1. Revelation Red Pill Academy Introduction

So, I have good news for you. In fact, I have GREAT NEWS for you. All those D list Christian movies you watched as a teenager, you know the ones where those who were raptured left behind notes for those who weren’t Christians before the great 7 yr Tribulation… well, they aren’t going to happen. As fantastical beast and horses with men’s faces and tails like a scorpion…yeah… most would agree those are allegorical, where we diverge is TIMING. 

I would like to take you on a journey, one for me that started with one request I asked of my Savior…”Jesus, show me yourself throughout scripture.” I wanted to know what Jesus told his disciples right before he ascended into Heaven. They weren’t able to understand Moses and the prophets and where they had prophesied of  His Coming. Once their understanding was enlightened and they received the power of the Holy Spirit, Christianity spread like wildfire.  I grew up in the Church, I went to Bible College, but the one thing I feel no one really cared to teach us, was the most important revelation Jesus revealed to his disciples. He WAS the one they looked for. He DID fulfill the prophesies and yet he also had more to fulfill…in their generation. 

Luke ch 24

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words, 9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. 10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, 11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. 12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened.

On the Road to Emmaus

13 That very day two of them were going to a village named Emmaus, about seven miles[a] from Jerusalem, 14 and they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. 15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. 17 And he said to them, “What is this conversation that you are holding with each other as you walk?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 Then one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know the things that have happened there in these days?” 19 And he said to them, “What things?” And they said to him, “Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, a man who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, 20 and how our chief priests and rulers delivered him up to be condemned to death, and crucified him. 21 But we had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel. Yes, and besides all this, it is now the third day since these things happened. 22 Moreover, some women of our company amazed us. They were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had even seen a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. 24 Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see.” 25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

28 So they drew near to the village to which they were going. He acted as if he were going farther, 29 but they urged him strongly, saying, “Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight. 32 They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?” 33 And they rose that same hour and returned to Jerusalem. And they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, 34 saying, “The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” 35 Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was known to them in the breaking of the bread.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

36 As they were talking about these things, Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them, “Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. 38 And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? 39 See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” 40 And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish,[b] 43 and he took it and ate before them.

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for[c] the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

The Ascension

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing

“which were written in the law of Moses, and in he prophets, and the psalms, concerning me… ” and “beginning at Moses and all the prophets” was a way of designating the entire Old Testament. The Old Testament is broken up into three parts
Moses
Prophets

Psalms

Now, I was familiar with places of a type and shadow of Jesus in Genesis, the serpent and Eve, Abraham and Issac, but I knew there was more. I usually make my time with God a time where I read through the Bible. I have done this several times. This past time, which took me much longer and I recently completed, I asked the Lord specifically to show me himself. And he did. The prophesies of Jesus began to come alive to me in ways I had never experienced and along the way I began to notice a pattern emerge. These prophesies have been fulfilled and are BEING fulfilled but something kept triggering something inside of me that made me more and more excited. I’ll just give you the punch line… I started to see that my well intentioned pre-millenial friends were dissecting the Bible in ways that ought not be and don’t make sense. This would explain the defeatest mindset of the Church for the past 100 years that has comforted persecuted believers with a false promise “it’s okay, the Bible tells us things just have to get worse and worse in order for Jesus to come back. Then he defeats the devil and we reign for 1,000 yrs before the end of the world” My dear friends and family would post things such as “it’s just prophesy, nothing we can do about it…” “I hope Jesus comes soon this world is so bad…” “rapture bout to happen” whenever they saw something bad happen in the news. “yup, Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars, it’s just gotta be this way…” 

But the picture I read in the VERY PASSAGES WHERE JESUS is being prophesied for his FIRST COMING, paint a very different picture. 

I know many ministers who don’t spend much time in the Old Testament. “We have the New Testament now, we don’t need the Old…” “Yeah, that Old Testament God was a God of wrath, we kinda like to separate ourselves from that guy, we like the New Testament God better…” 

It was always so weird to me. So God took me on a mission and I want to take you with me. 

Now, I have recently discovered there are others who, through historically analysis, have come to some of the same conclusions, not all the same but the same basic premise. We’ll get to that in minute. In fact, we will refer to these factual historians quite frequently in our study and exposition, in our Revelation Red Pill Academy. I don’t pretend for a minute to have every scripture in the Word of God worked out. But there is a pattern here that when you see it emerge I pray your relationship with Christ, your prayer life, your own ministry, will burst forth in fruit like you’ve never experienced. 

Let’s dig in to some of these Jesus scriptures to give you a little understanding of what Jesus would have explained about himself to his disciples. 

Dueteronomy 18:15 The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet[d] like me from among your own people; you shall heed such a prophet.”16 This is what you requested of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said: “If I hear the voice of the Lord my God any more, or ever again see this great fire, I will die.” 17 Then the Lord replied to me: “They are right in what they have said. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet[f] like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet,[g] who shall speak to them everything that I command. 19 Anyone who does not heed the words that the prophet[h] shall speak in my name, I myself will hold accountable. 20 But any prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, or who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded the prophet to speak—that prophet shall die.” 

What constantly blows my mind is when I get to see, yup, done baby, FULL-FILLED with a corresponding New Testament scripture. 

So, in Acts 3 17 “And now, friends,[e] I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah[f] would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, 21 who must remain in heaven until the time of the restoration of all things that God announced long ago through his holy prophets. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you from your own people[h] a prophet like me. You must listen to whatever he tells you. 23 And it will be that everyone who does not listen to that prophet will be utterly rooted out of the people.’ 24 And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. 25 You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ 26 When God raised up his servant,[i] he sent him first to you, to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

Now, wait, I get the whole Jesus would be a prophet like Moses thing but what about that part where Jesus must remain in Heaven until the restoration of all things? Certainly that is referring to premillenial end times, right? 

Well, you see the disciples were speaking to fellow Jews, who, like themselves, were waiting for the Messiah to RULE AND REIGN in Jerusalem. To literally sit on a throne  in physical Jerusalem but as we will discover, the Jerusalem and kingdom that Jesus came to bring and to build, and there are so many scriptures for this, is a SPIRITUAL KINGDOM. Right before Jesus’ ascension into Heaven, they were still asking “when will you restore Israel…” 
Acts 1 3 After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4 While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

So, Peter, who is preaching in Acts 3 needs them to know, Christ is reigning IN HEAVENLY PLACES right now. BUT, and here’s the kicker…the restoration of all things had begun. Say what? I thought that was the 1,000 yr reign. Well, don’t take it up with me, take it up with Jesus. 

Matthew 17 9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus ordered them, “Tell no one about the vision until after the Son of Man has been raised from the dead.” 10 And the disciples asked him, “Why, then, do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” 11 He replied, “Elijah is indeed coming and will restore all things; 12 but I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but they did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man is about to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples understood that he was speaking to them about John the Baptist.

Now, many who take the view that we are going to present to you may start with the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24 & 25, Mark 13, and Luke 21 and we will certainly get there but the picture I want to bring is so much greater than an eschatological ie, end time, latter days, debate. You see, I asked Jesus to highlight, underline, bold, italise where HE was in scripture, to show me the cross references in the Old and New Testament, REVEAL Christ, the Word, the LIGHT, the Life throughout Holy Scripture. I didn’t set out to debunk rapture theology and to this point that is not my goal. I want to show you Jesus, all of him. All he came to do and all He accomplished. I know that is a loftly unattainable goal, for if all that Jesus is were written down there would not be paper enough to contain him. But what I do hope to do is lift the artificially placed lid that has hampered the Church from boldly and confidently going forth and fulfilling the Great Commission. 

If you believe that the world must get worse and worse in order for Jesus to come, you may just be self fulfilling prophesy. Certainly those missionaries and visionaries who have gone before us and spread the Gospel could not take this view, and the Pilgrims came with a 500 yr plan to build a Christian nation. Our founding fathers would not have fought and bled to build a better nation if they believed wars and oppression were good signs Jesus would return. Indeed, like allowing a wound to fester with puss and not clean or disinfect it in hopes of miraculous healing, the Body of Christ allows sin to fester when some washing and regeneration of the Word would clear up much of the infectious diseases we see in society today. 

Jesus mentioned John the Baptist as being that Elijah the people of God had long been waiting for to prepare the way of the Lord. I’m sure you are familiar with John’s most famous line  John 1:23 He said, “I am a voice of one crying out in the wilderness: Make straight the way of the Lord ​–​just as Isaiah the prophet said.”

I think I like the New Living Translation here 

John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the LORD’s coming!’”

CLEAR THE WAY!!! That certainly gives a visual! 

But wait, let’s go to Isaiah, ch 40, to give ourselves a little context. 

A voice cries out:
“In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
    make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be lifted up,
    and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
    and the rough places a plain.
5 Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
    and all people shall see it together,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

6 A voice says, “Cry out!”
    And I said, “What shall I cry?”
All people are grass,
    their constancy is like the flower of the field.
7 The grass withers, the flower fades,
    when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
    surely the people are grass.
8 The grass withers, the flower fades;
    but the word of our God will stand forever.
9 Get you up to a high mountain,
    O Zion, herald of good tidings;[a]
lift up your voice with strength,
    O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,[b]
    lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
    “Here is your God!”
10 See, the Lord God comes with might,
    and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
    and his recompense before him.
11 He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
    he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
    and gently lead the mother sheep.

So, let’s go check out the birth and prophesy of John the Baptist. 

Luke 1:5 In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah,[a] of the division of Abijah. And he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 And they were both righteous before God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord. 7 But they had no child, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were advanced in years.

8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, 9 according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense. 10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying outside at the hour of incense. 11 And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. 12 And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. 14 And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. 16 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, 17 and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

So, here’s where it gets amazing… John is born, Zechariah’s mouth is opened and this powerful prophesy, and indeed, REVEALING of Old Testament prophesy is confirmed… listen 

67 And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

68 “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
    for he has visited and redeemed his people
69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
    in the house of his servant David,
70 as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
71 that we should be saved from our enemies
    and from the hand of all who hate us;
72 to show the mercy promised to our fathers
    and to remember his holy covenant,
73 the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
74     that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,might serve him without fear,
75     in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
76 And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
    for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
77 to give knowledge of salvation to his people
    in the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
    whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
    to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

80 And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

Now, here’s where we can dive deep right from the beginning or I can take you over the surface first… Michelle told me “show them by the way God showed you…” so, here we go ya’ll…put your seat buckles on. 

reading scripture after scripture that the kingdom of God HAS ALREADY COME, and