Two Words In Prayer Series

Sermon outline from Adrian Rogers former pastor of Belleview Baptist Church, of Memphis, TN.

The series of messages on End Times for Today will take the words from Revelation chapter by chapter and reveal the blessings promised within these pages.

Introduction

As we continue our journey through the book of Revelation, we are just beginning to deal with the events related to the Tribulation.

As we understand it, this period of terror and judgment will not begin until the church has been caught up out of this world in the Rapture.

The Tribulation Period itself is a seven year period of time that is divided into two 3 ½ year segments.

The first half is known as The Tribulation and the last half as The Great Tribulation.

In our last studies, we looked at the seven seal judgments that will come upon the world.

We saw the rise of the Antichrist, and the coming wars, famines and pestilence that will claim the lives of 1/3 of the earth’s population.

The two seals five and six are the ones we will consider today which deal with the last 3 ½ years portion of the Tribulation Period.

Just so, you will know, the book of Revelation is not written in chronological order.

The events do not necessarily take place in order in which they were written. The events of this book overlap in time.

As we continue to move through the book, we are going to be seeing events that will overlap one another from time to time.

In our verses today, we see an unusual dynamic at work.

We see people in Heaven and people on the earth in prayer.

We see both saints and sinners engaged in the business of prayer.

In the 6th chapter of Revelation, we come to the 5th and 6th seal. As we do, I would like to talk to you about a couple of the events that will take place during the latter portion of The Great Tribulation Period.

The message this morning will deal with “Two Worlds in Prayer.”

One might think that the Tribulation Period will be a time period void of prayer and religious activity, however you see that just the opposite is true.

There will be prayer in Heaven and there will be prayer upon the earth.

History’s greatest prayer meeting will take place during the latter portion of The Great Tribulation, as saint and sinner alike lift their voices in prayer.

Let us examine “Two Worlds in Prayer.”

Scripture

Our scripture reference for the message will be Revelation 6:9-17 so if you would turn to this portion of scripture and hold on to this place in your Bible as we go through it verse by verses

Prayer

1. The Tribulation Saints in Peace Revelation 7:9-11

These verses take us back up into Heaven and we see a scene of souls under the altar.

There are a few things here worthy of our attention.

• When God instructed Moses to build the Tabernacle, he was to build it after the pattern of things in Heaven, Hebrews 8:5.

In other words, Moses built and altar where animals would be slain.

That altar was merely a shadow of the altar in Heaven as stated in Hebrews 8:5.

Everything Moses built for Hebrew worship was only a shadow of what actually exists in Heaven.

When these verses tell us that there are souls under Heaven’s altar, they mean what they say!

• These souls are people who have given their lives for the cause of Christ.

When a lamb was slain on the altar, the blood and the ash would be a testimony to its sacrifice.

Now, like a sacrificial lamb, these souls bear testimony to their own sacrifice.

• These souls under this altar totally devastate two major doctrines being taught in our day.

First, they do away with the notion of “soul sleep”.

These souls are not lying in the grave in a body awaiting a resurrection. They are in Heaven.

They are aware and talking. They are very much alive and in the presence of the Lord.

Praise God, when our loved ones die, when we die, we do not go to the grave!

We rise to be with our Savior, 2 Corinthians 5:1-8 says; For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

2 For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.

4 For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.