The Two Witnesses
Revelation • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION
Revelation chapter 11 tonight pt 2. The last time we were together, we talked about the first two verses of chapter 11
REVIEW:
There is a temple mentioned in the first two verses. What does that temple represent? What are the options?
ANSWER: a physical 3rd temple or the people of God
Why does this best fit a temple representing God’s people?
Because NT theology teaches our bodies are temples.
Temple worship was an OT concept because it represented the dwelling place of God.
Jesus said, “John 4:21–24 (NASB95): Jesus *said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
QUESTION: What does the measuring of the temple represent here?
ANSWER: The protection of God
we know that because the contrast in these two verses is between those who have been given over to the nations to be trampled and those who have not.
The take away from this is that many in the church will suffer during the tribulation and be killed. And that truth applies to us today. Even now many in the church all over the world are being killed for their faith.
THE TWO WITNESSES
Revelation 11:3–6 “And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty 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 wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; so if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.”
Who are these two witnesses?
There are two general views
One is that these two witnesses are to be taken literally.
Some say these are Moses and Elijah
Moses turned the water into blood and brought the plagues upon Egypt
Elijah called down fire from heaven and kept It from raining by asking God to withhold the rain
The problem with this is view is that these two witnesses are not named.
Others who see this literally say it should be taken literally because they are killed, and then resurrected
The other view is that these are to be understood symbolically as representing the church
And that is the way I understand it because it fits right in with verses 1-2.
Those outside the temple will be trampled on by the gentiles for 42 months
These two witnesses will be killed by the beast which correlates to that
(v 4) says these two witnesses are the two lamp stands that stand before the Lord.
We learned in chapter 1 that the lampstands represent the churches before Jesus
Revelation 1:20 ““As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
The whole world sees the death of these witnesses which correlates to the whole church dispersed all over the world
The beast who overcomes them points back to Daniel 7:21““I kept looking, and that horn was waging war with the saints and overpowering them”
There are “two witnesses”because the number 2 is the number for witness in Scripture.
I am in favor of these witnesses representing the church during the tribulation Period
Observations from this passage About the church in those days?
(v 3) the primary message of the church is “to prophesy”
What does it mean to prophesy?
Prophesy has two meanings:
It is both foretelling as in telling the future of what God is going to do.
It also means “forthtelling” which means proclaiming God’s truth
Preacher today do not “foretell” (at least that is my opinion). And be very careful of those that claim to do so. They seem to be consistently false prophets
But preachers do “foretell” God’s truth from the Word of God.
That's what a preaching ministry is
It is proclaiming the truth of God’s Word through careful study and accurate interpretation, not led away by imagination or personal desires, or in such a way that attracts people By leaving difficult parts out.
Application: And this is what God’s people need to hear. This is what feeds the sheep. this is what converts the sinner. This is what a faithful church does. It speaks God’s truth in love.
(v 3) It is also a call to repent “clothed in sackcloth and ashes”
Sounds a little different from the message we hear today is it?
What message do you think the world needs to hear today and why?
The church cannot be harmed without divine retribution from God (v 5)
God’s divine protection is on the church for a period of time.
That is no matter how bad someone wants it destroy it, they cannot.
This is comforting word for every ministry: God’s power is on and over every biblical ministry regardless of what the world thinks or does.
A biblical ministry called by God is invincible until God says otherwise. No man nor power of darkness can stop it or overthrow it
The church in that day will see miracles as in the days of Elijah and Moses.
They will have divine authority from the earth to do things that generation has never seen in a church
Revelation 11:7–10 “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 mystically is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and 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 celebrate; and they will send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth.
This church stands and proclaims for 3 1/2 years until their ministry is finished.
And then the beast from the earth will rise up and kill them
Now the beast from the earth is not a literal beast, but a satanic figure, most think this is the antichrist. He will give orders for the church to be overcome and wiped out.
Imagine the entire church in that day, slain, martyred, no longer in existent.
And the bodies of all those faithful believers laying dead and the world so wicked will not even bury them
They lay out in the open for all the world to see.
Nd what does the world do in response to the defeat of the church?
They start a new holiday.
They send gifts to one another.
They rejoice with one another. They celebrate becuase, “these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth”
QUESTION: How do you think they tormented them?
QUESTION: So you think there is a great gulf between the ministry of churches today and the church of that great day?
Should there be any difference? What are those differences? Why do you think churches are so far from that now?
The promise for the faithful
The promise for the faithful
Revelation 11:11–14 “But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here.” Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; 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.”
Here the world thought they had won.
They had overcome the church. They killed the saints of the church. But God resurrected the church so that the world could see them triumph.
Application:
The truth to be taken away here is the way God often works in our lives.
God often lets us arrive at the place of defeat so that He can do miraculous things for the world to see
So many times things look grim, and even impossible in our lives so that when He moves the world can only say, it was God. there is no other explanation.
He has done that in my life, and may have done that in your life too. And if we will let Him, He will do it again and again.
What happens to the church?
They are take INTO heaven. Not taken in heaven but INTO heaven.
They are saved from their worldly troubles and enter into eternal security and heavenly bliss.
Application: The answer to all of our problems is solved by steadfast faithfulness
It is remaining faithful in difficult situations despite what we see or feel
It is those people who will always come out on top
Does this symbolize the rapture of the church?
Not likely since the gathering of God’s people will not be until the return of Christ
Mark 13:26–27 ““Then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. “And then He will send forth the angels, and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.”
Notice how the world responds when this happens: “they have glory to the God of heaven”
‘When they overcame the church, the church died, and God brought the church back to life we say, “why did God allow that to happen?” “Why did do that that way?”
And often in our own lives we are asking the question: “why?”
Why must you do things that way?
Why must it be so hard?
Why must I suffer?
So that the world will “give glory to God”
Nothing makes God more visible to the world than when the church is faithful despite immense suffering.
‘You want to sine for Jesus, stay right where you are, and do not move until God delivers you, and the world will know God did it.
Church: The way we live our lives right now is a testimony to the world about Jesus.
When we are faithful despite difficult circumstances, it is testifying great things about God to the world.
The same is true if we live in unfaithfulness. We are God’s witnesses on earth, in this generation, within our families, within our community, right now.
God has you in this ministry right now to be a faithful witness
Do not take it lightly. it’s far greater than we could even imagine
