Notes of Part 4 Of My Rebuttal Of Perry Stone's, "An Arab Antichrist and An 8th Kingdom"

(THIS IS PART 4 of MY SECOND MESSAGE ON CONVERGENCE OR CONTRIVANCE ENTITLED, THE FINAL KINGDOM OF BIBLICAL PROPHESY: AN 8TH KINGDOM OF AN ARAB ANTICHRIST OR THE KINGDOM OF THE SON OF MAN AND SAINTS?)

INTRODUCTION: This morning I continue with Part 4 of my REBUTTAL of PERRY STONE’S ARTICLE in the SEPTEMBER ISSUE of CHARISMA.

In his book and Charisma article entitled, “THE 8TH KINGDOM”, TV EVANGELIST PERRY STONE---CLAIMS---that the COMING ANTICHRIST:

• Will be an ARAB MUSLIM.
• He will establish an 8TH KINGDOM---based on the RELIGION OF ISLAM.
• He will control EUROPE and the REST of the world because of OIL.
• And he WILL TRIGGER THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON and bring about the END of the world.

Stone claims this is exactly what DANIEL and Jesus PROPHESIED in Daniel 7 and Revelation 13.

1. In PART 1 of my REBUTTAL, we saw DANIEL PROPHESIED in Daniel 7:1-14 that in the TIME of the 4TH BEAST, which scholars generally agree refers to the ROMAN EMPIRE---the Son of Man would RECEIVE His Kingdom--- the 5th and FINAL KINGDOM of Biblical prophecy.

(We also saw that this prophecy has not been postponed as Stone and other postponement preachers proclaim, but WAS actually FULFILLED in 30 AD, in the days of Tiberius Caesar, the 3rd King or Emperor of the Roman Beast. According to testimony of the apostles and the records of history, after His death on the cross and His resurrection, Jesus ASCENDED and CAME UP to the Ancient of Days and RECEIVED His Kingdom, a heavenly and universal Kingdom that will never end.)

2. In PART 2, we saw that Daniel also prophesied that in the days of the 4TH BEAST, i.e. the ROMAN EMPIRE, the SAINTS would ALSO receive the Kingdom.

In Daniel 7:15-28---Daniel prophesied that a “little horn” or “Roman king” would ARISE on the 4th BEAST and MAKE WAR on the SAINTS until the ANCIENT of DAYS would come and RENDER JUDGMENT in their behalf and the saints would RECEIVE the Kingdom of the Son of Man.

3. Last week in Part 3, we saw that this is what the Book of Revelation is about! It is about the WAR on Christ and His saints being waged against them by Nero---the little horn on the Roman Beast. It is also about the destruction of the Harlot City of Jerusalem and the Temple and the coming of the Son of Man on the clouds of heaven as representative or agent of the Ancient of days to render judgment in behalf of the saints, save them from the little horn or Roman Beast, the false prophet, the Harlot City of Jerusalem and give them the Kingdom.

a. According to Jesus Himself in Revelation 1:1 (the very first verse), the Book of Revelation is about, “…things that must shortly come to pass…” There were certain things that had to happen in order to fulfill the prophets, bring an end to the Old Covenant Age and fully establish the New Covenant age.

• First, Satan, sin, death, and hell had to conquered, redemption or salvation had to be accomplished and the Great Banquet of Salvation or the Wedding Feast had to be prepared by Christ’s death, His descent into hell, His regeneration, resurrection and enthronement.

• Second, the Holy Spirit had to be poured out and the Gospel of the King had to be preached in Synagogues throughout the Roman Empire as a witness for Christ and a testimony against the Jews so that the Gentile nations would understand the judgment coming on apostate Israel, the end of the Old Covenant Age and the establishment of the New Covenant Age.

• The original Jewish wedding guests had to be invited to the marriage feast and the remnant of the Jews and the first fruits of the Gentiles had to be gathered and the New Covenant Israel established.

• Third, the saints had to endure persecution from the Jewish False Prophet and the Roman Beast and fill up the cup of Christ’s suffering for the salvation of the Jewish people.

• Fourth, the Chief Priests and Rulers of Israel had to fill up the full measure of the guilt of their fathers by shedding the blood of the messengers that Jesus sent to them with His Gospel of peace.

• Fifth, The Roman Beast had to also fill up the cup of Iniquity.

b. Thus the New Testament is really about the 40-year transition period (i.e. the length of a Jewish generation) that was taking place in the disciples’ lifetime as the Old Covenant was passing away and the New Covenant Age was being established.

• The four Gospels are about how Jesus accomplished redemption and received His Kingdom.

• The Acts of the Apostles is about the outpouring of the Spirit and the fulfillment of apostles’ Jewish mission to preach the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire to gather the remnant of the Jews and the first fruits of Gentiles and form the Church.

• The Epistles are about the apostles’ encouragement of the saints to endure the hardship they were facing, as good soldiers of the cross, and overcome the persecution, so that they might enter in fully and receive the Kingdom.

• The Book of Revelation was about the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of glory to render judgment in their behalf and give them the Kingdom.

Sadly, most pulpits don’t deal with this transition period. As a result many Christians today do not understand the background needed to understand the Scriptures.

4. Last week we saw that at the time the Book of Revelation was written the 40-year transition period was almost at an end, and the time had finally drawn near for the Son of Man to come in the clouds of power and glory and render judgment in their behalf and for the saints to receive the Kingdom.

a. In fact we saw that at the very time the Book of Revelation was written Nero (the little horn of Daniel 7 and the Beast of Revelation 13) was actually sitting on the throne of the empire as the 6th King of the Roman beast. And he was making war on the saints. In fact Nero’s war began in 64 AD and had been going on for almost two years.

b. We also saw that in Hebrew Nero’s official name Neron Caesar calculates to the number 666. We saw that without question Nero was the Beast of Revelation 13.

c. But Nero killed himself in 68 AD and the political upheaval and civil unrest that followed his suicide made it appear to the world of John’s day that the Roman Empire had been fatally wounded until Vespasian took his place as the 8th Beast. Therefore, John writes in Revelation 17:10, “THE BEAST WHO WAS AND IS NOT AND IS ABOUT TO COME” “ and in Revelation 17: 11, “THE BEAST WHICH WAS AND IS NOT IS HIMSELF ALSO AN EIGHTH…”

We discovered from Roman history that Vespasian was the 8th Beast and that according to Revelation 17:15-18 he continued Nero’s war on Christ and the saints, but redirected it towards the land of Palestine, the Jewish people, Jerusalem and the temple, thinking that if he destroyed Jerusalem and the temple he would make an end of Christianity and Judaism with the same blow. This is very important passage of Scripture to help us to understand the CONNECTION between Revelation 13 and Daniel 7 and the actual fulfillment of coming of the Ancient of days to render Judgment in behalf of the saints and the saints receiving the kingdom.

5. Thus we last week we concluded from the Scriptures and the facts of history that the Book Revelation is not about our modern day or the future rise of an Arab Antichrist and a fictional 8th Kingdom, nor is it about an end-time Babylon that will usher in the end of the world.

These fictions are the wild speculations of men like Perry Stone and David Jeremiah who either do not understand or outright ignore or reject the prophetic time-line given by Daniel in Daniel 7 and Jesus in Revelation 13 and 17. We say this because Daniel 7 and the Book of Revelation make it absolutely clear to anyone who can count that the fourth Beast is the Roman Empire and the little horn on the fourth Beast was the Roman Caesar Nero.

6. The Book of Revelation is about the FULFILLMENT of Daniel 7---the war against the saints Daniel prophesied would be waged by the “little horn” in the days of the 4th Beast---the war that was being waged on Christ and the early Christians by the Dragon, the Roman Beast and Nero---a war instigated and supported by the False Prophet---the Chief Priests and religious leaders of Judaism---a war that took place in the disciples’ lifetime.

It is also about the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 9 about the abomination of desolation, the destruction of the harlot City of Jerusalem and the Temple, the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of judgment and the saints receiving the Kingdom.

7. Remember, it had been almost 40 years since Jesus had stood in the Temple Courts and prophesied the end of the Old Covenant age and the dawning of Messiah’s Day; 40 years---which according to Jewish understanding---was the length of a generation. Truly the time was near for Jesus to come on the clouds of heaven to render judgment in the Name of the Ancient of days, deliver the saints from their enemies and give them the kingdom.

Thus John declares in Revelation 1:7, the theme verse of the Book of Revelation, “BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS…”

D. Now with this as the background, this morning in Part 4 (which is D in my overall outline) of my rebuttal of Perry Stone I want to answer the question, “When did the saints receive the Kingdom?”

Remember Daniel prophesied in Daniel 7:18, 21-22 (READ).

1. What I want you to show you this morning is that according to Jesus, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in 70 AD was the coming of the Son of man in the clouds of heaven to render judgment in behalf of the saints and to take the Kingdom of Heaven from apostate Israel and the Harlot City of Jerusalem and give it to His saints just as Daniel had prophesied in Daniel 7:18.

2. Jesus actually prophesied this historical event in Matthew 24 and Luke 21.

a. In Matthew 24: 29-30, as He sat on the Mount of Olives with His disciples overlooking the City and the Temple, Jesus declared, “Immediately after the distress of those days (talking about the great tribulation and siege of Jerusalem by Titus and his legions which we will look at in my next message.)

“‘…the sun will be darkened,
    and the moon will not give its light;
the stars will fall from the sky,
    and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’

30 “Then will appear the SIGN of the Son of Man in heaven.”

b. And Luke’s Parallel passage, Luke 21:20, describing this same historical event (the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the legions of Rome---a historical event that took place in 70 AD), Jesus prophesied to His disciples,

“But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near…

Jesus continued His prophecy in verse 24, “…because these are days of vengeance, so that ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN WILL BE FULFILLED…”

In verse 24 He added, “and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all the nations; and Jerusalem will be trampled under foot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

In verses 27 and 28 Jesus explained the meaning and significance of this historical event to His disciples: "Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory. But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near."

Finally, in verse 32 He put this historical event in a time context for His disciples so they would not be confused or mislead about such an important matter: "Truly I say to you, this generation (talking about His disciples’ generation, i.e. the days of the 4th Beast) will not pass away until all things take place.”

3. What I want you to see is that according to Jesus, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD by the Roman legions of Emperor Vespasian and his son Titus was “the coming of the Son of Man in the clouds of power and the glory” of His Kingdom to render judgment in behalf of the saints and take the Kingdom of Heaven from apostate Israel and the Harlot City of Jerusalem and give it to His saints just as Daniel had prophesied in Daniel 7:18.

a. According to Jesus: the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD was the SIGN on earth that the Old Covenant age had fully ended and the New Covenant age had fully been established.

b. It was also the SIGN of Son of Man coming on the clouds of power and glory and judging the nations from the right hand of God in heaven.

c. And as we shall see in few moments, it was also the sign that the Kingdom of heaven has been given to His saints and they will possess it forever.

4. Historically, what Jesus prophesied in the Temple Court and on the Mount of Olives and recorded in Matthew 24 and Luke 21 is exactly what happened!

a. After Nero killed himself, Vespasian became Caesar in his place, as the 8th Beast. Vespasian continued Nero’s War on Christ and His Saints, but he shifted the focus of the war from the Christians throughout Asia Minor and the Empire to the land of Palestine, the Jewish people and the harlot city of Jerusalem. As I have already mentioned, Vespasian thought that if he could destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, he would destroy both Christianity and Judaism in one blow.

b. Vespasian sent his son Titus to surround Jerusalem with 3 legions of Roman soldiers. In 70 AD Jerusalem fell to the armies of the Beast, Titus tore down the Temple stone by stone, slaughtered the inhabitants and burned the city.

5. In Revelation 18 John described prophetically the fall of Mystery Babylon, i.e. the Harlot City of Jerusalem and its destruction, which remember was historically fulfilled not too long after the Book of Revelation was written.

a. As I mentioned last week we know Mystery Babylon is Jerusalem because in the first mention of Jerusalem in Revelation 11:8 John calls it “the great city”---where the Lord “was crucified”. Only one city in the world meets that qualification.

b. Also, remember that in Revelation 17:18 John described the harlot that Vespasian (the 8th beast) and the Roman Provinces would hate and burn with fire as “the great city”. Again, this is an obvious reference to Jerusalem that was actually destroyed by the armies of Emperor Vespasian in 70 AD.

c. Finally, in Revelation 18 John uses the phrase “the great city” to describe Mystery Babylon throughout the chapter.

d. In verse 24 John provides a final clue to the Harlot’s identity, confirming our interpretation that the Harlot represents Jerusalem. John writes, “And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.”

This is a CLEAR ALLUSION to Christ’s condemnation of Jerusalem, at the close of His final discourse in the Temple, as He warned of the judgment coming on Jerusalem and the Temple in His disciples’ generation.

In Matthew 23:34-37 Jesus prophesied, “Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city, that upon you may fall all the righteous blood shed on the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her!

This language cannot be used of Rome or any other city in history. Only Jerusalem was guilty of “all the righteous blood shed on the earth,” from Abel onward.

Historically, it was Jerusalem that had always been the great Harlot, God’s faithless wife who was continually falling into apostasy and persecuting the prophets; Jerusalem was the place where the prophets were killed: as Jesus Himself said, “It cannot be that a prophet should perish outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!” (Luke 13:33-34)

Jerusalem was found guilty as charged, by the Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful and true witness, and from A.D. 66-70 she suffered the “days of vengeance,” the outpouring of God’s wrath for her age-long shedding of innocent blood.

6. But what I want you to notice is that immediately after John’s vision of the destruction of the great city in Revelation 19:1-10, he gives his vision of the saints entering into the marriage feast of the Lamb. Look at Rev. 19:7 (READ).

 a. Look at Rev. 19:1 (READ). The judgment of God that was rendered on apostate Israel and the harlot city of Jerusalem by the coming of the Son of man in power and glory was rendered in behalf of the saints. It was the demonstration of God’s love for His saints and revealed to the whole world that salvation and power and glory belong to our God (Rev. 19:1).

b. Look at Rev. 19:2 (READ).

i) The proof that “His judgments are true and righteous” is precisely the fact that He has avenged Himself upon His own people, rejecting those who had been called by His name: for He has judged the Great Harlot who was corrupting the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand!

ii) God heard the prayers of His saints, rendered judgment in their behalf and delivered them. God’s judgment on apostate Israel and the harlot City was the salvation in time and space (historically and experientially) of the saints.

iii) Nothing short of repentance could have saved Jerusalem. This she adamantly refused to do, and so God took vengeance on her for her persecution of the righteous. This is a demonstration of God’s wrath.

iv) Paul talking about God’s goodness and His wrath in Romans 11 and exhorts his readers to, “…behold the goodness and the severity of God.”

We only want to hear about the “goodness of God today, not His “severity.”

c. Again it must be remembered that Jesus specifically marked out Jerusalem as the object of God’s vengeful wrath. In Luke 21: 22, speaking of the outpouring of covenantal curses that would culminate in the A.D. 70 destruction of Jerusalem, Jesus warned: “These are the days of vengeance, in order that ALL THINGS that are written may be fulfilled”.

i) Through Moses---God had warned of Israel’s future apostasy---when they would make Him jealous by serving other gods (Deut. 32: 15-22), bringing certain destruction upon themselves and their land (Deut. 32:23-43). (We read about this in the Song of Moses in Deuteronomy 32, a prophetic song about the end of the Old Covenant Israel and the Kingdom being given to a New Covenant Nation.)

ii) In His parable about the wicked tenants recorded for us in Matthew 21 Jesus reminded the Chief Priests and Pharisees of Moses’ prophecy and declaring to them, "Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation, producing the fruit of it.” (Matthew 21:43)

iii) Four times in the Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 32) God threatens that His vengeance would overtake the apostates: “vengeance is mine, and retribution” (v. 35); “I will render vengeance on My adversaries, and I will repay those who hate Me” (v. 41); “Rejoice, O nations, with His people; for He will avenge the blood of His servants, and will render vengeance on His adversaries, and will atone for His land and His people” (v. 43).

d. Look at Rev. 19:3 (READ). Hallelujah! The reason for praise is, again, a godly rejoicing at the destruction of the Church’s enemy, for her smoke rises up forever and ever. You see the “Hallelujah” once again in verse 4 and again in verse 6.

i) The first Hallelujah of the “great multitude” had praised God for His sovereignty, as shown in the judgment of the great Harlot. The fourth Hallelujah, in this fifth and final portion of the liturgy, praises God again for His sovereignty, this time as shown in the marriage of the Lamb to His Bride. The destruction of the Harlot and the marriage of the Lamb and the Bride -–- the divorce and the wedding---are correlative events.

ii) The existence of the Church as the congregation of the New Covenant marks an entirely new epoch in the history of redemption. God was not now merely taking Gentile believers into the Old Covenant (as He had often done under the Old Testament economy). Rather, He was bringing in “the age to come” (Heb. 2:5; 6:5), the age of fulfillment, during the Last Days of the Old Covenant age.

iii) The outpouring of the Spirit on the day of PENTECOST was the inception of a New Covenant. With the final divorce---the HALLOCAUST or destruction of the unfaithful wife in A.D. 70, the marriage of the Church to her Lord was firmly established; the Eucharistic celebration of the Church was fully revealed in its true nature as “the Marriage Supper of the Lamb” (v. 9).

e. In Rev. 19:7 the multitude of the redeemed exults: His Bride has made herself ready! The duty of the apostles during the Last Days of Old Covenant Israel was to prepare the Church for her nuptials.

i) Paul wrote of Christ’s sacrifice as the redemption of the Bride: He “loved the Church and gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word; that He might present to Himself the glorious Church, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and blameless” (Eph. 5:25-27).

ii) Paul extended this imagery in speaking to the Corinthians about the goal of his ministry: “I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one Husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin.”

Yet there was the danger that the Church would be seduced into fornication with the Dragon; the Apostle was “afraid, lest as the Serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:2-3).

iii) As the crisis of those days was drawing to its conclusion, when many were departing the faith and following after various heresies, Jude penned a hurried emergency message to the Church (see Jude 3), in which he enjoined the Bride to remain faithful to her Lord, committing her “to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy” (Jude 24).

f. Thus look at Revelation 19:7 (READ). CHURCH---THIS IS A PROPHETIC PICTURE OF THE SAINTS RECEIVING THE KINGDOM OF THE SON OF MAN AND POSSESSING IT FOREVER.

David Chilton writes in his commentary on the Book of Revelation: “But now St. John sees a vision of the Church in her glory and purity, having successfully met her trials and temptations, having passed through great tribulations into her possession of the Kingdom as the Bride of Christ. Contrary to the expectations of Rome, the destruction of Jerusalem was not the end for the Church. Instead, it was the Church’s full establishment as the new Temple, the final declaration that God had taken to Himself a new Bride, a faithful, chaste virgin who had successfully resisted the seductive temptations of the Dragon. She had made herself ready, and this was her wedding day.”

g. READ 19: 9. John is instructed to write the CENTRAL BLESSING or beatitude of the Book of Revelation: “Blessed are those who are invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.”

i) John is revealing that in the vision of the wedding feast that God’s people have been saved from the whoredoms of the world to become the Bride of His only begotten Son; and the constant token of this fact is the Church’s weekly celebration of her sacred feast, the Holy Eucharist. The greatest privilege of the Church is her weekly participation in the Eucharistic meal, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.

ii) It should go without saying (but, unfortunately, it cannot), that the Eucharist is the center of Christian worship; the Eucharist is what we are commanded to do when we come together on the Lord’s Day. Everything else is secondary.

iii) This is not to suggest that the secondary things are unimportant. The teaching of the Word, for example, is very important, and in fact necessary for the growth and well-being of the Church.

Apostolic Doctrine is one of the essential marks of the Church. Instruction in the faith of Jesus is an indispensable part of Christian worship. But it is not the heart of Christian worship.

iv) The heart of Christian worship is the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can see it reflected in Luke’s simple statement in Acts 20:7: “And on the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread. . . ”

h. THE GREATEST PRIVILEGE OF THE CHURCH IS HER WEEKLY PARTICIPATION IN THE EUCHARISTIC MEAL, THE MARRIAGE SUPPER OF THE LAMB.

i) It is a tragedy that so many churches in our day neglect the Lord’s Supper, observing it only on rare occasions (some so-called churches have even abandoned Communion altogether).

ii) What we must realize is that the official worship service of the Church on the Lord’s Day is not merely a Bible study or some informal get-together of like-minded souls; to the contrary, IT IS THE FORMAL WEDDING FEAST OF THE BRIDE WITH HER BRIDEGROOM. That is why we meet together on the first day of the week.

7. Look at Revelation 19:11-15 and 20-21 (READ). The scene shifts from the wedding feast and the saints entering in and receiving the Kingdom to the Lord and His saints riding forth to make war on the Kingdom of darkness.

a. JOHN SEES A WHITE HORSE, THE PROPHETIC SYMBOL OF CHRIST’S VICTORY AND DOMINION. Christ, the Great Warrior King, having conquered Satan, sin, death and hell in His death and descent into hell, His regeneration, resurrection, Ascension and in Enthronement, and having judged apostate Israel and the harlot City of Jerusalem, thus bringing an end to the Old Covenant or Jewish age and fully establishing the New Administration of the Kingdom of heaven, now rides forth to conquer the nations in His character as “the Word of God” (19:13).

b. The judgment of apostate Israel and the harlot City (prophetically pictured in Chapter 18) is not only the SIGN on earth---on earth that the Old Covenant Age has ended and the new has begun. It is also the REVELATION of Jesus as the Son of Man, King or Ruler of heaven and earth, who exercises all the prerogatives of the Ancient of days. As King, He is also judge of all! Thus in this vision John is describing the judgment of the nations or what in Luke 21:24 Jesus called “the times of the gentiles”.

With the burning of Jerusalem and destruction the temple the 40-year transition period has ended. The Jewish age, the Age of Moses or Old Covenant age passed away. The New Covenant age has been fully established; Messiah’s day and “the times of the gentiles” (i.e. time to deal with the nations) have fully dawned.

c. As the Son of Man, the Father has given all judgment to the Son; thus the Lord Jesus is riding forth and judging the nations today on the basis of their obedience or disobedience to the Gospel of the King. This judgment will continue until all Christ’s enemies have been subjected or subdued and made the footstool of His feet, until all nations have been disciplined and learned Christ, and the whole earth has been filled with the glory of God.
 
d. Please understand Church, John is not describing the Second Coming at the end of history. He is describing the progress of the Gospel throughout the world in Messiah’s Day, i.e. the universal proclamation of the message of salvation to the ends of the earth.

e. But Christ is NOT ALONE in His victory or in His judgment of the nations. The ARMIES that are in heaven follow Him. These armies are composed of Christians, riding on white horses with their Lord in His aggressive and triumphant apostolic campaign through the earth, bringing the Word of God to the world.

i) Because the armies of heaven are the saints, they are clothed in fine linen, white and clean. By the blood of the Lamb, the Word of their testimony and by loving not their lives unto death, these saints have overcome the beast, the dragon, the false prophet and the harlot. Prophetically speaking in Revelation 18 judgment has been rendered in their behalf over the Harlot City, as a result they have entered into the marriage of the Lamb and received the Kingdom, therefore they sit with Him on His throne and share with Him in His administration of the Kingdom of heaven and the judgment of the nations and ride forth with Him into battle.

ii) This is exactly what He had promised in Rev. 3:21, “'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.’”

iii) Thus the judgment of the Harlot City of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple by the Roman Beast in 70 AD was not only the revelation of Jesus as the Son of Man. It was also the Revelation of the Church as His Bride and Co-Regent with Him who rules or governs the nations together with Her Heavenly bridegroom.

f. Verse 15 declares that from the mouth of the incarnate Word of God proceeds a sharp two-edged sword. The sword (especially as it comes from the mouth) is a clear Biblical symbol for the powerful “prophetic word which is creative and dynamic and brings to pass what it pronounces. The word of a true prophet, such as the rider, transforms word into action; that of the false prophet, such as the second beast, is ineffectual.”

i) NOTE that the Word is two edged---it cuts with both edges. The Gospel is not only a message about the love of God and salvation, but also the wrath of God and His judgment.

Today most pulpits are silent about God’s judgment with some even declaring that God does not judge today. Many preach a half or one-sided Gospel. As a result the world today, the captains of business and industry, and governments have lost the fear of God. But God is not only love; He is also just, and His judgments are righteous and true. He hates oppression and falsehood.

ii) When the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost, Luke tells us in Acts 2 that tongues of fire came and sat on the heads of the disciples in the upper room. Peter stood up to preach, and he declared to the multitude of Israelites who had gathered, “this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel”; then he went on to quote Joel’s prophecy (READ Acts 2:17-21).

In these verses Peter was proclaiming that the early saints would prophesy or decree the judgments of God upon apostate Israel and the Harlot City of Israel. As a result of the prophecies of the saints---Joel’s army would literally come and destroy the Harlot City and the Temple and bring and end to the Old Covenant age and establish the New.

This is historically what happened in 70 AD. The Lord Jesus used the legions of Rome, as His very own legions, to burn the City of Jerusalem and destroy the Temple. And history tells us that as the smoke of the burning city ascended the sun was darkened and the moon turned to blood.

iii) In Revelation 19:15 John declares that Christ uses the Sword of the Spirit to smite the nations: He conquers by His mouth. Again, it is not the Second Coming that is portrayed here, but rather Christ’s conquest of the nations by His bare Word.

iv) In Matthew 24:29-31, it is “immediately after” the destruction of Jerusalem that the conversion of the nations begins, as Christ sends his angels/ministers throughout the world to gather in the elect.

v) In his commentary on Revelation 19 New Testament Scholar H. B. Swete writes, “…the whole course of ‘the expansion of Christianity’ is here in a figure: the conversion of the (Roman) Empire; the conversion of the Western nations which rose on the ruins of the Empire; the conversion of the South and the far East, (that is) still working itself out in the history of our own time. In (the conversion of all of these nations and continents)… John would have seen Christ using the Sword of His mouth; the white horse and his rider, the diadem crowned head, the invisible armies of heaven.”

8. In Revelation 19:19-21 John reveals further that the judgment of nations begins with the Roman Beast and the Jewish False Prophet of Revelation 13.

a. David Chilton writes: “John’s point is not to provide a detailed personal eschatology of the Beast and the False Prophet; still less is he attempting to describe the Fall of Rome in 410 or 476. Rather, the Lake of Fire is his symbolic description of the utter defeat and complete destruction of these enemies in their attempt to seize the Kingdom: The evil personifications of pagan Rome (the Beast) and apostate Israel (the false prophet) are ruined and overthrown.”

b. Look at 19: 21 (READ).

i) Note carefully that “…the rest of the Beasts’ followers”---i.e. the kings of the earth--- are killed with the sword that came from the mouth of Him who sat upon the horse. The message of the Gospel, the Word---the sword of the Spirit---goes out from Christ’s mouth and destroys His enemies by converting them, piercing them to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, judging the thoughts and intentions of their hearts.

The Beasts are doubly losers: Not only are they defeated, but the very nations that they led in battle against Christ are conquered by His victorious Word.

ii) At their very worst, the Beast, the False Prophet, and their co- conspirators could do no more than fulfill the decrees of the sovereign God and His Christ (17:17). He ordained their every move, and He ordained their destruction. The nations rage, but God laughs: He has already set up His King on His holy mountain, and all nations will be ruled by Him (Psalm 2)

iii) As Martin Luther sang, “He must win the battle.” As the Gospel progresses throughout the world it will win increasing victories, until all kingdoms become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever. We must not concede to the enemy even one square inch of ground in heaven or on earth. Christ and His army are riding forth, conquering and to conquer, and we through Him will inherit all things.

CONCLUSION: What I want you to understand is that just as Daniel and Jesus prophesied all of these things took place in the time of the 4th Beast or the Roman Empire, Nero, and Vespasian or in the disciples’ generation.

1. These things are not ahead of us today like Perry Stone, David Jeremiah, Tim LaHaye, John Hagee and other postponement preachers preach; they are actually behind us; they have already been fulfilled. There is nothing that still must happen either prophetically or eschatologically to keep the Lord’s Church from fulfilling its calling to possess the Kingdom, i.e. cities and nations or fill all things with God’s glory---Kingdom civilization.

• The Jewish age is behind us; it ended in 70 AD.
• The time of the Antichrist (the little horn of Daniel 7 and the Roman Beast of Revelation 13) is behind us.
• The time of the False Prophet is behind us.
• The abomination of desolation or great tribulation is behind us.

2. Today is Messiah’s Day! It fully dawned in 70 AD as the transitional generation ended. It will shine brighter and brighter until the perfect day. We are living in Messiah’s day (the day of His power)----and the times of the Gentiles---i.e. the time in which the vision of the Old Testament prophets for the nations will be fulfilled. Just as they prophesied the nations (including the Arabs) will be brought under the government of King Jesus, God's Anointed King; they will be learn Christ, and as a result they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and learn war no more. There will be peace on earth. (See Psalm 2, 22, 45 and Isaiah 2 and 60.)

3. The saints will possess the Kingdom…i.e. the Kingdom of the Son of Man that Daniel saw in Daniel 7:13-14---all the peoples, languages and nations of the world ---and fill all things with the glory of God! The nations belong to Christ and to us; they are our inheritance.

4. Just as by the mercy and grace of God the first apostles succeeded in their apostolic mission to preach the Gospel throughout the Roman Empire and gather the remnant of Israel and the first-fruits of the nations and form the New Covenant Israel, the Church; and just as the first century saints overcame the dragon, the Beast, the False prophet and the harlot, so also by the grace of God the Church of the 21st Century will also overcome all its adversaries in our day and succeed in our mission to disciple the nations, possess cities and nations and fill all the earth with Kingdom civilization. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform it.