One of the challenges you learn over the years in preaching is the apparent futility of it all. It's probably the hardest lesson to learn as a pastor. I have a friend who's a missionary and church planter in South Africa. brilliant guy, just simply brilliant. And he made a post just recently that I thought was... it just got my mind to think. He referenced 2 Timothy chapter 4 verse 2, which reads this, and it's Paul talking to Timothy. You'll remember 2 Timothy is Paul writing to Timothy as Paul is preparing to be killed. So it's really his last will and testament, and it's his heart being unburdened upon Timothy to be a faithful man as he goes and continues his ministry. And he tells Timothy, preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience in teaching. That's really the task of what your elder pastor does. Those are the things, his job description, if you will. And then he wrote this, he said, when I began ministry, it was the clause with complete patience that gave me the greatest challenge here. I have since learned preaching and teaching is not an event, but a process. Each week chipping away a little more than the week before. Like Christian growth, it is a gradual process that requires humble patience and faithfulness on the part of the preacher. When I read that, I just could say nothing but amen to it. Those were good words. And they're very true, really, for every Christian, because in one way or another, all of you preach if you are a Christian. And one of the mistakes that you will make, and I know that I have made on many an occasion, and those who will go after us will make, is that desire for the home run, that sermon that is the best sermon. It does something. It provokes people in a certain way. Somehow people, because of that message, come to faith in Jesus Christ. You can do this in your own private, when you're talking to somebody, and you want your words to be so powerful and so clear that they're compelled to come to faith. And I've listened to many a person who beats themselves up afterwards, after they've shared Christ with somebody, second-guessing themselves, saying, if only I had said this, if only I had done that, and not recognize that even if you had done those things, unless the Lord was pleased to work, it wouldn't have mattered. He just calls you to do the task. In reality, what we really are seeking after is power. We want results. This is a very American kind of mindset. We want to be that wise person that's sought after for counsel. And really all that means is we're guilty too often of what Matthew 6 condemns. where Jesus decries the Pharisee, the religious man, who seeks to do his religion in front of others so that they will know this. So they are giving and making certain people see how much they give when they pray. They're making certain that people hear their prayers. They are showing and practicing their religion in such a way that they will gain praise. And he says over and over again, they have received their reward in full. but the one who simply is faithful to worship and practice before God their faith in secret, not worrying about what people see or what people think. He says that they will be rewarded by their Father in heaven who sees all of that. And too often I think that we can be that way. We are just simply content to get that short-term praise because it feels good. The reality, though, is very different. Even though we seek after that and yearn for that and want it, Very often, our very words and actions that we're trying to do to be noticed go unnoticed anyhow. And all of you who are parents or teachers, you all understand that. You know what it's like to deal with children and young people and old people who don't seem to be getting it. In fact, you ask yourself, are they learning anything? How many of you as parents have just been frustrated at the end of a difficult week, wondering when your kids will finally figure it out? The work of a pastor is obviously a work of faith. It's a work that can only be judged over time. But in the same way, parenting is a work of faith. I even said that in my series on parenting. Everything you're doing, you're doing with an anticipation of what is to come as a result of this. You're plowing deep certain convictions. certain truths into the lives of your children. And it's all a faith. There's no promise. There's no guarantee. You're just simply trusting that God's way is the best way. And therefore, by faith, you're going to keep doing it, even though everyone around you may easily find fault with what you do. This applies to friendships. It applies to marriage. Everything we do really as Christians are works of faith. We are called to believe God, believe His promises, and obey His commands, and it doesn't matter what happens, as we do that, by faith we continue to press forward in faithfulness. But the reality, though we're always looking for that home run, that big moment, that thing where we can finally rest and say, we did it, the hard reality is that we're really not called to achieve very much. And I know I've said this faithfully to you over many times from this pulpit. The hard reality is you and I likely will go to our graves and no one will remember us hardly. Our children, maybe our grandchildren a little bit, but after that we'll pass away. I have pictures from my father. where I'm looking at my great-grandparents, my great-great-grandparents, and they mean nothing to me. I mean, I realize that it's because of them that I exist, and I know nothing. And I really don't care. There's no feeling of loss or anything else. There's just, this is my family, and okay. And so I have these pictures. What we are called, rather than to try to achieve something great or achieve much, is all we're really called to do is be found faithful. And as we're faithful where we're at and in whatever situation we find ourselves, God will achieve the work that He desires. That's where the rub is, though, because oftentimes you and I are not content to be that. We want something greater, something bigger, better. But to learn to just be content and be found faithful in the little things that God has called us to do. When we become content in that way, I think we become more biblical. We begin to understand that God truly works through weakness. Again, something I've told you constantly from this pulpit. God uses weakness, and then we get frustrated with God because he keeps us weak. And we wonder, why won't you make me strong? Why won't you take away this, quote unquote, thorn in my flesh? Why won't you give me relief from these situations in my life? And God is pleased to keep you weak. And in that weakness, his power works. Not in triumphing and fixing your weakness, but in spite of your weakness, God's power still goes forth and achieves its results. And so the way that God often triumphs is done in a very surprising manner. And the end result of it usually ends up humiliating those who mock it. The gospel is a shameful thing to the non-believer. It makes no sense. We are told that in the scripture. We are told to believe that and understand it, though we still to this day try to package the gospel in a way that we think won't offend a person, when in fact it's designed to offend. But in the end, the gospel will show itself to be truly the power of God. It will be the means by which God has accomplished his purposes. The passage that we're going to look at here in chapter 11 is one of those kinds of moments where things have the appearance of great power. Wouldn't we like to be that person? And then we'll see that it also has weakness, and then we'll have victory, but in a way that we don't expect. Now, we'll have read the story, and we've already read it a couple of times, so it won't be a surprise to you, but I hope that you can see the nature of how it's put together here before us. In chapter 11 of Revelation, I'm going to read verses 1 through 14 once again. And there was given me a measuring rod like a staff and someone said, rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. And leave out the court, which is outside the temple. Do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread underfoot the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemy. And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, he must be killed. These have the power to shut up the sky in order that rain may not fall during the days of their prophesying. And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them. And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. And those from the peoples and the tribes and tongues and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry. And they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. And after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them. They stood on their feet. Great fear fell upon those who were beholding them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, come up here. And they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies beheld them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell, and seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly." Now we have in this passage two main sections. We talked about the first section last week, about the temple. I pointed out and reminded you that in chapters 10 and 11, it's a parenthetical portion of Revelation, an interlude, a pause, if you will, in the flow of the events. In our section today, we see a portion of time during what the Bible will call the Tribulation. It's 42 months in length because it says so. And this would be the second half of the tribulation. The tribulation time period biblically is seven years. And so this is the second half of those seven years that these events will happen. We consider that first portion last week about the temple. And again, we talked about the nature of how to interpret this passage. If we're not going to take this passage to mean an actual temple, but we see it in a symbolic way, which I don't, but then we are left with certain choices that we have to make. Usually, it's seen not to be a physical temple, but the church or sometimes just Jesus Christ. But because the church has been called the temple of God and that Jesus refers to his own body as the temple, they believe that that is what is meant. The measuring of only the inner part of the temple by these people will oftentimes mean that God will protect his church, but not those outside of the church. That's how they take it. So the measuring speaks of God protecting the people who are in the temple, the temple being the church. And so God will protect the church, but not those outside. Then when they come to the number 42 of the months, it's actually referencing not 42 months, but a general time period between the first coming and the second coming of Jesus Christ. It usually will be called the Church Age, though people will divide that up in different ways. And the justification for all of this is not found in the text. And I wanted to drive that home last week. Nowhere will you find that in the text. But that is how it's commonly approached by many individuals. Many good individuals. But if we're going to take this simply to be a reference of an actual earthly temple, then we're left with other options and consequences. So however you're approaching revelation always then presents to you consequences that you have to deal with. One way that people will deal with this is that they'll say it is talking about an actual temple. It's Herod's temple, the one that Jesus went to and is in the New Testament, and that it was destroyed in A.D. 70, and so that's how they're understanding this, that all of the book of Revelation is really describing that coming destruction of the temple. We have talked about in the past why I don't think that is remotely a sound way to do it. And so then we're left with, well, then this is talking about a different temple that does not yet exist. Because since the destruction of the temple in 70, year 70, we have no temple there in Jerusalem. And so the only other option is that at some point in the future, a temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. And for some, they laugh at that. In fact, they're shocked and dismayed. Why would we do that? What is the need for that? And they'll usually go to the book of Hebrews and say, yeah, but Christ is the better temple, so there's no need for a temple. But the reality is, is the Old Testament is replete with passages talking about the fact that there is a yet future time where the nations will come, and they will come to worship God in Jerusalem in His holy temple. And that has not yet happened, and at the same time those passages speak of the existence of sin and death still occurring, so it can't be talking about heaven. And so we see the Old Testament prophets expecting that and seeing that as something that is proper. And last week I spent our time showing the reality of a time yet future where those very nations, the Gentiles, will stream into Jerusalem to worship the Messiah. I also tried to show that we live in a time that's known as the time of the Gentiles, where they are, even now, trampling underfoot. But more importantly, they're being gathered in by the grace of God until such time that God says that the fullness of them have come in. And then He says, at that time, I will save Israel. And so there's a time yet future when He stops gathering the Gentiles to Himself and He saves the people of God known as Israel. Now, having said all that, we come to the second section of this passage today, and that is about these two witnesses. And much like the temple, this one is hard to preach only because there are so many views on how to approach it. I want to first of all discuss their identity and their commission. We see that in verses 3 and 4. First of all, it's worth noting that what happens in verses 3 to 13 is tightly connected to verses 1 and 2. There's two simple reasons for it. The first is the and at the beginning of verse 3, and I will grant authority to my two witnesses. It's a simple word chi. It's a simple conjunction, but it's it's tying verses 3 through 13 with the first two verses. So there's two different things going on here. There's this measuring of the temple and the commissioning of these two witnesses. The second reason that we can know that it's talking about the same event is the 42 months mentioned in verse 2 is stated again in verse 3, but in the way of days. 42 months is the same as saying 1260 days. Understand the calendar they used at that time was a 30-day calendar. So if you do the math, you'll find out that they're the same date or time period. So again, we're faced with numbers. And every time we come to numbers in the book of Revelation, everything under the sun goes. And so I want you just to be briefly aware, again, how that happens. For me, I find it fascinating, though very annoying, how these days or months simply mean something else without any internal or external basis. For some reason, they can't mean what they say they are. And so when you look at it, many people who are going to approach a highly symbolic way of approaching revelation, they will simply say that the church age is in view, that 42 months is another way of saying the church age between Christ's first coming and his second coming. Now, why they say it, I challenge you to find that anywhere, anywhere in the Bible that would indicate that. But it's just assumed. And it's assumed because it's all symbolic. At the same time, though, not everyone of that group agrees with that. One man who is a highly respected preacher, I think he's with the Lord now. I would hate to say that, though, and be wrong. His name is Eric Alexander, an incredible gifted preacher. He argues that the 42 months merely means this. It's a promise that the believers will suffer for just a little while. In other words, 42 months, all that really means is for a short time, a little while. It's not actually worrying about whether it's a church age or not, but it should encourage you that, oh, is 42 months. Well, that's not long. And so I guess I should understand that when I suffer, it's just not going to be long. It'll be for a little while. Again, no basis for it, but that's another man's approach. I want you to notice that it just simply says 42 months or 1260 days. And for me, that's what I take it for. The second half of the tribulation, the three and a half years. And there's no reason for me not to take it that way unless driven to take a different position. The one who's commissioning these two witnesses is God Himself. It's not the men or these two witnesses deciding to take up this role, but it says in verse 3 that I will grant authority to my two witnesses. The only one in Revelation who ever grants anything is God Himself. And so God is commissioning these two and they are called for this role It is a role that's defined for them and given to them by God Himself. That is what they're to do. They're prophets who are being raised up for this unique situation during a time where the world is facing the ongoing and overwhelming judgment of God upon them. At the same time, it's an act of grace because even though what they're saying is damaging to people and people will hate them for it, God is once again showing the people the way of salvation. Because what you'll see, and we'll see it in just a moment, is that they are actually standing firm against the false message of the one who's known as the Antichrist. Who, at the same time that they're doing their work, he is preaching a false and different gospel. So who are the ones receiving this commission? Who are these two witnesses? Lord, you can just spend weeks listening to people talk about this. Again, that gentleman, Eric Alexander, he argues that, well, it's not really two. In fact, most people who hold to it symbolic, they don't hold that it really is two in any way, shape, or form. Again, it's not 42 months, it's just a little while, or the church age, and the two witnesses aren't really two, they're whatever else. Anything but two. He argues that revelation is merely speaking to each generation in their context, and so because we're in our age and our time, it's whatever it would apply to us at this time. But it would be different than the time of the Reformation or the time of the early church. Always there's been these witnesses of the church that are proclaiming the Word of God and standing firm in the face of falsehood. That's how he would see it. Another man by the name of Leon Morris, who is a well-known commentator, he says that there are two witnesses But what that two means is the two churches in chapters two and three of Revelation, remember the seven churches, two of them were never received any rebuke. And so he says, well, the two is actually talking about those two churches, but not actually those two churches, but those two churches as being representative of every believer who's faithful. So it is two, but not really two. only so far that we see them as the faithful ones who suffered and were found faithful all the way to death. So that's what the two witnesses are. Just have fun. in my own sick way. The Shakers, if you remember them, Shaker Furniture, everybody likes their furniture and stuff, but they were whack jobs. That's what they really were. And they believed that the two witnesses represented the two aspects of God, the male aspect and the female aspect. And then it was fulfilled first with the coming of Jesus Christ with the male aspect of God. And then secondly, with the second coming of Christ in the form of Mother Anne Lee, who founded the Shakers. So that's who the two witnesses. I'm going to be really a creep here. Who's to say they're wrong? I mean, if it doesn't mean two witnesses as in any literal way, you can make it mean anything you want because you're not compelled by the text. Generally speaking, though, what people will do who are holding to a symbolic approach is they will say, well, they're not two witnesses. One man, Art Azurdia, an excellent preacher in his own right, he argues that the two witnesses really are merely a restatement of Matthew 28, 18 to 20. So this is an apocalyptic revelation kind of way of saying it's a Great Commission. So the witnesses are the church and two is speaking of the fact that in the Old Testament to confirm anything to be true you needed how many witnesses? Two. And so these two witnesses are just simply an apocalyptic way of saying that God is sending out his church to all the nations preaching the gospel and because it's the mention of two we know it's the true gospel. So then when you look at the fact that they're wearing sackcloth, we shouldn't take that in any way other than symbolic. And so it speaks of the fact that the gospel is to go out and we are to be very sober and serious in our giving of the gospel. And again, it's looking across all of the time, 2,000 plus years so far. And it's not worrying about specifics, but in general, we are to be preaching the gospel with sobriety and seriousness. And so when we see the fire coming out and devouring the enemies, all that really is talking about is the future judgment due to the rejecting of the gospel. In other words, even though this passage gives a lot of detail, there are really not any details. It's just very broad and very vague. But if you're going to approach this in a more literal way, as we have been doing, Allowing for symbolism, but not trying to make everything symbolic then there's a much different way and meaning that you'll take for me, I think it's easy very easy for me to take it as to witnesses nothing more nothing less and that there are two witnesses that exist for a period of 42 months or 1260 days and why do I say that because that's what it says and there's nothing in there that's intrinsically symbolic in language and It's worth noting also that it is a future orientation, the final book of the Bible, but it is looking to a future moment. It's framed with future tense. It's not something that has been going on up to that point, but it's something that is in the future to go on. Who are they, the identity of these? Everyone wants to know, well, who are they? It's interesting, in the ancient church, key leaders such as Tertullian and Irenaeus, these are key fathers of the church in the ancient church. They both believed it would be Enoch and Elijah. And why? And this is fairly common. Why? Because both of these men didn't die. And so the idea is that God will bring them back as future prophets of judgment against the people. What's interesting for me, actually, is that in the early church, actually, they held to a much more literal approach to revelation than many people today do. Not everyone. Guys like Origen thought everything was symbolic. Others, and this is much more popular, believe it's Moses and Elijah. And the reason for that is they did very similar miracles. In fact, while I was reading this, if you know your Old Testament, your mind probably went that way. You're like, wow, that sounds like Elijah or that sounds like Moses. And so they say that's probably what's going on. And usually they think about Mark 9, 4, where Jesus goes up onto the mountain and there he transfigures himself and shows a bit of his glory. And remember, Peter was just terrified as he saw this, but there were two people with him at that point. It was Moses and Elijah. And so the idea is, see, they were tightly connected with the person of Jesus there, and so very likely they are the ones spoken. Along with that, they think about Elijah, because for Elijah, during his work as a prophet, there was a drought that occurred that lasted 42 months. And so they're like, okay, all of that together indicates it's probably Moses and Elijah. There are problems, though. Problem number one is Moses did die, and so this would be a second death that he has to suffer. Elijah was fulfilled in the coming of John the Baptist. So the question is, is this really Elijah? I don't know. My position is much more simpler. We don't know because they don't tell us who they are. So, you know, after you do all of this, you talk to me like, well, that's really cool. You just don't know. It's sufficient for me to know that these are two men who are called to be prophets and to speak, whether they're Elijah or Moses or whoever it might be, Enoch and Elijah. Fine. If that's who they are, they are. We don't know, though. And it saves a lot of time with guesswork. Notice, though, that they are clothed, and it makes the point to say that they're clothed with the sackcloth. Well, understand that sackcloth is the clothing of mourning and grief, but it is also the clothing during times of judgment, that when God's judgment is going forth, that the people are to take on the clothing of repentance and grief, which is that of sackcloth. And that is the idea that the message that they're giving is not fun. It is not pleasant. It is not victory. It is condemnation. It is wrath. It is judgment. And for me, a simple application that I take away from it is that seldom is the ministry of preaching a pleasant task. Seldom is it fun. It's so often delivering hard words to people. It is a reality that grief and persecution and hardship will follow those who seek to be faithful. They are not out there having fun. They are aching as they go out faithfully preaching what needs to be preached and that they are compelled to preach by the call of God, but they do it with the clothing of mourning upon them. There's no joy in what they do. They just do it because it's the right thing to do. But they are described specifically in verse 4 as these ones who are the two olive trees and the two lampstands. Now again, how do you take that? This is obviously symbolic, and so we would look to how the Bible treats this. First thing that people will do is they'll go back to the imagery again of chapters 2 and 3, and they'll remember that the lampstand there is specifically the church, if you recall. And so they would say, well, these two lampstands, so it must be talking about two churches, that then they say are the two that were faithful, which then say they were the ones who suffered and were martyred, and off they go. However, they are also called the two olive trees. And there is the assumption here that we should understand what's going on. And what really is taking place in verse 4 is an illusion that comes from Zechariah 4, 1 through 14. For time, I'm going to ask you not to turn there. You can do that on your own. By now, though, you should be good at finding Zechariah. It's the second to last book of the Bible of the Old Testament. So when you go there, you don't have to look at the table of contents. Just find it. In it, there's this vision. And his vision is of these two olive trees to stand on either side of the lampstand. And there's these two spouts that come up to these olive trees. And what the olive trees are doing is they're constantly dispensing their oil into the lampstand so that they're continuously being lit. And along with that is the idea that that oil and the olive trees pouring forth that oil into the lampstand is actually the ministry of the Word of God by the Spirit of God. And that the two olive trees are these two men who are representative of the kingly office and the priestly office of Israel. And it is designed to encourage Zerubbabel in the task of rebuilding the temple so that it would serve as a testimony to the world. This is a time where the temple is being built, but it's not getting built like it should because people are constantly wandering off and doing foolish things. And here he's just showing that, in fact, you stay faithful, and you have these two witnesses, and they are standing before me, and through the power of the Spirit, the Word is going forth just as the oil is constantly flowing into this lampstand. And I think that that is simply all that is being meant here in chapter 11. These two witnesses are like those in Zechariah, that they are under the power of the Holy Spirit, that they are standing firm, and that they are going forth. And they are also tightly connected, just like in Zechariah, to the rebuilding of the temple. Here, they're tightly connected to the temple itself, and they're standing there, and they're being faithful with the Word of God. And the Word of God, by the power of God, is going forth in condemnation. I said that their preaching is occurring against some other kind of preaching. And that's what I want to spend a little bit of time right now on. Their preaching is concurrent with two events that will be helpful for you to keep in mind. First is verse 2. He says, leave out the court with regard to measuring which is outside the temple and do not measure it. Why? For this reason, for it has been given to the nations and they will tread underfoot, what? The holy city. And in the Bible, the holy city is what place? It's Jerusalem. holy city for forty two months sold during that time much of jerusalem outside of the temple is literally in the power of the gentiles and they are marauding and raping and pillaging and destroying and during that time these two witnesses are raised up by god and they are anointed by this power of the spirit and they are preaching in the midst of all of this chaos and and garbage is raining at that time But it's also something where they're standing against a false message. Turn, we'll get to this in a few weeks, but in chapter 13, this is also happening at the same time. In chapter 13, verses 3 through 7, we have some extremely symbolic language. I think you'll see that, but we'll talk about it and deal with it when we get there. And I saw one of his heads, if it had been slain and His fatal wound was healed and the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast there's gonna be two beasts mentioned in this section and again We'll deal with it when we get to it, but there's this one called the beast Appears to have died and then was raised again and at that event the whole world chases after this very powerful being and they worship the dragon and That's Satan, and again, we'll deal with all that. "...because he gave his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him? And there was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemy and authority to act..." How long? "...for forty-two months was given to him, and he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme his name and his..." What? his tabernacle, the temple, that is, those who dwell in heaven. And it was given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and tongue, or people and tongue and nation was given to him. And so this beast, we know him, if you know these entities, as the Antichrist. And again, we'll deal with that when we get to it. But notice that the whole world is pursuing him. He is making war not just against the two witnesses, but against all believers. And he is able to overcome them all and standing firm against them or against him is these two witnesses. And they're speaking truth against his blasphemy. They're standing firm. And people hate him for it, because they are literally opposing the one whom the whole world worships. And so the people are coming against these two witnesses, and they're literally able to defend themselves to the point of even killing those who seek them harm. So this gives us a sense of the context. This is a time of chaos and danger and lies and evil and death, and they're standing firm against those lies. Notice in chapter 11, verses 5 and 6, we see the power that they possess. I've already made mention of it. If anyone desires to harm them, and there would be many desiring to harm them, The fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies. Now you can take that symbolically and say that they are slaying people with the word of God, or you can take that in a literal way, that they are able to slay people with fire. And they are just laying waste to people. And if anyone would desire to harm them in this manner, notice, they may be killed, is not what it says. They must be killed in that manner. That this is the way they must die. Here again, we have the uniqueness of these two witnesses. Incredible power is granted them. This is the kind of stuff you would love if you're really honest with yourself to have. You're like, I want that. I, you know, I mean, I want when when I want I can shut down weather. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I can. I can. Oh, this this is the kind of power. If we're really honest, we think would be cool. We just don't like the last part where they get killed. And we don't want that. But really, we want this power. We want this. And that's what I'm trying to, in a bigger sense, make us think about. Now, if we're going to take this symbolically as the power of the gospel going out, which is normally how the symbolic group will go, then really you're left with very little meaning here that means much. You're really forced to go all other places to find its real meaning. So, just some points. There's countless events where the church is afflicted and attacked. And no harm ever came to those who sought the harm of the church. And no harm came to those who sought the harm of the church. cause the people of the church to be suffering and dying. So the question is, how literal should we take it? If they're saying that if anyone desires to harm them, fire proceeds and they die, well then what do we do with the countless stories that we know of where nobody died after they killed the Christians? I mean, we've been doing that for centuries and centuries and Christians have been killed. They're still being killed right now and no harm is coming. And so the answer to that usually is, well, in the future, at the judgment of God, then they will be destroyed. That's not how it's describing it here. It's describing during this period of time, they're able to stand firm and protect themselves. It's so specific, and I want you to notice it's so specific. And whenever you go into only symbolism, you immediately have to get away from the specific points and treat them in a very broad way. It's always the way you have to do it, because the devil, as they say, is in the details. But if you let it be what it says, you may not fully understand it. You may marvel at it. You may be even stunned by it. But at least you can accept this is what it says. OK, I kind of look forward to seeing how that works out. They have a very great power and the power is very specific in its effects and how it must be. And so before we take a fully symbolically and say, and so many of the men I listened to this week, I listened to six different sermons from six different men preach on this passage and every one of them were so dismissive and even almost snide that one would be foolish enough to think that this would be as it is, that this would be Literally happening, and I'm like you don't have to be snide about it You're not snide when you preach about Moses. Are you did do you ever hear people who are good godly? Conservative pastors when they preach through the story of Moses that they they're snide and and laugh at the idea that the water turned to blood No, they take that very literally We have to remember that these events that are being described here have already occurred, and we've always taken them to be literal. Moses did do many of these things. Elijah did do many of these things, and we don't have any problem with that. So why must we then go into this situation and say, well, of course not. That'd be silly. That'd be demeaning to the word of God. And so I say these words only to those of you who do agree with me on how we approach Revelation. Don't be ashamed of it. And push back. Give a good, strong push back to the person who says it can't mean that. It has to be symbolic. You make them prove their case. You don't have to prove it. You've got it saying it. You've got it right there in the Word. And you can say, this is what it says. Now you tell me why it can't mean that. Don't ever be ashamed of it. Be willing to give the push back. I do want you to note, though, that their power is exceeding Moses's, because Moses could only do those works in specific times. These men, over this period of 42 months, they can do it any time they want and as often as they want. That's another reason why I think it's likely not Moses and Elijah, but that's neither here nor there. Now there is a power that this world and its thinking values, and too often the church falls into this very similar thinking. They're exhibiting great power here, but they don't apparently convert anyone. All they do is make everyone more mad. They are preaching, and they gave a very faithful testimony, but they ultimately could not stand up. I want you to notice this. They could not stand up to the power of the beast. The beast arises out of the abyss, and he slays them. He makes war with them, and he kills them. So as powerful as they were, and as exciting as they were, when their testimony was finished, when they were done, they died. They could not win. They could not beat the beast, the Antichrist. I think this is always an issue for every believer listening to GRASP. We're not to judge by, if you will, the results, the short-term gains. We are to ever and always judge whether the message was proclaimed and done so faithfully. I say this because way back in the early days of my ministry here, I shrunk this church and shrunk this church and shrunk this church and people kept leaving and leaving and my name became dirt. I would meet people in the stores who I had no idea who they were, but they knew me and they would call me a cult leader and a false teacher and all kinds of other things. They would scream at me. They would mock me. They would yell at me. And I'd still come back. I'm not trying to make something of myself. I'm just remembering those days. And I remember that people in the Southern Baptist Convention up here started wondering if I really should be the pastor here. Why? Because the church is going down, down, down, down. I remember the low Sunday was 48 people. You want to see a hard room to preach to? Look at 48 people in here. And in it, the question I had to ask over and over again was, do I leave? Do I quit? Am I done? Was this a mistake? Should I change? Should I soften the word? Should I stop this? Should I do that? And believe me, I had no end of counselors telling me to do everything under the sun. And ultimately, what I had to do was say this. No, you just got to be faithful. Matt, if you shut the doors and the church dies, then that's that. Just be faithful. Just be faithful. And I can tell you that during the difficult times, that's what kept Kim and I moving. We did the same thing. I won't embarrass my children, but in the raising of my children, as we dealt with the difficulties and the disobedience and the times of rebellion and all the other things. And again, all kinds of people talking about us and how we parented. I had mothers and fathers pulling me aside, angry, calling me an abusive father, a tyrant, a legalist, a Pharisee, on and on and on. And you know why? Because I demanded that my children say, yes, ma'am and yes, sir. How dare you do that? And we just said, we're going to be found faithful. We're going to be found faithful. In spite of people's criticisms of us, and in spite of our own children's pushback, because that's not what everybody else's parents were doing, we're going to be found faithful. And we just keep pressing forward. Be faithful. Be faithful. You know what? We want the power of these witnesses. We want to be like that. But we don't want to die like they die. And the real reality of this passage has nothing to do with the witnesses. They die. Yes, they're raised. But they die. They're defeated. In the end, all we're called to do is be like the witnesses. Not in their power and not in their glory and their coolness, but we're just simply called to be like the witnesses. Just faithful. Just faithful. I've said it how many times? Preach the word, preach truth, do what's right, and then let the chips, what? Fall where they may. Just do it. Don't be afraid. What's the worst that happens? You die? That's the worst. You say, no, you don't die. You stay alive and you suffer really bad. Well, you're still going to die and you'll live. If you can follow that logic. And it is right. In verse 7, though, it says, when they finished, and the word there speaks of being brought to completion, being filled up. When the work they had been sent by God for 42 months to do was filled up. In other words, until their message and work was done, they could not be touched. And can I tell you this with all sincerity? It's the same for you, so why don't you believe it? Especially those of you that might be given to so much anxiety. What do you not believe about God that causes you to be so filled with so much anxiety? If it fails, if everything you sought to do fails, The only thing that I care about, personally, if I were to talk to you, is were you faithful? If it fails because you're unfaithful, well then, I'm sorry. But if you were faithful and it didn't work out, your conscience is clear and you can stand. You can stand with confidence that this is a hand of God. Their work was brought to its completion and only until that time could the beast touch them. Remember, in Revelation 3, 7, and 8, he says that there is this express number of people who must die for their faith. They must be martyred. And until they are fully gathered in, the end will not come. In other words, God has already ordained exactly how many people and who they are who will die for him. So let me just say, if you're one of them, Ben, you're not getting out of it. He's already ordained for you to die for his sake and you will die So just get on with life and be found faithful all of you just be feeling faithful Don't worry about that stuff. It's not yours to worry on Here we see the beast we know him in 13 to be the Antichrist and He comes up out of that abyss, remember that holding pen if you will, that prison where the hordes of demons earlier came out. And we'll see that Jesus literally binds Satan and puts him into this abyss later on. He's being called the beast as I said he's going to be known as the antichrist in chapters 13 and 17. He is incredibly powerful Unbelievably powerful so powerful that he can stand and take on these two witnesses while at the same time Taking on war against the rest of the saints, and he'll win He will win The preaching And the ministry of these two witnesses is powerful. But it doesn't mean that it will always look powerful. Because I can imagine if this was some movie. That this was the culmination, right? This is the point. The music is getting bigger and bigger, and your heart's getting racing. And now comes the clash, where these two witnesses will stand firm. They're the superheroes, and they're going to stand firm against the great warrior, the evil one. Whatever he is called here, he would be the Antichrist. And it's going to be a nasty, frightening battle, but they will figure it out in the end, and they'll win. Imagine if you were watching this like a movie and they don't. They're not powerful enough. And they're dead. Instead, they're killed. I might add, it's really interesting when you read in the commentaries that hold to a symbolic view of revelation. These two witnesses represent the church generally. But what happens here to the church then? It what? It dies. Well, it can't die. The gates of hell will not prevail against it. Jesus said so. So now they then have to spend several paragraphs explaining to you, well, it's not actually death. It's a time where the church suffers and struggles. But it doesn't die, because it can't die. And I'm like, man, you have to spend a lot of time explaining stuff, because you don't let the text just say what it says. Note how specific it is, because it does speak against that symbolic understanding. In verse 8, they have bodies, and they lie open to the elements and the view of the nations. And then not only are they watched and looked at by the nations, but where are they watched? And it's in Jerusalem. And it's always here where, again, snide and caustic remarks will come from sermons where they will usually pick up on the guy named Hal Lindsay who wrote an unfortunate book called The Late Great Planet Earth. It was popular in the 70s. And there he argued that this is talking about how will the whole world see because nobody could see? Well, it's obviously television. And so they'll laugh at that and make fun of that. I'm not here to say it's going to be television. I'm just telling you, today with the internet, I don't like to try to find modern things to say that's what it is. So don't you dare say, oh, he says it's the internet. I'm just telling you this. You tell me one thing that's going on in this world that somebody isn't doing a live tweet on. I'm serious. We are knowing instantaneously of stuff going on, and people are shooting it and beaming it up, and it's being broadcast everywhere. I don't care how it works. I'm just saying for you to say, well, this is obviously symbolic because all the nations can't look at it. Well, we're already looking at everything. So why is that hard? It doesn't have to be television. It doesn't have to be the internet. I'm just saying it's not that hard to see. And then it says expressly where it's going to happen, and it's in Jerusalem. This one blows my mind again. Their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is mystically, some of you it says symbolically, right? It's literally, it's spiritually. That's why the different translations. It's spiritually called So it's the great city, which is also called Sodom, which is not a praise. And then it's also called Egypt. So which one is it? Well, then he identifies it. Where? What? Our Lord or their Lord was crucified. Well, there's only one city where he was crucified. And where is that? Rome. That's what the symbolic I'm not joking. I know what. No, it is Jerusalem, just so you know. But when you read the commentaries and you listen, if you're going to take it symbolically, it's not Jerusalem, it's Rome. And you're like, wait, wait, wait. And I'll let you read them. I'm tired of reading them, but I'll keep doing it until I'm done with the book. You're like, OK, this one is easy. I mean, it's obviously symbolic language, and it obviously gives us the answer. And even that can't mean what it says. It means, actually, Rome is what people say it isn't. It's just Jerusalem. And why? And again, it's because that's where the temple is, and that's where their ministry was, and that's where the beast, the Antichrist, does war with them. And there they lie. And so many will think they were fools, that in the end they failed and they died. The whole world is something that is beyond comprehension. Never mind. I think we need to remember that the enemies of mankind are greater than all of us. And we need to stop thinking that we're the mighty ones. The only one who is mighty is who? It is Christ himself. He is our conquering king. Even these great men, these two witnesses, they ultimately die. And all I could think about as I thought about that was that in Romans 7, Paul makes a great effort to show us that sin as a power is greater than everything. We cannot defeat sin. Sin is so powerful, he says in Romans 7, that it takes something good and holy, like the law of God, and it uses good and holy law of God to make you sin even more. Even the law of God is not powerful enough against sin. So what is the answer? And Paul says, it's Christ. The only thing that will defeat sin is Christ. God is not resting his efforts and his plan on your work. We are but tools. We are like these two witnesses. We're just tools. We're used by God. We're called by God. We're equipped wherever we are to be faithful in that. But we are not the point. We too will die. And the only thing greater is Christ. Now we know that that's not their final end, because God, who is over all, then will raise them from the dead. But he wants them to die first, and he wants them to stay dead. So for three and a half days they lie there in the streets, dead, and if time was to go on for another hundred years, this would become the new holiday. This would replace Christmas. Notice what their people are doing. They're rejoicing, making merry. They're even sending gifts to each other. Rejoice, the two witnesses are dead. They hate these two men that much, and the message that they're bringing. And so God lets them stay really, really dead for three and a half days. Why three and a half? I'm going to make one simple argument, and I can't prove this. Because so many commentators and preachers tried to say that this is an image of also Christ being raised from the dead. And so they spiritualized all of this with Christ being raised in the same way the church will be raised and on and on. And I'm like, yeah, but he was raised in three days, not three and a half days. And I think the half day was added to make certain that we're talking, let's not try to make this hyper symbolic. It's just three and a half days. And they lay there dead and then God said, come up. Can you imagine the terror? You're on the way over to your neighbor to give another present, smoke another scar, raise another toast because the two big bad boys are dead, and there you find out that they're alive. And how much more terrifying will it be when they are ascending then into the presence of God? See, they're not the point of the story. They just go out of the story now. They show up, they're there, they do their job, they die, then they're raised from the dead, and they go away. Because the real story is about the power of God over His enemies. And then, like the death of Christ, you have this earthquake. Again, it's stated that it happens in Jerusalem, where they were at. and a tenth of the city falls, and specifically 7,000 people were killed, unless it's symbolic. And then once you go into symbolic meaning, 7,000 means everything except 7,000. And again, there's this glimmer of hope for the rest grasped at least at this point that God was at work. They gave glory to God. It doesn't say they were converted. Maybe. Some are definitely coming to faith during this time, and we'll see that later in the book. But it's enough for them to grasp that as powerful as the Antichrist is, there is someone, not these two witnesses, but someone more powerful. But notice how he worked. He didn't work in exciting ways. He worked out of weakness. He let the two powerful men, the two powerful witnesses be killed, and then he just said, all right, Wake up and come up here. And in that simple event, show that he's still not moved, afraid, or anything else by all of the chaos that's going on. Remember the vision of God in his throne room in Revelation 4. Remember the throne sat on the crystal what? The crystal sea? And remember the symbolism of the sea is one of chaos? And the imagery that's going on there is here is God seated on his throne above all the chaos. And God is still seated on his throne above all the chaos, including what's going on right here. And he's unmoved. He's unprovoked. It's just God working out his plan. And then the terrifying words in verse 14. The second woe has passed. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. If what we had just read was bad enough, what does the final woe bring? And that's what we're going to begin to see when I return. Now at the beginning, I talked about a tendency for us to want that big event that wins the day. But we see the very opposite here. Two prophets raised up with obvious and apparent power, and yet when they came to the point of confronting the true enemy, the Antichrist, they couldn't win. They died. The world mocks. The world rejoices. But again, it's all part of the plan of God. It's not a shock. And what appeared to be defeat was, in fact, really victory. Beloved, there will be a day that you'll die, and if you're found faithful to the end, remember what Jesus says, the one who endures, how far? To the end shall be saved. You endure, that's all you're called, just be faithful, keep pressing forward with eyes of faith, trusting God's word, even though at times it seems like you're losing. Because in the end, you win, the promise is sure. With the simplest of events, the spoken word, in other words, God raises them and they ascend into eternity. And I love the way it says it, it says, and their enemies beheld them. They were beholding them or holding them before, dead, and now they're looking at them again, alive and going into heaven. And we're told in Colossians 3 that when Christ is revealed in his glory at his return, we too will be revealed in our glory. And it will be then, and only then, that our enemies will see us for what God really made us to be. Are you content with that? Or do you want to be seen now as that? It's not the way of God. It is the way of God for you to be weak now. It is the way of God for you to be mocked and laughed at. But in the end, they will behold you in your glory. So what are the lessons? First, and we'll just do this very quickly, we can see in this passage God is a holy and truly all-consuming fire. To trifle with him now is only to your eternal harm. So I'm talking to you here who do not know Christ. That is your end. You will face the God who is described here, who grants this kind of power. Secondly, I think we can say that God protects his children. but that he also wills that they endure suffering in whatever manner he ordains. So in my ever so unsweet way, I would say to you, get over it. Just get over and accept it. Before desiring to be used much of God, I think you should also remember what God demands of those that he uses much. These two witnesses had tremendous power, but look at what they had to go through. The level of evil in the hearts of all who are unredeemed is beyond your comprehension. Grasp that. They are not, and you are not, anything but inherently evil to the core, apart from the grace of God. I watched a video just the other day of a woman, I can't remember how to pronounce her name so I won't try, saying that it was her first abortion that was her best abortion. And the crowd cheered her. I read the story of a woman who moved into a tiny town where she purposely never met anyone. She lived in constant trembling and fear. Her drapes were always closed. And it was only on her deathbed that she confessed to the chaplain that was visiting her. It was on her heart. And she moved there because she was never met anyone because her husband, of all those years, had raped well over a hundred of their relatives. And she kept having to move from town to city to town trying to get away from the horror of that and the fact that no one could believe that she didn't know. And she was pleading with the chaplain, I didn't, I really didn't know. But her whole life was hidden behind curtains because of the unspeakable evil bound up in her husband. There is no real ability, lesson number five, no real ability to have peace in this world. It's just as Christ said, it hates you because it hates him. So can I say this bluntly? Stop trying to get it to like you. Stop thinking you can have peace here. Six, I think we also need to consider the cost of being uniquely called by God to do very special works. It's not sexy, it's not fulfilling, it's ugly, and it's hard. Finally, do not fear the one who can destroy the body, but rather fear the one who can destroy both body and soul. And I will say this, failure to grasp those lessons will lead only to hurt and dishonor, either in a temporary manner as a Christian or an eternal manner as a non-Christian. But that's the only end if you do not learn these lessons.