What's Next? Revelation Series With Skip HeitzigSample

The World's Greatest Revival


Path

During the earth's greatest trial and tribulation will also come its greatest opportunity for salvation. Even after the church is raptured off the earth and ensconced in heaven, the gospel will be preached during this time of global pain. This is the flicker of hope that will be offered to the world while God pours out His wrath on it. There are three unexpected discoveries we make about the upcoming tribulation period:
Points

Good News in the Midst of Bad News (Revelation 6:9-11, 17)

• In the midst of the tribulation, God will work in two groups: the 144,000 and the unnumbered multitude.
  • The first group is 144,000 "sealed" messianic Jews, with 12,000 from each tribe.
  • God will use the Jews in the end times because:
• The God-breathed Bible came through the Jewish nation.
• The Savior came through the Jewish nation.
• God has promised to protect and keep His people (see Romans 9-11).
• Probe: There is only one Savior who saves Jew and Gentile alike, both in this age of grace and in the coming judgment. Knowing there is good news in the midst of bad news, how can you share the gospel in times of trial and tribulation?

God's Protection for God's People (Revelation 7:1-4)

• God will send out the 144,000 Jews to serve as an unyielding witness for Him in a world under strict judgment, and He will preserve and protect them.
• These 144,000 witnesses will help fulfill a prophecy Jesus made shortly before His crucifixion: "This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come" (Matthew 24:14).
• Probe: How is God protecting you in the midst of the trials and temptations you face?

Great Multitudes Experience Great Salvation (Revelation 7:9-17)

• The second group God will work with is an unnumbered multitude, a group vastly larger than the 144,000 witnesses. These are Gentiles from all nations (see v. 9).
• They are described as "the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (v. 14).
• Probe: What does God saving both Jews and Gentiles during the great tribulation tell us about His character? How is God's goodness manifest during the trials in your own life?

Practice
Connect Up: God's heart toward creation is one of love. How is God's love demonstrated even in times of destruction? How can you seek God in your own distressing times?

Connect In: How does revival affect you as a believer? What is the proper response to God growing His kingdom?

Connect Out: Take time to pray for family and friends who don't know the Lord.