In Part 2 of this series, Dr. Kayser looks at how the Father and the Spirit relate to us in this war and how we relate to them as foot-soldiers of the cross. Just as the angels of heaven could not take on Satan and his forces alone, we on earth cannot take on the spiritual enemy on our own — we need the Triune God to lead us into battle, to equip us, and to empower us. This sermon shows the role of the Father, Who has already decreed victory, makes us kings and priests, and wars against the wicked, and the Holy Spirit, Who empowers, illuminates, sanctifies, and guides us in the fight.
Among other things, the book of Revelation is the story of heaven's war against Satan, and the saints on earth who joined in this great battle and "conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony." There is not a single saint today who is exempted from this call to war against the world, the flesh, and the devil, and the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit Who gave them victory can equip us with the same power. The book of Revelation, was designed by God to be (at least in part) the church's war manual. This series covers what we can learn from this war manual about these saints, the battle they fought (which went far beyond the battle for personal holiness), and the takeaways for us. In Part 1 of this series, Dr. Kayser looks specifically at Jesus' role in this battle as King, and how the saints of Revelation, given the authority to reign with Christ in the heavenlies, represented His kingship to their magistrates, in the church, and over Satan and his demons.
This sermon analyzes the songs of Revelation and shows how they are a paradigm for the church today
This sermon shows how these verses are a dividing line between the Reformation and Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Islam, Mormonism, and other modern errors
This sermon deals with the controversy over the passages promising an imminent judgment and those that promise one after a long time. Both aspects must be maintained to adequately defend orthodoxy.
This sermon tackles the interesting and practical issues of the first part of the Epilogue
This is the third snapshot of the New Jerusalem. Pastor Kayser carefully develops each verse and shows how it applies to both eternity and the present.
This sermon goes through the materials that make up the New Jerusalem and shows how they symbolize the bide of Christ.
This sermon explores the incredible glory of the New Jerusalem, and through that, the incredible destiny for the church. It appears that vast numbers must yet be saved before history ends.
This sermon shows the relationship of history to the eternal state.
This sermon deals with the difficult subject of the "new heaven and the new earth."
A very practical application of this powerful description of the final judgment. How should the Book of Works, the Book of Life, and our judgment based on the Bible affect the way we live right now?
This sermon challenges the establishment view that Revelation 20:7-10 is describing a final apostasy of living nations and defends the view that the final rebellion is being engaged in by the non-elect who have just been released from Hades with Satan and resurrected. It all occurs on the last day of history.
This sermon takes on the typical Amil, Postmil, and Premil interpretations of this passage and shows how the two resurrections are two literal resurrections of bodies from the grave, the first being in the first century and the second being at the end of history.
This sermon sets the stage for chapter 20 by ruling out all other interpretations of the 1000 years, the binding of Satan, and the timing of these events. It also gives the practical ramifications of this view of eschatology
This sermon outlines some of the implications of the massive body count in August of AD 70.
This sermon looks at the first of two snapshots that give the trajectory of Christ's kingdom between AD 70 and the end of time. This snapshot shows image after image guaranteeing the total victory of Christ's kingdom in time and space.
This sermon deals with several controversies that swirl around the marriage supper of the Lamb.
This passage shows the saints of heaven and earth worshiping and adoring God for His judgments. Even the judgment of hell is the subject of praise. This sermon shows why these judgments are praiseworthy.
This sermon digs into archeology and history and shows the literal fulfillment of this prophecy. Not only was the temple leveled, but all of Jerusalem was leveled to the ground. What we see now on Haram esh-Sharif is either the Roman Fort Antonia or was built by Hadrian using Herodian stones.
This sermon uses the empire-wide economic meltdown in AD 70 to teach Biblical principles for handling a potential economic meltdown in our future.
There has been much confusion on the issues surrounding ecclesiastical separation. Is it a violation of Christ's prayer for unity in John 17, or is it a means of achieving Christ's goal? What are legitimate and illegitimate reasons for separation? Why does God consider membership in apostate denominations to be dangerous and why does it constitute rebellion against Christ? This sermon answers these and other questions.
This sermon goes through the reasons for the fall of Jerusalem and seeks to demonstrate that America is progressing fast down the same road.
This sermon gives a Biblical philosophy of conspiracies. It deals with three first century conspiracies that God frustrated.
This chapter analyzes the seductive nature of politics and the specific sins of the Whore of Revelation 17.
This sermon shows how easy it is for Christians to become part of the political prostitution within the system. It is a call for Reformation in preaching and in politics.
Most of this sermon outlines the various views on the Whore of Babylon and the internal clues given by John that rule out all competing theories except for one - that she is the city of Jerusalem.
This sermon deals with both the historical and the symbolic meaning of every detail of this remarkable bowl. Was there hail weighing more than 100 pounds? Was there an earthquake that made islands move so fast that it felt like they were fleeing? Were there mountains that disappeared? Pastor Kayser says "Yes." This sermon examines these and other intriguing questions. It also explains how each bowl landed on a unique festival day in actual history.
This sermon anchors the great battle of Armageddon clearly in AD 70. It also makes practical applications to life.
This sermon begins the process of working backwards in the book's chiasm. It shows how the grouping of the first three bowls relates to the end of Israel in AD 136. In the process it deals with issues of the problem of evil, God's justice, depravity, pollution, curses, covenant, etc.
This sermon seeks to clear up a number of issues that have been confusing in commentaries. Pastor Kayser shows how the God-given structure of the book (a chiasm) gives us the clue that resolves them perfectly.
This sermon analyzes yet another vignette on New Covenant worship which points to the need for reform. If heaven is the pattern for all that we do (as Colossians 3:1-2 says that it should be), then the worship of earth should be patterned after the worship of heaven.
This sermon analyzes why discouragement is a sin and gives seven Biblical remedies for discouragement.
The sermon shows how this amazing prophesied judgment was fulfilled very literally in the Bar Kochba rebellion of AD 132-136
This sermon discusses the supernatural way in which Jesus Christ reaps a harvest of souls through His evangelists.
This Reformation Day sermon outlines several ways in which the church desperately needs reformation in missions. Pastors do not take advantage of God's preparatory work of national judgment. Nor do they preach on hell, the wrath of God, or the Biblical mandate of perseverance. The modern truncated Gospel makes for many more false conversions.
This addresses a much neglected topic related to angels - their critical role in the advancement of missions
Why do some missionaries fail? What makes for transformational missions? Why are so many missions man-centered? How can studying this first century group of missionaries benefit the modern missions movement?
This sermon gives a description of the 144,000 first century missionaries that formed the shock troops for a reboot of the church that had almost been exterminated in the Gentile world by the Great Tribulation. In the process it takes on the opposite errors of Dispensationalism and Replacement Theology.
This sermon identifies the mark of the beast, then applies the lessons to every age.
This sermon clears up one of the most perplexing symbols in the book of Revelation - the identity of the land beast, its head, and its two symbolic horns.
This sermon resolves several conundrums related to the beast of revelation and makes applications for today.
This sermon digs deeper into the identity and characteristics of the beast. It applies the issues of statism to modern nations.
This sermon introduces the identity of the beast and the main features of statism. Though the beast was a demon that controlled Rome in the first century, the characteristics of the beast can be clearly seen in modern statist governments.
When the remnant of the Jewish church fled to the wilderness, God miraculously protected them, and even turned the heart of the king of Israel to protect them. The fury of Rome that Satan had hoped to unleash upon the church ended up being 100% diverted to destroying Israel. These and many other facts show the wonderful way in which God's providence preserved a church under intense attack. This sermon also has some practical applications for the present.
This sermon settles debates on the timing of the event. It also shows how both angels and men must apply the redemption, power, kingdom, and authority of Christ in their spiritual battles. They do so through the blood of the Lamb, the Scriptures personalized, and dying to self and living for Christ. This sermon shows God's paradigm for the church regaining victory in Jesus.
This sermon shows Satan being cast out of heaven in AD 66, the aftermath, and the implications for our own war with the dragon.
This sermon answers five puzzles found in Revelation 11:15-19 by demonstrating that both the beginning and end of Christ's Conquering stage of the Kingdom (sometimes called the Mediatorial Kingdom) has judgment. Without this key insight it is difficult to answer some of the Full Preterist's strongest arguments. This sermon also shows the New Covenant fulfillment of the Festivals of Israel, with the Festival of Trumpets forming the background to chapters 8-11.
This sermon answers five puzzles found in Revelation 11:15-19 by demonstrating that both the beginning and end of Christ's Conquering stage of the Kingdom (sometimes called the Mediatorial Kingdom) has judgment. Without this key insight it is difficult to answer some of the Full Preterist's strongest arguments. This sermon also shows the New Covenant fulfillment of the Festivals of Israel, with the Festival of Trumpets forming the background to chapters 8-11.
This sermon seeks to solve several conundrums in the book of Revelation by exploring the two grain harvests and the two resurrections that they foreshadowed.
This sermon examines the death of the two prophets, the exact position of the Roman and Jewish armies, the timing, and the circumstances of verses 9-10. It also makes practical applications to our living and dying in Christ.
This sermon seeks to settle the controversy of the identity of "the great city" in the book of Revelation.
This sermon examines the nature of New Testament prophecy and shows that it is identical to Old Testament prophecy and on a par with Scripture as to its nature and authority. These last two prophets of the New Testament era are a case study on the true nature of New Testament prophecy and demonstrate that the charismatic interpretations of today are faulty.
This sermon deals with the identity of the Two Witnesses. Using clues from the text, pastor Kayser systematically eliminates most of the 37 theories. He also makes some practical applications.
This sermon systematically eliminates over twenty theories commentators have developed for the first two verses of Revelation 11 and shows how it is a straightforward prophecy of the imminent destruction of the temple and everything explicitly related to the ceremonial law, while sparing the outlying walls and towers that were not directly related to the ceremonial law. Those outer courts would be occupied for exactly 42 months (AD 70-74) before the Romans handed the temple grounds and city back to rabbinic authorities that had negotiated with them. It is a foundational sermon for understanding the relationship of the temple to Biblical prophecy.
This sermon shows how each symbol connected with this angel's communication of God's Word showcases the divine characteristics of God's Word. This is part 1 of a two part analysis of how God's Word is powerfully transformational when we approach it by faith. Key words: prophecy, prophet, prophesy, Bible, Scripture, divine, sovereign, promise, penetrating, pure, perspicuous, universal, powerful, transformational, orderly, infallible
This sermon finishes the subject of the fifth trumpet, focusing upon the power, character, and activities of demons. The applications made to modern ecology and politics are just two of many practical applications.
Dr. Kayser continues his exposition of the Fifth Trumpet in Revelation 9:1-12, going deeper into the theology of demons — Revelation's hints as to the scope of Satan's army, the authority of demons, the binding of demons in the pit, and more.
What are demons? Where do they come from? What are Hades and "the abyss" (sometimes translated as "the bottomless pit")? In this sermon Dr. Kayser explains some of the controversies around Revelation 9:1 ("So the fifth angel trumpeted, and I saw a ‘star’ that had fallen out of the sky to the earth. And to him was given the key to the shaft of the Abyss.") and explains the origins of angels and demons.
This sermon looks at the symbolism of the demons that come out of the bottomless pit. The totems or emblems of Titus' Fifteenth Legion and their supporting Legions and auxiliaries were representations of their "gods," what we would call demons. This sermon looks at the timing, the historical underpinnings of the symbols, and how they would have been instantly recognized by the first century audience. Part 2 will dig much deeper into the theology of demonology.
The fourth trumpet deals with the disastrous losses suffered by both the Romans and the Jews in the first part of the war under Cestius. Once again we see a literal fulfillment of the symbols (signs in the sun, moon, and stars) and then discuss the specifics of how those symbols foreshadowed this disastrous part of the war.
This trumpet has brought a lot of confusion to commentaries. This sermon is an attempt to show the literal historical fulfillment of the sign and to show what that sign symbolized. In the process it gives a great deal of historical background that will prove helpful for understanding the second half of the book.
This sermon deals with the second trumpet judgment, which describes an asteroid striking the Mediterranean Ocean and turning 1/3 of it to blood, killing one third of the larger sea creatures, and destroying 1/3 of the Roman ships. These events symbolized God's judgments on Israel (total destruction) and Rome (one third destruction). Though this all occurred in the AD 66, it still has relevance to our age since we live in a similar period of national rebellion against Christ.
This sermon deals with the amazing fulfillment of the hail, fire, and blood that fell from heaven in AD 66. It also describes the horrific events that these portents gave warning of. This sermon also tentatively suggests that the modern "blood rains" that have fallen since 2001 may indicate warnings from God. While the pastor is not dogmatic on the significance of the modern phenomena, he does show how the first century signs were immediately followed by a first wave of death and destruction under Cestius, the Legate of Syria who commanded Rome's 12th Legion.
This sermon focuses on the subject of corporate prayer and its place in God's sovereign plan. It also deals with a very specific kind of prayer — the covenant lawsuit brought against Israel and Rome by the early church. As such it has a lot to teach the modern persecuted church. The church is not helpless before its persecutors since it has access to the Judge of the universe. Where there is faith to engage in imprecatory prayers, the same awesome power that was unleashed in the judgments of Revelation 8 can be unleashed once again in our own day.
This sermon lifts the heart in worship to God as it gives every reason to be joyful. If you lack joy in the Lord, prayerfully examine the steps to joy in this sermon.
The greatest tribulation of the church ushered countless people around the globe into heaven. This sermon examines some of the remaining issues surrounding this passage, such as why there was so much joy in heaven, how heaven should be the pattern for our worship on earth, etc.
The greatest tribulation of the church to ever happen also presupposes a great ingathering of new believers around the globe within forty years of Christ's death. This message deals with the eschatology of the passage and the next week will deal with the way heaven patterns earth.
By process of elimination this sermon rules out all interpretations of the 144,000 but one, identifying this group as a literal 144,000 Jewish believers preserved by God during the first century. These were a dedicated spiritual army mustered by God to restore the church in every nation - a church that had just previously been almost wiped off the face of the map by the Jews and by Nero. This sermon also gives four practical applications that can bring comfort to believers in any age.
This sermon looks at the the detailed fulfillment of each these remarkable prophecies and then show what was symbolized by the literal events.
This sermon introduces the Great Tribulation and distinguishes it from the Great Wrath. It also demonstrates how the Jewish leaders exerted huge influence over Nero in the persecution of Christians. It also gives some principles that provide comfort, faith, and hope for the persecuted church of today.
This sermon introduces us to the character of Nero and the two demons that influenced him early in his reign. Though the message is sobering, it gives us hope that even in dire circumstances Jesus is sovereign and demons have limitations.
This sermon identifies the third horseman of the apocalypse as the demonized Claudius. The Claudian coins clearly show these symbols of horse and hand holding scales. And the reign of Claudius is identified by the New Testament as the period of empire-wide famine. So Claudius is a fantastic case study for understanding the laws of economics and how God's providence enforces those laws. There is much that America could learn from this passage.
This sermon starts with a review of where we have been in the book of Revelation and how this passage fits into the overall picture that Revelation paints. It then looks at how the demonic Caligula (the second horseman) was a judgment of Christ upon both Rome and Israel. In the process, several principles of civics come to light.
This is the second cameo on worship in the book of Revelation. It settles various controversies over worship in the modern evangelical church.
This short paragraph gives 1) a profound Christology and 2) an apologetic against Judaism. Jesus alone can be invested with regal authority because Jesus alone fulfills all the Messianic prophecies.
This sermon works through the controversies related to the identity of the scroll of Revelation 5. It uses clues imbedded in the text to rule out various theories and to identify the scroll as the Old Testament canon and shows how this relates to the doctrine of the imminently closing canon that is developed in the rest of the book of Revelation. The implications of this are huge - the Old Testament is the foundation upon which Christ's kingdom is built. Jesus takes the canon in His hands, but He does not throw away the Old Testament. He opens it, explains it, and fulfills it.
This cameo picture of what the worship of heaven looks like gives us several principles that should guide our worship services.
This sermon wrestles with the controversies surrounding chapter 4:6-8 and comes to the conclusion that these living creatures are the cherubim of Ezekiel 1 and 10. The sermon applies Calvin's understanding of how Cherubim angels carry out many of God's providences and play a vital role in helping the church militant advance Christ's kingdom.
This passage sets the tone for the rest of the book by showing how heaven rules earth. The throne room of heaven is God's command central.
The Laodicean church had succumbed to the status quo rather than aggressively advancing the kingdom of heaven on earth. What does it mean to seek those things which are above? How should a proper approach to that subject be transformational of everything we do on earth? This sermon wrestles with the issues of the new creation versus the old creation and in what ways the new heavens and new earth are already here and in what sense they are still future. In the process it shows the unique approach of postmillennialism to the "already/not yet" paradigm found in the Scripture. This sermon is both challenging and encouraging.
This text is filled with encouragement for the downhearted Christian
The central problem with Sardis was a satisfaction with a form of godliness even when the power was gone.
The previous sermon explained the problem of the Jezebel spirit; this sermon explains the solution. Jesus Himself _is_ equipped and motivated to deal with Jezebels and Ahabs, and through His authority and power, we can be equipped to be Elijahs rather than Ahabs.
Jesus rebuked the church of Thyatira for tolerating the spirit of Jezebel in their midst. What is this spirit of Jezebel? Dr. Kayser walks through 15 of the Old Testament characteristics of the demonic stronghold symbolized by the name "Jezebel" (and displayed in the woman herself), and explains how this otherwise solid church could have tolerated a Jezebel for so long.
This sermon looks at the way the church of Pergamos had penetrated the heart of Satan's kingdom, what it meant that Satan's throne was there, and the lessons (positive and negative) from how Pergamos handled that.
When things are going tough it is very easy to get fearful or have other inappropriate responses. John's letter to the church of Smyrna gives seven perspective changes that help Christians face tribulation with joy.
This sermon shows how even an outstanding church like that in Ephesus can drift in its love away from the Lord. How is first love lost and how can it be regained?
This passage focuses on the priestly, prophetic, kingly, and supernatural work that Jesus does each "Lord's Day."
While this sermon deals with the remaining principles of interpretation laid down by the apostle John, the main focus is upon the practical implications of union with Christ Jesus.
This sermon deals with the nature, beginning, and growth of the kingdom. *We apologize for the poor audio quality in this sermon, the recording went particularly bad this week.
This sermon shows how John shared the experience of "the tribulation" with the seven churches. This deals with most of the controversies surrounding the great tribulation and the great wrath. In the process it also gives us a Biblical philosophy for facing tribulation by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This sermon deals with perhaps the most controversial verse in the chapter - the imminent coming of Christ in judgment (66 AD) contrasted with the distant Second Coming. In the process, this sermon opens up a lot of background material that is critical to understanding the book as a whole.
This sermon covers hermeneutical principles 21-24. It shows how the principles of grace, peace, kingdom, God's power, and Christ's offices of prophet, priest, and king are woven tightly throughout the book of Revelation. The book begins with grace and peace being pronounced by Almighty God and the book ends with the pervasive results of that grace and peace. In between are chapters showing man's attempts to resist Christ's grace and peace. But as the last chapters will show, such resistance is futile. What God has pronounced will be achieved.
This sermon deals with principle
This sermon covers the Biblical hermeneutics for interpreting prophetic literature. In the process it introduces what this book says about the nature and termination of New Testament prophecy.
This encouraging message gives an overview of why John pronounces a blessing on those who read, understand, and keep the message of Revelation. Revelation is not a book to discourage or frighten. When rightly understood, it brings encouragement, hope, and faith. The sermon also shows the connection of the book to liturgics and to ethics.
This sermon shows the different ways that Premillennialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillennnialism handle the "already/not yet" paradigm. Almost everyone now believes in some sort of inaugurated kingdom where we are already in the kingdom in some sense but not yet experiencing all kingdom realities. But Postmillennialism has the most helpful approach to resolving the tensions in this paradigm.
This sermon shows how foundational the Old Testament Scriptures and the Gospels are in understanding the book of Revelation
This sermon explores the book of Revelation and shows how it is a Covenant Lawsuit.
This sermon deals with two more presuppositions that help us to understand Revelation: the role of angels and authorial intention. In the process the sermon also covers issues related to providence, inspiration, Hebraic grammar of the Greek in this book, relationship of Revelation to Old Testament books, rules for discovering original intent, how to profit from reading the Bible, etc.
This sermon continues examining the thirty clues given in the first eleven verses of Revelation that show how the book ought to be read. This sermon focuses on the proper approach to understanding symbols.
This sermon continues examining the thirty clues given in the first eleven verses of Revelation that show how the book ought to be read. This sermon focuses on the proper approach to understanding symbols.
This sermon deals with the first 8 of 30 interpretive clues that God has given in the first eleven verses of Revelation 1. These 8 principles quickly narrow the focus of the book by ruling out several approaches to the book of Revelation that are violated.
This sermon deals with the first 8 of 30 interpretive clues that God has given in the first eleven verses of Revelation 1. These 8 principles quickly narrow the focus of the book by ruling out several approaches to the book of Revelation that are violated.
This sermon deals with the first 8 of 30 interpretive clues that God has given in the first eleven verses of Revelation 1. These 8 principles quickly narrow the focus of the book by ruling out several approaches to the book of Revelation that are violated.
This introduction to the book of Revelation deals with the tight connection between the first and last books of the Bible. In the process, it deals with the trajectory of the book and controversies that will be faced in the book.
This sermon gives the reasons why the first horseman is not Christ, but rather the counterfeit messianic state. It clearly identifies the rider as Caesar Tiberias and applies the passage to the situations we currently face.
This sermon seeks to sort through the numerous interpretations of this controversial passage using inductive and deductive reasoning. In the process it narrows the options down to the first century and gives practical applications.