Higher Aim with Dr. Curt Dodd

As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, we feel a sense of urgency to be prepared for Jesus’ second coming. The Lord could return at any moment; therefore we need to be living like we’re ready for Him to come very soon. With that in mind, we should be living as though this world is not our home, because it’s not. We are aliens here. We weren’t designed for this. We were made for something greater. We have so much to look forward to as followers of Christ. We have a better home to hope for, and that’s exactly what we’re going to dive into studying today and continually over the next few weeks.

As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, we are going to go further into the 17th chapter of the book and learn more about all that John saw when he was shown the end times. There are a lot of dark and heavy topics we need to discuss in the book of Revelation, but we’ll also see in today’s message that we can remain hopeful because Jesus is victorious in the end!

Not all churches are false or fake. Not all churches are decoy churches to lure people in and take them down spiritually. Not every church deceives them and sends them to hell rather than pointing them to heaven. However, we are living in a day when we are watching the unveiling of many decoys. Therefore, we need to have the wisdom and the discernment to be able to differentiate between false churches and churches that preach the Word of God. That’s exactly what we’re going to learn more about in today’s message.

Last time, as we discussed Revelation chapter 15, we saw the wrath of God being described. In today’s chapter of focus, this final barrage, seven bowls of wrath are released upon the planet. This wrath is released upon all of the inhabitants, all at the same time. Nothing is held back; all of it happens immediately. Can you imagine all of this happening at once by the hand of God? This is sobering indeed! So as we study this chapter, we learn a lot about what is going to happen in the end times in regards to God’s wrath.

It is important to understand a basic truth. Before the worst of the worst is poured out upon an unbelieving mankind, we should grasp the reason for God’s wrath, and that is this: God is just! Many of us struggle with questions like, “Is it fair? Does it make sense? Why should I have to go through this?” The answer is simply this, especially for those going through the Great Tribulation, God is just! That truth is what we’re going to unpack in this message.

Our world has gone through the wringer the last couple of years. It seems as though life as we knew it has ended. But with endings come new beginnings, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today. I firmly believe God wants us to begin again when it comes to the way we do ministry and when it comes to the way we live our lives as followers of Jesus. In this message, we’re going to take a look at some different examples in Scripture that we can follow to begin again personally in our lives as individuals and collectively as the church body.

In our culture today, we don't understand God’s wrath. We would rather focus on God’s love, but Scripture balances the God of love with the God of justice. You need to understand that His love is also balanced with His wrath. If you emphasize one of the characteristics of God without looking at the other characteristics of God, you are not seeing a clear picture of God. In today’s key passage of Scripture, we are speaking of God's wrath and aiming to understand how that balances with His love.

Our world has fallen so far, and oftentimes we don’t even realize how far we’ve fallen. We live on a sin-filled, broken planet. It’s as sad and simple as that. But thankfully, because of Jesus, that’s not where the story ends. We aren’t stuck like this forever. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross, there is victory to be claimed! That’s what we read about in today’s key passage as we continue our study of Revelation. This final book of the Bible is filled with a lot of heavy content about the end times, but it’s also full of hope because it reminds us that in the end, Jesus is victorious, and because we are on His team, we are victorious too!

Revelation chapter 20 gives us a majestic view of what God will do in the days to come. Earlier in the book of Revelation, John saw that the evil one was behind the dragon, antichrist, and false prophet. Now he is seeing the visions and pictures of the Lamb. He assures us that we will get to see the Lamb's Victory. So as we dive into this chapter, we’ll see that these 20 verses will be full of all kinds of pictures and images. Allow them to seep into your heart and mind and understand that through these small visions and images, we can have a broad picture of what is to come.

As you know, we are taking one step after another to unpack the Book of Revelation. Today, above all days, your eyes will be opened. Today, we are looking at Chapter 13. It will literally catch you off guard, but it should open your eyes as never before. You will realize how close we are to the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches us that the Second Coming of Jesus is twofold. First, there is the Secret Coming of Christ for His Saints; that is called the Rapture of the Church. We will immediately be with Christ at that moment in time. There will be a vacuum in this world when believers leave this planet. The Great Tribulation will last for a period of seven years. The first three and a half years will not be as bad as the horrible and disastrous last half of the Great Tribulation. That second half is what we’re going to dive into today.