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- [00:01]
A
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the program today. Mondo Gonzalez here in studio with our good friend Billy Crone. And Billy has just released the beginning of a brand new series on the Book of Revelation. Can the book of Revelation be understood or is it meant to solely be confusing? And before we get to Billy, just remind you of a couple things. We are already looking forward to our conference in Branson, Missouri, December 10th, 13th. So consider joining us there. It's going to be a good time. And, and I know many of you have asked us about our upcoming trip. A lot of people like to take trips where they see God's creation as well as hearing the word of God. And we are going to be doing that in Alaska in August, August 22nd through 29th. Billy will be joining us as well there. It's so wonderful just to sit around and rejoice and yet hear the word and see God's beautiful creation all around us. It's an amazing time. So consider joining us that you can go to prophecywatchers.com and get information about all those opportunities. So, Billy, here we are. Welcome.
- [00:59]
B
Hey, glad to be here, Mondo. Good to see you again, man.
- [01:02]
A
Yeah. And we had some great messages in Colorado. But we're here to talk about your new series that you're coming out with, the Book of Revelation, Chapter one, the Unveiling. And so to me, this is it makes perfect sense to jump into the Book of Revelation. And no doubt you've taught this in years past, but what led you to do this particular deep dive?
- [01:25]
B
Boy, that's the key word, deep dive. It is the deepest I've ever done on the Book of Revelation, hands down. Took me 16 weeks and 16 chapters in that I went line by line in the original language. And my goal was I'm not in a hurry. And if we're going to do this, let's do it complete. Let's understand fully the best that we can why God has given us this book starting with chapter one. And so it was, man, a very exhausting study, but I would say a very rewarding study because I came out of it with an even greater love for the Book of Revelation and dare I say, even greater love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because that's what this book is all about. You can't get past the first five words. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation, of course, is apokalupsis. It means the unveiling. It means God is unconcealing, unveiling something not prior known yet. The irony, that's what is going on in the church today. They refuse to teach this book. They actually discourage people from this book. So they're actually discouraging people from understanding this message that God wants the church to have that they didn't formally have. Well, what is that message? It's the real risen Jesus Christ. The unveiling of Jesus Christ. He's not on the cross anymore. He is coming back in a blaze of glory and he's going to rule and reign this planet and take over and get rid of all evil and suffering. Even the devil will be bound for a thousand years in millennial kingdom. It's all great news, but the church ain't getting that. God is basically telling us if you want a full picture of the sun, Jesus Christ, you have to move forward from the Gospels to the book of Revelation. This is the other half of Jesus that nobody's getting because they're not studying this book. And I say this, the irony is this. I would hope that every Christian would say I love Jesus. And I learned about his love for me by reading the Gospels. I love the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And rightly so. That's where we learn about how he was born in this world. Philippians chapter two. He took on flesh and then he was born in this world to grow up to be a man, to die our death on the cross. And he rose again from the grave to prove that he was a sinless sacrifice. Most people's conception of Jesus stops right there. You know why? Because they stop at the Gospels. They don't read the unveiling of Jesus Christ. The book of Revelation, chapter one is the unveiling of the real risen Jesus Christ. Who is he right now? Who is he right now at the right hand of the Father. Well we see that in the book of Acts, chapter one, he raises and goes to the right hand of the Father. But who is he coming back? Well that's what you get here in the very first chapter. But people aren't getting it. So dare I say they have a warped Christology. They have a half baked view of the real risen Jesus Christ. God went through all the trouble to make sure that the capstone book of the Bible gives us the complete picture of the Son whom we say we love. It's a book all about Jesus. And so I say this. So if you love the Gospels, you should love the book of Revelation because this book is all about him.
- [04:41]
A
Yeah, Amen to that. And, and I imagine that many of you being involved in a church, maybe your pastor has never even taught through The Book of Revelation. For, for whatever reason. And so this is a great opportunity to, to get into it because just, Billy, this first. This is, this is the book right here. And this is chapter one of Book of Revelation. There's 22 chapters in Revelation. So what? I'm sure that you design it in such a way, introductory materials and stuff like that. But why? How? Just for the sake of the person sitting. What a whole book just on chapter one of Revelation. What led to that?
- [05:18]
B
Well, again, the mindset I had was, if we're going to deal with this, take our time and let us just enjoy everything that God wants us to do that now, we should do that with any book of the Bible. But unfortunately, people's approach to the Book of Revelation, I call it, they turn off the common sense spigot. It's like they get all weird. They get all. First of all, there's a bad attitude in the church today. And they actually, people are being discouraged from ever reading this book. And I detail a lot of that stuff. You know, it's commonplace. As you already mentioned, many people in the church will never teach the Book of Revelation. They even say they will never teach it. And I'm going like, well, how can you be a shepherd when your job is to teach the whole counsel of God? And you're skipping over a book of the Bible. And it's not even just that, it's prophecy in general, which is one third of the Bible, man, go get a different job, change tires or pick peaches. You ain't called to be your shepherd, but anyway. But then the church has been brainwashed by these same people who refuse to teach the book of Revelation with, well, it's doom and gloom. It's all bad news. And that's not what it says. This book is all about Jesus. If you love studying about him and his character and his love for us, the church in the Gospels, you're going to love it. If you just get into even just chapter one, it's all about him. But their approach is horrible as well. They got a bad attitude. They're being lied to. That is going to split your church. It's doom and gloom. So when people read, for instance, the book of Romans and they teach through the Book of Romans, great book. It's part of the Bible. We need to study all the Bible, Old Testament, New Testament. So they use what's called the literal, historical, grammatical approach, common sense. You just look at it, whether it speak what God, speak out to us, what he's saying, do your homework. That was 2,000 years ago. That was the Roman culture. So immerse yourself into it. Get into the original language, the Koine Greek, so you can understand, and then bring it over into the English. Right? It's just literal, historical, grammatical approach. For some reason, when people come to the Book of Revelation, it's just like, man, what did you eat a piece of chicken? Because your brain is off target here. Because that's what they do. And so I expose some of that. Just even the introductory, how people could think that somehow this book is confusing, which is a lie. God wants you to understand it just like the book of Romans, or that somehow it's bad for you. But the first approach that people have is called the allegorical approach, and that's basically spiritualizing the text. And what they would say is, well, the book of Revelation, it's not really meant to be taken literally. It really symbolizes the ups and downs in our walk with Jesus Christ. Stop, stop. Okay, you didn't do that with the book of Romans. You didn't do that with Philippians. So why are you doing with this book? Stop.
- [08:07]
C
Right?
- [08:07]
B
And they come to weird conclusions. They just make it up as they go. Like, you know, you read events in the Book of Revelation and say, well, really, what that's symbolizing is sometimes at your workplace, you're going to have a challenging encounter with your boss. It's like, what? No, it's talking about a political situation with the actual Antichrist. But that's what they do is so they. And so people go away with it. Well, you just can't understand it. It's confusing. Well, no, it's because you got the wrong approach. Another one they do is called the historical approach. And basically, they have that allegorical mindset, and then they go back in history
- [08:38]
A
so they can count points of contact, right?
- [08:40]
B
And so they say, well, this really represents this period of history and this period of this whatever. Okay, but the problem is, then this guy over here says, no, no, no. It represents this period of history with this thing and this angle letter. No, no, no, no. This third guy says it. Stop. Okay? It's a literal. Even when it comes to the churches. Those were seven churches, chapters two and three, written to seven literal churches. Can I tell you something? It's still applicable to the church today. Just like the letter to Philippi, the Philippians was written to them. Do we say, well, that represents a period of history? No, it was.
- [09:12]
A
We've been to those. Yes, we've been to those.
- [09:14]
B
It's a real church who had real Issues good and negative. And it's still applicable for us today in the church age. So that's wrong. The dangerous one, I mean all those are bad. But the real dangerous one, which is kind of on the uptick, unfortunately. It's called the preterist approach. And they too deny the future element of revelation. And they basically say that oh yeah, it's a book of prophecy. But it was all fulfilled basically at 70 A.D. when the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. It's like, no, because obviously common sense, literal, grammatical, historical approach tells you that these are future events that are global that have never occurred in the history of mankind. You can't say it happened in 70 AD. When was there ever a global mark of the beast system A and it's global. It's not a portion of the planet. It's not just the Roman Empire, it's global. Never. When has a global war broke out where 2 billion people died? That's just in the sealed judgments. That's a fourth of the earth current population. It's never happened, right? And again, it's global. It's not a portion of the planet. When did earthquake occur on the planet? Ever in the history of mankind.
- [10:22]
A
So big.
- [10:23]
B
And this is what happens in the bowls judgments that it says there every island and mountain could not be found and all the cities on the whole planet completely collapsed. When did that ever happen? Never. So again I say put the chicken down, go get some beef, do something. But you got foul thoughts on the brain. But anyway, seriously, it's a joke. But the other problem with that is because they deny the future element, that they also deny the future of Israel. And so the preterist approach saying that it all happened in 70 AD actually feeds the anti Semitism that we see today. So it's dangerous now the approach you should have and it's nothing new, it's the same approach that you do with the rest of the Bible is again the literal, historical, grammatical approach. Because God wants you to know this. In fact, God tells you the outline in the first chapter in verse 19. And he says there, right? Therefore what you've seen the past, what is now the church age and what will take place later. Chapter four forward. That's it. So God breaks it down for you. It's common sense.
- [11:20]
A
Leave it alone.
- [11:21]
B
And, and guess what? As the scripture says there in the first three verses, you're going to be blessed. If you would read this book.
- [11:29]
A
I want to get into that thing because and what it means to be blessed reading the book of Revelation, we're going to take a little break here to see how to get our magazine and when we come back, we're going to talk about that blessing is one of the only blessings in all of the Bible. Very fascinating.
- [11:42]
C
So take a listen at Prophecy Watchers. We believe that God has called us to be a voice in these last days to warn you of things to come, to educate you on the study of Bible prophecy and to boldly proclaim the soon return of Jesus. For your gift of just $50 or more, here's what we'd love to send 12 monthly issues of our four color magazine, the Prophecy Watcher in your choice of print or digital. Plus five bonus DVDs packed with eye opening teachings from prophecy experts including the the mystery of the Rapture, the Great Apostasy and the revealing of the Antichrist. Holy fire in Jerusalem. New shocking discoveries surrounding the Shroud of Turin. The stones cry out the archaeological evidence for Jesus. The mystery of the Ten Kings. Could these be the wealthy and influential oligarchs who control our world today? As an added bonus, we want to send you a one of a kind prophetic treasure, a book that examines every prophecy in the entire Bible. Exploring Bible prophecy from Genesis to Revelation is the work of two prophecy legends, Tim LaHaye and Ed Hindson. It's a book you'll find on the shelf of every prophecy expert. This 560 page masterpiece is our bonus gift to you. This $120 value can be yours for your gift of of $50 with shipping included in the USA. Call us at the number on your screen or visit us online at ProphecyWatchers TV. For our international friends, please note that additional shipping fees do apply and all prices listed are in US Dollars. The signs are everywhere. The prophetic puzzle is almost complete and yet so many are still asleep. That's why the Prophecy Watchers exists, to shine a light in the darkness and help believers understand the lateness of the hour. We believe Jesus is coming soon and your support helps us take this urgent message to the ends of the earth.
- [13:52]
A
Well, welcome back. We are here with Billy Crone and we're talking about his new book on the Book of Revelation, chapter one. And Billy, right before the break we talked about that Revelation 1:3 is really the only place you would say in the entire Bible where you have read this book. Hey, read this book and you will be blessed.
- [14:08]
B
Yeah.
- [14:09]
A
And, and so, you know, for the sake of those, you know, listening, there's no doubt, as you mentioned, you know, in the book of Revelation we have three series of Judgments, Right. Those are pretty serious. Taken straightforward worldwide calamity and stuff. How does that, how do you reconcile the, this, this very basically chapter 6 or 18 of a series of judgments with the Christian being blessed.
- [14:37]
B
Yeah, well, and again, I'm not making it up. That's what God says. So that's a promise from him. So he wants us in this book, but he says, there, I will bless you. It's the Greek word makarios and it means spiritually prosperous with joy, someone who's extra fortunate. And like what I've been told is doom and gloom and I'll never understand it. I'll lose my mind when. Well, that's a lie from the pit of hell. Right? And you know, well, how am I blessed? How's this good news? Well, let's go back to what you're talking about. Chapter 6 through 19 is this time frame called the Seven Year Tribulation. It is the worst time in the history of mankind. Jesus said if it's so horrible, that if God didn't shorten the timeframe that is keep it to seven years, the entire human race would be destroyed. And there is massive detail of this seven years of God's wrath being poured out. It is horrific. It is just mind boggling. And you're like, well, how's that a blessing? I mean, first of all, you just told me that I'm a Christian and I leave at the Rapture prior to that. So why do I need to know about how am I blessed by that? Well, because guess what? Two things. Number one, if we see the events of the seven Year Tribulation and there's a lot of detail of that, then God doesn't tell us the day and the hour of the Rapture, but he tells us great details about the seven Year Tribulation. But, and so if we see the events lining up to the seven Year Tribulation in order for that to happen and we leave prior, then we're blessed because it tells us, hey, the departure must be getting close. God doesn't tell us exactly when, but he tells us signs. It's getting close. And you'll get that if you're in the book of Revelation and you can see that. Another one is we get to know the future. Everybody wants to know the future. Even the lost wants to know the future. Well, we get to know the future in the book of Revelation. We're blessed. And it sends a message that God's got it all in control. It's all mapped out. Satan's not a loose cannon on the deck. And guess what? He is sovereign. You're blessed by knowing that God is sovereign. And not just today, but the whole future. He's in control from beginning to end. He's the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning to end. He's got it all mapped out. And that comforts me today as a Christian. And you'll get that from the book of Revelation. The other thing is, I mentioned the future. Oh, no wonder the church is walking around looking like their diet consists of sour lemons, pickles, and prunes. Right? I mean, the count is. And chicken. That's where now you're going to the hospital. But anyway, so. But it's like, what a bad advertisement. We act like Jesus saved us and this is all there is. Are you kidding me? The future? That he saved us? Yeah, he saved us from hell. And that'll keep a smile on my face personally, but he saved us for a future beyond the wildest dreams. You won't get that good news. You won't be blessed with that good news until you get in the book of Revelation. And the Bible is very clear. What's the next thing on God's prophetic place, it says there, that will soon take place. It's the Rapture. Okay, well, why is that a blessing? Because last time I checked, going to heaven in the Rapture is kind of better than down here. And when we go to heaven, it's what? It's a place beyond our wildest dreams.
- [17:31]
C
Right.
- [17:32]
B
Oh, and by the way, at the same time of the Rapture, the Bible is very clear. We get new bodies. We don't have that sin nature anymore. Right. No more aches and pains, no more bad days, no more bad relationships, no more of that. Well, guess what? Keep reading. We don't stay in heaven forever. We come back at the end of the seven year tribulation, Revelation 19, with Jesus and what's our future? The millennial kingdom. Who wouldn't want to hear about this? It's an amazing time frame.
- [17:57]
A
You know, you said something there, and I know many of you have asked this question, and this kind of goes back to what you're talking about earlier, about those that say that this is related to 70 AD. So Jesus says there these things that must soon take place. Well, you know, if this is written in the first century, that was 2,000 years ago. This is often a criticism of people that would say, oh, this is in the future. It hasn't happened yet. No, Jesus said soon. It's soon. Jesus said this, and there it is, first century, soon, over and Done with. What does Jesus mean there? If it doesn't mean first century, then how. How could we get it to refer to something in the future?
- [18:33]
B
Well, again, that's. You got to take your time. You got a literal, historical, grammatical approach. And when you do that, then you're going to see what is meant by that word there soon in the first verse which God gave him to show his servants, what must soon take place is takous in the Greek, where we get the word tachometer and it means not soon as in time. That when it happens, it's going to happen very rapidly.
- [18:57]
A
So, see, I think that. I'm so glad you mentioned that, because we get this often where we tend to read our English word soon into the text. I mean, granted, the word soon in English is there, but when you bring it back to the Greek, I mean, the Bible is not written in English. And so we have to make sure we understand and so unpack that a little bit. So in the sense of when it begins. Okay.
- [19:20]
B
And so when Jesus Christ comes back, you're going to see these events happen very rapidly, which is perfectly consistent with the rest of the scripture that tells us about the return of Jesus Christ, that when that is called the birth pain signs. And when a birth pain sign happens, what is it? The analogy that's used in the scripture is the closer it gets to the birth, the worse it gets, the more rapid the pain, the more rapid the contractions, the higher the pain. And that's what you see in the judgments that are coming. Right. You thought the first seal was bad. You didn't see nothing until you said the second one. And then here comes the third one, here comes the fourth one. Right. Oh, you thought the first half is bad. That's why it's called the second half. The Great Tribulation. You got twice as many judgments in the second half. You got the trumpets, you got the bowls. Oh, and it's just. It happens faster and faster and more and more until the return of Jesus Christ coming upon the world with the church at the very end. So it fits exactly the biblical narrative that when this takes place, it's going to happen very rapidly, rapid fire. And man, once it starts, hang on, man. And so that's really what it means. It's not a time frame of.
- [20:35]
A
Yeah, between now and then. Yeah, I think, too, that we are our generation. I mean, myself included, we live in the microwave generation, where we're used to things happening. And so when God says these things, when they begin, they're going to happen quickly. And if you look at all of human history, you know, let's say it's 6,000 years of human history in the Bible and the last seven years are serious. That's relatively short compared to all of human history. That's, you know, less than a percent. And so God's like, yeah, this is reserved for this certain time and, but I want to, I want to, I want to get your thoughts on a couple other things here. But we're going to take a little break here where you can see how to get Billy's brand new in depth book on chapter one, which is phenomenal. So take a listen.
- [21:19]
C
There are two important chapters in the Bible that lay the foundation for our understanding of God's plan for his creation. Those two chapters tell us all we need to know about the past, the present and the future. The first chapter of Genesis tells us where we came from, while the first chapter of Revelation tells us where we're going. The Bible is not a collection of Jewish folktales. It's a divinely inspired and carefully designed set of 66 books that are interconnected in unimaginable ways. The more you study it, the more you realize you are holding a living, breathing document in your hands. Enter Billy Crone with his latest work, a comprehensive book and DVD set that examines Revelation. The events described in this book are a roadmap to the world's future. Billy claims that this work may be the most comprehensive study ever done on the Apocalypse. Its four hundred and fifty eight pages will introduce you to Jesus in a way you have never seen before. It will introduce you to the blessings promised to those who read and obey the words of John's book. It will dig deeper into the original Greek, adding deeper meaning to your studies. The Book of revelation, chapter one. The unveiling can be yours for your gift of $35 or more with shipping included in the USA. It comes with two special special DVD bonuses from Mondo Gonzalez. We shall judge Angels, our role in the millennium and the mystery of the Rapture. Like a thief in the night. A $40 bonus value. Billy has also produced a set of eight DVDs it's available for your gift of $60 or more with the same two bonus DVDs. When you order both the book and DVD set, we include the two bonus DVDs plus an extra bonus. An encouraging book on Revelation from Jeff, God's grand finale. A look into our future through the eyes of John the Apostle. To access these great resources, you can call us at the toll free number you see on your screen or visit us online at ProphecyWatchers TV. For our international friends, please note that additional shipping fees do apply and all prices listed are in US Dollars. Our ministry's deepest desire is to keep people from the events described in Revelation. We want to introduce them to Jesus and keep them from the tribulation, the worst time in the history of the world. As this message goes out all across the world to people who have little understanding of God's plans for the future, will you stand with us today and help us continue to use this platform to share the gospel message and the love of Jesus with them? Perhaps today you'd be willing to make a special gift to help keep this priority program coming into the homes of people who need Jesus. Thanks for watching today. Be sure to tune in next week as we explore the ancient prophecies of the Bible.
- [24:13]
A
Well, welcome back. We are here with Billy Crone and no doubt Revelation, chapter one presents Jesus really in an extremely new light that you don't see in the Gospel. So, Billy, I mean, hear your deep dive into this. I mean, as a pastor, you've taught it many times. But this new deep dive, I'm curious, you know, in the sense of your own personal walk with the Lord, how did it affect your understanding of Jesus in any new ways there?
- [24:38]
B
I think it raised the. I'm not saying that I was irreverent, but I think it raised the reverence level because this is Jesus post the cross. And God wants us desperately to know this. That's why he says, would you please get into this book, the unveiling of my son, Jesus Christ, who's coming back. And we know that even in prophecy circles, but when you see the descriptions of the Son and how he's coming back in all his glory and majesty
- [25:07]
A
and power, it's not baby Jesus, right? Oh, dude. It's just like, whoa.
- [25:12]
B
And it's just that. And then you even see the response of John, who knew him, who knew him.
- [25:17]
A
Yeah.
- [25:18]
B
Very well. Right? Very well. And then it says there, and he fit at his feet as though dead fell. There's pipto. In the Greek. It literally means to be thrust down. That changes everything. And so he literally, when he's encountered with the real Jesus, he was thrust down as though he were nekros. He was dead. And so it raised the reverence level. And then it exposes the blasphemy of much of the church today that would not only denigrate this book about our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ, but The Jesus they're worshiping is not the Jesus of the Bible. It's this namby pamby Jesus Jesus. Yeah. And it's like, are you kidding me? The fact that that came out of your mouth, you should slap yourself. That John fell at his feet as though dead right in the unveiling of the real risen Jesus Christ. So I think it raised the reverence level. But also he still loves me and he's got a mission for me. And one day we're going to see him, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Master of the Universe, and we're going to rule and reign with him. It just excited me even more about his coming.
- [26:25]
A
So, you know, in our last minute here, what do you say to the audience in the sense of you might have an unbeliever watching or even a believer watching, you know, what do you say? The message of the book of Revelation?
- [26:35]
B
I would say that you can't, and I'll say this very strongly, you cannot have a full understanding of the one you say you love as a Christian, Jesus Christ, until you read the book of Revelation. You can't, because this is what I call the other half of Jesus. All of chapter one is the post risen Jesus at the right hand of the Father who's getting ready to come back. It's a massive detail. God desperately wants us to read it. But if you don't get in it, you're going to be half baked. You're going to have a warped view of Christology, you're going to be, listen, worshiping the wrong Jesus and you've got to get a full understanding this unveiling of Jesus Christ, if you're going to have a fruitful walk with him, if you're going to be a positive witness to him in these last days. But you have to get into this book. And again, I would say this, how dare we as Christians denigrate this book of the Bible. Any book of the Bible, but especially this book, when we say we love Jesus and we love the Gospels, but then you would actually say never. This book, which is also about Jesus, it just doesn't compute.
- [27:44]
A
Amen to that. I mean, this is the only book in the Bible that specifically has Jesus in the first, you know, in the sense of the title of the book about him, that is after his resurrection for sure. And so thank you, Billy, for being with us today. And as always, we appreciate your prayers and support for what we do here. We are here to exalt the Lord Jesus and his gospel, which we want to see go to the entire world. Why? To bring people salvation through him alone. And so thank you again for watching this week and we will catch you next time.
- [28:14]
C
Thank you so much for joining us today here at Prophecy Watchers. We would truly be grateful for your financial support you can give easily by visiting prophecywatchers.com thank you again. And until next time, keep watching and keep looking up.