Fred R. Coulter—June 8, 2008

Greetings, brethren! This is the Feast of Pentecost, 2008. And we look back at all the time that we’ve been in the Church and all of this, and we find that a lot of us thought we’d already be in the Kingdom of God by now. But as it turns out, that is a fulfilling of the prophecy that Jesus said, “And of that day and hour knows no man!” However, we can clearly see that we are in the last days and we’re marching closer and closer and closer to the return of Jesus Christ, and also the setting up of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Now let’s first of all begin in Leviticus 23 and we’ll fill a few things that we need to fill in here. And I know this year perhaps we have read this part of Leviticus 23, and have gone over it, more than other years. And that’s simply because for the first time we have it properly translated in the new Bible, and it leaves no doubt about the fact that Pentecost is always on the first day of the week.

So let’s come here to Leviticus 23:10: “Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap the harvest of it, then you shall bring the premier sheaf of the firstfruits…” Now we need to understand—and I’m going to emphasize this—that Pentecost is a harvest feast. Though I have emphasized it in the sermons coming up to it, but I also want to emphasize again there is not one single Scripture—Old Testament or New Testament—that substantiates Trumpets as a harvest feast. Because of the blowing of the trumpets and rams horns all day long, this pictures a war feast. And does fit in with the final return of Christ and the saints to the earth in the battle that’s going to finish all wars—because it says that “in righteousness and in judgment does He make war.” And that is Christ returning to destroy the armies of the Beast and the False Prophet.

However, the Wave Sheaf Offering Day is a harvest feast—though it’s not a Holy Day. And it is the day in which the premier sheaf of the firstfruits is waved. And we know that is a portent of Christ. Then he continues on here: “And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath… [which then has to be the weekly Sabbath] …the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer that day…” (vs 11-12). And then it shows what they shall offer.

Let’s come down here on v 15: “And you shall count to you beginning with the next day after the Sabbath, beginning with the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven Sabbaths shall be complete…. [Now, like we showed yesterday, seven complete weeks, each ending in a Sabbath.] …Even unto the day after the seventh Sabbath you shall number fifty days…. [And that’s always got to be first day of the week. And it says the offerings that they were to offer.] …And you shall offer a new grain offering to the LORD…. [And then it shows the other offerings that they were to do. We’ll come back to this in just a minute.] …You shall bring out of your homes two wave loaves of two tenth parts. They shall be of fine flour” (vs 15-17).

Now, there have been some, even within the Church of God, as we have seen, who say: ‘Well, the only thing we wave is the Wave Sheaf Offering.’ Well, here are two loaves that are waved. We’ll get back and find out what is the meaning of these two loaves. “They shall be of fine flour. They shall be baked with leaven… [Whoa, the opposite of what we’re told during Unleavened Bread. And what does that picture? We’ll find out in a little bit.] …They are the firstfruits to the LORD…. [Harvest, firstfruits.] (Then it says): …And you shall offer with the bread seven lambs without blemish of the first year, and one young bull, and two rams. They shall be for a burnt offering to the LORD with their grain offering, and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of sweet savor to the LORD. Then you shall sacrifice one male goat for a sin offering, and two lambs of the first year for a sacrifice of peace offerings. And the priest shall wave them with the bread of the firstfruits, a wave offering before the LORD… [Exactly the same as waving the premier sheaf of the firstfruits.] …with the two lambs. They shall be holy to the LORD for the priest. And you shall proclaim on the same day that it may be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no servile work therein. It shall be a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations” (vs 17-21).

Now instead of offering the offerings, that are offered by sacrifice, we are to bring an offering in addition to it, as we find here in Deuteronomy 16—we are to bring an offering according as to the way that God will bless us. We read here in Deuteronomy 16:16: “Three times in a year shall all your males appear before the LORD your God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks… [Which we saw means the Feast of Pentecost] …and in the Feast of Tabernacles. And they shall not appear before the LORD empty, Every man shall give as he is able, according to the blessing of the LORD your God, which He has given you” (vs 16-17). And we have other Scriptures which show that God will give us sufficiency, He will bless us in it, and if we believe God and believe His Word and are thankful for what He has done in our lives, by giving offerings on the Holy Days—in addition to our other tithes and offerings—this is expressing our gratitude and love for God in a substantial and meaningful way—beyond just the feeling and the emotion that we may have. So at this time we will pause and take up an offering for the Lord.

(pause)

Now let’s continue on with the theme we had from yesterday, from Sinai to Mt. Sion. And let’s understand that it was Mt. Zion where the temple was placed—that’s the spot that God showed David where they would put the temple—and it’s not in the area where the Mosque of Omar is today. It’s south of that area. But let’s also understand, since God chose to place His name there, any profound and official act had to begin at the temple. And this is why we find the very first Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament, the disciples were gathered there. They actually had a side room in the temple that they used on a regular basis, apparently. And it was in that side room that they cast lots and chose Mathis to replace Judas. And Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem ’til they were “imbued with power from on high”—that is the Holy Spirit. Now, make the comparison between what we have when God gave the Ten Commandments on Pentecost in Exodus 20 and all the power and things that were going on there. And think about what was going on at the temple in Jerusalem. So let’s come here to Acts, the second chapter, and let’s see the account—and it’s quite a long account, which means that this is very important for us to understand, because there were a lot of things that took place on this day of Pentecost, the 50^th day.

Now, with the temple service working, the priests were there; they blew the trumpet on the Feast of Pentecost _{[transcriber’s correction]}; they had the offerings that they were to give; many of the people were there with their wave sheaf offering loaves—baked with leaven; and as we will see, there were thousands and thousands and thousands who were also there, who were Jews, who had come out of all the countries in the Diaspora. And we also need to understand something else—let’s put a little bit of realism into this so we understand what was happening. How many of the Jews were there, or their friends were there during Passover and Unleavened Bread, when they crucified Jesus? And then later heard, a little past the middle of the Feast, that the One that they crucified and buried wasn’t in the tomb? And they couldn’t find the body. And all the officials were looking everywhere for the body. And the disciples were afraid that they would be arrested for stealing away the body. There was no body! And they found out that the disciples had told them that the burial cloths in which Jesus was wrapped in was still in the tomb, when they went in there! And it still had the form of His body, just sort of with the body out of it, it just sort of fell down a little bit and the napkin, which covered His face, was folded up and put in another place. Now that shows that He was raised from the dead.

And these stories went back to all the synagogues in the Diaspora. And think about how many people said, “Oh really, God is moving. There are strange things happening in Jerusalem. I’m going to go and be there for the Feast of Pentecost.” And so God moved a lot of the Jews, in spirit and mind, to make that pilgrimage journey to Jerusalem. And Jerusalem was the place where He placed His name, so this is where He had to begin the Church. The Church which would become the new spiritual temple of God was begun right there at the Temple of God. That’s why this day is so important!

Now let’s begin, Acts 2:1: “And when the day of Pentecost, the fiftieth day, was being fulfilled… [Now, all of those who believe in the lie of a Monday Pentecost, forget it! It’s not the day after Pentecost that they were there.] …was being fulfilled, they were all with one accord in the same place. And suddenly there came from heaven… [So this had to come from God, just like at Mt. Sinai, suddenly, the clouds appeared and the wind was blowing and the lightning was flashing—and it looked like the mountain was all on fire.] (Now here): …there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a powerful wind, and filled the whole house where they were sitting” (vs 1-2). Isn’t that just akin to the cloud of the presence of the Lord filling the temple? Yes! So here are the 120 disciples, and now they are filled with the Holy Spirit, and especially the apostles.

“And there appeared to them divided tongues as of fire… [So you’ve got wind and fire on Pentecost, right? Yes, indeed!] …and sat upon each one of them…. [One time. Has not happened again, will never happen again this way, because this is when God began His Church and empowered the apostles.] …And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit; and they began to speak with other languages, as the Spirit gave them the words to proclaim. Now there were many Jews who were sojourning in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven…. [Now, we’ll see what nations…obviously some of them could speak Hebrew; some of them could speak Aramaic; some of them spoke Latin; some of them spoke Greek; some of them spoke in the language of the other countries in which they were.] …And when word of this went out, the multitude came together and were confounded, because each one heard them speaking in his own language” (vs 3-6). Two miracles: the miracle of speaking, and the miracle of hearing. And we could just add to that a third miracle: because the apostles were, in their minds, speaking words probably in Greek that they knew, maybe some in Aramaic, but they were thinking their own thoughts, but out of their mouths came multiple languages. So there was that miracle in the speaking and the miracle in the hearing. And this was done because the Jews always demand a sign, don’t they? Didn’t Jesus say, He said that, didn’t He? They always demand a sign! So here’s the sign.

Now, let’s see how many it convinced. Let’s see what they spoke. Let’s see some of the prophecies that are brought in here that have to do with the Day of the Lord; and we’re also going to see that Pentecost also has to do with the Day of the Lord. Let’s go on—v 7: “And they were all amazed, and marveled, saying to one another, ‘Behold, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? Then how is it that we hear each one in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who inhabit Mesopotamia, and Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Both Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya which are near Cyrene, and the Romans who are sojourning here, both Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians; we hear them speaking in our own languages the great things of God’” (vs 7-11).

Now, quite a demonstration. That’s why this is recorded. This is a key change in history! A key change in the way that God is dealing with people. And though He began it at the temple, He is actually demonstrating to them that they will no longer need the temple because they now have the Spirit of God and the teachings of the apostles, which show them that they are a temple of God, with the Spirit of God abiding in them.

“And they were all amazed and greatly perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’…. [They were at the temple of God, and this is the Feast day of God: Pentecost. And here this is going on. ‘What does this mean?’] …But others were mocking and saying, ‘They are full of new wine.’ Then Peter, standing up with the eleven… [So they were all speaking] …lifted up his voice and spoke out to them: ‘Men, Jews, and all those of you who inhabit Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and pay attention to my words. For these are not drunken as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day’” (vs 12-15).

Now notice what he says because there is a link between Pentecost and the Day of the Lord, which cannot be overlooked. “‘But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel _{[transcriber correction]}: “And it shall come to pass in the last days,” says God, “that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams… [Now this was a partial fulfillment of that. This was the beginning fulfillment of it. And when we come to, say perhaps, the 144,000 and great innumerable multitude then that may perhaps be repeated again there at that particular place.] …And even upon My servants and upon My handmaids will I pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy; And I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapors of smoke…. [Now, we’re going to see that all has to do with the return of Christ.] …The sun shall be turned into darkness and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord”’” (vs 16-20).

Now, let’s understand something concerning the Day of the Lord. There is the literal Day of the Lord in which Jesus and the saints put their feet on the Mt. of Olives—that’s the Feast of Trumpets. There is the Day of the Lord referring to the last year from Trumpets to Trumpets. There is the Day of the Lord referring to all three and one-half years of the Tribulation period. And even as Jesus said in Luke 17: ‘days’ of the Lord. So that phrase must be understood by the context in each place where the Scriptures are used in order to understand which [of the] three that it’s referring to.

Notice v 21: “‘“And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”’ Now, that’s a direct prophecy for the great innumerable multitude (Rev. 7) which was given in the book of Joel. So there’s a first fulfillment—there’s a second fulfillment. There’s a type—there is anti-type. And the Scriptures are not just restricted to one, small, little incident. But can be applied in several different ways, as God fulfills His will.

So he says, v 22: “‘Men, Israelites, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarean, a man sent forth to you by God, as demonstrated by works of power and wonders and signs, which God performed by Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know… [How many of those out there, on Pentecost, were some of those that Jesus healed? Healed from leprosy, healed from blindness. And there were three that He raised from the dead. And probably among the 120 that were with the disciples was Lazarus, who had been raised from the dead; and he could verify that, yes, he was dead. And his sisters could verify that, yes, he was in the grave four days. So they knew!] … as you yourselves also know; Him, having been delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God… [And that plan was before the foundation of the world] …you have seized by lawless hands and have crucified and killed. But God has raised Him up, having loosed the throes of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it…’” (vs 22-24). So that’s quite an important and profound thing to understand.

“‘For David speaks concerning Him… [Another prophecy] …“I foresaw the Lord before Me continually; for He is at My right hand, so that I may not be moved. Therefore, My heart rejoiced and My tongue was glad; moreover, My flesh also shall rest in hope; For You will not leave My soul in the grave, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption…. [Now, he’s quoting Psa. 16, here.] …You did make Me to know the ways of life; You will fill Me with joy with Your countenance.”…. [Then, after quoting that Psalm, Peter said]: …Men and brethren, let me speak to you freely concerning the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day’” (vs 25-29). Now, where was his tomb? Well, you have the Roman Fort, where the Mosque of Omar is today; then you have the temple area, just south of that; and then you have the tombs of the kings right in the city of David, which was just down from the south-side of the temple. And his tomb was there. Anyone who wanted to see it could go down there and see, yes, there’s David’s tomb. Hasn’t been disturbed, nothing has been opened. David is in the grave! So he’s showing that this prophecy is concerning Christ.

“‘…he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn to him in an oath that from the fruit of his loins, as concerning the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit upon his throne; He foresaw this and spoke concerning the resurrection of Christ… [So he’s saying David interpreted Psa. 16 as the resurrection of Christ] …that His soul was not left in the grave, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus has God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses… [We saw Him 40 days, and there were over 500 at once that saw that He had been raised from the dead. We handled Him. We touched Him. He spoke to us. And we saw Him ascend into heaven in a cloud. That’s something!] …Therefore, having been exalted by the right hand of God, and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this that you are now seeing and hearing…. [Amazing! Isn’t it? Then he goes on to explain]: …For David has not ascended into the heavens… [So much for the immortality of the soul. Everyone’s waiting the resurrection, there are no souls in heaven; there are no souls in hell.] …but he himself said, “The Lord said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand (Psa. 110)… [Notice, he’s using Scripture to establish the fulfilled prophecies of Jesus Christ.] …Until I have made Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.’” Therefore, let all the house of Israel know with full assurance that God has made this same Jesus, Whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ’” (vs 29-36).

So in that group that were there hearing Peter speak were those who had said, ‘Crucify Him! Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ And now is extended to them what Jesus said before He died on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ Which is the great example of forgiveness for every single one of us. Not only of our sins, but the sins of others, and the sins between each of us—we need to forgive with the same kind of attitude and heart.

“Now after hearing this, they were cut to the heart; and they said to Peter and the other apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’…. [Now here’s a verse you all have memorized! But understand how absolutely awesome this was on the Day of Pentecost, this having taken place.] …Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized each one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you yourselves shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit…. [They just witnessed that the Holy Spirit had come to them, the apostles who were preaching. And now the apostles say that if you repent and are baptized, you’ll receive the Holy Spirit yourselves! So that was an amazing thing to take place.] (now notice): …For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God may call’” (vs 37-39).

Now we don’t know how many thousands of Jews were there, but there were thousands. Out of that, how many did He call? Well, we’ll see here in just the next verse: “And with many other words he earnestly testified and exhorted, saying, ‘Be saved from this perverse generation’” (v 40). And that’s sure is true what we need today: be saved from this perverse generation. That’s why John said, ‘Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; for the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pretentious pride of life are all of the world and not of the Father.’ What God has, to give us, as we’ll see pictured by this Feast of Pentecost, is so great and so awesome.

• This gives us the goal!

• This gives us the focus!

• This gives us the reason and purpose for our living and being!

And we need to understand that, brethren. “Then those who joyfully received his message were baptized; and about three thousand souls were added that day” (v 41). What a tremendous, tremendous thing!

Now, let’s look at some more things concerning Pentecost. Let’s come to our day today. And let’s look forward to the fulfilling of the prophecies and the return of Jesus Christ. And we are going to see that the return of Jesus Christ is one continuous event that begins sometime before Pentecost. Then the resurrection takes place at Pentecost and then continues until the next Trumpets when Jesus and the saints return to the earth. Now that’s a summary of what’s going to happen. It is not all of a sudden the day before Trumpets, BAM! there’s the sign of the Son of man in heaven, BOOM! the resurrection takes place, everyone meets Christ in the air, they’re hurriedly given their horses and they sing some songs and then all of a sudden they come down in an army to the earth.

NO! It’s not way! It’s like we have seen in the sermons leading up to Pentecost that God makes manifest His power, just like He did in Egypt, in stages. So that the people will have warning and know that this is from God. So let’s see how that is going to be. Let’s see what happens. Let’s come here to Revelation, the fifth chapter, because this tells us about a time that is yet to occur. And to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus said, that “no man knows the hour or the day—only My Father Who is in heaven.” Now, Jesus knew of that time, after He was resurrected. Obviously, He would.

But now here is the continued scene, that we left off yesterday, with the Apostle John seeing the throne of God. And he sees the events take place in heaven that are going to unleash the things that take place on earth. And we will see the progression of these prophecies being fulfilled in the book of Revelation.

Now, let’s pick it up here, Revelation 5:1: “And in the right hand of Him Who sits on the throne I saw a book, written within and on the back, which had been sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to loose its seals?’ But no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth was able to open the book, or to look inside it” (vs 1-3).

Lesson: No man on earth knows the day when Christ is going to be revealed to the world! NO MAN! And I say this to all who follow men that have set themselves up as apostles and witnesses—claiming to be the two witnesses—and right while I am doing this video, there is a man in Jerusalem, Ron Weinland, who says he’s one of the two witnesses—and over there he’s going to reveal who the second one is. They’re presumptuous and they’re arrogant and they have no understanding because it says ‘NO ONE in heaven, on earth or under the earth was able to open the book and to look inside’—and that means to set the time when the events in Revelation would occur.

Now all the arrogantly and presumptuously set themselves up that way, they better start repenting, because you’re going to fall into the hands of the Living God. And God is going to say to you, ‘Who do you think you are? In all your arrogance, trying to usurp the power of Jesus Christ and God the Father!’ We better think long and hard on those kinds of things. And yet there are brethren who are out there just like lemmings, follow them and go right over the cliff.

Now let’s go on. Let’s see what Christ is going to do—the revelation that is here for us: “And I was weeping greatly because no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.’ Then I saw, and behold, before the throne and the four living creatures, and before the elders, was standing a Lamb as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes… [The seven horns are the seven churches—Christ is the Head and out of His head come the seven churches (Rev. 2 & 3). The seven eyes are the seven spirits of God.] …which are the seven Spirits of God that are sent into all the earth…” (vs 4-6). So if you don’t have the sermon on The Spirit of God—The Seven Spirits of God, write in for it.

“And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him Who sits on the throne…. [So it does not occur until the time that God the Father calls Jesus and hands Him the scroll.] …And when He took the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are You to take the book, and to open its seals because You were slain, and did redeem us to God by Your own blood, out of every tribe and language and people and nation, And did make us unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth’” (vs 7-10). Now, they were singing the song that we’re going to sing—not that the 24 elders are going to reign as kings and priests. No! We are going to!

“And I saw and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne, and the voices of the living creatures and the elders, and thousands of thousands, Saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb Who was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory and blessing’” (vs 11-12). Only He knows! And He got that from God the Father. And it’s going to be given to Him at the time that God the Father wants to give it to Him.

“And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and those that are on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying, ‘To Him Who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing, and honor, and glory, and sovereignty into the ages of eternity.’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen.’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him Who lives into the ages of eternity’” (vs 13-14). Now, that’s a powerful section of Scripture.

Then we come to Revelation 6, the opening of the seals, which only Jesus Christ can open. And the six seals—actually the seven seals—have nothing to do with the ‘seven thunders’ of Revelation 10. The seals are the seals and the thunders are the thunders, and God told John: ‘Do not write anything that the seven thunders have uttered.’

Now let’s go through the first six seals, and we will see a parallel of that in the book of Matthew 24. Revelation 6:1: “And I looked when the Lamb opened one of the seals; and I heard one of the four living creatures say, like the sound of thunder, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, there was a white horse; and the one who was sitting on it had a bow, and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer…. [This is the coming great, false religion in the world—which started out right after Jesus’ ministry—as false prophets. And it’s building, building, building, building, building, building to the end of it today.] …And when He opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ And another horse went out that was red; and power was given to the one sitting on it to take peace from the earth… [And these are all the forces of Satan the devil that God has allowed to be unleashed, to bring about the activities of men. So we have men against men in all of these instances until we come to the sixth seal.] … take peace from the earth, and to cause them to kill one another; and a great sword was given to him” (vs 1-4).

Now there are many other prophecies that we can add to it, but that’s for another time. “And when He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, there was a black horse; and the one sitting on it had a balance in his hand. And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures say, ‘A measure of wheat for a silver coin, and three measures of barley for a silver coin: and see that you do not damage the oil and the wine’” (vs 5-6). Because immediately after war there’s a shortage of food, which then is quickly followed by famine and death.

Verse 7: “And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, ‘Come and see.’ And I looked, and behold, there was a pale horse; and the name of the one sitting on it was Death… [that was his name] …and the grave followed him; and authority was given to them over one fourth of the earth… [So here is going to break out a great conflagrational war, which will encompass one-fourth of the earth!] “…to kill with the sword and with famine and with death, and by the beasts of the earth” (vs 7-8).

Now, as we’ll see, as it ties in with Matthew 24—we’ll go there in just a minute. Christians are going to be hated and blamed. Christians who are prophesying that these things would come and take place, they’re going to say, ‘Go get them, they’re responsible for this.’ So there’s going to be a martyrdom of saints. And we know from Rev. 12, that before the second seal is opened, that there are going to be some taken to a place of safety in the wilderness. That’s going to be the smaller number. The rest who are left behind will be the greater number. But they are going to know where the true Christians are, and they are going to martyr them. And the only Christians who will be living after this martyrdom will be those who are in a place of safety—to fulfill the prophecy that Jesus said that ‘the gates of the grave would never overcome His Church’—that He was building.

So let’s read it: “And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the Word of God, and for the testimony that they held… [This was in vision to tell John what to write so we get the message of the fact that martyrdom is going to take place.] …And they cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘How long, O Lord, holy and true, do You not judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ And white robes were given to each of them; and they were told that they should rest a short time yet, until it be fulfilled that both their fellow servants and their brethren also would be killed, just as they had been” (vs 9-11). So these were the ones who had already been martyred. Now then, the martyrdom comes on those of us who are still alive today. God accounts for all of us. And it’s going to come.

Now, let’s come to the book of Matthew, chapter 24, and see the parallel of these and then we’ll come back to the book of Revelation.

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