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Well, once again, good morning. So please turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 11. Revelation chapter 11, I'll begin reading in verse 1 and read all the way down to verse 14. Revelation chapter 11, verse 1. Then there was given me a measuring rod, like a staff. And someone said, Get up and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and those who worship in it.

Leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread under foot the holy city for 42 months. And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1260 days, clothed in sackcloth.

These are the two olive trees, and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies. So if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way. These have the power to shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying.

And they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with every Plague as often as they desire. When they have finished their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will make war with them and overcome them and kill them.

And their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. Those from the peoples and tribes and tongues and nation will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

And those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who were watching them.

And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here. Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven.

The second woe was past. Behold, the third. Woe is coming quickly. Well, we have before us a faithful ministry, the faithful ministry of two witnesses. Faithful ministries come in all shapes and sizes throughout times and places. We will be looking at one that is yet to come. But even as we walk through this, we can recognize that faithful ministry is expected in our day and age.

If you are in Christ, then you have been given certain giftings, certain things that God has given you, equippings, for ministry and for service. And He will equip you, and then He will bring those opportunities for you to minister. The issue really isn't not if you are called to ministry, but are you being faithful to the ministry that God has called you to?

And today we'll look at this faithful ministry, this great faithful ministry that happens in the most significant time, or one of the most significant times in all of human history. We'll witness the faithfulness of these two witnesses and how God is going to glorify Himself through. Their witness.

But just to remember, before the, where we are, before the seventh trumpet is sounded, which is going to happen in verse 15, before the seventh trumpet is sounded, there is an interlude. Just as there was an interlude between the opening of the sixth and seventh seal, there is this interlude between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpet.

If you will remember, the first four trumpets really dealt with the futility of opposing God. He is the Lord over all of heaven and earth, and he demonstrates that in the way he is able to touch all aspects of the earth's environment, the stars, the skies, the waters, and he is able to demonstrate that he is God over all of this and that there's absolute futility in opposing him.

It is futile for you and me to take on our creator, for sure. The next two trumpets, trumpets five and six, God allows the unleashing of the abyss and this demonic army of locusts to come out and torment the inhabitants of the earth. And then there is this demonic cavalry that is unleashed.

That is able to kill. It's evident that they show no love for humanity. And in these two trumpets, we see the foolishness of serving Satan. There is no love. Satan does not love humanity. And even those who serve him and worship him, the very demons that they worship, will inflict harm and torment and kill them.

Well, then, between the sixth and seventh trumpet, you have this. Uh-oh, what I did, I did it again, didn't I? Can you advance the slide? Anyway. Sorry. Okay, so between the sixth and seventh trumpet, you have this interlude. You have chapter 10, and that is, we looked at that last time, where the angels takes his stand on the shore and upon the sea, upon the earth and the sea, and he announces the end.

And then you have this other interlude. The second part of this interlude is the ministry of these two witnesses, the two witnesses. But it's a faithful ministry that we will be looking at this morning, the ministry of the Two witnesses. It's a ministry, it's a faithful ministry during the end, and it's a faithful ministry to the end.

And we'll see that as we go along. And as we walk through this, I want us to see several characteristics or make several observations about what a faithful ministry looks like so that we can learn from their example and be faithful in the ministry that God has placed us in during our times.

So, the first, as we advance, faithful ministry, I'll let you, who knows how many times it's going to take off. But anyway, faithful ministry, I'll just read it at this point. It's pretty simple. Uh-oh, am I out of batteries? Ah, thank you. So, first thing, a faithful ministry God has about a faithful ministry is that God has ordained a place and time for it.

A faithful ministry has a God-ordained place and time. Look back at chapter 11, verse 1. Then there was given me a measuring rod, like a staff, and someone said, Get up and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship in it. Leave out the court, which is outside the temple, and do not measure.

Measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread it underfoot, the holy city, for 42 months. So, first of all, there is a place. Our attention is immediately brought to the holy city. There's no question in context that this is Jerusalem. This is the place in verse 8 where their Lord was crucified.

There's no question that this holy city is referring to Jerusalem. So, the geographic location or focal point has moved from global, the world, to this place, this city, Jerusalem. From chapter 10, you've got this perspective, chapter 9, you've got the trumpets blowing, things that are happening on the whole earth.

All of a sudden, in chapter 11, our attention is narrowed, and the focal point becomes Jerusalem. And if you notice in verse 1 and 2, John is commanded to measure something. Look back. There was given to me a measuring rod, a measuring rod, kind of a hollow stick, a walking stick, something used to measure.

If we were in the south, if this was written in the south, it'd say, go get a cane pole. And that kind of, it was a reed used for measuring. And go get a measuring rod. A rod like a staff and measure. And I'm sorry, and this person was speaking.

The last person speaking was the angel. So it's probably the angel. But the voice says, get up. You'll be getting up. You'll be measuring the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it. So the temple, measure the temple. And it has in view here a temple complex.

And the temple complex has a sanctuary. That's where the holy of holies and the holy place is located in that building, the sanctuary. Another part of the temple complex was the inner court where there was, and that's where the altar stood, the altar of the burnt offering. That's where it stood, and that's where the priests would minister.

It's also where the court of the women were located. And then there was an outer court. And so here is the angel telling, or a voice telling John to get up and go measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship in it. So this assumes that there's a temple and that it's active.

There are worshipers in it. And so he tells him to go measure. So probably go literally go measure. The temple, sanctuary, inner court, count, and that's another way to measure, be count, worshipers, that kind of thing. Get a grasp. But all this implies that a sacrificial system is in operation.

It assumes the existence of the Jewish temple and that it's in operation. Thank you. All right, well, if it doesn't, you'll just. It's only three points, so it's not that hard. Even if we just turn the whole thing off, we'll get it. This is why God didn't ordain PowerPoint.

He ordained his word. But the understanding of this temple takes on really a question. Is he talking about a literal or non-literal temple? Is this temple symbolic of the church or something else? If you go down a literal path, you're really left with two options. Either it was Herod's temple in Jesus' day, or it is a future temple that is yet to be built.

If you go down a literal, that's really all your options, two options. But it's not Herod's temple. Temple. It was destroyed 20 plus years after John wrote this. I mean, before John wrote this. So Revelation is written in the 90s, and it's difficult to understand why John would be referring to the Herod's temple being destroyed sometime in the future.

And it's evident another reason why it's not Herod's temple is the second coming has not occurred. And a 2,000-year delay in light of the angel's sworn testimony, as he says in verse 6, the angel lifted up his right hand and swore by him who lives in heaven, there will be delay no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then the mystery of God is finished as he preached to his servants, the prophets.

So it's very difficult with the sworn testimony of the angel that the second coming hasn't occurred because he is swearing there is no more delay. The seventh trumpet is sounding, and on the heels of that is Christ's return. Another reason, I find it difficult to believe that this could be the Romans, is that there is a mention of being trampled underfoot by 42 years.

Years, I mean, 42 months, and the siege that took place around Rome, even if you could fit it in that precise time frame, which is debatable, a siege is not the same thing as control. A circling around and trampling underfoot are two different things. So I don't think, I don't believe that this is a reference to Herod's temple.

If you go the non-literal route, the temple is usually taken to be the church. And if you go down a non-literal route and you think verse 11, you start trying to read chapter 11 in light of an all-symbolic or use it with the symbolic hermeneutic, you end up with a, well, you end up confused out of your wits.

At least I did. One of my favorite authors, who I love to read and love his insights, who takes a non-literal approach to Revelation, says this, this chapter is extraordinarily difficult to interpret. Another one says this, this passage may be well called the crux interpretum, as it is undoubtedly one of the most difficult in the whole book of Revelation.

But the difficulty, and you can see this as you just start walking through it, you're trying to understand what the literal or the non-literal, the figurative hermeneutic would teach. It says, sees this, would see the temple as the church. Okay, that's easy. Okay, we'd see the church. Well, that's easy enough to get your mind around until you realize then the city is also the church.

See the church, the temple is a reference to the church, and then you get to the point where the city is also the church. And then the outer court is also taken as the church. Whether it's the persecuted church being trampled, or whether it's the apostate church still taken as the church, you start realizing just how difficult it gets to start saying: if the temple is the church and the city is the church, and the outer court is the church, who in the world are the worshipers?

You start getting into an overwhelming set of problems that just become incoherent and reduce revelation down to: well, you've got good guys and bad guys. All the good guys somehow are equated to the church. And the bad guys are somehow equated to be in league with the devil, and then you just got this broadbush away.

No, it's best to interpret and see this as a reference to a literal temple that has yet to be built. Keep watching. I love this about this interpretation: it's saying, test it, keep watching. A literal temple is coming. And if it doesn't, I'm totally off in my understanding, and so are many other.

The worshipers, if this is a literal temple that's built in Jerusalem at a future time, who are the worshipers in the temple? Well, they are Jews. They are Jews who have not come to Christ. It's evident. They're still looking to the sacrificial system to meet their spiritual needs and to do away with their sin.

So it's a time, a place, yet a temple in Jerusalem where worship is in operation, temple sacrifice is in operation. So that's what he's told to measure. Then, notice what he's told not to measure. Look what he says in verse 2. Leave out the court which is outside the temple and do not measure it, for it has been given to the nations, and they will tread under foot the holy city for 42 months.

So he said, Leave out the outer court. Why? It's given over to the Gentiles, to the nations, to trample, to walk under, to control for 42 months. Jesus spoke in Luke 21:24 that Jerusalem would be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.

And what John is writing about is that twilight period, that last segment of time where the Gentiles trample the city of Jerusalem. But it's interesting to note that even their ability to trample Jerusalem has been given to them by God for a time and a purpose. 42 months.

42 months. So there is a faithful ministry, has a God-ordained place. Attention is God has put these two witnesses in Jerusalem. At a time in the context of the temple ministry that is yet to come. That's the place. But he also grants the time of it. Look at verse 3.

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth. They will prophesy. That is their ministry. To go there, they are going to give divine revelation. They are going to speak and interpret divine revelation, probably from what's already been revealed.

And they are going to witness during this time period. God is going to raise up his two witnesses for this unique time and place. When is it going to happen? Well, sometime in the future, sometime after the events of the sixth trumpet, and during the same time period as the trampling of Jerusalem.

He's given it. 42 months. God's given it. Sometime in the future, after the sixth trumpet, for 42 months. Also, notice that he makes a nice little equation here. 42 months. And he equates this to the 1,260 days. If you're an accountant, you like things like that. And later, he's going to equate this same number to the times, time, and a half a time, which is going to connect further this prophecy to Daniel.

But their function is going to be to prophesy, to give God's perspective on things. And what are they after? Well, you can tell that the need is repentance. They're going to prophesy for these three and a half years, these 42 months. They're raised up to call people to repent.

Keep in mind what has just happened. Look at the end of chapter 9: the blowing of the sixth trumpet and the unleashing of this demonic cavalry. And you get to verse 20. The rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, some 200 million, it's a huge number, if we're using today's population, they did not repent of the works of their hand so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold and silver and brass and the stone and the wood which can neither see nor hear nor walk, nor did they repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their men.

Of their immorality, nor of their thefts. And so just before, it's hard. This is a hardened people. After all that's been taking place in the world, they still are not repenting. Now the focus turns to Jerusalem and the ministry of these two witnesses, and they are clothed in sackcloth.

Sackcloth is a picture of mourning. They are calling people to mourn, mourn over their sin, mourn over what is happening in the world. In fact, Jeremiah says it like this in Jeremiah 4:8, for this, put on sackcloth, lament and wail, for the fierce anger of the Lord has not turned back.

You know what they're doing by the way they minister? It's clear they're prophesying, they're declaring the things of God. Certainly, God is pressing people harder and harder to bring them to repentance. You've got this hardened world, you've got this hardened Jerusalem, and what are they wanting? They don't go into the content of everything they say, but you do see they're clothed in sackcloth.

Remember Jonah? He wouldn't go to Nineveh. He wanted God to judge Nineveh. And after that big encounter with a fish that swallows him and spits him up on the shore, then he's turned. Preaching. Okay, God, I'm going to Nineveh. Then, let me just pick up in Jonah 3 and read to you a little bit, beginning in verse 4.

Then Jonah began to go through the city, one day's walk, and he cried out and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh will be overthrown. Then the people of Nineveh believed in God. Surprise. And they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least of them.

When the word reached the king of Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the ashes. He issued a proclamation and said, In Nineveh, by the decree of the king and his nobles, do not let man, beast, herd, or flock taste a thing.

Do not let them eat or drink water. But both man and beast must be covered with sackcloth, and let men call on God earnestly that each may turn from his wicked way and from the violence which is in his hand. There's a king who repented. Imagine what the landscape looked like.

The cows, the sheep, they were in sackcloth. You see how he responded to the teaching. And this is what these two witnesses are. Calling, repent, turn, mourn over this, because the fierce wrath of God is about to begin. End with the seventh trumpet. That's it. And when he enters into that, and when the bold judgments start coming, which are part of the seventh trumpet, no one's getting into heaven, it's going to run its course.

And so these again show us the witness of God, the mercy of God. He's pressing in hard against the city and the world. And he's pressing in hard, and he's pressing them to the point, saying, turn. It's like these two witnesses. Their ministry is: taste and see that the Lord is good.

It is not good for you to serve the emptiness and the tyranny of your idols and your own perversions. Empty, tyrannical. Taste and see that the Lord is good. He will yet receive you. This is certainly the content of what this ministry is declaring. But it's a faithful ministry.

It happens in a God-ordained time and place to address a specific need. And so God raises up these two witnesses. I know you and I aren't these two witnesses. We're not part of these two witnesses. Oh, we're on the same team, same spirit. But we have our own God-ordained time and place.

And God has raised you and I up in our specific place, specific time, with whatever sphere He's placed us in. It's significant to Him, it's significant to us. It is a privilege. So let us be faithful. Let us be faithful in what God has called us to do.

Just like these that we will see, we'll be faithful. So a faithful ministry has a God-ordained place in time. Faithful ministry also enjoys God's protection. Look back verse 4. These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. It's a big question: who are these two witnesses?

Well, again, you come to this decision. Is it literal? Are these two witnesses two literal human beings? Or is this to be understood in a figurative way, a non-literal way, referring to something else? What do you think they might refer to if they're not literal? Any guesses? The church.

Yes, of course. The church. And seriously, the church. So, not only in this non-literal paradigm, and seeing this figuratively, these two witnesses speak figuratively of the church. Just like the 144,000 was another name for the church. Just like the great multitude coming out of the Great Tribulation was another name for the church.

Just like the temple was another name for the church. Just like the city is another name for the church. Just like the outer court is another name for the church. Honestly, I find it hard to go that way. I feel like the book of Revelation is giving us some distinctions.

It's not just that everything's the church. A literal view takes them, I find it far more consistent, cohesive, comprehendable. A literal view takes them to be two literal people that God will raise up at this time. And the identification of these people, you can imagine, even if you believe they're literal, is somewhat of a question.

In fact, ever since it was written, who are these two people? In fact, Irenaeus, going back to the early church. Fathers, Irenaeus and Tetrulian, they argued that it was Enoch and Elijah because Enoch was translated, so they say, and Elijah translated, neither one of them tasted death, so they would come back.

Others, same to present time, saw them as Moses and Elijah, and still others, Moses or Elijah-like. Two literal individuals, and I think it's the idea with Moses representing law, many of the things, many of the powers that they have are the same that Moses had, turning the water into blood, putting plagues upon Egypt.

Elijah was also able to call down fire from heaven. So they think a good take on this is it could be Moses and Elijah. Some challenges with those views, but or it could also be Moses or Elijah-like. Either one of them would be fine. I would gravitate perhaps to maybe a, well, I gravitate more to that.

It's a literal Moses, literal Elijah, but I would also recognize that their names are not given. So it's speculation. It could be Moses-like or Elijah-like. But it's clear the description, it's not the description that's given is in verse 4. He doesn't give us their names, he gives us a description of who these are.

They are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. Two witnesses. Witnesses who stand in solidarity with the Lord of the earth, who stand in proximity to the Lord of the earth, the olive trees. I'd like to spend some time.

We've spent some time in Zechariah 4 on other occasions. But if you'll remember, in Zechariah 4, there are two olive trees. There's one lampstand. The olive trees are emptying oil into these lampstands. And Zechariah's, what am I seeing? And the explanation is: not by might nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord, that the oil is a reflective of the spirit's work.

The spirit of God is doing something. And then the end of Zechariah chapter 4, maybe I'll just read the end of Zechariah 4. Zechariah asked the question in verse 11. Then I said to him, What are these two olive trees on the right of the lamp standing on its left?

And I answered the second time and said, What are the two olive branches which are beside the two golden pipes which empty the golden oil from themselves? So he answered me, Do you not know what these are? And he said, No, my Lord. Then he says, These are the two anointed ones who are standing by the Lord of the whole earth.

Now, as you read those in context, and I won't spend the time there, but what you have in Zechariah is a depiction of these two offices: Zerubbabel being the king, representing the kingly office, the head of that office at the time. You have Joshua, the high priest, the head of the priestly ministry, and that these olive trees are reflective of these whole ministries.

And those who would be at that time, Joshua and Zerubbabel, as heads of these ministries, two olive trees. They speak of these anointed offices through which God is going to illuminate, make himself known. And so you have this depiction here, these two olive trees. One thing's very Clear from the context itself, without going anywhere else, is that they stand in close proximity to the Lord of the earth, in solidarity with him, and their purpose is to illuminate, to bring God's truth to bear, to light up Jerusalem with the truth of God, even during its most darkest hour.

So, but they are protected. The reason why their time exists, look back at verse 5. So, they are certainly two witnesses standing in solidarity with, proximity to, on behalf of, speaking the things of the Lord of the earth, to bring about his will, his desires, to make himself known, to give his perspective on life and what's happening, calling people to turn to him.

And in verse 5, and if anyone wants to harm them, fire flows out of their mouths and devours their enemies. So if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed this way. Now, there you see the power of Elijah, or you see certainly you're harkening back to Elijah's time, but there's no messing around with these guys.

The beast's power is going to be great. Beast's power is going to be running concurrently, as we'll see in days ahead. And yet, God has left a faithful witness there in Jerusalem. The beast's power is going to be great, but until they're finished prophesying, they're going to stand their ground.

They're going to teach truth. Let me just read to you a little bit of 2 Kings 1. Let me just, you remember that time when Ahaziah went and inquired of Beelzebub and the God of Ekron if he was going to recover from his sickness? He encounters Elijah, his servants do, and then Ahaziah says, Go and inquire to Elijah.

Go talk to Elijah. So let me just pick that narrative up. Then in verse 9, chapter 1, 2 Kings 1. Then the king sent to him a captain of 50 with his 50. And he went up to him, and behold, he was sitting on top of the hill, and he said to him, O man of God, the king says, Come down.

You don't talk that way to Elijah, especially if you want to hurt him. Elijah replied to the captain of 50, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. Then fire. Came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.

I guess he's a man of God. So he again, Ahaziah again sent to him another captain of 50 with his fifty, and he said to him, O man of God, thus says the king, come down quickly. Elijah replied to them, If I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.

Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty. So Ahaziah didn't get it. So Ahaziah again sent the captain of a third 50 with his fifty. When the third captain of the fifty went up, he came and bowed on his knees before Elijah and begged him and said, O man of God, please let my life and the lives of these fifty servants of yours be precious in your sight.

Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of 50 with their 50s, but now let my life be precious in your sight. And the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, Go down with him. You see, you can imagine, if anybody is desiring to hurt these two witnesses, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes them.

Fire. So the world's going to listen to their witness. They're going to get it. Okay, we're going to have to listen to this because everybody who wants to... Take him out. And it's interesting to note that if anyone wants to harm them, he must be killed in this way.

It's like, this is how, if you're going to come against them, this is how they are going to be done away with. You know what this means? People are going to listen. Listen, these are extraordinary times. You think, is this really going to happen? Yes. These are extraordinary times.

An extraordinarily hardened people that refuse to listen to God, and God is pressing them, giving them no escape to hear before that judgment comes, before this trumpet blows, and it's over. This is the mercy of God. But look at their power. Verse 6, I'm going to move along here.

These have the power to shut up the sky so that rain will not fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every plague as often as they desire. So they're going to get not only the attention of Jerusalem, they're going to get the attention of the world.

Their message is going to get out. They will be heard. You know, Pharaoh would not listen to Moses. See some of the same things that Moses did here: turning the water into blood, leasing the plagues. Guess what? Pharaoh had to listen. And ultimately, Pharaoh had to obey. So a faithful ministry has a God-ordained place and time, and it also enjoys God's protection.

Listen, God has given us a time and place to minister in His name. And He is the one who has given us the time and place. And He will protect the ministry until we are through. That is going to be true in the future, and that is true now.

We enjoy, as ministers of Christ, a protection to minister in His name. But third, a faithful ministry accomplishes God's purpose, accomplishes what God intends. Now, several things happen after this period of their ministry. Their ministry is going to come to an end, their prophesying ministry is going to come to an end, and then several events happen.

In fact, there's, I guess, six events. I'll go through them pretty quickly. But six events happen right after the period of their ministry. Number one, the beast will kill them. Look at verse 7. When they have finished, notice not a moment before their testimony, when they have finished.

Their testimony, the beast, this is the first reference to this figure who's going to come up out of the abyss, he will make war with them, he will overcome them, and he will kill them. And their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified.

They're going to be killed. The beast is going to come up, man, I believe, certainly man and his kingdom, this individual, this figure. We'll learn more about him as the days go by. Bye. But he is going to make war with them, kill them, and leave their body in the main thoroughfare.

It's literally the word is their bodies will lie in the wide or in the broad idea, in the broad place of the great city. I'm not left wondering what city this is. It is the city where their Lord was crucified. But notice, he says, which is mystically called Sodom and Egypt.

Therein, the text is telling you, I want you to be allegorical here. I want you to read this symbolically. I want you to read this spiritually. The actual Greek word involves the word pneuma, spirit. This word is spiritually, that is in concert with. The Spirit understanding, which is spiritually called Sodom.

Spiritually, according to the Spirit, is called Egypt. Now, what is Sodom? What is this saying? Well, it tells us about the character of Jerusalem. What's going to happen to the character of Jerusalem at that time? They are going to be characterized by Sodom and Egypt. And those two, the moral degradation, the utter moral degradation of a city is depicted in Sodom.

Egypt is the symbol of oppression and slavery and tyranny. So you have something on this moral perversion on steroids, a moral decadent city, this is Jerusalem, with the oppression and tyranny of the most tyrannical form. So a gross moral perversion coupled with governmental tyranny. That's the Jerusalem where they're going to be ministering.

Again, do you not see the mercy of God? Why would he have anything to do with them? And yet you see him drawing near through these witnesses. Well, then, so the beast is going to kill them. Second event, after they're prophesying, is that there's going to be a three-and-a-half-day spectacle.

Look at verse 9. Those from the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and nations will look at their dead bodies for three and a half days and will not permit their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. So, the powers that be this time under the beast and associated with the beast are not going to allow their bodies to go be put into a tomb.

Why? Well, first of all, you can imagine, well, they want to gloat over their enemies. Let's put them in the bride, in the broad place of the city, just like where their Lord was put on a place where people would see and go by and watch. And the same thing happens.

Put them out so we can gloat over them. Put them out there to crush any kind of rebellion. But I think it's possible they are also afraid of an alleged resurrection. They probably don't want an alleged resurrection. You remember Jesus? They know the prophecy. People are going to know a little bit.

Certainly, the devil knows what's prophesied. So let's make sure that they are guarded. All eyes are going to be on them, cameras on. You can imagine how, in our world of text, Technology, all eyes going to be focused, seeing these. So they want them to just leave them there and rot.

Full daylight. Whatever's left of it, focus on them. Now, third thing that happens is this three and a half day satanic celebration. Look at verse 10. So they're gloating over them. They've killed them, put them out there. Verse 10, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, and they will send gifts to one another because these two prophets tormented those who dwell upon the earth.

They will rejoice over them. They will celebrate. They will gladden themselves. They will send gifts to one another. You know, very few celebrations do we have. Do people really exchange gifts? I mean, this is going to be a big celebration. It shows you just how much the world hates these two witnesses and what they have to say.

And the word there is, for torment is pressed hard. They are celebrating because these had pressed hard those who dwell upon the earth. What are they pressing hard on? Come to Christ. Come to taste and see that he is good. Listen to what the law says. Listen to what is coming.

Turn. Your ways are not true. The beast is a liar. Don't serve him. Serve the true God. All this is happening, and the world hates them. They're shutting up the rain, their message is being heard. The fourth thing that happens, and this is where it really starts getting good, the world is watching, and God has arranged all these events, setting the stage for some of the most climatic events in all of human history.

Here they are, all eyes on them, cameras on them, there they are, and the world is going to witness a bodily resurrection. All those people say, no, there's no such thing as a bodily resurrection. It's going to be caught right there. They're going to see it. Look at verse 11.

But after the three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet, and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. That would be scary. Especially after you're gloating all over them, and all said, Oh, yeah, stand a bit up here.

All right. Who did that? Great fear, a deep fear, all fell upon those who were watching them. Though there's worldwide can see this, the emphasis is certainly upon Jerusalem. So, not only do they see a bottom. Resurrection, guess what else the watching world is going to see? A bodily ascension.

Very things that people deny: the bodily resurrection of Christ, the bodily ascension of Him into heaven. Guess what the world, a very skeptical, deceived, and hard world, is going to see? They're going to see a bodily ascension. Look at verse 12. And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, Come up here.

Then they went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. You see, it's like Satan wanted to make a public spectacle out of the witnesses, but it's God who makes the public spectacle. Bodily resurrection, bodily ascension. And then the last thing that happens, sixth thing, remarkable.

Jerusalem gives glory to God. Jerusalem, look at verse 13. And in that hour, there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. And the rest were terrified and gave glory to the God of heaven. 7,000 killed in the city.

Earthquake. The rest were terrified. Terrified, and they gave glory to God. The inhabitants of Jerusalem give glory to God. Through the ministry, the faithful ministry of these witnesses, even after it is done, God is still at work and God is using them and use them to change the heart of a stubborn, corrupt people.

Even though there was apparent defeat, there is great victory because God always accomplishes His purposes through these ministries. And what, through faithful ministries, and what we're what is happening here? The trumpet hasn't blown yet. But what John has done and what the vision that he has received is a thumbnail sketch of the ministry of these two witnesses that's going to span throughout the time period of the seventh trumpet.

So while the beast is coming to power, while the beast is having his heyday, there is a witness in Jerusalem. And already God had sealed the 144,000. Again, as an emphasis of People that he's going to protect to keep his message alive and in the front of his people, Jerusalem.

But God is in control. God has his witnesses. God is the one directing the events. And you can see the mercy of God pressing in to these people. And here you see a change. And this is a very different change. They gave glory to God. Remember at the end of chapter 9, the people wouldn't repent.

Well, look at verse 14. The second woe is past, which ended with chapter 9. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly. And there's the emphasis. What he's saying now is the third woe is coming quickly. That is the blowing of the seventh trumpet. It's coming quickly. So we can, as we conclude, faithful ministry, we see one in the future.

God has faithful ministry has a God-ordained place and time. Faithful ministry enjoys God's protection and it accomplishes God's purpose. And I just wanted us to look up. On this, see what a faithful ministry looks like during the most difficult times in human history, and yet see a faithful ministry to the death and how God used and the mercy of God through these witnesses and all that just to bring to our own unique time and place.

God has ordained time and place for us. God is protecting His ministry here at Emmanuel and the ministry that He may have you in. And God accomplishes purposes, His purposes, even if we can't see what all is happening around us. God accomplishes His purpose through the faithfulness of His people.

So let's be faithful. Let's endeavor to be a greater witness, celebrating those things and being faithful in the things that God has given us. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we do thank you for this testimony, just this preview of this faithful ministry, a faithful ministry during the end and to the end.

And, Father, even as we walk through this passages, there may be several things and many things that we don't understand or can't nail down with precision, but we do get the picture. We know that you are at work, that you have established a time and place for your people to minister.

You want us to be ministers. Ministering, we can take confidence in that you will accomplish what you have purposed. So, Father, help us, forgive us where we have grown slack or weak or slow or sluggish. Help us to be faithful. Help us not to lose heart. Help us not to be discouraged, depressed, down, but recognize that you are the one who is in control of all these things, and what a privilege it is to be ministering in your name.

Let us go here today in the power of your Spirit. In Jesus' name, amen.