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Revelation | Week 2 · Rewind

Rock Point Church

Pastor Bill Bush · Mar 11, 2018

Pastor Bill Bush · Mar 11, 2018 · 73 min watch · 2 min read

Revelation | Week 2

Devotional days

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Scripture in this message

Matthew 24:21
Daniel 12:1
Revelation 6:1
Revelation 6:15-17
Romans 1
Revelation 8:1

Big Idea Key points Application

Big Idea

If you really know what happens next in God's story, it should change how you live right now — especially in urgently sharing Jesus with others.

The book of Revelation isn't meant to just fascinate or frighten us — it's meant to move us. Knowing that a great tribulation is coming, and that God takes sin seriously enough to judge it, should make us intentional now about pointing people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus, because we would never want someone we care about to face that judgment unprepared.

Key points

1
1Knowing what's coming next should change what we do now
Pastor Bill opens with a story about ignoring his wife's warning that the freezer broke, buying Italian ice anyway, and then forcing himself to eat all of it once he realized it would melt — a picture of how we hear God's warnings about the future but keep investing in things of this world anyway. He frames the whole Revelation series around this question: if I know what's going to happen next, it should impact what I do now.
2
2The great tribulation is a real, coming seven-year period rooted in Daniel's prophecy
He connects Matthew 24:21 and Daniel 12:1 to a period of tribulation unlike any the world has seen, and walks through Daniel's prophecy of the seventy weeks, noting its precise, historically verified prediction of Christ's arrival in Jerusalem — validated further by the Dead Sea Scrolls predating Jesus. He explains there's a prophetic gap between week 69 and 70, and that final seven-year week is the tribulation described in Revelation 6-19.
3
3The tribulation unfolds in three escalating waves of judgment
Pastor Bill outlines Revelation 6-19 as seven seals, then seven trumpets, then seven bowls of wrath, each wave progressively worse, with parenthetical scenes (the antichrist, 144,000 witnesses, two prophets, the beast) interspersed throughout. He stresses this tribulation is different from any past dark period because it is truly global and unmistakably recognized by everyone as coming from God.
4
4The four horsemen show judgment starting relatively mild and growing severe
He reads through the first four seals — a rider who deceives like a false savior, war and slaughter, famine driving prices to twelve times normal, and death claiming a fourth of the earth's population — noting these are actually 'the least scary part' of what's ahead, with worse to come in the trumpets and bowls.
5
5God's judgment is just, not cruel — people know it's Him and still refuse Him
Reading Revelation 6:15-17, Pastor Bill shows that people in the tribulation know clearly this judgment comes from God yet still run from Him rather than to Him, paralleling Romans 1's picture of people suppressing known truth. He notes that even God pauses in silence for half an hour before the trumpets (Revelation 8:1), showing His reluctance even as He remains righteous and must judge sin.
6
6Much of Revelation concerns God finishing His covenant with Israel
He reminds the church that American Christians aren't the center of the biblical story — God is drawing a remnant of Israel back to Himself through this tribulation, using 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists, just as He has always kept every covenant He's made, including with Israel and Ishmael.
7
7Knowing this should drive us to urgently share our faith now
Since believers likely won't experience the tribulation, the reason to know about it is love: we wouldn't want anyone we care about to go through it. Pastor Bill notes evangelism is the one Christian activity with a 'shelf life' compared to worship or fellowship which continue into eternity, and tells a lengthy personal story of a delayed flight to Israel where he reluctantly, then obediently, shared Christ with a grieving Israeli man seated next to him, discovering another believer seated behind them who had been praying the whole time.

A story from life

Pastor Brad's story about buying Italian ice despite knowing the freezer was broken and trying to eat all 18 containers

Application

Pastor Bill's charge is that if knowing what's next doesn't move you to share your faith, you're missing the whole point of the book.

Get honest about whether you've shared your faith
Pastor Bill asks every believer to ask whether they've had any part in bringing someone else to Jesus; if the answer is no, he says you're not doing what God wants you to do with your life.
Be intentional about pointing people to Jesus by loving them like Jesus
This week, look for the person in front of you — on a plane, at work, in your neighborhood — the way Pastor Bill did on his flight to Israel, rather than staying comfortable and quiet.
Don't get distracted by the 'Italian ice' of this world
Set aside the busyness, fatigue, and distractions that keep you from caring about people who don't know Jesus.
Volunteer for children's ministry to launch the fifth service
Rock Point needs 102 volunteers to staff a new service; signing up at rockpoint.io or at the children's room table lets new families hear about Jesus while their kids are cared for.

Take it into your week

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Scripture in this message

From the transcript
“Matthew twenty four twenty one describes this time of tribulation like the world will have never seen, and he says it's from the from the time of of of the book of Daniel”
Read the whole chapter →
From the transcript
“You go back into Daniel chapter 12 verse one, it says there's gonna come this time, this period of tribulation before the end like the world will have never seen”
From the transcript
“Revelation six verse one reads, as I watched, the lamb broke the first of the seven seals on the scroll. Then I heard one of the four living beings say with a voice like thunder, come”
From the transcript
“let me read a verse to you. Chapter six verse 16. Well, actually starting in verse 15 says this. It says, then everyone, when this is going on, it says, then everyone, the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals”
From the transcript
“If you go read Romans chapter one, you'll understand this. It says in Romans chapter one, it says there will be those that know the truth, yet they suppress the truth”
From the transcript
“In chapter eight verse one, it says this, then the lamb broke the seventh seal. So right after this happens, then the lamb broke the seventh seal on the scroll. This is right before the trumpets start, the next wave. Says there was silence throughout heaven for about a half an hour”
From the transcript
“And I just prayed Romans. This passage in Romans eight where says, you know, God works all things together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose”

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

7-day devotional

A personal reading plan from this message — scripture, reflection, and prayer for each day.

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Day 1

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.

Day 2

Four horses. Four riders. And a world that unravels with terrifying speed. The sermon was clear that the four horsemen — false peace, global war, famine, and death — represent only the opening act of the Tribulation, the mildest of three escalating waves of judgment. A quarter of the earth's population gone. That number is almost too large to hold in your mind. And yet the pastor's point wasn't to overwhelm you with dread. It was to make the stakes real. These aren't symbols in a fantasy novel. They describe an actual future that actual people — people you know, people you love — could face if they are still here when that first seal is broken. There's a reason the sermon spent time here. When we see clearly what is coming, vague good intentions start to feel inadequate. The mild discomfort of bringing up faith with a friend or family member looks very different when you hold it next to what these verses describe. Courage for the conversation you've been putting off isn't really about you being bold. It's about them not having to face what these horsemen represent. Let that shift something in how you think about the people around you today.

For reflection

Is there someone in your life whose name came to mind while you read this — someone you've been meaning to have a real conversation with about faith? What's been holding you back?

Pray

Pray for the people God brings to mind as you sit with this passage — that they would come to know Jesus before this age closes.

Day 3

Half an hour of silence. In a book full of thundering angels, crashing seals, and cosmic upheaval, this moment stops everything. Heaven goes quiet. The sermon pointed to this pause as one of the most humanizing details in all of Revelation — a window into the heart of God. He is not rushing toward wrath. He is not bloodthirsty or indifferent to suffering. The silence before the seventh seal is broken feels like grief. Like a judge who takes no pleasure in the sentence but is bound by justice to deliver it. This matters because the God we are introducing people to is not a cold cosmic machine dispensing punishment. He is a Father who pauses. Who grieves. Who, as the sermon reminded us, is 'not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance' (2 Peter 3:9). If that's who God is — and Revelation 8:1 seems to show us that it is — then the urgency to share the gospel isn't rooted in fear or guilt. It's rooted in love. We carry good news about a God who would rather be known than feared, who built a way out before judgment ever arrived, and who is still waiting with open arms for anyone who will turn to Him.

For reflection

How does seeing God's grief — not just His justice — change the way you feel about talking to others about who He is?

Pray

Pray that God's own heart for the people around you would become your heart too.

Day 4

One of the most sobering points in the sermon was this: the people living through the Tribulation will know it is God acting, and they will still refuse Him. They will shake their fists at heaven even as the judgments fall. The sermon connected this to Romans 1 — the passage describing those who suppress the truth they can clearly see. This isn't about people who never heard. It's about a condition of the heart that can harden over time, choice by choice, until even the undeniable becomes deniable. That's a serious thing to sit with. It means the conversations we put off today aren't just delayed — they may be shaping the posture of a person's heart in ways we can't see. Soft hearts don't stay soft forever without something tending them. And yet Romans 1 also reminds us that God has not left anyone without a witness. Creation itself testifies. Every person has been given enough light to take a step toward God. Our job isn't to argue someone into the kingdom; it's to be one more clear and loving signpost that makes it easier to take that step. Show up faithfully. Love well. Trust God with the rest.

For reflection

Think about someone in your life who seems far from God right now. What would it mean to be a 'signpost' for them this week — not a debate partner, but a living, loving witness?

Pray

Pray for softness — in your own heart first, and then for the hearts of those you love who haven't yet turned toward Jesus.

Day 5

Related passage

Even in the middle of the Tribulation, God is not done reaching people. The sermon highlighted the 144,000 sealed Jewish evangelists as evidence of something the whole Old Testament keeps showing us: God's covenant faithfulness to Israel does not run out. A remnant always turns back. Always. That pattern — exile, hardship, and then return — runs like a thread through Genesis, Exodus, the prophets, and now into Revelation itself. What's worth sitting with here is that God uses people to reach people, even in the most extreme circumstances imaginable. The 144,000 don't sit quietly on the sidelines of the Tribulation. They go. And the result, we're told in the very next verses, is a great multitude from every nation that no one could count. Extraordinary circumstances produce extraordinary mission. But here's the thing — we are not in the Tribulation. We are in what the sermon called the Church Age, which means the door is still wide open and the ground is still soft. If God can raise up witnesses inside the Tribulation, imagine what He wants to do through you right now, in ordinary Tuesday moments, when the conditions are far more favorable. You don't need a dramatic platform. You need availability.

For reflection

What ordinary moment or relationship this week might God be inviting you to treat as a mission opportunity — not dramatically, but simply and faithfully?

Pray

Pray for the willingness to say yes to whatever small or large nudge God places in front of you this week.

Day 6

The sermon's direct challenge was to commit to being 'called according to His purpose' — and it pointed here, to Romans 8:28. This verse gets quoted often, sometimes as a kind of comfort blanket when things go sideways. And it is comforting. But in the context of the sermon, it carries a sharper edge. Being 'called according to His purpose' isn't a passive state. It's an orientation. It means allowing your time, your talent, your treasure, and your testimony to be shaped by something bigger than comfort or convenience. The pastor mentioned that this might look like serving in children's ministry so a searching parent can sit and actually hear the gospel. It might look like saying yes when you feel a nudge on an airplane or at a neighborhood cookout. It might mean loosening your grip on the things this world offers — things the sermon said will melt away — and redirecting your energy toward the one investment with eternal return. None of that has to be loud or dramatic. But it does require intention. God working all things together for good is not a spectator promise. It's a promise to people who are in motion, leaning into His purposes, willing to be used.

For reflection

What is one practical way you could reorient your time, talent, treasure, or testimony this week around God's mission rather than your own comfort?

Pray

Pray for a clear, specific sense of how God might want to use you — and for the courage to act on whatever He shows you.

Day 7

Related passage

The sermon ended where every sermon about the end times should end — not with fear, but with a commission. Matthew 28:19-20 is the last thing Jesus said before He ascended, and it was not a suggestion. 'Go and make disciples of all the nations.' The sermon framed it plainly: the mission has a shelf life. There is a moment coming when the age of invitation closes. History ends. And everything we did or didn't do in the window we were given will have mattered in ways we can barely imagine now. This week you've sat with hard things — horsemen, silence in heaven, hardened hearts, the grief of God. Let all of it do what the sermon intended: make the ordinary moments feel urgent. The coworker eating lunch alone. The neighbor you've been meaning to invite. The family member whose name kept surfacing in your heart as you read. You don't have to have all the answers. You don't have to be a theologian. You just have to go — with love, with honesty, with the simple news that Jesus is real, the door is open, and you'd rather they know Him now than face what's coming without Him. That's the whole point. That's always been the point.

For reflection

As you look back on this week, what has shifted in how you see your daily life as a mission field — and what is one step you want to take in the next seven days?

Pray

Pray for everyone whose name came to your heart across this entire week — and ask God to show you the next faithful step toward each one.

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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?
Related passage
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?
Related passage

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

Rewind AI contributed study material from the sermon transcript; church-authored wording and verified sermon quotes keep their own source. Always trust the sermon itself over anything here. How Rewind uses AI

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Topics

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

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