Adrian Rogers - Making Numbers Count
Find Revelation chapter 1. It's easy to find; first chapter in the last book. You're going to find out that we're going to be moving slow to begin with and that we'll pick up speed as we go through the book. I don't want you to think we'll be here past the second coming. Ha, ha, studying the book of the Revelation. But, you know the old time preachers used to say, "Start low, go slow, rise higher, catch fire." That's what we're going to do here. It's going to take us awhile to get this Gospel train out of the station. Because for awhile we're going to be laying some groundwork to help us to understand the entire book. So don't think that we're going to stay forever in chapter 1. But, so far, we've only gone three verses and now we come to verse 4 of chapter 1. "John to the seven churches which are in Asia."
I'm going to stop right there and I want you to fast-forward to verse 20, "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are seven churches." Now I only selected those verses for one particular reason, to let a word come into your ear over and over again. What was it? Seven. Seven. You heard the word seven, seven, seven, seven. Now, we're speaking today on the symbolism of numbers in the book of the Revelation. The title of the message, "Making Numbers Count." Or we could say, a faith that you can count on. And the book of the Revelation, as you're going to see, is full of all kinds of symbols, and signs, and analogies, and hyperboles, and figures of speech.
Now if you don't understand that you can't understand the book. Look for example in chapter 1 verse 1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ," that is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, "which God gave unto him, to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass," now watch this, "and He sent and signified it." "He sent and signified it." What are the first four letters in the word signified? Sign. He sign-ified it. It's the Greek word sema, which means a sign. So this book is full of signs with signification. They are they are symbols and if you don't understand that, you can't crack the code. So we want you to understand today, something of the symbols in the book of the Revelation. Before we get to the symbolism of numbers, let me just talk to you about some of the other symbols. I'll just touch on those by way of introduction.
For example, John in this book speaks like a zoologist. You're going to find out that Jesus, for example, is described as a lamb, but He's also described as a lion. When we get a little further in the book we're going to find some people around the throne of God or some creatures, living creatures, zoa they're called. One has the face of a lion; the other has the face of an ox or a calf. Another has the face of an eagle. Another has the face of, of a man. This is highly symbolic. We're going to find a beast that comes up out of the sea. A wicked horrible grotesque beast; that's the antichrist. We're going to find another beast that comes out of the land. That is the false prophet.
And so John sometimes speaks like a zoologist. Sometimes John will speak like an astronomer. He'll talk about stars. We're going to see in this chapter, this first chapter of Revelation that Jesus Christ holds seven stars in His right hand. That's obviously symbolism. We're going to see that the great red dragon, who is Satan, sweeps a third of the stars from Heaven with his tail. That's obviously symbolism. For a third of all of the stars. Only God knows the magnitude of the stars and he sweeps them from the Heavens with his great tail. We use the word star today when we talk about movie stars or rock stars or whatever. We use that word today symbolically. This speaks of stars and in the Heavens and signs in the sun and the moon. We'll find these things in the book of the Revelation.
Sometimes John will speak like an artist and he paints on the canvas of our mind with his colors. For example, we'll find white over and over again in the book of the Revelation. There will be people in white robes. We're going to find people riding on white horses. We're going to find the bride of Christ dressed in white in a wedding gown. We're going to find the Lord Jesus Christ sitting upon a great white throne. We're going to find out that white is the symbol, the emblem of purity. Or, green. John sometimes puts green on his canvas as he's painting. Green there around the around the throne of Heaven when we get up there, there's a rainbow, but it's not like any other rainbow you've ever seen. It is an emerald rainbow. It's just green. Green speaks of life and it's an emblem of life. We're going to see four horsemen and these horses are different colors.
There's a black horse that's going to speak of famine. There's a gray horse that's going to speak of death. There's a red horse that's going to speak of war. And we see these multicolored horses. We see a woman dressed in purple. Purple is the sign of richness and royalty. Well these are all symbols. Now sometimes John speaks like he's a geographer. We're going to see a woman sitting upon seven mountains. And those seven mountains we're going to find out are the city of Rome. We're going to see a heaving sea, a restless sea. Well, that sea we're going to find out speaks of peoples and nations and languages. We're going to see a river, a crystal clear river coming from the throne of God. That speaks of the beneficence and the blessings of God. But, let's close in on our subject this morning, okay?
Let's see how John speaks as a mathematician, how he uses numbers. Because if you don't understand that, it's going to be very difficult for you to understand this book. Now I've already pointed out to you in chapter 1 and verse 4, that he speaks there of seven churches. And then later on in that same verse he speaks of seven spirits. What is all of this? As a matter of fact, there's so many sevens in the book of the Revelation, the key number of Revelation is seven. You can see by our chart up here of the sevens. For example, there are seven churches. There will be seven seals. We're going to see seven trumpets. There will be seven vials or bowls of judgment. And then later on, I don't have it up there on the chart because we couldn't make the chart that big, but you're to find seven judgments. You're going to find seven new things. You're going to find seven persons. All of these things are there.
Now, that brings up a real question. Do we interpret the book of the Revelation literally or symbolically? Which do you think? Well, the answer is both. Do you interpret Revelation literally of symbolically? The answer is yes. You see, how can you interpret it both literally and symbolically? Well for example, Satan, we're going to find out is described as a great red dragon; cruel, ferocious, powerful, malevolent. Now that's a symbol. Satan is not literally a dragon. He doesn't literally sweep a third of the stars with his tail from Heaven. That's a symbol. So that's symbolism. But now listen friend, when you find out what the symbol means, believe it literally. Don't say, "Oh there is no devil, that's just a symbol." No, there is a literal devil.
See, there is a literal devil. Don't think that symbolism does away with literal interpretation. You just simply find what the symbol stands for and you believe it. There's a woman, we're going to find out, she's sitting on seven hills. Well, that must be a symbol or she's some kind of woman. She's, she's sitting on seven hills. Well, that, that stands for Rome. Well, we believe literally Rome when we get there. So what I'm trying to say is that symbolism, you have to understand symbolism to understand the book of the Revelation. But on the other hand, don't think that symbolism somehow discounts the truth of the book. You find out what the symbol stands for and you literally believe it.
Now let's close in and we're thinking today primarily about the symbolism of numbers, making numbers count. Three things I want to say about numbers this morning. First of all, I want you to think about the scientific matter of numbers. Numbers are a matter of science. Remember that the God who wrote the Bible also wrote the book of nature. Sometimes people talk about the laws of nature. There are no laws of nature. They're God's laws that nature obeys; I hope you understand that. That God is a God of order and God is a God of design. And numerical laws have come out of the mind of God. And God is the God who put the science of numbers in the universe. You look all around and we're just talking now about the scientific matter of numbers.
In astronomy, how can the astronomers tell us what happened in the heavenly planets and stars and bodies in the past and what will happen in the future? How can they predict with such precision? Because God put numbers, mathematical laws, in the Heavens. In chemistry, I took chemistry in school because I had a proclivity for chemistry. I love things like that. But I didn't love learning all the valence charts and memorizing each of the numbers for the various elements and the number of atoms. But I found out that God put mathematics in all matter. In Biology, I studied that and so did you. All flowers have a certain number of petals. There's a mathematical arrangement in everything biologically. In zoology, as we study human anatomy and physiology. Each cell in your body has a certain number of chromosomes. There are 46 in a man.
Now you have trillions of cells in your body, but all of them have 46 chromosomes. God loves numbers. As a matter of fact, He has a book in the Bible called what? Numbers. And, so all of this mathematical precision has come out of the mind of God. A philosopher, Pythagoras said that, "Number is the principle of all things." Now I'm not good at numbers. I'm like that guy who said there are three kinds of people in the world, those who can count and those who can't. I'm not good at numbers. But I know that God is. And there is what I would call the scientific matter of numbers. We'll spend just a short time there and move on to the symbolic meaning of numbers.
Now many of you guys are very good at numbers scientifically. You may not be good at numbers symbolically. To the Jews, the writers of the Bible, numbers were more than scientific matter. The had symbolic meaning. And John uses numbers in a different sense in which we do sometimes today. But by the way, the study of numbers and the symbolism of numbers is one of the great confirmations and affirmations and annostations of the inspiration of the Word of God because we find these themes going all the way through the Bible. Now what is the symbolic meaning of numbers? Let's just take numbers most of the numbers from one through twelve and go. Are you ready? For example, one; what is the symbolism of the number one? One obviously is the number for unity and therefore it is the number of the nature of God. Give you some verses, jot them down.
Deuteronomy 6 verse 4, "Hear, oh, Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Zechariah 14:9, "And the Lord shall be king over all the earth; in that day there shall be one Lord, and His name one." Ephesians 4 verses 4 through 6, "There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." "There's one God, His name is Jehovah." I hope you believe that. Don't get the idea that some god comes along here who's not; Jehovah is the God of the Bible. There is only one God. He is the one and only. Well, what about the number two? Two is the number of witness.
Let me give you some Scripture. John chapter 8 and verse 17; Jesus said, "It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true." The Old Testament taught that no one could bring an accusation without a witness to confirm. Two is the number of witness. We see that carried through today. If you're in a business meeting somebody will say, "I second the motion." That means I bear witness to that, that it is true. We have how many Testaments in our Bible to bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ? Two Testaments. We have the Old Testament and the New Testament. Jesus Christ is the second person in the trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. The second person in the trinity is the witness. Look in Revelation chapter 1 verse 5, "And from Jesus Christ, who is the Faithful Witness."
Number two is the number of witness. When we see the performance of the passion play, there were two angels at the tomb. We use one in the passion play most of the time, but if you'll study carefully, there are two angels there because they are witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There were two angels at the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ to bear witness of His ascension. And, later on in the book of the Revelation we're going to find two persons who have extraordinary power. They're going to come and witness during the great tribulation. You might put down Revelation chapter 11 and verse 3. And he says, "And I will give power unto My two witnesses."
When Jesus sent people out to share the Gospel, He sent them out how? Two by two. Two is the number of witness. Alright, moving on; three is the divine number. Three speaks again of God. But this time not God in His unity, but God in His tri-unity. Our God is not only God who is the one true God, but He is three in one. You're in Revelation chapter 1, look if you will in verse 8. Jesus said, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending," by the way, Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. Watch this, "which is," one, "and which was," two "and which is to come," three. Or you just see the, the three-ness of our Lord. Or look if you will for example in the Great Commission. Put in your margin Matthew 28 and verse 19. Jesus said, "Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them," what, "in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."
When Isaiah saw the Lord upon the throne in Isaiah chapter 6 and verse 3, he saw those angels, "Worshipping the Lord and one cried unto another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of Hosts.'" Holy is the Father, holy is the Son, holy is the Spirit. Three is the simplest compound unity. It is; the simplest compound figure is an equal sided triangle. Man, made in the image of God is triune. We're body, soul, and spirit. First Thessalonians chapter 5 verse 23, "And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Three, I say, is the divine number. Jesus rose from the dead on the third day. Everything that God has made in this world is a reflection of His triune nature. Everything is time, space and energy, or matter. And time is triune: past, present and future. Space is triune: heighth, width and depth. Matter is triune: energy and motion and phenomena. All, everything that God has done reflects His tri-unity. Let's move to the letter, the number four. Oh, what is four? Four in in the Bible and certainly in the book of the Revelation is the earth number. It deals with creation. For example, we speak of the four corners of the earth. Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 12, "And He shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah," watch this, "from the four corners of the earth."
Ha, ha, don't laugh and think that people believe the earth was square in those days. Of course not. You have the same thing today when a newscaster will say, "And here's news from the four corners of the earth." What does he mean? The four points of a compass: North and South, East and West. This is the very nature of things as they are. Ezekiel 7 verse 2, "And thou son of man, thus saith the Lord unto the land of Israel, 'An end is come upon the four corners of the land.'" Again, it's speaking of the earth. Now, in the book of the Revelation you could find in Revelation chapter 7 and verse 1, "And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor any tree."
Again it's very obvious that four is associated with the earth. And so four is the earth number. I talked to you about the beast and around the throne there are four living creatures: one with the face of a man, one with the face of an eagle, one with the face of an ox, one with the face of a lion. They represent all of creation around the throne. Now, so we see that four is the earth number. Let me just pause here for a moment to say it's an interesting thing that there have only been four world empires in all of history. There are four seasons in the year. And if you take four and multiply it by ten you get forty. And it still deals with the earth.
Forty in the Bible is the number of testing and trial. In the time of Noah it rained how long? Forty days and forty nights. When Moses went up on Mt. Sinai, how long was he up there? Forty days and forty nights. What did Jonah say when he preached to Nineveh? "Forty days and forty nights and Nineveh will be destroyed." How long was Jesus tempted in the wilderness and tested? He was tempted forty days and forty nights. Four is the earth number. Why? Because earth is the place where we have our testing, where we have our trials. Okay?
Now, what about five? Well, five and ten are basically the same. Five and ten speak of completeness. That's very obvious. Five fingers, five toes, five senses: sight and smell and hearing and taste and touch and so forth. Five deals with completeness. But five and five of course are ten. So these are essentially the same thing. That's the reason that God gave us Ten Commandments. That's the whole duty of man. It speaks of fullness and completeness. For example, the time when the antichrist takes over he's going to have full power. And we read in Revelation chapter 13 and verse 1, John in his vision said, "And I stood upon the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads," we'll get to seven in just a moment, "and ten horns," a horn is an emblem of power, "ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy."
Here is Satan having a holiday. He has ensconced his man of sin upon the throne of this earth. He has ten horns with ten crowns. Ten speaks of fullness. When God was fully judging Egypt, how many plagues did He send? He sent ten plagues. When the church is going to be persecuted fully, you can read over there in the next chapter, Revelation chapter 2 and verse 10. He says, "Ye shall have tribulation ten days." Now he's not speaking there literally. It's not ten days and you say, "Well, that's up. Now we're out of tribulation." No, he's speaking of full and complete tribulation. Now if you don't understand this, as I say, you won't crack the code. You won't understand what he's talking about.
Now we come to one of the most famous numbers of all and that is six, that is six. Six is the number of a man. And by the way, God generally explains these symbols Himself in the book. Look if you will in, or just put in the margin Revelation chapter 13 and verse 18, "Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast." Now if you're a neophyte and don't understand what I'm talking about, the beast is the man of sin, the antichrist, Satan's superman who is going to come to rule the world. He is called the beast. And it says, "Count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man."
Now, when I say that six stands for man, I'm not just making that up. Man was created on what day? The sixth day. Now, it, here is the mark of the beast, or the number of the beast, which is what? Six, six, six. What is the number of God? Three. What is the number of man? Six. What is this? This is man pretending to be God. The antichrist is going to sit in the temple of God showing himself that he is God. Man is no seven. We're going to see in a moment that seven is the perfect number. Man is not a seven. Man is a six. He's a six, not a seven. But he is man pretending to be God. Seven is the perfect number. Satan is not perfect. Neither are we perfect. We're sinners and need to be saved. Can you say Amen?
Now, what about seven? As I said the key number in the book of the Revelation is seven. Seven is the perfect number. Why would that be? Perfect as far as we're concerned here upon this earth because three is the divine number and four is the earth number. And what that is is earth crowned with Heaven. It is God working out His perfect will on earth. And God has written seven all the way through everything. For example, how many days in the week? Seven days in the week. How many notes in a musical scale? There's seven notes in a musical scale. When Joshua was to come against Jericho, how many times did he march around the city? Seven times. How many parables of the kingdom in Matthew chapter 13? There are seven of these.
Now we'll see multiples of seven just like we saw multiples of four and multiples of five. For example, Jesus sent out seventy to preach the perfect Gospel. There are seventy weeks in the book of Daniel that speak of God's dealing with all of time. These are not weeks of days, but weeks of years. Seventy years in the human life span. I was reminded awhile back that if you're over seventy years old you're living on borrowed time. Psalm 90 verse 10, "The days of our years are threescore years and ten." A score is twenty, three score is sixty, and ten is seventy. "And if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labor and sorrow," and so forth. But he speaks there of seven is the number of perfection.
Now, you'll find out that God takes these numbers sometimes and not only does He multiply them, but He divides them. For example, you're going to find seven cut in half. You're going to find half of seven which is three and one half. For example, when you find seven cut in half, when you find violence done to seven. That speaks of danger and division and foreboding. For example, when Elijah preached and prophesied, how long did he shut up Heaven? Three and one half years, did he not? The antichrist is going to make a covenant with Israel for seven years. And then he's going to in the midst of those seven years after three and half years, he's going to break that covenant.
Put in your margin, Daniel chapter 7 verse 25. Speaking of the antichrist, "He shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand for a time and times and a half a time." A time: one year, times: two years, half a time: six months. Three and a half years. You find the confirmation of that in Revelation chapter 13 and verse 5 when we get to the thirteenth chapter. And speaking of the antichrist, "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given to him to continue forty and two months." How long is forty and two months? Three and a half years. It's, it's there all written in to all of this. And so, seven is the perfect number. You're going to find in our verse today we talk about seven lampstands.
Now what was a lampstand? Well, it's the menorah. If you go to Israel, you'll see a great menorah out in front of the Knesset. There's a central shaft that speaks of one. Then there are three branches on this side and three branches on this side. Alright, the one speaks of God and the six branches speak of man. But Jesus and us together, we are the light of the world. That's the reason these churches are symbolized here by a lampstand. The church is to be a great lampstand with Christ at the center and all of us giving light fed by the oil of the Holy Spirit. It's too deep; I can't get into that right now except to say that the seven in these lampstands, each of these lampstands had seven lights burning and glowing. So seven is the perfect number. Now what about eight? What does eight stand for? Well eight stands for new beginnings. It stands for the new birth.
Now there are seven notes in a musical scale, but the eighth; that makes the octave is just a repetition of the first. Eight is a new beginning. The eighth day is the first day of the week. We're worshipping on the eighth day. Sunday is not the weekend. It's the Lord's Day. It's the Lord's Day. We're not closing things out friend; we have started in the house of God. Hallelujah! What a great way to start a week. A child was circumcised on what day? The eighth day. Why was a child circumcised on the eighth day? Well, there are biological reasons, but there are also symbolical reasons. Colossians 2 verse 11 speaks of the spiritual significance of circumcision, "In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision, made with hands, in putting off the body of sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ."
What he is saying here is that just as a little baby was circumcised back in biblical times and also many today, that is a symbol of the new birth that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ. How many people were saved out of the ark going into a new world? First Peter chapter 3 verse 20 speaks of those angels, "Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
Here God is starting again and how does He start? He starts with eight. When a leper was cleansed of leprosy and was getting a fresh start he was pronounced clean on the eighth day. When did Jesus Christ rise from the dead? Now He was in the tomb three days, but He rose from the dead on the eighth day, the Lord's Day. That's the reason we worship today on Sunday. Jesus appeared to His disciples again on the eighth day a week later. John 20 verse 26, "After eight days again His disciples were within and Thomas with them, then came Jesus the doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, 'Peace unto you.'" Let me tell you something about the name of Jesus. Did you know that in Bible times letters had numerical significance?
Now that's also true in Roman numerals. For example what is this? I'm not giving you a peace sign. I'm just simply saying that that, that "v" stands for five. Alright that's Roman numerals. But Greek numbers also, Greek letters also have a numerical significance. Let me spell for you the name of Jesus in Greek. Iota, that has a value of ten. Eta, that has a value of eight. Sigma, that has a value of 200. Omicron has a value of 70. Upsilon has a value of 400. Sigma has a value again of 200. Add it up, do you know what it comes to? 888. Jesus is not 666. Jesus is 888. Jesus is the one who says, "I make all things new." His name, Iesous, in Greek is 888. So eight speaks of a new start. It speaks of a new beginning. And we're going to find the eights in the Bible.
Alright, let's move on to twelve. We're running out of time. Twelve is God's governmental number. What is three? It is the divine number. What is four? It is the earth number. What is twelve? It is God ruling and reigning. How many apostles? Twelve apostles. How many patriarchs? Twelve patriarchs. How many thrones do we see up in the glory? Matthew 19 verse 28, "Jesus said unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed Me into regeneration when the son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.'"
We're going to catch a scene when we get to Revelation chapter 4 about the worship in Heaven. And, all of the redeemed are going to be there and the number twelve tells us that. Revelation 4:4, "And round about the throne were four and twenty seats," that means thrones, "and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment." Why twenty-four? Twelve patriarchs in the Old Testament. Twelve apostles in the New Testament. Friend, this is the redeemed of all the ages sitting around the throne. I'm going to be there. I hope you will be sitting around the throne. And so, what I'm trying to say is that numbers have a scientific significance because God is the God of all nature. And He's built numbers into everything.
And I read a book one night dealing with the coming things in science and genomics and all of the things that are going to happen in genetic engineering. I was blown away. But the whole thing is built on numbers. There is the scientific matter of numbers. There is the symbolic meaning of numbers. But now let me talk to you about the spiritual message of numbers and we'll be finished. There are so many messages, but let me just tell you what God laid on my heart as I was thinking about this. Let's see if we can get it down to where we are right now. Because if you just get a bunch of numbers in your head and that's all, you're not going to be blessed.
Are you ready, let me tell you this; one tells me there is one God. He is Jehovah. You agree to that? Two tells me that that God wants to speak to us. Jesus is the faithful and the true witness. He's given us the Old and the New Testament. He is speaking and He's speaking to you today. That's what two tells me. Three tells me that this one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is a God who loves you. Oh He does! He sent His Son to suffer, bleed and die upon that cross. And then He gave His blessed Holy Spirit to bear witness to that. He is the faithful and the true witness and so is the Spirit of God. That's what three tells me. Four tells me, this is my Father's world.
Friend, it's the earth number, and God wants there to be peace on earth. And God has a plan where the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ, and I can hardly wait. Remember what Jesus told us to pray? Jesus told us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven." And so, this is my Father's world and I know also that it's a place of testing. I'm here and I'm only on, undergoing a test. I'm here for just a short while and so are you. Our days are like the morning fog that passes away. Five tells me that what God does, He does well. "He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it."
God will do it fully and completely. And God is in complete control of this world. And there's no panic in Heaven. As we're going to see that's one of the reasons that I love all that we see here. No matter what happens, friend, we know that the lamb is the lion and Jesus will reign. And He is going to complete what He has begun. Do you know what six tells me? Six tells me and it ought to tell you that I'm a sinner. I'm not perfect. And God demands absolute perfection. And I cannot provide it. I have come short of the glory of God. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God."
Do you know what seven tells me? That God has provided perfection and that perfection is in Jesus. That the one who is coming is the one who has already come. And with His perfect sacrifice upon the cross, He provided for me that perfection that I alone need. Do you know eight tells me? Eight tells me that I can have a brand new start. Eight tells me that I can be born again, that He is the God of new beginnings. He is the God who makes all things new. Do you know what twelve tells me? Twelve tells me one of these days I'm going to go in through one of those twelve gates, and I'm going to see the Lord rule and reign in glory. You think this is happenstance? You think I'm just making this up?
Friend, the Bible is such an incredible book, such an incredible book. God has written such a wonderful message in this book of the Revelation. Look at me. Do you know Jesus? I'm not asking are you a nice person. I assume you're nice as people are measured. I'm not asking have you been religious. It was a religious crowd that crucified Jesus. I'm not asking do you believe in God. The devil believes in God. I'm asking have you ever repented of your sin and received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. Not asking have you been baptized.
Do you know that you know if Jesus were to come today, or you were to die today you would go straight to Heaven? Would you bow your heads in prayer? Now put away your foolish thoughts right now. Don't let the devil distract you right now. God brought you here today to be saved; and if you're not saved, right now, this moment, you can give your heart to Jesus and be saved. I want you to pray this prayer, "Dear God," just pray it right now, "dear God, I know that You love me. I know that You want to save me. Jesus, You died to save me, and You promised to save me if I would only trust You. I do trust You, Jesus."
Would you pray that prayer? "I do trust You, Jesus. Right now, this moment, come into my heart; forgive my sin, save me, Lord Jesus." Pray that from the depth of your being, "Save me, Lord Jesus." Say it and mean it, "Save me, Lord Jesus." Now thank Him for doing it. Pray this way, "Lord, I don't look for a sign; I don't ask for a feeling, I just stand on Your Word. Thank You for saving me, and help me never to be ashamed of You. Begin now to make me the person that you want me to be and help me to live for you from this day forward. In Your name I pray, Amen."