What happens to you in the future depends upon whether or not you belong to the Lamb or to the Dragon. But don't misunderstand. At this very moment, there is a mark upon your life. You either belong to Jesus and you follow Him or you belong to the Devil and follow him. Chapter 14 contrasts the ultimate security of those who belong to Jesus and the eternal suffering of those who don't. To whom do you belong?

The Beast Rises to focus Satan’s fury on the rest of the Woman’s offspring. Who are the rest of her offspring? They are the people of God’s purpose. These are they who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. These are the believers in the end time who become the focus of Satan’s fury. Our generation of Christians knows very little of suffering for the faith. But those who have gone before us knew much and faced much. That suffering always resulted from Satan’s fury against the message of the Messiah. But believers stood fearless and alone in the face of persecution or death for their commitment to Christ. So in the last days, working through his agent, The Beast, the dragon will make war on the saints.

In this age, the church is the people of God’s purpose… and not all the church!!! The people of God’s purpose are those who refuse to bow their knee to the dragon. a. They carry the message of the Messiah into the world. b. They face the wrath of the dragon. c. They must trust God to protect and to provide. d. They must be faithful to Christ and not bow their knee to the dragon even it means death!

What kind of suffering are we talking about now. We are not talking about sickness. We are talking about the great tribulation. This is the tribulation of the church. It is the trial of the church by fire. It is the passion of the church—the suffering of the church. There are many pieces to this picture. I hope to put them together for you here. Clarity comes when you see the whole picture for what it is. The church of John’s day was suffering when they received the message of this book. They needed to understand why they were suffering and what God was going to do about their suffering. Never once in this book does God promise deliverance from suffering. That is important for us to understand. Now we have come to the part of the book that helps explain the reason for their suffering—the background of their suffering—and how they will be delivered from their suffering.

Are God's people protected from sickness? NO.Are God's people protected from sorrow? NO. Are God's people protected from suffering? NO.Are God's people protected from death? NO. But the worst of all fears in this book is none of these. It is the WRATH OF GOD. The Greatest Danger in the Book of Revelation Is the Impending Wrath of God. The Greatest Need in the Book of Revelation is Protection from the Wrath of God. Only Those Who Come to God Through the Blood of Jesus Will Be Protected from the Wrath of God. Are you Protected or Unprotected?

When I was growing up, my parents bought me a set of Popular Science books. There were 10 or 12 books in the set and each one was about the size of an encyclopedia. One of my favorite parts of that series was the series on the human body. In one section of Popular Science, there were these transparency pages. Some of you will remember this as I talk about it. On the first page, there was nothing but the skeleton of a human body. The next page was a transparency, that when laid over that skeleton showed the position of all the vital organs in the body. The next page was another transparency that revealed the placement of all the muscles and ligaments in the body. Finally, the last page was a transparency that covered that body with skin. When all the pages were in place, there before you was a finished human body. It was shown to you layer by layer. That is how I see that John lays out this book. It has many layers. Each layer presents a picture. But it takes all the pictures to show us the full picture. If I see them as linear—then I will get confused. But if I see them as many layers of the same picture, everything begins to come clear. As our journey continues, ask God to help you hear what the Spirit might be saying to you through this book!

A day is coming when the worst of all fears will become a reality—when unholy terrors will crawl up out of the dark hole where they have been imprisoned—imprisoned because of the harm they so want to do to your life and mine. . In this chapter, we meet an unspeakable evil that across the ages has been restrained by God. This is the story of the release of that evil and of the demons who will ravage the earth and quench their thirst with the blood and souls of men.

When these trumpets are blown in heaven, disasters begin to take place on earth. These disasters are designed to bring men to repentance. These disasters will have such an impact on the world and its economy that it will be felt among all nations. Economies will crash. Famines will come. Fear will strike the hearts of those who dwell on the earth. An unbelieving world will know that these things are from the Lord.

How will anyone hold up when these seals are broken and when these events begin to unfold on the earth? Who will be ok during these horrific days and who will not be ok? Will you be ok when the great day of wrath has come? Will you be able to stand? That question is answered in chapter seven.