1
00:00:05,650 --> 00:00:10,730
Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a

2
00:00:10,730 --> 00:00:16,190
moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And

3
00:00:16,190 --> 00:00:22,350
today, I want you to think through the issue of Christ's will and testament in the book of

4
00:00:22,350 --> 00:00:28,949
Revelation. Indeed, does receive a seven-sealed scroll. What is the nature of that seven-sealed

5
00:00:28,949 --> 00:00:35,630
scroll? Well, I submit to you that it is his will and testament by which he inherits all of

6
00:00:35,630 --> 00:00:42,609
creation. We'll look into that here in just a moment. But first of all, I want to let you know,

7
00:00:42,670 --> 00:00:51,549
once again, give you a little bit of an update on our community Bible study, which is on the book of

8
00:00:51,549 --> 00:00:59,909
Revelation, Revealing Revelation. This is a community study on the apocalypse. That is the book of

9
00:00:59,909 --> 00:01:08,790
Revelation. And we launched that back in October 10th, and we just had our third study together

10
00:01:08,790 --> 00:01:18,829
at Starbucks on 17th Street here in Idaho Falls. And what a delightful time it's been. I wish I could

11
00:01:18,829 --> 00:01:26,650
just have everybody experience what we've been experiencing at this community Bible study on

12
00:01:26,650 --> 00:01:31,730
Thursday evenings. And I just want to invite you, if you haven't stopped by to see us yet,

13
00:01:32,450 --> 00:01:39,750
to go ahead and visit us at 7 p.m. at Starbucks on 17th Street. We have a pretty good little group,

14
00:01:39,750 --> 00:01:47,969
and it seems to be growing. We might have to change venues if we run out of room, if we get too many

15
00:01:47,969 --> 00:01:55,469
more people. But that shouldn't stop you. Please do stop by and pay us a visit. What a delight it's

16
00:01:55,469 --> 00:02:03,290
been. I've been team teaching this course on the book of Revelation with my friend and brother in

17
00:02:03,290 --> 00:02:09,530
Christ, Pastor Mike Gilea. And he's been doing a fantastic job. He's very enthusiastic. He's been

18
00:02:09,530 --> 00:02:17,530
discovering new thing after new thing in the book of Revelation. And he has had his entire orientation

19
00:02:17,530 --> 00:02:25,169
to the book transformed as he's been doing his study. And his vision then of the book of Revelation

20
00:02:25,169 --> 00:02:32,370
is largely then in line with mine as well. We share so much in our perspectives on Revelation. It's been

21
00:02:32,370 --> 00:02:40,490
so exciting. And we've been sharing that with those who come Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. at Starbucks

22
00:02:40,490 --> 00:02:44,129
and it runs till about 8.15. We've been able to promptly conclude.

23
00:02:44,129 --> 00:02:45,050
We've been sharing that with us on our community Bible study. And I want to invite you to join us.

24
00:02:45,449 --> 00:02:54,550
And you're able to give input, ask questions. It's been a very good, intimate study with 10,

25
00:02:54,650 --> 00:03:00,430
12 people. We might have a few more coming as well. And we just look forward to seeing you there

26
00:03:00,430 --> 00:03:08,810
perhaps Thursday evenings at 7 p.m. at Starbucks. And it runs till about 8.15. We've been able to

27
00:03:08,810 --> 00:03:18,569
promptly conclude then at 8.15, one hour and 15 minutes. Good time had by all. Good fellowship to

28
00:03:18,569 --> 00:03:27,210
around a cup of coffee, which I will never argue with. But in any case, let me go on then to help

29
00:03:27,210 --> 00:03:33,629
unpack the book of Revelation a little further, perhaps for you, in this radio program. And today

30
00:03:33,629 --> 00:03:40,530
we're looking at Revelation chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, where we see the Lord Jesus Christ receive

31
00:03:40,530 --> 00:03:49,289
his inheritance by will and testament. And let me read for you then, first of all, Revelation

32
00:03:49,289 --> 00:03:51,229
chapter 5, verses 1 through 5.

33
00:03:51,229 --> 00:04:00,389
Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written and on the back

34
00:04:00,389 --> 00:04:09,090
sealed with seven seals. A scroll written within and on the back, excuse me, sealed with seven seals.

35
00:04:09,789 --> 00:04:15,590
And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and break

36
00:04:15,590 --> 00:04:24,709
its seals. And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll

37
00:04:24,709 --> 00:04:33,129
or to look into it. And I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll

38
00:04:33,129 --> 00:04:40,470
or to look into it. And one of the elders said to me, weep no more. Behold, the lion of the tribe of

39
00:04:40,470 --> 00:04:48,389
Judah. The root of David has conquered so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Oh,

40
00:04:48,449 --> 00:04:55,449
what a beautiful picture then of Christ's triumph. Christ is going out to conquer. And we're going

41
00:04:55,449 --> 00:05:05,689
to see this theme, this motif laced throughout the book of Revelation. The idea of Christ going out

42
00:05:05,689 --> 00:05:13,290
to Nike, to conquer. Do you recognize that word, Nike? It is indeed the Greek word to conquer, to overcome.

43
00:05:13,790 --> 00:05:21,050
And indeed, Christ has done this. And he is in the midst, even now, even today, of conquering his

44
00:05:21,050 --> 00:05:27,730
inheritance, of taking it, even as Joshua and Israel did in the book of Joshua during the conquest.

45
00:05:27,730 --> 00:05:34,790
Christ, well, just because you inherit something, just because you receive something in a will and

46
00:05:34,790 --> 00:05:41,649
testament does not automatically mean that everyone and everything in that will and testament is going

47
00:05:41,649 --> 00:05:46,689
to subdue themselves or turn themselves over to you voluntarily. We see this in the book of Joshua,

48
00:05:46,689 --> 00:05:54,649
and it's true here for Christ as well. One of my favorite Western movies is Red River starring John

49
00:05:54,649 --> 00:06:02,149
Wayne. I like John Wayne Westerns. And Red River is one of his longest films, and it is also one of

50
00:06:02,149 --> 00:06:08,910
his most complex characters. John Wayne is not famous for complex characters, but insofar as he has played

51
00:06:08,910 --> 00:06:18,250
complex characters, his portrayal of Tom Dunson in Red River is one of those complex characters. And

52
00:06:18,250 --> 00:06:29,490
what we see, John Wayne playing Tom Dunson, he rides into Texas with his young adopted son and a couple of

53
00:06:29,490 --> 00:06:38,089
cows, right? And he's going to lay stake to his claim. And he is challenged almost immediately by a

54
00:06:38,089 --> 00:06:44,889
Mexican rancher whose foreman comes out to meet him and ready to shoot him down. But of course, our man,

55
00:06:44,889 --> 00:06:53,129
Tom Dunson, played by John Wayne, has the faster draw and shoots him down. And then Howard Hawks,

56
00:06:53,389 --> 00:07:00,290
the great filmmaker, black and white this film is, but boy, oh boy, it's one of those films that just

57
00:07:00,290 --> 00:07:09,410
endures and endures. Through time-lapse photography, we see this foreman buried in the ground with a cross.

58
00:07:09,410 --> 00:07:18,209
And then through time-lapse photography, we see six more graves appear, but also a vast herd of

59
00:07:18,209 --> 00:07:25,250
cattle that Tom Dunson and his son have managed to flourish and blossom in the American way on the

60
00:07:25,250 --> 00:07:33,389
prairies of Texas. And what a beautiful film it is, too. And in the course of his growing that herd,

61
00:07:33,389 --> 00:07:40,069
he's had to kill six more men to stake his claim and to hold his claim. He's had to go out and conquer

62
00:07:40,069 --> 00:07:49,029
then his territory. And the major motif of Revelation is very similar. It is that of Joshua having to go

63
00:07:49,029 --> 00:07:56,529
out and stake his claim and then to conquer. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the book of Revelation,

64
00:07:56,529 --> 00:08:02,970
receives the earth and all of creation as his inheritance in this seven-sealed scroll.

65
00:08:03,490 --> 00:08:11,829
But like Joshua and Israel, this new Joshua and his church must take and subdue the land in order

66
00:08:11,829 --> 00:08:20,509
to make it his. Oh, yes, Tom Dunson has nothing on our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the new Joshua by his

67
00:08:20,509 --> 00:08:31,790
very name. What is the name Jesus? It is the Greco version of the Hebrew Yeshua. And that is his name,

68
00:08:31,949 --> 00:08:40,429
our Lord Yeshua. The conquest of creation by his people, the church, is the Joshua theme all through

69
00:08:40,429 --> 00:08:45,470
the book of Revelation. The new paradigm is indeed the book of Joshua in the book of Revelation.

70
00:08:45,470 --> 00:08:50,690
And we will see this beautiful symmetry throughout the apocalypse from here on in.

71
00:08:51,409 --> 00:08:57,570
So let's look to our text today, where what has been implicit heretofore is now made quite

72
00:08:57,570 --> 00:09:05,610
explicit from now on. A couple of points I want to make with you in this chapter. Chapter five,

73
00:09:05,669 --> 00:09:10,289
verses one through five, which we just read in the book of Revelation. Point number one,

74
00:09:10,289 --> 00:09:16,450
our title is will and testament. This is the major theme in this chapter, will and testament.

75
00:09:17,190 --> 00:09:26,110
The father has established a last will and testament to bequeath all of creation to one worthy at the

76
00:09:26,110 --> 00:09:32,169
death of the testator. Yes, that's all packed into point number one, verse number one.

77
00:09:32,169 --> 00:09:42,049
The phrase, then I saw, right in chapter five, then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the

78
00:09:42,049 --> 00:09:50,090
throne, a scroll, right? That phrase, then I saw, indicates a major shift in focus now, though not

79
00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:56,730
necessarily a shift in locale. We're still in heaven. But John is directed to a new development

80
00:09:56,730 --> 00:10:04,529
here in heaven. It's nothing less than a bequeathal ceremony in which a will and testament is bestowed

81
00:10:04,529 --> 00:10:11,850
upon one who inherits from his father. How do we know this? Oh, the great scholar Zahn, in his

82
00:10:11,850 --> 00:10:17,470
commentary, he puts it like this. He says, the word biblion, which is the Greek word used here for

83
00:10:17,470 --> 00:10:23,950
scroll, the word biblion itself permits of many interpretations. And it could mean, indeed,

84
00:10:23,950 --> 00:10:31,909
a biblion could mean a book of destiny or providence. That's one of the close alternatives here to what

85
00:10:31,909 --> 00:10:37,830
we're going to propose. But, as Zahn goes on to say, the word biblion itself permits of many

86
00:10:37,830 --> 00:10:45,129
interpretations. But for the readers of that time, it was designated by the seven seals on its back,

87
00:10:45,470 --> 00:10:51,990
beyond possibility of mistake. The most simple member of the Asiatic churches knew that a biblion

88
00:10:51,990 --> 00:11:01,210
made fast with seven seals was a testament, that is, a will. Unquote. And this we must emphasize

89
00:11:01,210 --> 00:11:07,009
throughout the book of Revelation, especially here in this chapter. The readers of that time,

90
00:11:07,090 --> 00:11:14,190
as Zahn says, it was designated by the seven seals on its back, beyond possibility of mistake.

91
00:11:14,190 --> 00:11:22,470
That is, it was a biblion made fast with seven seals, was a testament, a will. That would have been

92
00:11:22,470 --> 00:11:31,289
its most self-evident nature to any reader, to any hearer of this testament. When we see a man with a

93
00:11:31,289 --> 00:11:35,909
green shade open a large ledger and pick up his pen, we know we're looking at an old-fashioned banker

94
00:11:35,909 --> 00:11:41,769
or accountant, right? When we see a uniformed officer flip open a pad by a car on the side of the road,

95
00:11:41,769 --> 00:11:46,850
we know it's a cop who's about to write a traffic ticket. When we see a rope figure in a pulpit open

96
00:11:46,850 --> 00:11:53,690
a large book and prepare to read, we know it's a minister about to read the Bible. Well, just so.

97
00:11:54,350 --> 00:12:03,289
In its context, the first century reader, or more likely the listener, would have envisioned a figure

98
00:12:03,289 --> 00:12:10,549
of great authority holding a scroll written within and on the back and sealed with seven seals,

99
00:12:10,549 --> 00:12:17,990
and he would have immediately recognized that a great ceremony of great importance was about to

100
00:12:17,990 --> 00:12:24,370
take place. That is, the reading and disposition of a will and testament. That would have been

101
00:12:24,370 --> 00:12:33,389
immediately discernible to any first century listener to this text. The ancient Roman will and testament

102
00:12:33,389 --> 00:12:40,429
was given on a scroll where the greater the inheritance, the more was written, and sometimes

103
00:12:40,429 --> 00:12:47,129
fully on both front and back. Indeed, so written on front and back, a very full will and testament that

104
00:12:47,129 --> 00:12:53,909
is all of creation going to be handed over. And it was sealed, then, this ancient Roman will and

105
00:12:53,909 --> 00:13:01,470
testament, which every listener would have immediately recognized. Then this scroll sealed by seven

106
00:13:01,470 --> 00:13:08,470
witnesses who affixed their seal to the scroll so that it would not be tampered with until the death

107
00:13:08,470 --> 00:13:16,330
of the testator, right? And we see allusions all through Roman literature, especially in the writers

108
00:13:16,330 --> 00:13:25,950
Cicero and Virgil, that this indeed was the case. A seven-sealed scroll was a will or testament witnessed

109
00:13:25,950 --> 00:13:33,269
by seven witnesses who then affixed their own personal seal to that scroll, to that will and testament.

110
00:13:33,929 --> 00:13:42,389
Well then, upon the death of the testator, usually the father of a great estate, then the eldest son would

111
00:13:42,389 --> 00:13:49,029
open that scroll and he would read and execute the will and testament. And it was ideally then in the

112
00:13:49,029 --> 00:13:55,970
presence of the seven witnesses who sealed it. Well, we still have formal ceremonies, don't we?

113
00:13:55,970 --> 00:14:02,570
In much the same fashion, where upon the death of a father with a substantial estate, the family is

114
00:14:02,570 --> 00:14:09,129
called to a formal reading of the will, right? Dramatized many times by Hollywood or television

115
00:14:09,129 --> 00:14:17,149
over the years, hasn't it? Where who gets what, then, is detailed. Behold the scene before us in

116
00:14:17,149 --> 00:14:24,230
chapter five of Revelation. What will be the nature of the contents? Oh, that is always the drama, isn't

117
00:14:24,230 --> 00:14:30,049
it? Hollywood has always capitalized on that dramatic moment, including a modern version in the

118
00:14:30,049 --> 00:14:36,629
series Strange Inheritance, if you've ever heard that on the radio or seen it on TV with Jamie Colby

119
00:14:36,629 --> 00:14:43,110
hosting, right? Strange Inheritance. What a fascinating show that is. Well, but before we get

120
00:14:43,110 --> 00:14:49,610
to the contents of that inheritance, that will and testament, there is more drama before us in chapter

121
00:14:49,610 --> 00:14:54,049
five, isn't there? And that brings me to point two, and I want to cover verses two through four

122
00:14:54,049 --> 00:15:00,350
here. In this point, we are looking at will and testament. That's the title of my sermon,

123
00:15:01,190 --> 00:15:07,929
chapter five of the book of Revelation, because it deals with the will and testament of the father to

124
00:15:07,929 --> 00:15:16,250
the son. And we see a mighty angel in verses two through four. A mighty angel establishes that only

125
00:15:16,250 --> 00:15:23,070
one worthy under the terms and conditions of that testament, only that one worthy is worthy to break the

126
00:15:23,070 --> 00:15:32,830
seventh seal, verses two through four. Now, in those verses, when initially John narrates what he sees,

127
00:15:32,830 --> 00:15:41,389
he now narrates what he hears, doesn't he? A mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice. This is what he

128
00:15:41,389 --> 00:15:48,350
hears. A mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice. Wouldn't that be terrifying? This is the first of

129
00:15:48,350 --> 00:15:56,090
three mighty angels who will announce and execute events of great consequence, turning points in the

130
00:15:56,090 --> 00:16:02,830
narrative of the apocalypse. And here's one of three great angels. It's the idea of recapitulation that

131
00:16:02,830 --> 00:16:09,490
I've gone over with you time and time again, that themes are recapitulated throughout the book of

132
00:16:09,490 --> 00:16:16,190
Revelation. And we see that beginning here with three mighty angels, the first of them. Now, we see the

133
00:16:16,190 --> 00:16:23,830
final and complete destinies of the nations will be disposed of, right? In chapter 10, then I saw another

134
00:16:23,830 --> 00:16:28,909
mighty angel coming down from heaven wrapped in a cloud with a rainbow over his head and his face was

135
00:16:28,909 --> 00:16:35,549
like the sun and his legs like the pillars of fire. He had a little scroll open in his hand. That's the

136
00:16:35,549 --> 00:16:41,129
mighty angel in chapter 10. There's one in chapter 18 as well. The final destiny of Babylon the great

137
00:16:41,129 --> 00:16:47,389
will be disposed of there. Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it

138
00:16:47,389 --> 00:16:53,370
into the sea, saying, so will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will be found

139
00:16:53,370 --> 00:17:02,289
no more, unquote. Chapter 18, another mighty angel. Well, here, just as a messenger would go out

140
00:17:02,289 --> 00:17:08,670
throughout the land to call all of the interested parties to the disposition of a Roman will and

141
00:17:08,670 --> 00:17:17,869
testament. So a mighty messenger, an angelos, calls to all of creation to determine who is the authentic

142
00:17:17,869 --> 00:17:25,970
heir who alone can break the seven seals. He calls out to all of creation, heaven, earth, and under the

143
00:17:25,970 --> 00:17:35,170
earth, who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seven seals? Mighty voice. Well, sometimes

144
00:17:35,170 --> 00:17:45,549
commentators shroud this narrative in great mystery and drama as if some unknown criteria known only to

145
00:17:45,549 --> 00:17:52,809
God is requisite for the opening of the scroll, right? I've seen many commentators shroud this in

146
00:17:52,809 --> 00:17:58,809
great mystery and drama, but the simplest solution, still heavy with great drama and authority, the

147
00:17:58,809 --> 00:18:05,049
simplest solution is that the eldest son who has labored in the house of his father doing

148
00:18:05,049 --> 00:18:12,809
the will of the father is the one worthy to open the will and testament, right? Oh, we see an example

149
00:18:12,809 --> 00:18:19,890
of this in the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. And there, our Lord in the parable

150
00:18:19,890 --> 00:18:26,289
says, look, these many years I have served you, says the eldest son. Remember when he complains, the younger

151
00:18:26,289 --> 00:18:33,190
prodigal son comes back and dad throws him a big party. And I never disobeyed your command,

152
00:18:33,190 --> 00:18:37,950
and the son says, yet you never gave me a young goat that I might celebrate with my friends.

153
00:18:38,630 --> 00:18:44,730
And of course, the father says to him, son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.

154
00:18:45,150 --> 00:18:50,190
There's the inheritance that's coming to the eldest son, right? It was fitting to celebrate and be glad

155
00:18:50,190 --> 00:18:55,049
for this your brother was dead and is alive. He was lost and is found. Indeed, everything is

156
00:18:55,049 --> 00:19:03,509
his, he says to the eldest son. At first glance, the answer comes back here in Revelation, though,

157
00:19:04,109 --> 00:19:10,329
as we return to the mighty angel calling out to all of creation, who is worthy to open the scroll and

158
00:19:10,329 --> 00:19:19,470
break its seven seals? At first glance, the answer comes back that nowhere in all of creation can there

159
00:19:19,470 --> 00:19:26,750
be found one who is worthy to inherit all of creation, right? And no one in heaven or on earth

160
00:19:26,750 --> 00:19:32,690
or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it. We see that in verse three. That's

161
00:19:32,690 --> 00:19:39,269
the answer that comes back. Well, think of all the myriad of creatures that we have encountered so far

162
00:19:39,269 --> 00:19:46,710
in the book of Revelation. You think the earth now is full of beautiful creatures and myriads and

163
00:19:46,710 --> 00:19:53,250
myriads of species that we haven't even been able to identify fully as we go through all of creation.

164
00:19:53,410 --> 00:19:59,210
And this is a fallen creation. And look at the beauty, the myriad of creatures. Well, heaven's going

165
00:19:59,210 --> 00:20:04,910
to be stocked with even more of them. We'll be stunned at the galore and the beauty of all of the

166
00:20:04,910 --> 00:20:10,390
creatures that we find in heaven. We've already encountered many, many of them, right? All of the

167
00:20:10,390 --> 00:20:16,970
mighty beings and the angels that we've have yet to see, too, for that matter. Creation is festooned

168
00:20:16,970 --> 00:20:23,369
with them and most of whom we would be tempted to fall down and worship before if we encountered them

169
00:20:23,369 --> 00:20:31,190
now. But none of them, none of these creatures even come close to being worthy to inherit what the

170
00:20:31,190 --> 00:20:38,690
Father is prepared to bestow. Ah, think of the consequences. This were the end of the matter,

171
00:20:38,690 --> 00:20:44,650
dear listener. Think of the results for all of us. If indeed no one had been found in heaven,

172
00:20:45,049 --> 00:20:52,210
on earth, or under the earth, that was worthy to inherit, to open the scroll, to break the seven

173
00:20:52,210 --> 00:21:00,130
seals. Oh, all the promises of the Old Testament, for example, if they all went unfulfilled, as

174
00:21:00,130 --> 00:21:08,490
psalm 82 says, arise, O God, judge the earth, for you shall inherit all the nations. That's what we're

175
00:21:08,490 --> 00:21:13,829
going to find in the scroll, is that this promise is fulfilled, that Christ will inherit all the

176
00:21:13,829 --> 00:21:21,210
nations. Or the promise in Psalm 111, he has shown his people the power of his works in giving them the

177
00:21:21,210 --> 00:21:28,190
inheritance of the nations. Yes, the inheritance of the nations. The nations will be that which is

178
00:21:28,190 --> 00:21:35,369
inherited by the one worthy to open the seals. What then of us, too, if indeed no one had been found

179
00:21:35,369 --> 00:21:41,930
in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, who was worthy to open the seven-sealed scroll, the

180
00:21:41,930 --> 00:21:49,849
inheritance of the Lord? What then would be of us? Ah, it would mean that we are certainly lost.

181
00:21:49,849 --> 00:21:55,650
We find the promises to us from the beginning then to be null and void, if that's the case.

182
00:21:56,349 --> 00:22:03,609
The call of the angel would ring hollow, wouldn't it, through eternity, empty, unanswered. The will

183
00:22:03,609 --> 00:22:10,569
and testament would remain unopened and sealed forever. Oh, what a tragedy that would be. This is

184
00:22:10,569 --> 00:22:17,150
the context in which John finds himself. All of the promise of our Lord's ministry while John walked

185
00:22:17,150 --> 00:22:24,349
with Christ will come up short. No, wouldn't it, in the final analysis? All of the guts and content

186
00:22:24,349 --> 00:22:31,490
of the covenants with the fathers, and that promised under the new covenant, too. This is the new covenant

187
00:22:31,490 --> 00:22:38,309
of my blood, right? Our Lord said all of this would be empty and shallow in the end. Salvation is bust.

188
00:22:38,309 --> 00:22:47,470
At last, that would be the consequence. What reaction would this prompt in any of us, huh? To know that

189
00:22:47,470 --> 00:22:54,210
that that vast, glorious inheritance is there, waiting to be claimed and fulfilled, but there is

190
00:22:54,210 --> 00:23:02,630
none worthy to seize it and execute its claims. We are meant to feel the poignancy of this moment

191
00:23:02,630 --> 00:23:10,470
with John. Don't jump too quickly to what you know will happen next, right? We know what will happen

192
00:23:10,470 --> 00:23:17,250
next. We've read the book. But appreciate, first of all, the contents of the scroll, which is your

193
00:23:17,250 --> 00:23:25,029
inheritance, because you are organically connected to the inheritor. You are. You are as a member of

194
00:23:25,029 --> 00:23:31,769
Christ's body. We may know, for example, that Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall will come together

195
00:23:31,769 --> 00:23:36,230
in the end in their movies, but we still cry when they're apart in the middle of the movie because

196
00:23:36,230 --> 00:23:42,089
we're invested in the characters. We may know that good will triumph in the end of the film, but we

197
00:23:42,089 --> 00:23:49,109
still cry when the hero dies defending good because we are invested in the character. Well, John breaks

198
00:23:49,109 --> 00:23:57,109
down and weeps uncontrollably when no one worthy is found to break the seals of the scroll because he

199
00:23:57,109 --> 00:24:03,869
too is invested in the contents of that scroll. That is the promise of the covenants, dear listener,

200
00:24:04,410 --> 00:24:11,509
the inheritance of the nations, the salvation and redemption that is his. How would you respond?

201
00:24:12,250 --> 00:24:17,710
How would you respond? This is the deliberate drama that we are faced with, dear listener,

202
00:24:17,710 --> 00:24:26,849
in the contents of this book. Well, I'm going to leave you hanging there with that drama until next

203
00:24:26,849 --> 00:24:36,210
week because we really can't unpack this with due justice until we postpone it, until next week.

204
00:24:36,609 --> 00:24:43,829
But know, indeed, that the drama continues, that there will be one found worthy to take the inheritance

205
00:24:43,829 --> 00:24:52,589
of the scrolls. So until then, dear listener, I want to invite you to see how the glorious Christ

206
00:24:52,589 --> 00:24:58,670
will indeed inherit and break those seven seals and why he is worthy to break those seven seals. What

207
00:24:58,670 --> 00:25:06,470
a beautiful thing that will be. But until then, I invite you to join us in our study of the book of

208
00:25:06,470 --> 00:25:15,309
Revelation with Pastor Mike Gillia of Share of the Sun Ministries. And we both are team teaching the book

209
00:25:15,309 --> 00:25:22,329
of Revelation on Thursday evenings at Starbucks at 7 p.m. We begin at 7 p.m. Come in, join us,

210
00:25:22,529 --> 00:25:27,930
come a little early, maybe grab a cup of coffee and sit down with us and talk through the book of

211
00:25:27,930 --> 00:25:33,690
Revelation as we unpack chapter by chapter. We're going through chapter by chapter in the book of

212
00:25:33,690 --> 00:25:41,009
Revelation. And it's been a lot of fun and many have joined us and many will join us then in the

213
00:25:41,009 --> 00:25:50,630
near future, too. But I invite you to join us at 7 p.m. on Thursday evenings at Starbucks on 17th

214
00:25:50,630 --> 00:25:58,549
Street, where we will unpack this community study of the book of Revelation. I am Pastor David Bass

215
00:25:58,549 --> 00:26:05,309
at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Idaho Falls. We meet for holy worship at 10 a.m.,

216
00:26:05,309 --> 00:26:11,730
where I'm preaching through the book of Revelation, all things Revelation. My head is just jam-packed with

217
00:26:11,730 --> 00:26:19,450
things of the book of Revelation. It's 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. We meet for holy worship. We invite you to

218
00:26:19,450 --> 00:26:28,769
join us. And we also then invite you to our Bible study again. And you can call us for more

219
00:26:28,769 --> 00:26:34,250
information. Let us know you're coming, perhaps. But you want more questions, give us some feedback.

220
00:26:34,470 --> 00:26:46,250
You can call us at area code 208-523-0196. That's area code 208-523-0196.