WEBVTT 00:01.272 --> 00:01.895 [UNKNOWN]: Thank you. 00:42.913 --> 00:49.942 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, good morning, church family, how you doing? 00:51.452 --> 00:54.915 [SPEAKER_00]: Good, good to see everybody here, wonderful time of worship this morning. 00:54.955 --> 01:02.383 [SPEAKER_00]: Now it gets just keep it going by diving into God's Word and a little bit will take communion together to remember what Jesus did for us. 01:02.543 --> 01:10.050 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to be great, but before we get into scripture, today I want to make sure you know about a couple of things that are going on that are worth a quick mention. 01:10.310 --> 01:15.656 [SPEAKER_00]: One is that in a couple of weeks, we're going to pause the Revelation series for 01:16.136 --> 01:17.558 [SPEAKER_00]: a very important reason. 01:17.998 --> 01:21.301 [SPEAKER_00]: And that is we are in a unique time and season as a church. 01:21.722 --> 01:31.772 [SPEAKER_00]: There is some important stuff happening around us in our culture and in our church that we want to take some time to talk about it's going to Lord willing set us up. 01:32.052 --> 01:35.074 [SPEAKER_00]: for the next 10 years of ministry here at first free. 01:35.094 --> 01:42.059 [SPEAKER_00]: There are some things happening in the world around us and a lot of it has to do with separation and isolation, loneliness. 01:42.099 --> 01:49.545 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, there was an article that just came out with some research that showed that Americans are the loneliest they've ever been in a recorded history. 01:50.185 --> 02:01.031 [SPEAKER_00]: and community is something that people desperately need and there is an opportunity for churches to step into that and reach people with the gospel in some ways that are really, really effective. 02:01.352 --> 02:09.536 [SPEAKER_00]: So we want to talk about that, some ministry changes that we would like to make around here that we think will really enhance the ministry as well as changes to our campus here. 02:10.016 --> 02:10.377 [SPEAKER_00]: So, 02:11.117 --> 02:21.262 [SPEAKER_00]: We are going to launch into a series that we are calling generations in a couple of weeks, and I want to ask you to do a couple of things for generations. 02:21.602 --> 02:33.808 [SPEAKER_00]: One is, I want to ask you to pray for our church, because we are in the process over the next two, three months of discerning a lot of direction for our church, and it is going to make a huge difference in the ministry here. 02:34.169 --> 02:34.709 [SPEAKER_00]: But also, 02:35.329 --> 02:39.531 [SPEAKER_00]: It's going to potentially be a growing and stretching experience for us as a church. 02:39.571 --> 02:46.374 [SPEAKER_00]: If we are truly going to be a lampstand church into this community, then we're going to have to grow as a church in order to make that happen. 02:46.394 --> 02:48.815 [SPEAKER_00]: So that's what this series is going to be about. 02:49.055 --> 02:55.278 [SPEAKER_00]: It'll be six weeks long, starts in a couple of weeks, and my second request is not only that you pray for our church, but 02:55.338 --> 03:00.442 [SPEAKER_00]: but that you also are here as much as humanly possible for all six of those weeks. 03:00.502 --> 03:05.806 [SPEAKER_00]: Now I know some people will have some vacation or some business travel or different things visiting grandkids. 03:06.146 --> 03:08.868 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe a few of you will be away at family retreat one of those weekends. 03:08.988 --> 03:24.520 [SPEAKER_00]: I get that, but we hope that you will be here for all six of those weeks or as many as possible if you miss one watch online because we really think the next couple of months are going to make a huge difference in the next 10 years of this church's ministry. 03:24.920 --> 03:25.881 [SPEAKER_00]: So that's item number one. 03:26.361 --> 03:33.345 [SPEAKER_00]: Number two, I want to make sure you caught in the announcements today that we have a really special opportunity coming up on October 18th. 03:33.825 --> 03:40.589 [SPEAKER_00]: Because a couple of members of our church, Doug and Lynn Pogue, were able to be a part of the filming of season six of the chosen. 03:40.629 --> 03:41.570 [SPEAKER_00]: Anybody like the chosen? 03:41.930 --> 03:42.710 [SPEAKER_00]: We watch the chosen. 03:42.771 --> 03:43.371 [SPEAKER_00]: I love that show. 03:43.391 --> 03:44.111 [SPEAKER_00]: It's fantastic. 03:44.431 --> 03:46.473 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, Doug and Lynn got to go be a part of filming it. 03:47.161 --> 03:53.365 [SPEAKER_00]: And they are going to share their experience of being a part of that with us on October 18th. 03:53.465 --> 04:00.209 [SPEAKER_00]: Also, we get a pre-screening release of the first episode of season six before it's available to the public. 04:00.489 --> 04:08.193 [SPEAKER_00]: So if you want to see that and hear from them, October 18th at 1240 pm in Room 110 downstairs, we hope to see you there. 04:08.293 --> 04:12.756 [SPEAKER_00]: Feel free to bring lunch with you and enjoy some food while you're taking part in that. 04:13.316 --> 04:18.697 [SPEAKER_00]: All right, we're going to be in Revelation, chapters eight and nine today, and it's a doozy. 04:18.938 --> 04:21.378 [SPEAKER_00]: I can't wait to dive into this way that you before we go there. 04:21.398 --> 04:23.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Why don't we all bow our heads and prayer Lord? 04:23.379 --> 04:39.383 [SPEAKER_00]: We ask for your wisdom now as we talk about one of the most hotly contested portions of Scripture that so many people, so many different Christians, disagree on what this means and yet we're going to read it today, Lord, trying to discern a message that you have for us. 04:40.003 --> 04:47.828 [SPEAKER_00]: And I do pray Lord for practical application that we would be able to walk out of here today and say, I understand a little bit better. 04:48.108 --> 04:56.193 [SPEAKER_00]: My relationship with God and how I can live it out this week, even if I don't understand all of the details of Revelation prophecy. 04:56.213 --> 04:58.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Lord, we ask for your wisdom. 04:58.414 --> 05:03.277 [SPEAKER_00]: We ask for you to speak to us today and in Jesus' name, we pray, amen. 05:04.878 --> 05:13.023 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, it was about 12 years ago that Jenny and I had the opportunity to visit the city of Pompeii, Italy, which is a fascinating experience. 05:13.043 --> 05:20.948 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the city that in 79 AD was destroyed by a huge volcanic eruption, interruption, and eruption. 05:21.328 --> 05:29.414 [SPEAKER_00]: The volcanic interruption sent molten rock and ash 20 miles into the sky. 05:30.034 --> 05:37.921 [SPEAKER_00]: And it rained down at a rate of 1.5 million tons per second onto that poor city. 05:38.021 --> 05:44.406 [SPEAKER_00]: About 16,000 people are estimated to have lost their lives in that absolute devastation. 05:45.207 --> 06:01.177 [SPEAKER_00]: and it was such a horrible cataclysmic event that the people in that city thought that the world was ending and the people from miles around thought the whole world was ending because it darkened the sky for many, many miles around there. 06:01.217 --> 06:07.842 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the eyewitnesses that were outside of that city and saw what happened, they thought that the world was going to end. 06:08.913 --> 06:13.756 [SPEAKER_00]: And it was a really, really scary time for them. 06:14.276 --> 06:33.268 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, around 1,800 years later, there was an archaeologist and a Italian archaeologist who came into Pompeii and he discovered that there were strange air pockets in the material that covered the city of Pompeii, all of the rock and ash that settled and solidified over the hundreds of years. 06:34.008 --> 06:36.090 [SPEAKER_00]: And what he found was that these air pockets, 06:36.710 --> 06:46.337 [SPEAKER_00]: were actually the recesses that were left by the bodies of the people who died in that volcanic eruption and all the sediment that landed on top of them. 06:46.378 --> 07:03.951 [SPEAKER_00]: So he was able to carefully fill those cavities with plaster and reveal statues that captured the last expressions as well as the things that those people chose to hold on to and grab in their final moments. 07:03.991 --> 07:05.852 [SPEAKER_00]: It's hard to imagine 07:06.693 --> 07:31.285 [SPEAKER_00]: how horrified they must have been, the terror they must have experienced is they heard the noise of that eruption and they saw those the debris falling all around them and they they felt the heat of that and they absolutely thought that the world was going to end and people from miles around thought that the gods were angry and were finally going to destroy the earth and this tragedy and Pompey is a fitting illustration. 07:31.885 --> 07:43.269 [SPEAKER_00]: for what we're going to see in Revelation 8 and 9 because it gives us a very small glimpse into what world ending cataclysmic activity could look like. 07:43.849 --> 07:49.891 [SPEAKER_00]: But it also reveals the hearts of the people in what they grabbed onto. 07:50.391 --> 07:54.772 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's going to be relevant to Revelation 8 and 9 as well. 07:55.372 --> 07:58.593 [SPEAKER_00]: Because if there's one thing that you remember from today, I hope it is this, 08:02.279 --> 08:04.663 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody worships something. 08:04.683 --> 08:05.404 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't care who you are. 08:05.485 --> 08:12.757 [SPEAKER_00]: No one is a non worship or worship comes from the idea of worth ship worth ship is it worthy? 08:13.614 --> 08:18.076 [SPEAKER_00]: of our attention, of our adoration, of our time, of our focus, of our praise. 08:18.496 --> 08:21.137 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it worthy as it worthwhile, is it valuable to us? 08:21.157 --> 08:31.522 [SPEAKER_00]: The way that we use the word worship today, has become something that refers to the idea or object or individual that we treat as really more valuable than anything else. 08:32.102 --> 08:34.764 [SPEAKER_00]: It's something that we worship, because we see it as worthy. 08:34.784 --> 08:39.226 [SPEAKER_00]: And in Pompeii, we see examples of what people worship when they died. 08:39.566 --> 08:41.647 [SPEAKER_00]: Many of them grabbed their idols. 08:42.774 --> 08:51.982 [SPEAKER_00]: and clutched their idols in their hands, as they pair some of them grabbed medallions, which had images of their gods on them and held on to those, as they died. 08:52.022 --> 08:53.203 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them grabbed their money. 08:53.483 --> 08:56.786 [SPEAKER_00]: Some of them grabbed jewelry or other treasures that they had with them. 08:56.826 --> 09:03.072 [SPEAKER_00]: But none of those things could save them from the destruction that was raining all around them. 09:03.872 --> 09:09.037 [SPEAKER_00]: Today, in Revelation 8 and 9, you're gonna see two examples of worship. 09:10.105 --> 09:14.502 [SPEAKER_00]: that are bookends to a lot of destruction. 09:15.596 --> 09:26.521 [SPEAKER_00]: And what I hope you will see here in these chapters is not how to decrypt all of the details of the destruction which has so often been the focus of Revelation eight, nine. 09:26.781 --> 09:33.023 [SPEAKER_00]: But I hope what you will see is how important these two examples of worship are. 09:33.624 --> 09:36.625 [SPEAKER_00]: Because I think that's God's main message for us. 09:37.145 --> 09:38.406 [SPEAKER_00]: Our outline is pretty simple. 09:38.446 --> 09:40.286 [SPEAKER_00]: If you're a note-taker, here it is, three things. 09:44.513 --> 09:45.054 [SPEAKER_00]: Can you remember that? 09:45.595 --> 09:46.857 [SPEAKER_00]: Worship, warnings, worship. 09:46.877 --> 09:47.498 [SPEAKER_00]: That's our outline. 09:47.518 --> 09:50.142 [SPEAKER_00]: That's going to take us through the whole message. 09:50.162 --> 09:53.647 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's dive in, starting in the verse one, of Revelation chapter eight. 09:54.709 --> 09:55.129 [SPEAKER_00]: It says this. 09:56.042 --> 10:03.606 [SPEAKER_00]: When the lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll, there was silence throughout heaven for about half an hour. 10:03.706 --> 10:06.907 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, we've talked about these seals on the scroll before. 10:06.947 --> 10:10.089 [SPEAKER_00]: We've made our way now through six of the seven seals. 10:10.109 --> 10:15.711 [SPEAKER_00]: We're up to the seventh seal here when it's open and there's silence in heaven for about 30 minutes. 10:15.731 --> 10:16.892 [SPEAKER_00]: And what happens next? 10:17.934 --> 10:25.137 [SPEAKER_00]: is dramatic, apocalyptic language about destruction that happens in the world. 10:25.197 --> 10:31.859 [SPEAKER_00]: And that destruction and that language is interpreted very differently by different Christians. 10:32.820 --> 10:38.002 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's OK. No one actually knows for sure. 10:38.928 --> 10:43.090 [SPEAKER_00]: what it refers to, what it all means yet we have theories. 10:43.590 --> 10:48.612 [SPEAKER_00]: And we've talked about those theories before and we need to review those theories before we can dive into this. 10:48.652 --> 10:50.993 [SPEAKER_00]: We've talked about the four main theories. 10:51.033 --> 10:55.734 [SPEAKER_00]: There are the preterists, the historicists, the futurists, and the idealists. 10:55.794 --> 10:56.855 [SPEAKER_00]: Those are the main theories. 10:56.875 --> 10:58.455 [SPEAKER_00]: Let me just give you a quick refresher. 10:58.475 --> 11:02.217 [SPEAKER_00]: We've already been through this, but the preterists look back. 11:02.978 --> 11:09.642 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, there are two kinds of predators, and it's important to understand that, because there's one kind of predator called a full predatorist. 11:09.942 --> 11:13.504 [SPEAKER_00]: And predatorist, by the way, just comes from the Latin word for past. 11:13.864 --> 11:20.488 [SPEAKER_00]: So it just means things in the past, a full predatorist thinks everything in Revelation happened in the past. 11:20.508 --> 11:22.809 [SPEAKER_00]: That's why it's full past, full predatorism. 11:23.429 --> 11:28.070 [SPEAKER_00]: We disagree with that view at a doctrinal level because we believe Jesus is coming back. 11:28.371 --> 11:29.951 [SPEAKER_00]: We think Scripture is very clear about that. 11:30.011 --> 11:33.672 [SPEAKER_00]: So in our doctrinal statement, it does not allow for full-prederism. 11:33.752 --> 11:39.534 [SPEAKER_00]: However, there is another version of prerism called partial prerism. 11:39.734 --> 11:44.415 [SPEAKER_00]: And that just means people who see most of Revelation taking place in the past. 11:44.755 --> 11:49.757 [SPEAKER_00]: So if full-prederism is looking back, then partial prerism is looking 11:53.198 --> 11:55.278 [SPEAKER_00]: Then there is the historicist view. 11:55.318 --> 11:56.479 [SPEAKER_00]: They look along. 11:56.879 --> 12:00.579 [SPEAKER_00]: They see the events of Revelation spread throughout church history. 12:00.599 --> 12:08.741 [SPEAKER_00]: And they identify certain popes and kings and wars and events as being directly connected to certain key prophecies in Revelation. 12:08.781 --> 12:12.442 [SPEAKER_00]: The idea is that those prophecies were about the future when John wrote them. 12:12.862 --> 12:15.302 [SPEAKER_00]: It's just we are further down that timeline. 12:15.542 --> 12:17.883 [SPEAKER_00]: And so a lot of those things have already happened. 12:17.903 --> 12:18.263 [SPEAKER_00]: But for 12:18.803 --> 12:24.885 [SPEAKER_00]: the historicist, along with the partial prejudice, the future coming of Jesus and the final judgments and things are still in the future. 12:25.445 --> 12:32.448 [SPEAKER_00]: Then there's the future, they look forward, they see most of Revelation, as referring to things that will happen in the future. 12:32.628 --> 12:38.450 [SPEAKER_00]: And they interpret a lot of the apocalyptic language more literally than the other views. 12:38.570 --> 12:46.713 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, not totally, literally, they still adapt them and try to see what this might refer to, but it's often more literal, so for instance, 12:47.353 --> 13:10.538 [SPEAKER_00]: or as a partial predatorist or a historicist is going to see language about the sun and the stars in the moon doing different things and is going to interpret that as, okay, this all refers to people and this refers to that guy who is a king and this refers to that group, people that's an army, that's how they interpret those things for the predators and the historicists, for the futurists, they will often interpret them more literally. 13:10.918 --> 13:13.499 [SPEAKER_00]: So something might actually happen with the sun 13:14.919 --> 13:23.566 [SPEAKER_00]: a great mountain of fire that comes down to earth might be an asteroid and so it'll be a little bit more literal but there's still a lot of adaptation in their view. 13:24.147 --> 13:35.677 [SPEAKER_00]: Then there's the idealist that looks above and I know that sounds like it's oh it's the lofty view that must be the right one because they look above but that's not what it means it just means they look at this as more symbolic. 13:36.237 --> 13:40.440 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not looking throughout history to try to identify when did these things happen in the past. 13:40.460 --> 13:45.024 [SPEAKER_00]: They're not looking to the future to try to predict what might these things be in the future. 13:45.344 --> 14:02.917 [SPEAKER_00]: The idealist says, okay, this is God, giving John a vision of symbols that are representative of the cosmic struggle between God and the demons that rebel against him, involving the humans that he created and loved and still has a plan for along the way. 14:03.841 --> 14:09.369 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't talk about Revelation 8 and 9, and the silence, or what's going to come as seven trumpets. 14:09.389 --> 14:14.095 [SPEAKER_00]: We can't talk about those without having some baseline understanding of those views. 14:15.023 --> 14:24.787 [SPEAKER_00]: Because otherwise, as we go through what is going to come here in the silence and the trumpets, I'm not going to be able to share with you about them without you understanding, okay, there are different perspectives on these things. 14:25.487 --> 14:31.030 [SPEAKER_00]: Most of the time when this is taught, it's taught from one perspective, from one viewpoint. 14:31.790 --> 14:35.352 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't believe there is one viewpoint that we should hold to as a church. 14:35.392 --> 14:42.575 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, I already know that different people in our church hold two different versions of these views, and that's okay. 14:43.339 --> 14:43.999 [SPEAKER_00]: That's all right. 14:44.500 --> 14:50.263 [SPEAKER_00]: In fact, all of these views would agree, I believe, with the application I'm going to give you today. 14:51.143 --> 14:53.144 [SPEAKER_00]: They just see a different chronology. 14:53.444 --> 14:56.786 [SPEAKER_00]: They have a different timeline, a different framework for looking at Revelation. 14:57.006 --> 15:00.528 [SPEAKER_00]: But the meaning we're going to pull out of the text today, I think is more important. 15:00.788 --> 15:02.349 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's what God wants us to have. 15:02.609 --> 15:08.412 [SPEAKER_00]: And I think regardless of the timeline you use, it still is absolutely applicable. 15:08.432 --> 15:10.133 [SPEAKER_00]: So I want you to understand the theories. 15:10.793 --> 15:19.046 [SPEAKER_00]: But even more, I want you to understand the message that God has for us through this text, even if we can't fully know which theory is correct. 15:19.587 --> 15:21.970 [SPEAKER_00]: So there is silence in heaven for 30 minutes. 15:22.728 --> 15:25.190 [SPEAKER_00]: and the different groups interpret that differently for some. 15:25.550 --> 15:29.453 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a period of peace in Israel before it's ruined by Rome. 15:29.493 --> 15:35.058 [SPEAKER_00]: For some, this is a period of peace in Rome under the Emperor Constantine before it's ruined by the barbarians. 15:35.638 --> 15:44.265 [SPEAKER_00]: For some people, this is a future pause before a horrific sequence of judgments that are going to be issued on the earth. 15:44.685 --> 15:55.917 [SPEAKER_00]: And for the idealists, this represents the seriousness and the gravity of God's divine judgment and possibly times where God is listening to the prayers of the persecuted church. 15:56.822 --> 16:05.547 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever the silence represents, it leads us into these seven trumpets that we're going to see in Revelation 8 and 9. 16:06.127 --> 16:12.671 [SPEAKER_00]: So, verse 2 says, I saw seven angels who stand before God and they were given seven trumpets. 16:12.731 --> 16:14.372 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to get into the trumpets in just a minute. 16:14.892 --> 16:21.756 [SPEAKER_00]: We're introduced to the seven trumpets first, but then there's this thing that happens before the trumpets are used and we've got to pay attention to this. 16:22.216 --> 16:25.078 [SPEAKER_00]: And as I'm doing this, I want you to visualize this in your head. 16:25.945 --> 16:29.870 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to imagine this scene taking place, you're going to see why in a minute. 16:30.691 --> 16:36.457 [SPEAKER_00]: Then another angel, with a gold incense burner came and stood at the altar. 16:37.078 --> 16:46.449 [SPEAKER_00]: And a great amount of incense was given to him to mix with the prayers of God's people as an offering on the gold altar before the throne. 16:47.441 --> 16:58.445 [SPEAKER_00]: the smoke of the incense, mixed with the prayers of God's holy people, ascended up to God from the altar where the angel had poured them out. 16:58.465 --> 17:05.547 [SPEAKER_00]: I want you to imagine this scene every time you pray. 17:07.228 --> 17:12.229 [SPEAKER_00]: Every time you pray, picture the prayers of God's people are 17:15.035 --> 17:26.845 [SPEAKER_00]: an angel takes them and gathers them and mixes in all of this incense and pours them out on an altar that is burning in the aroma and the smoke rises up to God and what does all of this mean? 17:28.306 --> 17:30.088 [SPEAKER_00]: It shows us something really special. 17:31.249 --> 17:39.756 [SPEAKER_00]: Something that we wouldn't really have a good picture of if it weren't for John's vision here, the prayers of God's people, they're an act of worship. 17:40.726 --> 17:43.427 [SPEAKER_00]: They are in a Roma that God loves. 17:43.767 --> 17:50.731 [SPEAKER_00]: This vision shows us how our prayers are received on the other end of the line. 17:51.971 --> 17:54.292 [SPEAKER_00]: Have you ever wondered if your prayers are bothering God? 17:55.113 --> 17:58.294 [SPEAKER_00]: Like am I annoying him by going to him with this little thing? 17:58.794 --> 18:03.977 [SPEAKER_00]: There's this comedian that talks about growing up Catholic and her teachers told her that she shouldn't pray to Jesus. 18:03.997 --> 18:06.378 [SPEAKER_00]: She should pray to the saints, so she doesn't bother Jesus. 18:07.198 --> 18:08.459 [SPEAKER_00]: She's got a whole bit about that. 18:09.342 --> 18:17.671 [SPEAKER_00]: is God bothered when you pray to Him absolutely not because your prayers are a part of worship to Him. 18:18.392 --> 18:19.433 [SPEAKER_00]: There are a part of worship. 18:19.954 --> 18:27.022 [SPEAKER_00]: Just thinking about this and visualizing this for me has increased the amount of time I have spent in prayer this week. 18:29.186 --> 18:34.850 [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer is not just so that we can make requests of God, even though we should make requests of God. 18:34.870 --> 18:36.351 [SPEAKER_00]: And James tells us we should do that. 18:36.732 --> 18:38.793 [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer is not just an act of obedience. 18:38.833 --> 18:41.455 [SPEAKER_00]: Though it is obedience to spend time and prayer with God. 18:41.996 --> 18:50.041 [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer is not just something you do when you're afraid or need help, though you absolutely can't and should do that, but prayer is also worshiping. 18:50.502 --> 18:53.704 [SPEAKER_00]: It is an act of worship to spend time and prayer with God. 18:54.355 --> 18:58.222 [SPEAKER_00]: and it makes sense if you break it down, because prayer is an act of faith. 18:58.843 --> 19:01.367 [SPEAKER_00]: praying means you have faith that God is listening. 19:01.428 --> 19:04.393 [SPEAKER_00]: praying means you have faith that He can answer, that He's powerful. 19:04.733 --> 19:06.877 [SPEAKER_00]: It means you're acknowledging He is an authority. 19:07.908 --> 19:09.109 [SPEAKER_00]: and has authority in your life. 19:09.409 --> 19:12.091 [SPEAKER_00]: Prayer is acknowledging, I can't do this on my own. 19:12.792 --> 19:20.218 [SPEAKER_00]: There is someone higher, someone outside of this, a creator, and a sustainer who I need involved in my life and so prayers are a delight to God. 19:20.238 --> 19:22.219 [SPEAKER_00]: He loves to get your prayers. 19:22.239 --> 19:26.523 [SPEAKER_00]: They're an offering on an altar that he loves and every time you pray, I want you to imagine. 19:27.243 --> 19:31.833 [SPEAKER_00]: That throne room where you're prayer is being placed on that altar in God's presence. 19:31.873 --> 19:32.996 [SPEAKER_00]: It's mixed with incense. 19:33.016 --> 19:34.499 [SPEAKER_00]: It's in aroma that pleases God. 19:34.800 --> 19:37.546 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about the the senses of this. 19:38.783 --> 19:41.804 [SPEAKER_00]: Think about, this is not just an audio recording. 19:42.184 --> 19:44.784 [SPEAKER_00]: I often think about prayer like a telephone conversation. 19:44.804 --> 19:45.424 [SPEAKER_00]: Do you ever do this? 19:46.084 --> 19:49.905 [SPEAKER_00]: You ever think about prayer like you're dialing up God and having a phone call with them? 19:49.965 --> 19:52.626 [SPEAKER_00]: Like I'm just gonna have a quick chat with God because I need something. 19:53.126 --> 19:57.066 [SPEAKER_00]: And so, you know God's number, God's number is dear Heavenly Father, right? 19:57.326 --> 19:58.447 [SPEAKER_00]: Dear Heavenly Father, okay. 19:58.847 --> 20:01.327 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we start with the conversation and I share my wants. 20:01.747 --> 20:03.067 [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for a couple of things, of course. 20:03.367 --> 20:04.828 [SPEAKER_00]: And then how do you hang up the phone with God? 20:05.208 --> 20:05.988 [SPEAKER_00]: In Jesus name, amen. 20:06.448 --> 20:09.110 [SPEAKER_00]: and I'm gonna click the conversations over it and now I go about on about my day. 20:09.570 --> 20:10.891 [SPEAKER_00]: And we often think about prayer that way. 20:10.931 --> 20:12.092 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a telephone conversation. 20:12.172 --> 20:13.853 [SPEAKER_00]: It's transactional. 20:14.133 --> 20:14.954 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a conversation. 20:14.974 --> 20:17.436 [SPEAKER_00]: It's negotiation sometimes with God. 20:17.876 --> 20:26.762 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's not that it's not those things necessarily, but John shows us that prayers are a worship experience in heaven. 20:27.823 --> 20:28.483 [SPEAKER_00]: Isn't that interesting? 20:29.164 --> 20:31.866 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a multisensory experience. 20:32.877 --> 20:36.060 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not like the angel says, uh, God, I've got a voicemail here from Adam. 20:36.120 --> 20:36.981 [SPEAKER_00]: He's got a need for you. 20:37.422 --> 20:38.263 [SPEAKER_00]: Can I play the recording? 20:38.703 --> 20:40.145 [SPEAKER_00]: It's not just the audio. 20:40.945 --> 20:45.030 [SPEAKER_00]: There's the physical nature of the prayers being gathered by the angel. 20:45.510 --> 20:50.455 [SPEAKER_00]: There's the visual of the prayers being presented on the altar that is burning. 20:51.156 --> 21:07.083 [SPEAKER_00]: There's the sense of smell as the aroma mixed with incense lifts into the air, fills the heavenly throne room with the sweet smell, and God is there as the aroma rises up to Him, see He delights in your prayers. 21:07.103 --> 21:12.926 [SPEAKER_00]: There are a part of a worship experience in Heaven's throne room, so we should take them seriously. 21:13.708 --> 21:22.435 [SPEAKER_00]: When we pray and we should spend more time praying, we should recognize we are kicking off a worship experience in heaven and God delights in your prayers. 21:22.475 --> 21:23.896 [SPEAKER_00]: He wants to hear from you. 21:23.916 --> 21:28.700 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is the first of the two sections about worship. 21:29.981 --> 21:32.162 [SPEAKER_00]: Your prayers are worship. 21:32.883 --> 21:35.145 [SPEAKER_00]: Next come the warnings. 21:36.186 --> 21:38.808 [SPEAKER_00]: So verse five says, then the angel, 21:39.975 --> 21:44.381 [SPEAKER_00]: filled the incense burner with fire from the altar and threw it down upon the earth. 21:45.042 --> 21:49.869 [SPEAKER_00]: And thunder crashed, lightning flashed, and there was a terrible earthquake. 21:50.470 --> 21:52.353 [SPEAKER_00]: Now there are different views on this, of course. 21:53.755 --> 21:58.418 [SPEAKER_00]: One view is that this is the destruction of the Jewish temple system. 21:58.999 --> 22:02.101 [SPEAKER_00]: Another view is that this is the dismantling of the Roman Empire. 22:02.381 --> 22:06.724 [SPEAKER_00]: Another is that this is a future global catastrophe after the tribulation. 22:06.964 --> 22:11.907 [SPEAKER_00]: Another is that this is a symbolic intervention of God in the world. 22:11.947 --> 22:17.331 [SPEAKER_00]: Or this symbolizes any time God intervenes in the world in response to the prayers of his children. 22:17.611 --> 22:22.815 [SPEAKER_00]: In particular, the prayers that are in mind here are the prayers of the persecuted church crying out for justice. 22:23.780 --> 22:40.774 [SPEAKER_00]: Whether those connections are right or not, what I think this is meant to show us is that God moves in response to prayers, because the prayers are offered on this altar, and then it's fire from that altar that has taken and thrown down to earth, and that kicks off what follows are the seven trumpets of warning. 22:41.674 --> 22:51.262 [SPEAKER_00]: And so what seems to be happening here in the vision is it's being made very clear, these prayers are offered up and the fire that has thrown down from the altar to earth is like a warning shot. 22:53.743 --> 22:57.565 [SPEAKER_00]: The prayers of God's people that remember a few chapters ago, we're told to wait a little while longer. 22:57.805 --> 23:01.707 [SPEAKER_00]: Those prayers are being answered now, and here's how they are going to be answered. 23:01.727 --> 23:04.648 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to walk through the trumpets of warning. 23:04.988 --> 23:06.909 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to talk about some of the possible meanings. 23:07.450 --> 23:09.030 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to group some of them together. 23:09.090 --> 23:14.933 [SPEAKER_00]: We could spend a lot of time going through each one and all the possible interpretations, but I think there's something more important to get to. 23:15.514 --> 23:21.997 [SPEAKER_00]: So verse six says, then the seven angels, with the seven trumpets prepared to blow their mighty blasts. 23:22.657 --> 23:29.867 [SPEAKER_00]: The first angel blew his trumpet and hailed and fire mixed with blood, or thrown down on the earth. 23:30.648 --> 23:33.192 [SPEAKER_00]: One-third of the earth was set on fire. 23:33.753 --> 23:38.399 [SPEAKER_00]: One-third of the trees were burned and all the green grass was burned. 23:38.880 --> 23:46.488 [SPEAKER_00]: By the way, as we go through this, I want to encourage you to look for something that all of these trumpets have in common. 23:46.648 --> 23:49.291 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to talk about the first four and then the fifth and then the sixth. 23:49.311 --> 23:50.352 [SPEAKER_00]: We won't get to the seventh today. 23:50.892 --> 23:54.636 [SPEAKER_00]: But all six of these first trumpets, they have something in common. 23:54.696 --> 23:57.119 [SPEAKER_00]: See if you can figure out what it is, first eight. 23:57.519 --> 23:59.822 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the second angel blew his trumpet. 24:00.322 --> 24:03.504 [SPEAKER_00]: And a great mountain of fire was thrown into the sea. 24:03.644 --> 24:05.665 [SPEAKER_00]: One third of the water in the sea became blood. 24:06.086 --> 24:08.607 [SPEAKER_00]: One third of all things living in the sea died. 24:08.827 --> 24:11.849 [SPEAKER_00]: And one third of all the ships on the sea were destroyed. 24:13.030 --> 24:14.871 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the third angel blew his trumpet. 24:15.531 --> 24:20.194 [SPEAKER_00]: And a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch at dawn, one third of the rivers. 24:20.474 --> 24:24.457 [SPEAKER_00]: And on the springs of water, the name of the star was bitterness. 24:25.297 --> 24:26.818 [SPEAKER_00]: It made one third of the water bitter. 24:26.858 --> 24:29.139 [SPEAKER_00]: And many people died from drinking the bitter water. 24:30.434 --> 24:32.474 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet. 24:33.090 --> 24:42.032 [SPEAKER_00]: and one-third of the sun was struck, and one-third of the moon, and one-third of the stars, and they became dark, and one-third of the day was dark, and also one-third of the night. 24:42.773 --> 24:58.937 [SPEAKER_00]: Then I looked and I heard a single eagle crying loudly as it flew through the air, terror, terror, terror to all who belong to this world because of what will happen when the last three angels blow their trumpets. 25:03.138 --> 25:03.478 [SPEAKER_00]: worse. 25:04.699 --> 25:13.944 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's in these trumpets that you really start to see these different perspectives on revelation split apart in different directions and even bigger ways. 25:14.405 --> 25:26.212 [SPEAKER_00]: Praterists, historicists and futurists, those first three camps, they all generally agree that the trumpets take place chronologically after the seals. 25:27.052 --> 25:47.671 [SPEAKER_00]: So you have these seven seals and really what they would generally say is you've got seals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and you get to 7 and then the seventh seal opens up and contains the seven trumpets and eventually the seventh trumpets going to open up and contain the seven bulls and so these happen in a chronological order for those groups and they might be right. 25:48.541 --> 25:57.190 [SPEAKER_00]: Now the idealist generally will think of the trumpets as going back and starting over and looking at the same period of time in history as the seals cover. 25:57.470 --> 26:09.602 [SPEAKER_00]: So if the seals take us from around the time of Jesus until perhaps today or some time after today, as we get back into the trumpets, it goes back and starts over again and looks at that same period of time from a different perspective. 26:10.469 --> 26:13.654 [SPEAKER_00]: There was a movie in 2008 called Vantage Point. 26:13.834 --> 26:19.162 [SPEAKER_00]: Did anybody see Vantage Point with Dennis Quaid and Sigourney Weaver and Forest Whitaker? 26:19.803 --> 26:25.211 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, well, I'm sorry to hear that because it's a fascinating movie and I'm going to spoil it for you right now. 26:26.253 --> 26:36.381 [SPEAKER_00]: But as you watch vantage point, what you first see is a presidential assassination take place from the perspective of Sigourney Weaver's character. 26:36.762 --> 26:46.470 [SPEAKER_00]: And you see all of this, and you think you have an understanding of what happened and then it all rewinds and takes you back so that you get to see everything from Dennis Quade's character's perspective. 26:46.770 --> 26:48.671 [SPEAKER_00]: And now you're not so sure what you saw. 26:49.452 --> 26:51.774 [SPEAKER_00]: because it seems like things a little bit different than they were before. 26:51.794 --> 26:59.681 [SPEAKER_00]: You're seeing things from a different perspective, and then you get somebody else's perspective, and eventually you get forced Whittaker's perspective, which fills in even more of the puzzle pieces. 27:00.661 --> 27:04.425 [SPEAKER_00]: So maybe the seals and the trumpets are like that. 27:05.365 --> 27:11.728 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe after the seals happen, we go back and the trumpets give us another perspective on the same types of events. 27:12.029 --> 27:21.774 [SPEAKER_00]: There are a lot of clues along the timeline in both the seals and the trumpets that make people think, well, that might be what they call recapitulation. 27:22.234 --> 27:29.518 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a recapitulating of all the things we just saw from the seals and it goes over the same 2000 some year period. 27:30.138 --> 27:33.402 [SPEAKER_00]: The seals show the pain of a broken and fallen world. 27:33.642 --> 27:38.208 [SPEAKER_00]: The trumpets show the warnings of God in that world during the same time. 27:38.928 --> 27:40.871 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a very plausible theory. 27:41.800 --> 27:51.426 [SPEAKER_00]: but it's also possible that the other three camps are right and that this actually is chronologically in order and that the Trumpets take place after the seals. 27:51.987 --> 28:00.032 [SPEAKER_00]: And the reason it matters is because it does help us or it determines how we interpret what we just read about those four initial trumpets. 28:01.418 --> 28:06.083 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever timeline we use though, we can agree on certain things. 28:06.123 --> 28:15.732 [SPEAKER_00]: For instance, these first four trumpets, they target the earth, they target the oceans, they target the fresh rivers, they target the sky, it's a systematic unraveling of creation. 28:16.889 --> 28:22.112 [SPEAKER_00]: It's like God is doing something to creation here, to get people's attention. 28:22.712 --> 28:30.837 [SPEAKER_00]: And instead of going through every single trumpet in great detail, I'm going to kind of give you some summaries of what the different views would say about these trumpets here. 28:31.297 --> 28:32.078 [SPEAKER_00]: To the Preterist. 28:32.863 --> 28:45.375 [SPEAKER_00]: The entire sequence describes the devastating invasion of Israel by Rome and the overthrow of Israel and the scorched earth tactics that they use. 28:45.415 --> 28:56.065 [SPEAKER_00]: So the apocalyptic language and the language of all the devastation that happens on a cosmic scale is really more meant to communicate how that felt. 28:56.565 --> 29:05.953 [SPEAKER_00]: to the Jewish people when their world came crashing down and it felt like the sky turned dark and it felt like everything was just being destroyed and it was just a horrible experience to them. 29:06.193 --> 29:08.495 [SPEAKER_00]: It's apocalyptic language that communicates that. 29:09.176 --> 29:10.337 [SPEAKER_00]: To the historicists, 29:11.240 --> 29:17.842 [SPEAKER_00]: On the other hand, this is the slow and agonizing demise of the Roman Empire over hundreds of years. 29:17.882 --> 29:20.382 [SPEAKER_00]: And they see a Gothic invasion by land. 29:20.402 --> 29:22.203 [SPEAKER_00]: They see vandal invasions by sea. 29:22.443 --> 29:24.763 [SPEAKER_00]: They see Huns poisoning the rivers of Europe. 29:24.803 --> 29:28.044 [SPEAKER_00]: They see darkness falling over the empire metaphorically. 29:28.624 --> 29:29.645 [SPEAKER_00]: And that's how they view these. 29:29.705 --> 29:30.825 [SPEAKER_00]: To the futurists. 29:31.705 --> 29:36.988 [SPEAKER_00]: This is a literal future sequence of impending global catastrophes. 29:37.009 --> 29:49.977 [SPEAKER_00]: We're talking about massive meteor showers and asteroid that strikes into the ocean, that the mountain of fire is seen often as an asteroid that comes down the ocean, causes global tsunamis wiping out a third of the earth. 29:50.277 --> 29:54.360 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe nuclear fallout results in the poison of the world's fresh water. 29:54.800 --> 29:58.903 [SPEAKER_00]: Atmospheric ash blocking out the sun and the moon, things like that. 29:59.770 --> 30:04.692 [SPEAKER_00]: And then to the idealist, these aren't necessarily specific events on a timeline. 30:05.232 --> 30:19.879 [SPEAKER_00]: They represent divine judgments of God throughout history, where God allows human arrogance in empires and economics to reap the consequences that it deserves and issues judgments on them based on what they deserve. 30:20.199 --> 30:25.262 [SPEAKER_00]: And it's a symbolic picture of moral and spiritual decay that happens when 30:28.902 --> 30:52.267 [SPEAKER_00]: Whatever timeline you use, whatever framework you adopt here, the first four trumpet judgments or warnings essentially say the same thing, the things of this earth, that you think are constant, that you think you can rely on, the sun, stars, the moon, the oceans, the rivers, all of those things, they are more fragile than you think. 30:53.368 --> 30:57.909 [SPEAKER_00]: And you need God, the Creator, more than you need those things. 30:57.949 --> 30:59.130 [SPEAKER_00]: Those things cannot save you. 30:59.290 --> 31:01.230 [SPEAKER_00]: And they will not necessarily be here forever. 31:01.910 --> 31:03.811 [SPEAKER_00]: They are not the thing to rely on. 31:04.631 --> 31:11.053 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, as devastating as those first warnings are, then there's this eagle that says, the next three are gonna be worse. 31:11.613 --> 31:16.114 [SPEAKER_00]: So let's dive into those, the fifth trumpet, first one of Revelation nine. 31:16.754 --> 31:18.455 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet. 31:19.254 --> 31:25.780 [SPEAKER_00]: And I saw a star that had fallen to earth from the sky, and he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. 31:26.401 --> 31:33.207 [SPEAKER_00]: When he opened it, smoke poured out as though from a huge furnace, and the sunlight and air turned dark from the smoke. 31:34.006 --> 31:42.472 [SPEAKER_00]: Then, locists came from the smoke and descended on the earth and they were given power to sting like scorpions. 31:43.232 --> 31:52.979 [SPEAKER_00]: They were told not to harm the grass, or plants, or trees, but only the people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 31:53.799 --> 32:00.524 [SPEAKER_00]: They were told not to kill them, but to torture them for five months with pain like the pain of a scorpion sting. 32:01.224 --> 32:02.004 [SPEAKER_00]: in those days. 32:02.764 --> 32:05.305 [SPEAKER_00]: People will seek death, but will not find it. 32:05.765 --> 32:07.985 [SPEAKER_00]: They will long to die, but death will flee from them. 32:08.005 --> 32:11.666 [SPEAKER_00]: The locusts looked like horses, prepared for battle. 32:12.086 --> 32:17.607 [SPEAKER_00]: They had what looked like gold crowns on their heads, and their faces looked like human faces. 32:18.408 --> 32:22.709 [SPEAKER_00]: They had hair, like women's hair, and teeth, like the teeth of a lion. 32:22.729 --> 32:25.549 [SPEAKER_00]: They wore armor made of iron, and their wings roared, 32:30.062 --> 32:32.644 [SPEAKER_00]: They had tales that stung like scorpions. 32:33.304 --> 32:36.807 [SPEAKER_00]: And for five months, they had the power to torment people. 32:37.587 --> 32:40.710 [SPEAKER_00]: Their king is the angel from the bottomless pit. 32:40.750 --> 32:45.573 [SPEAKER_00]: His name in Hebrew is Abidon and in Greek Apollion, the destroyer. 32:46.634 --> 32:52.678 [SPEAKER_00]: The first terror is past, but look to more terrors are coming. 32:53.899 --> 32:55.000 [SPEAKER_00]: Wow, that's a scary trumpet. 32:55.664 --> 32:56.024 [SPEAKER_00]: right there. 32:56.605 --> 33:02.171 [SPEAKER_00]: That's a lot of really fascinating and horrifying apocalyptic language that's being used there. 33:02.211 --> 33:03.792 [SPEAKER_00]: So what are the different views think this could be? 33:04.293 --> 33:12.942 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, the sum, this is the zealots in Israel in the first century tormenting the people of Jerusalem as the city is under siege from the Roman Empire. 33:13.802 --> 33:18.145 [SPEAKER_00]: to others, this refers to the rise of Islam, and their prophet Muhammad. 33:18.926 --> 33:28.673 [SPEAKER_00]: Some think the speaks of a future human or demonic army that is going to cause all kinds of problems for the earth and recall kinds of destruction. 33:29.253 --> 33:51.288 [SPEAKER_00]: Futurists will sometimes theorize about what those locusts could be, and so for a while, people thought, well, maybe that refers to attack helicopters, because you could kind of see the armor of iron and the faces would be the people that are piloting these and the sting of the scorpions is maybe the missiles that they fire and the wings that roared like a sound of a chariot might be the blades of the helicopter spinning. 33:51.789 --> 33:56.212 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, some people are changing that and saying, well, maybe it's drones that he's talking about. 33:57.359 --> 33:58.720 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what the futurist would say. 33:59.420 --> 34:08.684 [SPEAKER_00]: Or it could refer to a spiritual battle that is happening all the time between the forces of God and the demons that rebelled against Him. 34:09.264 --> 34:13.946 [SPEAKER_00]: The idealist point to this seal of God and say, that's the Holy Spirit in your life. 34:14.507 --> 34:21.710 [SPEAKER_00]: And so the forces of evil, the demons, there are limits to what they can do to believers because they have the seal of God. 34:21.730 --> 34:24.271 [SPEAKER_00]: And so they would say, we're going through that right now. 34:25.244 --> 34:26.965 [SPEAKER_00]: but then there's a sixth trumpet. 34:27.605 --> 34:30.306 [SPEAKER_00]: The sixth trumpet, sixth angel blew his trumpet, verse 13. 34:31.027 --> 34:36.089 [SPEAKER_00]: And I heard a voice speaking from the forehorns of the gold altar that stands in the presence of God. 34:36.689 --> 34:43.592 [SPEAKER_00]: And the voice said to the sixth angel who held the trumpet, released the four angels who are bound at the great Euphrates River. 34:44.373 --> 34:51.196 [SPEAKER_00]: Then the four angels who had been prepared for this hour and day and month and year were turned loose to kill one third 34:54.400 --> 34:58.883 [SPEAKER_00]: I heard the size of their army, which was 200 million mounted troops. 34:59.603 --> 35:08.889 [SPEAKER_00]: And in my vision, I saw the horses, and the riders sitting on them, the riders were armor that was fiery red and dark blue and yellow. 35:09.289 --> 35:14.633 [SPEAKER_00]: The horses had heads like lions and fire and smoke and burning sulfur billed from their mouths. 35:14.653 --> 35:18.035 [SPEAKER_00]: Remember that fire and smoke and burning sulfur billed from their mouths. 35:23.538 --> 35:27.544 [SPEAKER_00]: smoke and burning sulfur that came from the mouths of the horses. 35:27.965 --> 35:29.547 [SPEAKER_00]: Their power was in their mouths. 35:30.268 --> 35:36.558 [SPEAKER_00]: And in their tails, for their tails had heads like snakes with the power to injure people. 35:37.357 --> 35:39.640 [SPEAKER_00]: That's another fascinating description. 35:40.100 --> 35:45.226 [SPEAKER_00]: If you just take the visual of that literally, you go, wow, that must have been a horrifying thing for John to see. 35:45.506 --> 35:47.048 [SPEAKER_00]: What could this have possibly meant? 35:47.088 --> 35:58.019 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, some people think that this actually referred to auxiliary legions of Rome, other groups that Rome brought in, in addition to their normal army, to destroy Judea. 35:58.740 --> 36:11.824 [SPEAKER_00]: Others point to the Ottoman Empire when they invaded and the fact that they used gunpowder for the first time in their military and so that's where you get the sulfur and the fire and the smoke maybe that's the connection there. 36:12.464 --> 36:24.207 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe this will be a future massive human or demonic or hybrid human and demonic army that will happen sometime in the future that will cause destruction all over the earth. 36:24.947 --> 36:39.197 [SPEAKER_00]: Idealists see this as representative of human warfare in general and this systemic evil that happens when people act out of greed and selfishness and conquer other people just for their own benefits all throughout human history. 36:40.038 --> 36:42.660 [SPEAKER_00]: Now the answer is, I don't know. 36:43.969 --> 36:48.175 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't know exactly what this refers to, at least not for sure. 36:48.635 --> 36:53.442 [SPEAKER_00]: But I suspect, and I don't mind telling you what I suspect and you can absolutely disagree with me on this. 36:54.263 --> 36:57.967 [SPEAKER_00]: I suspect that the futurists are mostly right. 36:59.062 --> 37:11.465 [SPEAKER_00]: I think probably, as I study this and the rest of scripture in the book of Daniel, I think probably that there's a lot of this that is still to come, and that there is an element of correctness to the future's interpretation. 37:12.365 --> 37:27.308 [SPEAKER_00]: However, I think that futurists often get really, really tied into specific predictions and details that they need to be more careful about, and they are often guilty of reading revelation in one hand in the newspaper and the other and trying to point to things 37:29.188 --> 37:32.231 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the thing that was talked about when they don't really know that. 37:32.331 --> 37:37.035 [SPEAKER_00]: It's okay to theorize, but we got to make sure we keep clear about what we're doing there. 37:37.055 --> 37:40.919 [SPEAKER_00]: It's speculation and a lot of times there are predictions about this is going to be Russia. 37:41.119 --> 37:41.960 [SPEAKER_00]: This is going to be China. 37:42.120 --> 37:43.742 [SPEAKER_00]: This is going to be this church or that group. 37:44.122 --> 37:50.088 [SPEAKER_00]: And we've got to be real careful about holding those predictions, which are man-made interpretations loosely. 37:50.368 --> 37:52.169 [SPEAKER_00]: We just don't know for sure. 37:53.030 --> 37:59.875 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that the symbolism of the idealists is probably often right as well. 38:01.056 --> 38:17.509 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that God has probably built into this prophecy and revelation, both references to actual specific things that will happen in the future, and representation of the types of things and struggles and battles that have been happening all along in God's world and the spiritual level. 38:17.529 --> 38:19.771 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it could have multiple applications there. 38:21.987 --> 38:23.767 [SPEAKER_00]: that the predators are right about some things. 38:24.048 --> 38:27.548 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm not just trying to play cake to all of you in your different views, okay? 38:27.949 --> 38:32.630 [SPEAKER_00]: But I do think that there are aspects of each of these three views in particular. 38:32.650 --> 38:34.970 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't really find much from the historicist view I agree with. 38:35.411 --> 38:42.032 [SPEAKER_00]: But for the partial predators and the futurists and the idealists, I see aspects of each of these that make sense to me. 38:42.052 --> 38:43.993 [SPEAKER_00]: And let me give you an example for the partial predators. 38:44.693 --> 39:03.623 [SPEAKER_00]: partial predators say hey some of these things look like they have really strong connections to things that happen in the past and I look at that and go yeah that's act that's pretty that's pretty true there are some things throughout history that looked like that was an application there but then there are other things that look like they're going to happen in the future and these things are tied together 39:04.383 --> 39:08.584 [SPEAKER_00]: And so how do you take this thing and say it goes over there, and this thing and say it goes over here in the future? 39:09.185 --> 39:10.545 [SPEAKER_00]: And here's how I think it may work. 39:10.865 --> 39:15.787 [SPEAKER_00]: This is just Adam's idea in theory, and it's not original to me, but this is my personal view. 39:16.887 --> 39:18.368 [SPEAKER_00]: I think that oftentimes in Scripture, 39:19.162 --> 39:24.027 [SPEAKER_00]: We have what we call dual fulfillments, or multiple fulfillments of prophecy. 39:24.447 --> 39:31.995 [SPEAKER_00]: And when God gives prophecies, sometimes they are fulfilled in the short term, and the long term, sometimes they have more than two fulfillments that God intends. 39:32.295 --> 39:34.517 [SPEAKER_00]: And I do have an example of this for you. 39:34.997 --> 39:37.160 [SPEAKER_00]: So one classic example of this. 39:37.680 --> 39:40.882 [SPEAKER_00]: is when Daniel prophesies about something called the abomination of desolation. 39:41.363 --> 39:50.169 [SPEAKER_00]: And this was understood referred to something like a horrible, sacrilegious act happening at the temple, like a pig being sacrificed or slaughtered at the temple. 39:50.209 --> 39:51.830 [SPEAKER_00]: So Daniel prophesied about this. 39:52.411 --> 40:02.298 [SPEAKER_00]: And then, in 167 BC, a salucid king slaughtered a pig in the temple, fulfilling that prophecy. 40:03.178 --> 40:04.060 [SPEAKER_00]: or so we thought. 40:04.801 --> 40:08.909 [SPEAKER_00]: Then about 150 years later, over 150 years later, Jesus comes along. 40:09.290 --> 40:10.813 [SPEAKER_00]: Everybody thinks that prophecy was filled. 40:11.033 --> 40:12.997 [SPEAKER_00]: And Jesus says, hey, remember that prophecy from Daniel? 40:13.237 --> 40:13.979 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's going to happen. 40:14.894 --> 40:15.754 [SPEAKER_00]: Wait, that's going to happen? 40:15.774 --> 40:17.055 [SPEAKER_00]: Yeah, that's going to happen in the future. 40:17.555 --> 40:20.216 [SPEAKER_00]: The prophecy that was already fulfilled, yep, it's going to happen in the future. 40:20.676 --> 40:32.501 [SPEAKER_00]: It doesn't give any specifics about that, but then, in 70 AD, there is a Roman general named Titus who slotters pigs in the temple fulfilling the prophecy yet. 40:32.761 --> 40:44.105 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, and many people think there will also be a third fulfillment of this, or depending on how they count it, you could end up with two, but multiple fulfillment of this, where it happens again in the future. 40:45.045 --> 41:12.388 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it's very possible that John's vision from God, the vision God gives John is complicated and complex and multifaceted and maybe a little bit beyond our understanding and some of it might represent things God has done in the past and some of it represents things God has done in the future and some things represent both things God has done in the past and we'll do in the future and also represent with symbolism, the cosmic struggle that is happening all throughout human history in the spiritual realm. 41:13.541 --> 41:21.768 [SPEAKER_00]: I shared a word a couple of weeks ago about what many scholars and pastors are starting to use to describe their own view of these things. 41:22.008 --> 41:28.153 [SPEAKER_00]: They don't call themselves in many cases, futurists or priorists or idealists or historicists. 41:28.214 --> 41:29.875 [SPEAKER_00]: Anymore, does anyone remember what word I used? 41:31.336 --> 41:33.758 [SPEAKER_00]: It's the word eclectic, yes, exactly. 41:34.899 --> 41:37.742 [SPEAKER_00]: And I would describe my view today as probably a little bit eclectic. 41:38.472 --> 41:52.877 [SPEAKER_00]: It's kind of the perfect word to use, to describe all of this because many people are recognizing this doesn't all fit perfectly into one particular view necessarily, but what was it that God said about his ways and his thoughts again? 41:53.970 --> 41:55.110 [SPEAKER_00]: Maybe we should look at that real quick. 41:55.130 --> 41:59.532 [SPEAKER_00]: Isaiah 55 says, my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, says the Lord. 42:00.033 --> 42:02.634 [SPEAKER_00]: And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 42:02.994 --> 42:09.657 [SPEAKER_00]: For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts. 42:09.917 --> 42:15.759 [SPEAKER_00]: And what is revelation, if not appealing back of the curtain to see a glimpse of God's ways and thoughts? 42:16.660 --> 42:17.200 [SPEAKER_00]: That's what it is. 42:18.364 --> 42:23.906 [SPEAKER_00]: It just shows us a little bit behind the scenes, a crack in the door of these are God's ways and God's thoughts. 42:23.946 --> 42:25.946 [SPEAKER_00]: And you think you're gonna understand those? 42:27.107 --> 42:29.627 [SPEAKER_00]: No, you're not gonna fully understand those. 42:29.687 --> 42:31.008 [SPEAKER_00]: So I think it is complex. 42:31.028 --> 42:32.068 [SPEAKER_00]: I think it is complicated. 42:32.408 --> 42:34.809 [SPEAKER_00]: I don't think we're meant to figure out every detail about it. 42:34.909 --> 42:40.270 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm okay with not understanding the particulars of how God is fulfilling these prophecies. 42:40.610 --> 42:41.131 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm okay with that. 42:42.231 --> 42:45.392 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not okay with not learning from it. 42:46.398 --> 42:57.730 [SPEAKER_00]: Because God gave it to us to teach us something to cause a response in us, and that response is not decode my secret message that response is something else. 42:57.790 --> 43:00.273 [SPEAKER_00]: Here's what I think he's talking about in this passage. 43:01.014 --> 43:04.538 [SPEAKER_00]: We talked about prayer as worship earlier. 43:05.335 --> 43:11.938 [SPEAKER_00]: what we just experienced with the Trumpets was the series of warnings, not just judgments, but warnings. 43:11.998 --> 43:16.221 [SPEAKER_00]: And I asked you to see if you could identify what was similar about all the Trumpets? 43:16.241 --> 43:17.761 [SPEAKER_00]: What was the common thread through them today? 43:17.781 --> 43:18.722 [SPEAKER_00]: Anybody pick anything up? 43:20.523 --> 43:21.243 [SPEAKER_00]: What was the common? 43:21.844 --> 43:26.526 [SPEAKER_00]: It was related to one third, but the last two Trumpets didn't have thirds in it, but that's very, very close. 43:27.286 --> 43:29.788 [SPEAKER_00]: What they all had in common is limits. 43:30.762 --> 43:31.563 [SPEAKER_00]: They all had limits. 43:31.603 --> 43:33.205 [SPEAKER_00]: The first four had limits of one third. 43:33.466 --> 43:36.670 [SPEAKER_00]: The last two had limits of don't destroy this, don't destroy this, don't kill this. 43:36.831 --> 43:37.972 [SPEAKER_00]: You can only do this for five months. 43:38.193 --> 43:39.795 [SPEAKER_00]: They all had limits, what does that tell you? 43:40.796 --> 43:42.959 [SPEAKER_00]: This is not about total annihilation. 43:43.420 --> 43:44.522 [SPEAKER_00]: This is about warning. 43:45.582 --> 43:49.644 [SPEAKER_00]: This is about showing people how fragile their world is. 43:50.584 --> 43:56.746 [SPEAKER_00]: How fragile all the things they put their hope and trust in are to let them know, hey, you still need God. 43:57.007 --> 44:04.450 [SPEAKER_00]: This is what happens when a bunch of people, instead of saying, thy will be done, say, my will be done, and God says, okay, you want to see what that looks like. 44:05.570 --> 44:07.691 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want you to notice the sensory contrast here. 44:08.565 --> 44:13.348 [SPEAKER_00]: Because with the worship in chapter eight, we saw prayers that were lifted up as the sweet smelling aroma. 44:13.608 --> 44:17.470 [SPEAKER_00]: And then when we get to these trumpets, all we see is burning sulfur. 44:18.637 --> 44:19.698 [SPEAKER_00]: and horrible smell. 44:19.718 --> 44:26.463 [SPEAKER_00]: This isn't an experience that for John was a huge contrast from the throne room of heaven to the destruction of the warnings on earth. 44:26.503 --> 44:40.474 [SPEAKER_00]: And these chapters present this harsh reality of how we will either be defined by judgment from God when we reject him or this worship of heaven's throne room and the trumpets are awarding to us. 44:41.074 --> 44:44.076 [SPEAKER_00]: You cannot do this on your own, you need God. 44:45.578 --> 44:46.959 [SPEAKER_00]: But in this passage, 44:47.887 --> 44:50.749 [SPEAKER_00]: We see the results of people going through these warnings. 44:50.789 --> 44:53.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Again, whatever your timeline is, doesn't matter. 44:53.410 --> 44:55.471 [SPEAKER_00]: We see the results of these warnings. 44:55.511 --> 44:57.693 [SPEAKER_00]: What do people do after this happens? 44:57.713 --> 44:58.333 [SPEAKER_00]: Look at verse 20. 44:59.574 --> 45:08.339 [SPEAKER_00]: But the people who did not die in these plagues still refused to repent of their evil deeds and turned to God. 45:09.265 --> 45:25.136 [SPEAKER_00]: They continue to worship demons, and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood, idols that can either see nor hear nor walk, and they did not repent of their murders, or their witchcraft, or their sexual immorality, or their thefts. 45:26.417 --> 45:29.659 [SPEAKER_00]: And this is the absolute tragedy of this message. 45:31.040 --> 45:34.422 [SPEAKER_00]: This is the second worship. 45:35.576 --> 45:42.761 [SPEAKER_00]: worship warnings worship, this is the second worship with all the warnings, all the judgments, the tearing the earth apart, they still reject God. 45:43.081 --> 45:45.563 [SPEAKER_00]: They still choose to worship demons and idols. 45:45.603 --> 45:47.285 [SPEAKER_00]: They still choose to worship sex. 45:47.545 --> 45:49.526 [SPEAKER_00]: They still choose to worship material things. 45:49.546 --> 45:51.247 [SPEAKER_00]: They still choose to worship themselves. 45:51.267 --> 45:57.512 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you think back to Pompeii, when the sky turned black and all of the ash and molten rock were raining down on people, what do those people do? 45:57.932 --> 46:04.237 [SPEAKER_00]: They reached and grabbed for their idols and their belongings and their treasures and they clutched them as they died and none of them could save them. 46:05.434 --> 46:08.556 [SPEAKER_00]: even as they were suffocated under all that ash. 46:09.497 --> 46:16.761 [SPEAKER_00]: Here in Revelation chapter nine, the people are suffocating under the smoke and the sulfur of God's warnings. 46:16.801 --> 46:17.362 [SPEAKER_00]: And what do they do? 46:18.683 --> 46:19.583 [SPEAKER_00]: They clutch their aisles. 46:20.904 --> 46:25.667 [SPEAKER_00]: They grab that things that they treasure, that they worship, that things that are valuable to them. 46:26.868 --> 46:28.649 [SPEAKER_00]: And isn't it easy for us to look at that? 46:29.029 --> 46:30.830 [SPEAKER_00]: And this story and think how foolish. 46:31.791 --> 46:32.772 [SPEAKER_00]: How foolish were they? 46:35.904 --> 46:40.946 [SPEAKER_00]: Are we any better, everybody worships something? 46:42.046 --> 46:45.868 [SPEAKER_00]: There is no such thing as a non-worshiper. 46:46.748 --> 46:52.891 [SPEAKER_00]: There is something that tomorrow you are gonna treat as the most valuable thing in your life that day. 46:54.511 --> 46:55.012 [SPEAKER_00]: What will it be? 46:56.592 --> 46:57.553 [SPEAKER_00]: Will it be your savior? 46:58.933 --> 47:03.135 [SPEAKER_00]: Will it be your creator or will it be something else? 47:04.723 --> 47:18.917 [SPEAKER_00]: when your world is falling apart, when you get a bad medical report, when your business isn't doing well, when you find that there's a family conflict in your life, when there's stress and pressure in your life, what is it that you turn to, what is it that you cling to? 47:19.738 --> 47:20.739 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it your bank account? 47:21.440 --> 47:22.941 [SPEAKER_00]: If I have enough money, then I'll be secure. 47:23.502 --> 47:24.883 [SPEAKER_00]: Or is it your political ideology? 47:24.903 --> 47:27.146 [SPEAKER_00]: If my candidate gets elected, everything's gonna get so much better. 47:27.832 --> 47:32.436 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it a coping mechanism that you run to to try to make you feel better in the moment? 47:32.476 --> 47:36.079 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it your sense of control that you can have over the situation? 47:36.119 --> 47:38.801 [SPEAKER_00]: See, when the heat gets turned up, what we worship gets revealed? 47:39.942 --> 47:42.203 [SPEAKER_00]: And then we see, what is most word of in my life? 47:43.164 --> 47:44.345 [SPEAKER_00]: Is it God that I'm worshiping? 47:45.506 --> 47:46.827 [SPEAKER_00]: Or is it something else? 47:47.968 --> 47:52.812 [SPEAKER_00]: The point of revelation eight and nine is not so that we can chart out the exact timeline 47:57.337 --> 48:07.861 [SPEAKER_00]: Point of Revelation 8 and 9, I believe, is a loving warning to everyone that will read it and listen and recognize you have a choice in who you worship. 48:08.621 --> 48:10.582 [SPEAKER_00]: And what you worship? 48:12.063 --> 48:22.787 [SPEAKER_00]: And I want all of us at first free church to make this week a week more than ever before that we will say God, I will worship you with my prayers all the time. 48:23.864 --> 48:30.207 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna recognize that my prayers are kicking off a worship experience in heaven and that you will love to hear from me. 48:30.948 --> 48:35.750 [SPEAKER_00]: And I'm gonna give you a call just because you love to hear from me not because I need anything at that moment. 48:36.611 --> 48:41.433 [SPEAKER_00]: I'm gonna spend more time putting my prayers up on that altar to worship you. 48:41.553 --> 48:45.575 [SPEAKER_00]: That would be an incredible outcome of this passage. 48:46.456 --> 48:48.577 [SPEAKER_00]: Whether or not you know when these things are going to happen. 48:49.365 --> 48:50.306 [SPEAKER_00]: Why don't we start right now? 48:50.626 --> 48:51.526 [SPEAKER_00]: Would you bow your heads, really? 48:51.566 --> 48:52.307 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's pray right now. 48:52.387 --> 48:57.370 [SPEAKER_00]: Let's come before Heavenly Father, lift up our prayers into His throne room. 49:00.631 --> 49:03.553 [SPEAKER_00]: God, we come to you first and foremost, just to say, we love you. 49:05.514 --> 49:06.975 [SPEAKER_00]: And we're thankful that you are a creator. 49:08.376 --> 49:15.680 [SPEAKER_00]: We praise you, oh God, a creator of everything in this universe, a God that loved us so much, 49:19.791 --> 49:29.281 [SPEAKER_00]: You chose to come and live as one of us and then die for us in a very public way so that you could pay for our sins and give us your holiness, your righteousness. 49:30.122 --> 49:36.309 [SPEAKER_00]: So that we don't have to go through the judgment that is going to come ultimately to everyone that rejects you. 49:37.070 --> 49:39.072 [SPEAKER_00]: But we get to spend eternity with you. 49:40.354 --> 49:41.655 [SPEAKER_00]: And so Lord, we wanna worship you. 49:42.471 --> 49:44.232 [SPEAKER_00]: We worship you with our prayers right now. 49:44.953 --> 49:47.735 [SPEAKER_00]: We worship you because you are worth everything to us. 49:48.495 --> 49:55.980 [SPEAKER_00]: We don't want it to be just a today thing, just a this service thing, just because I went to church or watched online thing, but every single day this week Lord. 49:56.861 --> 50:05.346 [SPEAKER_00]: Help us, give us those reminders that we need to prompt us to make sure we are communing with you at all times and creating that worship experience in heaven. 50:06.147 --> 50:08.869 [SPEAKER_00]: We want to worship you right now by practicing communion. 50:09.673 --> 50:14.018 [SPEAKER_00]: By remembering your death, your body, your blood that was given for us on the cross. 50:14.058 --> 50:19.744 [SPEAKER_00]: This is an act of worship for you as much as it is a reminder to us of what you did for us. 50:20.665 --> 50:23.007 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice. 50:24.048 --> 50:25.510 [SPEAKER_00]: And in your name, we pray, amen. 50:27.156 --> 50:29.217 [SPEAKER_00]: We are going to take communion now as a church. 50:29.237 --> 50:31.678 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you're new with us, I want to share how we do it here. 50:32.158 --> 50:33.418 [SPEAKER_00]: Okay, this is different for you. 50:33.799 --> 50:39.901 [SPEAKER_00]: We're going to pass these trays through the rows, and you'll take a stack of two cups. 50:40.241 --> 50:45.063 [SPEAKER_00]: The bottom cup has the bread, the top cup has the juice representing the body and the blood of Jesus. 50:45.103 --> 50:49.725 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you are not a follower of Jesus yet, I encourage you not to participate in this. 50:50.085 --> 50:53.066 [SPEAKER_00]: because this is only for people that have placed their trust in Jesus. 50:53.426 --> 51:05.769 [SPEAKER_00]: However, you can also do that right now if you want to because Jesus came and died on a cross so that he could pay for your sinfulness so that you can be forgiven and every one of you know is that you're not a perfect person. 51:06.289 --> 51:12.571 [SPEAKER_00]: We all do bad things, we say bad things, we think bad things, and those things separate us from a holy and perfect God who created us. 51:13.371 --> 51:28.091 [SPEAKER_00]: But Jesus died on a cross so that he could cover those sins, pay for them for us, and so that when we trust in Him and we ask for His forgiveness, He not only gives it, but He represents us before God and says, I paid for everything they did. 51:28.732 --> 51:30.974 [SPEAKER_00]: and they have my holiness on them now. 51:31.595 --> 51:39.542 [SPEAKER_00]: And God says when that happens, you get to be a part of his family, you become his child, his Holy Spirit comes and lives within you, and guides you throughout life. 51:39.562 --> 51:42.785 [SPEAKER_00]: You become part of a family of faith that goes through this life together. 51:43.046 --> 51:44.307 [SPEAKER_00]: It is a wonderful, beautiful thing. 51:44.327 --> 51:51.493 [SPEAKER_00]: And so if you've never done that, I encourage you in the moments while we're passing these trays through the seats to do that right now. 51:52.203 --> 51:58.825 [SPEAKER_00]: Well, I'm going to ask you all to pray and confess your sins to God, which is a biblical thing Paul tells us to do before we take communion. 51:59.245 --> 52:00.726 [SPEAKER_00]: Make sure that your heart is right with God. 52:01.466 --> 52:01.866 [SPEAKER_00]: Thank Him. 52:01.926 --> 52:03.706 [SPEAKER_00]: Spend some time in worship with Him. 52:04.107 --> 52:08.588 [SPEAKER_00]: But as we do this, if you've never committed your life to Jesus before, just take a minute. 52:09.655 --> 52:19.069 [SPEAKER_00]: And if you mean it sincerely in your heart, say Jesus, I know that I am a sinful person, I know that I cannot do enough good to make up for all of that. 52:19.490 --> 52:20.491 [SPEAKER_00]: There's no way that I could. 52:20.651 --> 52:22.094 [SPEAKER_00]: I'd have to be perfect for my entire life. 52:22.334 --> 52:23.135 [SPEAKER_00]: I've already messed that up. 52:23.951 --> 52:26.393 [SPEAKER_00]: But I trust that you died for me on the cross. 52:26.874 --> 52:28.856 [SPEAKER_00]: And I trust that you can forgive me. 52:28.896 --> 52:30.057 [SPEAKER_00]: You have the power to do that. 52:30.557 --> 52:37.464 [SPEAKER_00]: And so I ask you to come into my life, to cleanse me from my sin, and to make me your child part of your family. 52:37.884 --> 52:40.467 [SPEAKER_00]: Bible says when you do that, if you believe in your heart, 52:41.753 --> 52:49.960 [SPEAKER_00]: that Jesus died for you on the cross, and you confess with your mouth that you believe that, and that you're a sinner, and that you need his forgiveness in your life, that you will be saved. 52:50.240 --> 52:55.003 [SPEAKER_00]: You'll be saved from your sins, your account is wiped clean, you get to be a part of God's family. 52:55.083 --> 52:56.304 [SPEAKER_00]: Not in the future, now. 52:56.985 --> 52:58.066 [SPEAKER_00]: It's a beautiful, beautiful thing. 52:58.086 --> 53:09.495 [SPEAKER_00]: So I encourage you, if you've never done that before, do that now in the next two or three minutes as we distribute these, and then participate in communion as a follower of Jesus. 53:10.442 --> 53:12.564 [SPEAKER_00]: So we're going to go ahead and pass these trays out now. 53:13.084 --> 53:19.110 [SPEAKER_00]: Please take a minute, spend some time in prayer and worship, and then we'll come back together to take them together in just a minute. 53:19.375 --> 53:21.336 [SPEAKER_01]: Leave the all have been served at this point. 53:21.797 --> 53:29.061 [SPEAKER_00]: I want to say that if you are committing your life to Jesus today, please don't leave here today without letting someone know. 53:29.121 --> 53:44.870 [SPEAKER_00]: You can come up and talk with me or anybody on our prayer team and you have our pastors, anybody that you see with a land you're walking around here, let someone know that you're making that decision so that we can help you along that journey of walking through life with Jesus and through this family of faith. 53:44.930 --> 53:48.893 [SPEAKER_00]: It is an awesome, awesome thing will be so excited to talk with you about that. 53:49.353 --> 53:55.075 [SPEAKER_00]: Now, if you have the cup with the bread in it, I'm going to read what Paul said about this and we'll take this together. 53:55.695 --> 53:59.536 [SPEAKER_00]: He said, for I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. 54:00.296 --> 54:13.300 [SPEAKER_00]: On the night, when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it, then he broke it in pieces and said, this is my body, which is given for you, do this in remembrance of me. 54:22.012 --> 54:33.305 [SPEAKER_00]: In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying this cup is the new covenant between God and his people and agreement confirmed with my blood, do this in remembrance of me.