If you'll join me in your scriptures tonight in Revelation chapter number 6 is where we're going to begin at. And we're looking tonight at the seventh dispensation. We only have one more to go. And tonight we're looking at the dispensation of the tribulation period or judgment. And the book of the Revelation is, of course, the citation of where we find the dimension of this period of time. As it's described in Revelation 6 and verse 17, it says, Therefore the great day of His wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand? At this point, in Revelation chapter number 6, the sixth seal has been opened. Chapter 6 has all six seals being opened there at the beginning of the judgments that are going to be poured out upon this earth. And we know that Daniel called this particular time in Daniel 12-1 He said, There shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, even to that same time. And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. It's a terrible time, and we think about the things that are going on in the world right now, and there's a lot going on. I don't know if you've seen the news accounts. I read the news. I don't watch a lot of news. I do watch some of the news, try to see some of the things going on, but there's a lot of earthquakes happening right now. They're real minor right now, but places that you wouldn't think, not normally, where they're at, South Carolina, Texas, they had some more out in California, they're becoming more frequent. And I believe that we're going to see them get greater in intensity as well. But that's just a little bit of it. You've got volcanoes that are going off. You've got large storms that have hit. I know Japan got hit by one just recently. And just a lot of different things that are happening with the wars and all that are there in Russia. and ukraine and and of course they're all the rumblings going on there in israel in the middle east uh... where they've got on every side uh... hamas uh... the houthis the hezbollah iran others that they have to constantly watch you know you can you imagine having that many enemies that you got to keep your eye on uh... so close i mean that they're they're all wanting to do do you do you and uh... That's today, but when the time of tribulation comes, it's going to make this time look like, boy, this was the good times. It's going to be a time of trouble never seen. Jeremiah 30 verse number 7 says, Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it. It is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. Great time of trouble, it's called tribulation. And we know that this time's going to take place. after the church is taken out. If you'll turn there from Revelation 6 to flip back to chapter number 4, the first words there, after this, now how does chapter 3 end? It's things that are addressed to the church. You do not hear the church mentioned from chapter 4 through the end of the book. It's not in there. Okay. After this, and he says, I looked up and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said, come up hither. A lot of folks say that intimates the rapture. You know, we're going to be caught up. And he says, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. After what? after the church. From here throughout the end to when the Lord Jesus Christ comes back in chapter number 19 and then assumes the throne there in chapter 20 where you see this period of time that is a God pouring out judgment on this earth. It's from the ascent of the church, the rapture, to the descent of Christ at the second coming. Okay, when he comes back to take care of Israel's enemies, as we were looking at this past Sunday evening, and as we're going to be looking at further, and when we look this coming Sunday evening at the Lord coming back, what a wonderful time it's going to be when the nation of Israel gets saved. We'll see that Sunday evening. This is before that takes place. That takes place at the very end of this time that we're talking about here. The duration, of course, is seven years according to Daniel chapter 9 and verses 25 through 27. Look at Daniel chapter 9. Now we're going to be back in Revelation and we're going to be in 1 and 2 Thessalonians tonight. I don't know if you want to kind of stick something in those two couple of places there. Let's take a look at Daniel chapter 9 verse number 25. Well, let's back up to verse number 24. Let's talk about the 70 weeks. This is the 70 weeks prophecy. A lot of it's called the prophecy of the 70 weeks or the 70th week of Daniel, taking a look at the tribulation period. But seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make a reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore And to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the Prince, shall be seven weeks. Now when he talks about seven weeks, he's talking about seven weeks of years. And three score and two weeks. Seven weeks and three score and two weeks. So you got 7 plus 62, okay, and you got the 69. And he says, the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after three score and two weeks, shall Messiah be cut off. That's when the crucifixion took place at the end of that 62 week period there. But not for himself and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary and the ends thereof shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week. There's the missing 70th week. And in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even unto the consummation, and that determent shall be poured upon the desolate. So verse number 27 is talking about the Antichrist. confirming the covenant with Israel for a seven-year covenant. And in the midst of that seven-year period, he breaks that covenant, and that's when the great tribulation, the end part, all of his tribulation, in that 70th week or the last week of years, but it's going to be a really bad time in the last three and a half years. Now, the condition that we see is going to be found in 1 Thessalonians 4. Let's look at 1 Thessalonians 4, and I want us to understand that this time is not going to take place until the church has been caught away in the rapture. I know that there are a lot of people who used to adhere to the rapture, pre-trib rapture, that are losing their grip on that. I've not lost my grip, and that's because of what the Bible teaches. And so we know here in 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 16, Paul said, for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel. and with the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first and we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and so shall we ever be with the Lord. So he doesn't actually come to the earth, he's up in the clouds, descends from heaven, and we get caught up to be there with Him. And that is a comforting thought when He says, wherefore comfort one another with these words. There's no comfort in thinking you're going to be made to go through the tribulation period. I can assure you of that. Well, what else can give us hope that we're not going to go through that terrible time? Look at chapter number 5 here. 1 Thessalonians 5, look at verse number 1. This is not in your notes. You might want to write this. I've actually got it written up here next to Revelation 6, 17, where the great day of his wrath has come. Who shall be able to stand? I've got it across the reference to 1 Thessalonians 5, 9, but we're going to begin reading verse number 1. It says, but of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord, the day of the Lord, okay, and that's the day of the Lord begins with us being taken out and the Holy Spirit, of course, being, indwelling us The indwelling presence is gone. We'll see that in just a minute. But that time is going to come like a thief in the night. In other words, you're not going to know when it's going to take place. He says, For when they shall say, Peace and safety, and then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child, and they shall not escape, But ye, brethren, are not in darkness. Aren't you glad for that? We're in the light. That day should overtake you as a thief. You're all children of light and children of the day. We are not of the night nor of the darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as do others, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for in Helmut the hope of salvation. Look at verse 9. This is the key. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. Now very clearly, Revelation 6, 17, the people that are going under the first six seals of judgment recognize that this is God's wrath that's being poured out. We're not appointed to wrath. They say, for the great day of His wrath has come, who shall be able to stand it? Who shall be able to stand? So, we've not been appointed to wrath. We've been caught up. Church has been caught away and the man of sin is revealed. Look at 2 Thessalonians, another page over in my Bible, 2 Thessalonians chapter number 2. And I've got verses 7 through 12 there, but I want us to back up to verse number 1, okay? 2 Thessalonians 2, verse number 1, Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter, as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." So some of them thought the day of Christ had already started. He said, let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first. That's apostasy. Remember I mentioned the apostasy recently? This was the apostasy, the falling away. And that man of sin be revealed. the son of perdition, that's talking about the Antichrist, man of sin, son of perdition, and it gives us an explanation of him, description, look at verse 4, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. And notice verse 7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work. And we know that to be the case. The mystery of iniquity is at work. The spirit of Antichrist is already fully around, but the Antichrist has not been revealed yet. It says, Only he who letteth will let until he be taken out of the way. And that is a reference there to the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwelling in believers holds back the awful gulf of the wave, if you will, of sin. We're in this world and thankfully we do have some influence, but one of these days we're going to be taken out of the way. Can you imagine what it's going to be like without any believers and developed by the Holy Spirit, what the initial thing is going to be like? It's going to be it's going to be unreal. But that's what I was talking about. And so when that takes place, when the one that restrains, the one that letteth will let until he be taken out of the way, then shall that wicked be revealed, talking about the Antichrist. The Antichrist is not going to be revealed until after the restraining influence of the Holy Spirit dwelling in believers is taken out of the way at the rapture, okay? Then shall that wicked be revealed whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness and them that perish, because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned, who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." Now the way that I see this, this shows us that if you had the opportunity to get saved, Before the rapture took place, and you knew you should, but you didn't, you're not going to get saved afterward. Those that didn't know, there'll be plenty of those that will be saved, but those that had the opportunity and rejected the truth, they're going to be damned. That's what the Bible says. Understand that the man of sin, the antichrist, is revealed after the church has been called away, after the rapture. What is the obligation? Well, we're going to spend the rest of the time in Revelation chapter number 7 and some other places there. We'll probably have you turn to one other place here. We'll turn to Psalm a little bit later. Revelation chapter number 7, let's go there. We can turn very easily from there to where we need to be at. Revelation 7, here's the obligation, verse 13 and 14. And understand that there will be a lot of folks that get saved. We're fixing to read here about some folks that are arrayed in white robes, and they were the ones that came out of the Great Tribulation, and they got saved. There are going to be a lot of folks that get saved. I want you to think about this for a minute. Think about everything that's going to be left behind, truth-wise. Like that table back there full of tracts and full of literature with the gospel. You think about what is broadcast around the world, 365 days a year, 24-7, all the messages, I think it's approaching well over 1,000, probably close to 2,000, if not over 2,000 that we've put out there. People are going to be hungry for the truth. I mean, it's going to be so much chaos. People's hearts will be some. will be turned toward the truth, and they will get saved. Look at, as I said, not the ones that had the opportunity before, but these are the ones that are, it says in verse number 13, Revelation 7 verse 13, one of the elders asked her, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes, and whence came they? And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said unto me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. So we see some people getting saved. Let's look at chapter number 14. Chapter 14, verse 6 and 7. Chapter 14, verse number 6. We see here the gospel being preached. It says in verse number 6, And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God, give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come. and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters." And so we know that there are 144,000 Jewish witnesses that are going to be preaching. We know that this angel preaches. We know that there's two witnesses. that are revealed that also witness. A lot of folks that will be saved, but they will be martyred. And then we see The obligation there was for people to repent and to be saved. There's still the call to turn to Christ. There's still the call to repent after the rapture of the church. And then we see the transgression mentioned in Revelation chapter 9. What happens to mankind that has hardened himself against God? Revelation 9 verse 20 and 21. It says here, And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues, yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils and idols of gold and silver and brass and stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts. So you've got a large, unrepentant crowd that seems like the more that is poured out upon them in judgment, the more hardened they get. Hold your place there in Revelation. Look at Psalm 2 with me for just a moment. Psalm 2 is a prophecy related to the end times. Revelation chapter number 2 verse number 1 says, Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision. Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath and vex them in his sore displeasure. Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. And we see the condemnation comes in Revelation chapter number 14 and verse number 20. And then we're going to look at Revelation 19 and we're going to be done, okay? Revelation 14 and verse number 20. It says here, well, let's back up to verse 19. And the angel thrust his sickle into the earth and gathered the vine of the earth and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of God. And the winepress was trodden without the city and the blood came out of the winepress, even into the horse bridles. by the space of 1,600 furlongs. So, a great destruction there is mentioned, and that actually takes place. The winepress judgment is found in Revelation 19. This is what this was looking forward to. Revelation 19 verses 17 through 21. And it says here in Revelation 19 verse 17, I saw an angel standing in the sun and he cried with a loud voice saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God. that ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire, burning with brimstone. and the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth." It's talking about Jesus. And all the fowls were filled with their flesh. So we see they failed to trust in Jesus and they reaped judgment instead. Now, to make a correction, some folks think that when Jesus comes, there's going to be the restitution of all things, and everybody's going to be saved, including the devil. That's not true. Judgment will not make man obedient to the gospel. It will only harden his heart, and that's why the Lord must judge that sin, and He judges the sin. All right, that's our Bible study for this evening. We'll take a look at the last dispensation, dispensation of the kingdom, the thousand-year ruling reign of Christ, Lord willing, next Wednesday night, okay? Let's pull back out our prayer list. We'll pray for the needs that we mentioned earlier, and we'll be dismissed with this prayer.