Higher Aim With Dr. Curt Dodd

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.

We’ve spent a lot of time talking about the Great Tribulation and all of the horrible and devastating things that will happen in the end times. But today, I want us to look at what we have to look forward to in eternity and all the wonderful things we can praise the Lord for!

As we read today’s key passage and continue our study of the book of Revelation, it is very clear that God is describing the judgment, the ruin, and the smashing of the World System, Babylon. It will all come down in one hour. The judgment of God will finally fall. This will be happening at the end of the Great Tribulation. As believers, we will not be here. Accordingly, while you are here, you can make a difference for the Kingdom of God before the judgment of God falls on this planet. This passage exists to motivate you, to give you insight and a mental picture of what will happen to our world. You can either say, “I don't believe that,” and find yourself at odds with the Word of God, or you can take this and realize that God's Word is true. God has always kept His Word and His Word now tells us what will happen.

You and I are caught between this world and heaven right now, but one day we will finally be home. Remember, according to Scripture, if you are a follower of Jesus, you are a citizen of heaven. God already sees you seated in the heavenlies with Christ Jesus. With many of us, we wrestle with living for heaven and living in the world at the same time. This is exactly where we are going today. So let’s dive into what we need to remember as we wrestle with being in the in-between.

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.

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.

We are now in the 13th Chapter of the Book of Revelation. Today, we will look at the last half of Chapter 13. It will introduce us to the false prophet, the second beast. The Bible speaks about him over and over again, as one who survives a fatal head wound. It is important for us to understand that. He has one agenda and it's the agenda of the dragon, Satan, who empowers him. He literally wants to conquer the world. He will be given authority to do that for 3 1⁄2 years. That is half of the 7-year Great Tribulation period.

At this particular moment of time in the Book of Revelation in Chapters 12 and 13, we have seen several things. We have seen that the woman is Israel. We have seen Michael the Archangel. We have looked at Israel's remnant, those who will be saved. The male child, who is Jesus; we have been introduced to the male child (who is Jesus). The dragon is Satan himself. We need to keep these characters in mind as we see this vision story that John is telling us, while he unfolds the picture. The Bible tells us that the devil is going after the entire world. Because he knows his time is short, he is extremely angry. Clearly, Satan will turn up the heat. So let’s look at what we need to do to understand better what’s ahead for this world in the end times.

We are in a spiritual battle. John saw it correctly; he saw a war in heaven. Does that sound odd to you, that heaven (which should be a place of peace) is at war? Does that sound out of place? Today’s key verses provide a great perspective on history. They also provide a great perspective on the reality of what is happening now. When we get this right and put it in order, we will be able to make sense of what is happening right now in our culture and in this world. Let’s look at what John had to say about the war going on in heaven when he wrote this chapter of Revelation.

Today’s key passage can be a difficult one to interpret, but it’s one that’s so important to understand so that we gain a better idea of what the Lord is trying to tell us through this book of prophecy. So throughout this message, we are going to look at who the woman is and who the dragon is in this particular section of Scripture, and then we’re going to close with why this information matters to us in present day. Let’s dive in.

As God unfolded many things to John throughout the book of Revelation, God unpacked the judgments upon this planet that will take place in the future during the Great Tribulation. The Two Witnesses have appeared, the Second Woe has passed, and the Seventh Trumpet has sounded. In the midst of this calm, before everything breaks loose, God gives John a heavenly perspective. I have a feeling that things are different in your life spiritually; it is confusing and distressing. Maybe, you are wondering, “God, where are you?” He hasn't moved. He wants you to have a heavenly perspective, just like He gave John. We’re going to look at the aspects of that perspective in this message.

Nothing is more powerful than standing for the Lord against the backdrop of a dark culture. God calls us to do that. We must ask ourselves, “Am I willing to stand? Am I willing to take a stand in this culture where God has placed me? Am I willing to be different? Am I willing to be hostile to the culture or to people I care about? Because I would rather stand on the principles of God.” Scripture tells us that God will bring judgment on a religious system that has nothing but distraction concerning it. In the midst of this, God raises up two dynamic witnesses. We don't know their names. They are not identified by their names, but rather by their purpose. I want you to see several things as we examine this passage of Scripture so that you can be encouraged and challenged to be a bold witness for Christ.

As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, we need to understand the concept of the Kingdom of God. First, there is the Millennial Reign of God, which is to come. In this thousand-year period, God will set up His Kingdom on earth. Second, there is the Kingdom of God within you, where God rules over your heart and life. Even though this chapter is more informational rather than inspirational, it is important that we understand how everything fits together. Therefore, we will take a step back and look at the Temple that is mentioned specifically in the first two verses.