to give us understanding to speak for itself Lord allow us Lord to allow you give us the grace Lord to give you the freedom to speak for yourself before we go and find out what some man says about it to open it ourselves and say what do you want to say to me what does this mean to trust that you will guide us into all truth and thank you Jesus that you hold us so firmly!

[56:05] God you will fill us with your spirit as we leave here Lord you give us just the understanding of what a gift it is that you have given us speech and words and you have given us your word we love you thank you for writing our names in your book in Jesus name Amen God bless you guys