1 00:00:05,679 --> 00:00:11,800 Greetings. This is Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:17,019 moment of truth, where we challenge you to think through an important issue of life and faith. And 3 00:00:17,019 --> 00:00:24,460 today, I want to challenge you to think through the issue of God's use of all the elements of 4 00:00:24,460 --> 00:00:31,100 creation to bring about his will and further to conquer on behalf of his son, the Lord Jesus 5 00:00:31,100 --> 00:00:36,460 Christ. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ, as we have seen in our study of the book of Revelation, 6 00:00:37,140 --> 00:00:44,380 is about taking his inheritance, even as Joshua and Israel took the inheritance in Canaan. So now, 7 00:00:44,619 --> 00:00:52,920 after the ascension and opening of the seven seals of the scroll, our Lord Jesus Christ is the new 8 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:59,700 Joshua, and we are the new Israel, and we are accompanying the new Joshua in conquering his 9 00:00:59,700 --> 00:01:07,939 inheritance. And indeed, we're going to see today that at his disposal are the weapons of his warfare, 10 00:01:07,939 --> 00:01:15,120 that is, all of creation, every element of creation. But before we do unpack this vital truth, 11 00:01:15,719 --> 00:01:23,799 I want to invite you to join us in our weekly Bible study on the book of Revelation. We're doing a 12 00:01:23,799 --> 00:01:31,280 community Bible study on the book of Revelation. And it's meeting on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. 13 00:01:31,599 --> 00:01:39,340 at Starbucks on 17th Street in Idaho Falls. And it's been so fun. We have recommenced this past 14 00:01:39,340 --> 00:01:48,799 Thursday, which was January 9. And so we're looking at weeks hence, weeks to follow. We'll begin 15 00:01:48,799 --> 00:01:58,659 meeting every Thursday now, right on through to Easter on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. at Starbucks 16 00:01:58,659 --> 00:02:04,579 on 17th Street. We encourage you to join us. It's been fun. We're really developing 17 00:02:04,579 --> 00:02:14,120 a camaraderie, a sense of fellowship and understanding as we unpack the vital message of the book of 18 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:22,319 Revelation. And so we invite you to join us. And I'm team teaching it with my brother, Pastor Mike 19 00:02:22,319 --> 00:02:29,360 Gilea of Share the Sun Ministries. And I am Pastor David Bass at New Geneva Presbyterian Church. 20 00:02:29,680 --> 00:02:37,060 And we are team teaching this course. And it's been fun. Many numbers of people have joined us, 21 00:02:37,219 --> 00:02:42,400 not only from our churches, but also from churches far and wide. And those that don't 22 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:48,039 particularly attend a church either. So it's been good for all of us to fellowship together. 23 00:02:48,659 --> 00:02:58,139 But let me return to our topic for today, which is what I've called elemental wrath. As we see 24 00:02:58,139 --> 00:03:05,400 the Lord Jesus Christ using all the elements of creation to conquer his creation. Now, his inheritance, 25 00:03:06,039 --> 00:03:12,240 which is the seven-sealed scroll and encompasses all of creation now. It's a beautiful, beautiful, 26 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,960 beautiful vision that we have here in the book of Revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ as he goes 27 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:23,360 about conquering, as he goes about taking possession of his inheritance. And today we're going to look at 28 00:03:23,360 --> 00:03:32,680 Revelation chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. Revelation chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. We're going to 29 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,819 unpack the sixth seal. And here we go. 30 00:03:35,819 --> 00:03:43,020 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth 31 00:03:43,020 --> 00:03:50,300 made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red and the stars in the sky fell to earth as late 32 00:03:50,300 --> 00:03:58,139 figs dropped from a fig tree. When shaken by a strong wind, the sky receded like a scroll rolling up and 33 00:03:58,139 --> 00:04:04,300 every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, 34 00:04:04,300 --> 00:04:10,699 the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks 35 00:04:10,699 --> 00:04:16,459 of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of 36 00:04:16,459 --> 00:04:22,459 him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb. For the great day of the wrath has come 37 00:04:22,459 --> 00:04:32,459 and who can stand. Ominous words from the apostle John in the book of Revelation. And they portend 38 00:04:32,459 --> 00:04:38,939 judgment for the earth, vindication for us, the church, and victory and conquering on behalf of the 39 00:04:38,939 --> 00:04:45,740 lamb. Oh, what a blessed text this is. Revelation chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. And I've entitled 40 00:04:45,740 --> 00:04:54,060 this message, elemental wrath, because God uses the elements of the creation to conquer, to bring about 41 00:04:54,060 --> 00:05:01,420 his will, doesn't he? As I think about elements and creation, the different elements of creation being 42 00:05:01,420 --> 00:05:13,019 used as a weapon, I think of a man named Alan Robach, who is a climatologist at Rutgers University 43 00:05:13,019 --> 00:05:22,300 in New Jersey. Climatologist Alan Robach recently came out and admitted that his department at Rutgers 44 00:05:22,300 --> 00:05:30,740 was hired by the CIA to attempt to control other nations' climates. Trying to use the elements, only God 45 00:05:30,740 --> 00:05:37,100 can ultimately use the elements of creation, but that doesn't stop man from trying, does it? In fact, Robach 46 00:05:37,100 --> 00:05:45,579 told CBS News that the CIA was behind the scenes funding a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences 47 00:05:45,579 --> 00:05:56,379 on geoengineering. A report on geoengineering funded by the CIA. The CIA is heavily invested in weaponizing 48 00:05:56,379 --> 00:06:03,459 weather. We know this from the past, but it's not as if this is shocking news, is it? Weather has long been used as a 49 00:06:03,459 --> 00:06:10,959 weapon on one's enemies. Robach details how when U.S. planes seeded the clouds over Vietnam during the 50 00:06:10,959 --> 00:06:18,420 Vietnam War for a period of five years, it prolonged the monsoon season and it made the Ho Chi Minh Trail 51 00:06:18,420 --> 00:06:24,819 almost impassable for the movement of troops and materiel from the north to the south. So weather has 52 00:06:24,819 --> 00:06:31,720 long been used as a weapon. And then we tried the same trick over Cuba to try and destroy Cuba's sugar 53 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:38,199 harvest. But cloud seeding is not the only tactic in their bag of tricks. No, the U.S. government's 54 00:06:38,199 --> 00:06:48,240 high-frequency active oral research program, which has the acronym HARP, H-A-A-R-P. Well, the high-frequency 55 00:06:48,240 --> 00:06:55,379 active oral research program sought to use high-energy electromagnetic technologies to impact not only 56 00:06:55,379 --> 00:07:01,639 weather, but things like earthquakes and hurricanes and tsunamis and the disruption of global communication 57 00:07:01,639 --> 00:07:11,860 systems. And this is, of course, according, underlined by no less than Dr. Michael Chasudovsky of the 58 00:07:11,860 --> 00:07:20,079 University of Ottawa. Dr. Michael Chasudovsky, say that ten times fast. He underlines, indeed, 59 00:07:20,180 --> 00:07:27,639 once again, that HARP is seeking to help control weather on behalf of nations and against her enemies. 60 00:07:27,639 --> 00:07:33,160 In the past, even powerful men like General George Patton sought to influence the weather and natural 61 00:07:33,160 --> 00:07:39,060 elements as a weapon by hiring pastors to pray to God to change the weather. And now, in our 62 00:07:39,060 --> 00:07:47,759 overweening hubris, mankind seeks to control the forces of nature as God's right to rain down rain, 63 00:07:47,860 --> 00:07:53,980 literally as a weapon against our enemies. Huh. The prospects for the future are pretty grim, 64 00:07:53,980 --> 00:07:59,819 according to Dr. Robach. He says, if one country wants to control the climate in one way and another 65 00:07:59,819 --> 00:08:05,199 doesn't want it, or if they try to shoot down the plains, if there's no agreement, it could result 66 00:08:05,199 --> 00:08:12,240 in terrible consequences. Unquote. Terrible consequences, indeed. What our text today tells us 67 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:20,339 is that one far greater in power and wisdom is already using the elements of nature in executing 68 00:08:20,339 --> 00:08:27,420 wrath upon his enemies. God has done so in the past, and God will continue to do so until the end 69 00:08:27,420 --> 00:08:34,519 of time. This is what our text is telling us today. It's not forecasting, foretelling some future events 70 00:08:34,519 --> 00:08:40,940 in any way, shape, or form. No. He's telling us what God is doing now, in this day and age, as well as 71 00:08:40,940 --> 00:08:48,080 throughout redemptive history. And this is because all of creation is Christ's inheritance. It is 72 00:08:48,080 --> 00:08:55,779 Christ's possession. All of it. Every square inch, every dust particle, and every bit of dirt. 73 00:08:56,419 --> 00:09:04,659 Consequently, all of its elements are his to do with as he pleases. And Christ pleases to darken the sun, 74 00:09:04,659 --> 00:09:10,799 to turn the moon blood red, to cause great disturbances in the skies, and to shake the 75 00:09:10,799 --> 00:09:18,080 earth profoundly. The prophet Haggai sees this coming, doesn't he? In Haggai chapter 2, he says, 76 00:09:18,620 --> 00:09:24,379 For thus says the Lord of hosts, Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the 77 00:09:24,379 --> 00:09:32,120 earth, and the sea, and the dry land. Oh, yes. And he did it in Joshua's day to possess the land of 78 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:37,759 Canaan, didn't he? Once again, we have been seeing the strong parallels between the book of Joshua 79 00:09:37,759 --> 00:09:46,419 and the book of Revelation. Just as Joshua used the elements of creation to help conquer the land 80 00:09:46,419 --> 00:09:52,779 of Canaan on behalf of Israel, so the new Joshua is using the elements of creation to take his 81 00:09:52,779 --> 00:10:00,000 inheritance, all of creation, on behalf of his co-inheritors, we, the church. And John goes on 82 00:10:00,000 --> 00:10:06,879 to tell us that he's doing this today to possess all of creation. As one of my favorite scholars, 83 00:10:07,220 --> 00:10:14,559 a teacher named Adela Yarborough Collins puts it, she says, Images from Exodus and the conquest 84 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:23,259 are intensified and universalized, Dr. Collins says. Images from Exodus and the conquest are 85 00:10:23,259 --> 00:10:29,700 intensified and universalized, unquote. Joshua, in the conquest of Canaan, stopped the sun in the sky. 86 00:10:29,700 --> 00:10:35,620 Didn't he? Joshua, remember, using the elements of creation, stopped the sun in the sky for a day 87 00:10:35,620 --> 00:10:42,440 to conquer his enemies. Well, Joshua, in the conquest of all of creation, will use all of the 88 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:49,120 heavens and earth through redemptive history to conquer his enemies. The conquest is the new paradigm 89 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:55,159 for the book of Revelation. But it is, as Collins says, intensified and universalized. It's not just 90 00:10:55,159 --> 00:11:01,899 local in the land of Canaan, but now all of creation intensified and universalized. Well, let's see 91 00:11:01,899 --> 00:11:09,860 today how our text does document this for us. Revelation chapter 6, verses 12 through 17, which 92 00:11:09,860 --> 00:11:18,419 we have just read. And our title today is Elemental Wrath, right? Elemental Wrath. Because in verses 12 93 00:11:18,419 --> 00:11:27,200 through 14, we see that as the elements obeyed the will of Joshua in executing wrath, so the elements 94 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:35,539 obey the new Joshua as he executes his wrath upon the interlopers to his inheritance. The Canaanites 95 00:11:35,539 --> 00:11:46,080 were interlopers on the inheritance of Joshua in Israel. And so the lost pagan world are interlopers 96 00:11:46,080 --> 00:11:54,600 upon the inheritance of Christ and his co-inheritors, the church. As we have already clearly documented 97 00:11:54,600 --> 00:12:02,639 in lessons previous, the seven-sealed scroll is the will and testament of the Father to the worthy Son 98 00:12:02,639 --> 00:12:08,940 who is able to open it. Is he not? He is the Lamb of God who has earned the right to inherit 99 00:12:08,940 --> 00:12:15,820 the inheritance ensconced in the seven-sealed scroll. And beyond a shadow of a doubt, the average 100 00:12:15,820 --> 00:12:22,399 man on the street in the ancient Roman world would have recognized such a document, a seven-sealed 101 00:12:22,399 --> 00:12:28,480 scroll, as precisely this, a will and testament of a Father to a Son, witnessed and sealed by seven 102 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:34,080 witnesses. And that only upon the death of the testator would the will and testament be opened 103 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:39,779 and brought into effect. Hebrews tells us this, and Hebrews chapter 9 confirms this for us. 104 00:12:39,779 --> 00:12:42,799 Hebrews chapter 9 verses 15 and 16 say, 105 00:12:43,419 --> 00:12:49,299 therefore he is the mediator, that is Christ, is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who 106 00:12:49,299 --> 00:12:56,159 are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that 107 00:12:56,159 --> 00:13:02,519 redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, 108 00:13:02,519 --> 00:13:09,820 the death of the one who made it must be established. Testator must happen first, doesn't it? And so we 109 00:13:09,820 --> 00:13:16,360 saw that each seal of the seven seals in succession, they would all be opened and a portion revealed, 110 00:13:16,639 --> 00:13:22,419 even as it is here in the apocalypse. And we have seen them in succession, haven't we? The first four 111 00:13:22,419 --> 00:13:28,940 seals reveal the extent of his possession, that is the four corners of creation, one by conquering. 112 00:13:28,940 --> 00:13:35,159 Remember that first horseman came out conquering and to conquer? And then we saw the fifth seal 113 00:13:35,159 --> 00:13:41,879 reveals the prize of his possession, that is the church. The fifth seal reveals the church. 114 00:13:42,580 --> 00:13:47,500 I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness 115 00:13:47,500 --> 00:13:53,840 they had borne. And then these are those of whom it is hymned, right? In chapter 5 verse 9, 116 00:13:53,840 --> 00:14:03,100 these are precisely those of whom it is hymned by your blood. You ransom people for God from every tribe 117 00:14:03,100 --> 00:14:11,120 and language and people and nation, unquote. And then the sixth seal reveals the power of his 118 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:17,460 possession. Now, right? The one we're looking at today. The sixth seal reveals the power of his 119 00:14:17,460 --> 00:14:24,720 possession, which is all of creation at his disposal. Who needs swords and bombs and the electromagnetic 120 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:30,320 pulse rays, right? When you have all of creation at your disposal. And that's what our text tells us 121 00:14:30,320 --> 00:14:38,720 today. There's nothing, nowhere, and no one who escapes Christ's sovereign oversight. Such is his salient 122 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:45,779 of sovereignty that every element of creation seeks out his enemies to punish, to chasten, to expel. 123 00:14:45,779 --> 00:14:51,419 There's nowhere to hide, nowhere to run. If the earthquake misses you, the eclipsed sun will find 124 00:14:51,419 --> 00:14:56,679 you. If the eclipsed sun misses you, the blood moon will get you. If the blood moon escapes you, 125 00:14:56,740 --> 00:15:01,759 the fallen stars will crush you. If you dodge the fallen stars, the collapsing skies will roll you up. 126 00:15:02,100 --> 00:15:07,620 And if you're not rolled up in the skies, you will be rolled out by a flattening surface of the 127 00:15:07,620 --> 00:15:14,200 earth. Oh, in fact, so inescapable is this inundation of judgment that it is called 128 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:20,480 de-creation. And scholars have long pointed this out, that this is, in fact, the reverse 129 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:27,019 of creation in Genesis. David Chilton, one of my favorite scholars, says, the collapse of the 130 00:15:27,019 --> 00:15:33,779 universe, God ripping apart and dissolving the fabric of creation, unquote. That's what's happening 131 00:15:33,779 --> 00:15:39,000 here in the book of Revelation. In precisely the reverse order of its creation in Genesis, 132 00:15:39,000 --> 00:15:45,759 no, this creation is de-created in Revelation. And that's perfect symmetry, isn't it? First book of 133 00:15:45,759 --> 00:15:51,460 the Bible, Genesis, we see its creation. And in Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we see its 134 00:15:51,460 --> 00:15:57,340 de-creation. First of all, we see the earth, do we not? The earth. As one victim of the recent 135 00:15:57,340 --> 00:16:02,779 earthquake in California commented, I suddenly realized that there was nowhere I could go to escape. 136 00:16:02,779 --> 00:16:07,879 When the whole earth beneath your feet shakes, where are you going to go? It's primal, man. 137 00:16:08,919 --> 00:16:16,320 Yes, God's judgment using all of creation, the earth included, is primal. It's primal, man. 138 00:16:16,899 --> 00:16:22,179 Even Isaiah puts it this way in chapter 13 of Isaiah, therefore, I will make the heavens tremble, 139 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,700 and the earth will be shaken out of its place at the wrath of the Lord of hosts in the day. 140 00:16:27,700 --> 00:16:34,659 His fierce anger. Oh, the earth decreating. We also see the sun decreating, right? In the ancient 141 00:16:34,659 --> 00:16:41,899 world, an eclipse was always an evil portent of judgment, especially for kings and princes of the 142 00:16:41,899 --> 00:16:48,480 earth. That's the sense here of the sun becoming black as sackcloth. It's reminiscent of the recent 143 00:16:48,480 --> 00:16:55,279 event in 2017, isn't it? The eclipse, total eclipse of the sun by the moon. And on that day, 144 00:16:55,279 --> 00:17:01,200 Amos says, on that day of judgment, in Amos chapter 8, declares the Lord God, I will make 145 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:07,640 the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. Oh, yes, the sun is coming after 146 00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:16,000 you, sinner. But so is the moon, as we see in our text today. And unlike John Haggy's pathetic attempt 147 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:22,619 at prophecy in his book, The Four Blood Moons. Were you a sucker? Did you buy this book? Four Blood 148 00:17:22,619 --> 00:17:28,779 Moons. Something is about to change. Oh, yeah, something's about to change. All right, Mr. Haggy. 149 00:17:29,279 --> 00:17:36,200 And indeed, our Lord's blood moon, a lunar eclipse, actually portended a real catastrophe, and that is 150 00:17:36,200 --> 00:17:44,720 the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. Oh, yes, Josephus tells us about this in his chronicle of 151 00:17:44,720 --> 00:17:50,539 the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, which much of Revelation is pointing to, not some far-off, 152 00:17:50,539 --> 00:18:00,880 distant year 2020 prophetic fulfillment, no, but a soon, right, and near at hand, as John says, 153 00:18:01,200 --> 00:18:07,359 judgment. And indeed, this is what portends the destruction of Jerusalem and then later the 154 00:18:07,359 --> 00:18:14,500 destruction of Rome as well. And such phenomena, blood moons and eclipses, they're stock images 155 00:18:14,500 --> 00:18:19,579 in the Old Testament prophecy as well, right? Joel chapter 2 says, the sun shall be turned to 156 00:18:19,579 --> 00:18:25,440 darkness and the moon to blood for the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And there's been 157 00:18:25,440 --> 00:18:32,240 many days of the Lord. There's been many days of judgment, many comings, many parousias in the past, 158 00:18:32,240 --> 00:18:40,119 not just one imagined fantasy pre-tribulational rapture. That's not what this is talking about. No, 159 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:52,160 he was talking about the judgment upon Judah, and now the judgment upon Israel in A.D. 70. And then also 160 00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:59,319 the stars are being de-created here in our text today. Shooting stars were also evil portents for 161 00:18:59,319 --> 00:19:05,720 astrologers and kings and princes, and they would summon their court astrologers, the kings and princes 162 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:12,339 would. They would summon their court astrologers to determine what shooting stars or eclipses or 163 00:19:12,339 --> 00:19:19,039 blood moons, what they meant for the throne, especially during a meteor shower. It's easy to 164 00:19:19,039 --> 00:19:25,500 see why the stars became images of rulers too, and kings and princes all through scripture, and those of 165 00:19:25,500 --> 00:19:31,619 other religions too, for that matter. But here, a complete collapse of the governmental order is 166 00:19:31,619 --> 00:19:38,559 pictured. Once more, this is stock imagery from the Old Testament too. And Daniel prophesying about 167 00:19:38,559 --> 00:19:45,839 Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a Greek king who trashed the temple. Daniel says, out of one of them 168 00:19:45,839 --> 00:19:55,700 came a little horn. That was Antiochus Epiphanes. Back in B.C. days, this little horn grew exceedingly 169 00:19:55,700 --> 00:20:01,460 great toward the south, toward the east, and toward the glorious land. It grew great even to the host 170 00:20:01,460 --> 00:20:08,279 of heaven. And some of the host and some of the stars it threw down to the ground and trampled on 171 00:20:08,279 --> 00:20:15,220 them. That's an image of Antiochus Epiphanes conquering places like Syria. He tried to conquer 172 00:20:15,220 --> 00:20:21,279 Egypt as well, but then turned his wrath toward Jerusalem and the temple as well. In any case, 173 00:20:21,339 --> 00:20:26,720 the stars being decreated, falling from the skies, if you will. And then we also have an allusion to the 174 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:33,480 firmament, right? Every time I open a shade, I can't help but think of this verse. The sky vanished 175 00:20:33,480 --> 00:20:42,039 like a scroll that's being rolled up, right? And this is a companion image which describes the tumult 176 00:20:42,039 --> 00:20:49,460 and chaos of all created order, both physical and governmental orders. The skies and their objects were 177 00:20:49,460 --> 00:20:54,960 for times and seasons, right? Any Christian familiar with his Old Testament, and you got to be familiar 178 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:59,759 with the Old Testament if you're going to understand Revelation, and so many Christians aren't. They think 179 00:20:59,759 --> 00:21:07,140 it's all about the future and all about, oh, it's going to be the day of rapture, and then we're going to 180 00:21:07,140 --> 00:21:14,279 have the seven-year great tribulation, and then we're going to have Armageddon, Gog and Magog. No, this is 181 00:21:14,279 --> 00:21:20,200 predicting and foreshadowing, prophesying about the near future in John's own day in the first century, 182 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:28,819 AD 70, the destruction of Judea. Yeah, I'm sorry. I apologize. The destruction of Jerusalem and the 183 00:21:28,819 --> 00:21:34,539 temple, and then later also the destruction and conquering of the Roman Empire. So any Christian 184 00:21:34,539 --> 00:21:40,759 familiar with his Old Testament would realize that John was drawing on reliable images from the Old 185 00:21:40,759 --> 00:21:47,700 Testament. As Isaiah says in Isaiah 34, all the hosts of heaven shall rot away, and the skies roll up 186 00:21:47,700 --> 00:21:54,259 like a scroll. All their hosts shall fall as leaves fall from the vine, like leaves falling from the fig 187 00:21:54,259 --> 00:22:01,380 tree, unquote. And then not only the firmament, but we also see the land de-creating, do we not, 188 00:22:01,539 --> 00:22:08,759 in these verses? And we're looking at, right now we're looking at verses 12 through 14. We see the 189 00:22:08,759 --> 00:22:14,779 land going away as well, being de-created. Oh, brother and sister, there's nothing more solid, 190 00:22:14,779 --> 00:22:20,779 more permanent, and enduring than a mountain, right? Seemingly. Everything around the Grand 191 00:22:20,779 --> 00:22:27,759 Teton in our valley, Grand Teton, I think of right away, all of it may road or collapse, but not it, 192 00:22:27,839 --> 00:22:34,799 right? Or so it seems. Mount St. Helens, Krakatoa, they're testaments to the fleeting nature of even 193 00:22:34,799 --> 00:22:40,980 mountains and islands. They all fled away, didn't they? The whole of Yellowstone, for that matter, sits on a 194 00:22:40,980 --> 00:22:49,000 boiling cauldron of molten lava, called a hotspot, and it's overdue to blow, too. Nahum captures the 195 00:22:49,000 --> 00:22:55,799 same sense of foreboding, and he says, the mountains quake before him, the hills melt, the earth heaves 196 00:22:55,799 --> 00:23:02,640 before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the 197 00:23:02,640 --> 00:23:09,220 heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire. The rocks are broken into pieces by him, unquote. 198 00:23:09,839 --> 00:23:19,140 The prophet Nahum, indeed, foreshadowing our very text today. And indeed, no doubt, the Apostle John 199 00:23:19,140 --> 00:23:27,059 had him in mind when he wrote this text. Well, the Lord God used creation. We've seen this as we read 200 00:23:27,059 --> 00:23:32,619 through the book of Joshua, the sun standing still in the sky for a day, right? The Lord God used 201 00:23:32,619 --> 00:23:39,619 creation to assist Joshua in taking possession of his inheritance. Great hail fell from the sky, too, 202 00:23:39,700 --> 00:23:46,400 for that matter. All over the book of Joshua, we see this. He arrested the sun in its course in order 203 00:23:46,400 --> 00:23:52,960 to buy Joshua some daylight to destroy the interlopers trespassing his possession. And the 204 00:23:52,960 --> 00:24:00,019 Lord God still uses all of creation to assist the new Joshua, the Lord Jesus Christ, in taking possession 205 00:24:00,019 --> 00:24:08,480 of his inheritance. Remember what Dr. Collins says, images from Exodus and the conquest are intensified 206 00:24:08,480 --> 00:24:15,599 and universalized, unquote. Oh, the conquest under Joshua is intensified and universalized here in 207 00:24:15,599 --> 00:24:22,200 Revelation as the new Joshua conquers. Did you know that you have these weapons, dear brother and sister? 208 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:27,740 Did you know that you have these weapons on your side as we conquer? We are co-heirs with Christ. 209 00:24:28,259 --> 00:24:33,339 We do not have the presumptuous hubris to think that we can call down judgment at our command 210 00:24:33,339 --> 00:24:40,720 as our enemies think they can do. The CIA may seed the clouds, but God has created and owns them and 211 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:47,759 rides the very clouds as a chariot, does he not? DARPA may experiment with plasma rays, but God has 212 00:24:47,759 --> 00:24:53,960 created, he owns, and he is sovereign over the stuff of the sun. The Manhattan Project may have 213 00:24:53,960 --> 00:25:00,539 harnessed the power of the atom to create the first atomic weapon, but the Lord God is master over the 214 00:25:00,539 --> 00:25:08,380 entire periodic table, and he uses it for his sovereign purposes, dear listener. As we use the 215 00:25:08,380 --> 00:25:13,559 weapons of our warfare to conquer, and we have indeed seen that Revelation unfolds this for us, 216 00:25:13,559 --> 00:25:17,839 we have the weapons of our warfare to conquer, and that's the blood of the cross, 217 00:25:18,339 --> 00:25:24,900 not the weapons of man, and by extension, then the blood of the saints. And we also use our worship 218 00:25:24,900 --> 00:25:31,460 services, the sacraments, the word of God and prayer, all these are weapons in our arsenal. And as you use 219 00:25:31,460 --> 00:25:37,700 them then to conquer, as you use them to take possession of your inheritance under Christ, 220 00:25:37,700 --> 00:25:46,759 know that in perfect harmony with them, the new Joshua is right behind us with the power to facilitate 221 00:25:46,759 --> 00:25:54,480 with all of creation, his conquering. He's got all of creation in his armory. Oh, dear listener, 222 00:25:55,019 --> 00:26:02,160 we're going to leave off here and return to this theme then next week. But just know indeed that this is 223 00:26:02,160 --> 00:26:08,359 what our text unfolds for us today, not some far-off future single series of events, but this has been 224 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:13,799 reprised all through redemptive history, as our Lord Jesus Christ uses all of creation to take 225 00:26:13,799 --> 00:26:20,119 possession of his inheritance. Does he not? Yes, he does. Glory be to God. This has been Pastor David Bass 226 00:26:20,119 --> 00:26:27,539 at New Geneva Orthodox Presbyterian Church with a moment of truth. And we meet for holy worship on Sunday 227 00:26:27,539 --> 00:26:33,579 at 10 a.m. at 101 4th Street on the corner of 4th and Boulevard. And you can call us for more 228 00:26:33,579 --> 00:26:43,279 information at area code 208-523-0196. Come and join us for worship Sunday, 10 a.m. 101 4th Street on the 229 00:26:43,279 --> 00:26:49,660 corner of 4th and Boulevard and call us 208-523-0196.