The Revelation of Christ – Part 26:
The Two Witnesses
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the
full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon
Audios. For a complete list of Sermon
Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth
Digest on facebook; for our Official
Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook
at House of Faith Church
SERMON
INTRODUCTION
The
Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most challenging book
in the bible.
Because
of this fact, many avoid it or ignore it altogether. Some fear lack of
understanding; others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to
avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.
Many
times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right
into Revelation and find out what’s to come.
This
is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author
a novel in Chinese that very same day.
Or,
a kindergartener learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum
mechanics calculations.
The
words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgment, even some who
claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than Jesus
Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.
A
special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.
Although
it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this
is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the
Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by
little.
SERMON SERIES
THE THINGS WHICH
ARE – The Church Age (Age of Grace)
Part 3 – Ephesus The
Backsliding Church
Part 4 – Smyrna The
Steadfast Church
Part 5 – Pergamos The Immoral Church
Part 6 – Thyatira The Careless Pagan Church
Part 7 – Sardis The Spiritless Church
Part 8 – Philadelphia The Favored Church
Part 9 – Laodicea The Church God Hates
THE THINGS WHICH
SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Scroll and Seven Seals
Part 12 – The Lamb is Worthy
Part 13 –
The First Seal
Part 14 – The Second Seal
Part 15 – The Third Seal
Part 16 – The Fourth Seal
Part 17 – The Fifth Seal
Part 18 – The Sixth Seal
Part 19 – The 144,000 Sealed
Part 20 – The Great Multitude
Part 21 – The Seventh Seal
Part 22 – Trumpets 1-4
Part 23 – The 5th Trumpet (1st woe)
Part 24 – The 6th Trumpet (2nd woe)
Part 25 – The Mighty Angel
TODAY’S SERMON -
THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 26 – The Two Witnesses
SCRIPTURE READING
Revelation
11:1-14
I
was given a reed like a measuring rod and was told, “Go and measure the temple
of God and the altar, with its worshipers. 2 But exclude the outer court; do
not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles. They will trample on
the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they
will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” 4 They are “the two olive
trees” and the two lampstands, and “they stand before the Lord of the
earth.”[a] 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and
devours their enemies. This is how anyone who wants to harm them must die. 6
They have power to shut up the heavens so that it will not rain during the time
they are prophesying; and they have power to turn the waters into blood and to
strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7
Now when they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up from the
Abyss will attack them, and overpower and kill them. 8 Their bodies will lie in
the public square of the great city—which is figuratively called Sodom and
Egypt—where also their Lord was crucified. 9 For three and a half days some
from every people, tribe, language and nation will gaze on their bodies and
refuse them burial. 10 The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them and
will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had
tormented those who live on the earth.
11
But after the three and a half days the breath[b] of life from God entered
them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them. 12
Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” And
they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies looked on.
13
At that very hour there was a severe earthquake and a tenth of the city
collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the
survivors were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14
The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.
I.
MEASURE THE TEMPLE OF GOD
a.
And the Altar and the worshippers
i. But exclude the outer court
for the Gentiles
ii. This Temple John is
measuring is probably the Temple the Jews will rebuild to reinstate the ancient
Jewish rite, such as sacrifices
iii. John is told to measure the
inner court, which is symbolic of the faithful remnant of worshippers, but
exclude the outer court (gentiles) which symbolizes apostate Israel
iv. This Temple belongs to God,
yet during the Great Tribulation it is desecrated, and an idol of the world
ruler is placed there. (2 Thessalonians 2:4; Revelation 13:14-15; Daniel
9:27; 12:11)
b.
They will trample on the Holy City for 42 months
i. This is the last 3 ½ years
of Tribulation, the “trampling” by the gentiles probably refers to the fact that
they have influenced the Temple into placing an idol within its walls of the
world leader.
ii. And I will appoint my two
witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days clothed in sackcloth
iii. These two witnesses will
pour out divine judgment upon the earth, and will receive divine protection
until the judgment is complete
1. Just as the prophets of the
old covenant, and apostles of the new covenant, these witnesses speak the Truth
of God’s Word
2. And just as the prophets of
old, and Jesus, the faithful witness of the new, were killed by the sinful
world for their Words, the two witnesses will also be killed because of their
words
c.
They are the two olive trees
i. Who are the two witnesses?
ii. The two olive trees, the two
lampstands
1. Olive trees representing the
Truth of God’s Word
2. The lampstands (like
churches) reflecting the Spirit of God
iii. Perhaps they are Elijah and
Enoch, for they must “die” and be resurrected
iv. Hebrews
9:27
“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”
v. Elijah and Enoch were the
only two men recorded in scripture who were “taken up” and didn’t die. They
were both “men” as in human, so they must die at some point according to
scripture.
vi. If anyone tries to harm
them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies
1. I take this to mean judgment
(fire)
2. Perhaps in the same way
Jesus disbursed the crowd wanting to stone the adulteress to death by writing
the personal sins of the attackers in the sand, these witnesses speak into
light the private sins of their attackers, causing them to want to return to the
dark and out of the light
a. Remember, the world is
watching these witnesses, and can hear everything they say
b. Not many would stand by as
their deepest, darkest sins were made public before the world
vii. They have the power to stop
the rain from falling (a sign God approves of them)
1. It will not rain during the
time they are prophesying
viii. They have the power to turn
the waters into blood (which would be especially devastating considering most
of the drinkable water has been poisoned already, and it is not raining!)
ix. And they can strike the
earth with every kind of plague as often as they want (probably why the grass
and trees and vegetation was left alone during the first of the seals, so the
world could witness the power of God through these witnesses, just as Egypt did
through Moses)
II.
WHEN THE TWO WITNESSES FINISH THEIR TESTIMONY
a.
The beast that came up from the Abyss will kill them
i. Always seeking to silence
the church’s witnesses
ii. The beast that came out of
the pit is likely Satan (false god)
iii. The beast that came out of
the sea is the world dictator (antichrist)
iv. The beast that came from the
land is the false religious leader (false spirit)
v. This is the unholy trinity
b.
For 3 ½ days they lay where Jesus was crucified,
figuratively called Sodom and Egypt
i. And the world will see them
ii. This is easy to understand
and believe now, but when this was written, it was impossible for images and
sounds to be relayed around the world, especially LIVE
iii. These two witnesses will die
in the same place Jesus was crucified to seal the New Covenant
iv. This place is figuratively
referred to as Sodom and Egypt
1. Sodom’s wicked inhabitants
were brought down by fire from heaven
2. Egypt, symbolic of sin,
defeated by God through sacrifice
v. After they are killed, they
will be on display for 3 ½ days to the world
c.
The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over them
i. The earth will celebrate
their death
ii. Give each other gifts (like
Christmas celebrating Jesus’ birth)
iii. Why were those who live on
earth tormented? Because God’s witnesses pointed out their sins, and the coming
judgment
iv. They more than likely
prophesy specifics, God’s prophecies are not vague
III.
THEY WILL RETURN TO LIFE
a.
God’s breath of life will enter them
i. We see God bring them back
to life after 3 ½ days, as He did with Jonah, Lazarus, Jesus, it is a sign to
the people, God is in control
ii. They stand again, and terror
struck all those who saw this
b.
A voice from heaven will call to them
i. They will answer the call
from heaven to “come up here” and ascend into the clouds as their enemies
looked on
c.
And at that very hour
i. There was a severe
earthquake (as when Jesus died on the cross)
ii. 7,000 people were killed
iii. And the survivors were
terrified and gave glory to God of heaven
CONCLUSION
–
The second woe has passed; the
third woe is coming soon
Next week… The Seventh
Trumpet
Want to learn more about
Salvation and Getting Saved?
Want to hear the audio to this sermon?
No comments:
Post a Comment