Revelation | Week 2 · Rewind

Pastor Bill Bush · Mar 11, 2018 · 73 min watch · 3 min read

Revelation | Week 2

Big Idea

If you know what's coming next, it must change what you do right now — share your faith with urgency and love.

Drawing from Revelation 6–19 and the prophecy of Daniel's seventy weeks, this sermon argues that the coming seven-year Great Tribulation — characterized by global war, famine, disease, and God's righteous judgment — is not a distant curiosity but a urgent call to action. Because believers will not be present for that period, the knowledge of what is coming should drive every Christian to intentional, sacrificial evangelism right now, pointing people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus before it is too late.

Key points

1
1Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks accurately predicted the very day Jesus rode into Jerusalem, establishing the Bible's reliability and leaving only the final 'seventieth week' — the Great Tribulation — yet to be fulfilled.
2
2The Great Tribulation spans chapters 6–19 of Revelation and is structured as three progressively worse waves of judgment: seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls of wrath.
3
3The four horsemen of the apocalypse — representing a false peace, global war, catastrophic famine, and death claiming a quarter of the earth's population — are only the first and least severe of the judgments.
4
4Even in the midst of pouring out His wrath, God pauses — a half-hour of silence in heaven — revealing that His heart is not bloodthirsty but grieved, reluctantly bringing justice to those who persistently refuse Him.
5
5Those who endure the Tribulation know clearly it is God acting, yet they still shake their fists at Him — fulfilling Romans 1's description of those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness.
6
6God's covenant faithfulness to Israel means a remnant will turn to Jesus during the Tribulation, evidenced by the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists — and this pattern is consistent with every Old Testament story of Israel's restoration.
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7
7Knowing what is coming next should make every believer urgently intentional about sharing their faith, because leading people to Jesus is the one mission with a shelf life — it ends when history ends.
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Application

The pastor's challenge is direct: if you truly believe what Revelation describes — a coming global tribulation that no one you love should have to face — then stop investing in the things of this world that will melt away and start being intentional about sharing your faith. That doesn't always mean knocking on strangers' doors; it might mean serving in children's ministry so a searching parent can sit and hear the gospel, or simply saying yes when God nudges you on an airplane. Commit to being 'called according to His purpose' (Romans 8:28), and watch God work things together for good. The mission has a shelf life. Start now.

Take it into your week

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7-day devotional

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There is something remarkable about a prophecy that names its fulfillment centuries before it arrives. The sermon opened with Daniel's seventy weeks — a mathematical prophecy so precise that it pointed to the very day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we call Palm Sunday. That kind of accuracy isn't coincidence; it's the fingerprint of a God who stands outside of time and speaks into it with perfect clarity. Daniel 12:1 lands at the far edge of that same prophecy, describing a time of distress unlike anything the world has ever seen. But notice what else verse 1 says: 'everyone whose name is found written in the book — will be rescued.' The prophecy isn't only about judgment. It is also about rescue. Before you spend this week sitting with hard and heavy things — tribulation, horsemen, bowls of wrath — let that anchor you. God sees the end from the beginning, He has proven His Word trustworthy across centuries, and He holds the names of His people in a book. The same God who predicted the first coming of Jesus is fully in control of everything still to come. That's not a reason to sit back. It's a reason to move forward with confidence.

For reflection

Where in your life right now do you most need to trust that God's Word is reliable — and what would it look like to act on that trust this week?

Pray

Pray for a deeper confidence in the trustworthiness of Scripture and what that confidence might free you to do.

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Small-group discussion guide

For leading a group conversation about this message.

Open

This message took a hard look at some of the most intense passages in the Bible — and landed in a surprising place: not dread, but urgency. Take a moment to share one word that describes how you felt walking away from it.

Discussion questions

1
The sermon opened with Daniel's prophecy of seventy weeks, arguing it predicted the exact day Jesus rode into Jerusalem — centuries in advance. What does that kind of precision suggest about how we should read the parts of Daniel and Revelation that haven't been fulfilled yet?
2
In Revelation 8:1, there is a half-hour of silence in heaven before the next wave of judgment begins. What might that pause communicate about God's character — particularly in light of the severity of what comes before and after it?
3
The sermon noted that people living through the Tribulation will know, unmistakably, that God is behind what is happening — yet the text shows them still refusing to turn to Him. How does Romans 1's description of those who suppress the truth help make sense of that response?
4
The pastor described the four horsemen as only the first and least severe wave of judgment, with far worse to follow. How does understanding the structure of Revelation 6–19 — seals, then trumpets, then bowls — shape the way we think about the weight of what God is holding back right now?
5
The pastor challenged us that intentional evangelism doesn't always mean knocking on strangers' doors — it might look like serving in children's ministry so a searching parent can sit and hear the gospel, or saying yes to a nudge on an airplane. What are some other everyday ways people might open a door for someone to hear about Jesus?
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6
The pastor described the mission of sharing faith as having a shelf life — it ends when history ends. How might that sense of a real deadline change the way a community of believers thinks about its priorities together?
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Pray together

Gratitude that God's heart is not bloodthirsty but patient — and courage to be intentional with the time and relationships He has placed in front of us

Made by Rewind AI from the sermon transcript. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Revelation

Week 2 · 4 messages

Where these passages are preached

Matthew 24 Daniel 12 Revelation 6 Romans 1

Explore related topics

God's Judgment Last Days Preparation Revelation's End Times The Great Tribulation Urgency of Evangelism

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