Revelation 1: Promises Fulfilled
How & why do we jump from the Resurrection to the book
of Revelation? I'm convinced that when we look at what WILL come, we realize the importance of
the Resurrection. When you get the BIG picture you can really see the value of
the greatest event in human history- the resurrection of Jesus
The very title Revelation tells us that we get this “unveiling”
of things/events that were once hidden.
However, it leads us to ask the unavailing of WHAT and WHY?
What is being “unveiled”? Was this "unveiling" needed? Was it important? We must look at the cultural setting in which the book was written. In studying the scripture we must remember that it was written to a specific people and culture. We start with understanding them and then seek the principles that we can apply to our lives today.
Setting
Christians are becoming hated
Romans are ruling and didn't trust them because they
wouldn't worship the emperor (loyality to God alone)
They had NIGHT meeting
They never sacrificed to the emperor
Wild rumors about this unknown people (cannibals, sexual
perversion)
Growth of numbers so feared rebellion
Said that slave and poor were = to rich masters made masters
nervous of rebellion
They never participated in pagan culture events that made $
for many
They never bought idols which was big business
Question: Are you
different than the pagan culture you live in?
Principle: Jesus’ people are obviously different then the culture in
which they live.
Churches have been dealing with the traveling evangelist
& preachers some great & some NOT.
Persecution against the church
& apostles – church scattered
Apostles are aging & dying
Johns 90 & exiled as one of the last disciple’s left
Jesus shows up! Perfect timing!
(always!)
They NEEDED encouragement &
the things to come – you can see that encouragement in ch 1
Do Christians need encouragement
today?
Revelation is NOT preached as
much as it should be. My pastor friends said don't
When I announced YOU had a
reaction. What was it? Excitement?
Dread? School me?
We shouldn't be nervous about
this book BUT we must understand that we WILL DISAGREE
We will have differing opinions or interpretations on some
passages. OPEN HANDED! STILL FAMILY!
My goal: NOT charts BUT a move
toward trusting Jesus more and more confidence in HIM
Some of you need to hear what
will happen in the end which Jesus returns as LORD!
1 The revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it
known by sending his angel to his servant
John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of
Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Easy thus far! Who wrote it? Who was the channel of
this revelation who was to share it.
John son of Zebedee
A fisherman Asked by Jesus to follow him after seeing Peter
& bro Andrew catch lots of fish
Jesus' closest friends
Disciple Jesus loved
Present at crucifixion
Told to care for Mary
Wrote 5 books of Bible
Boiled in hot oil & Exiled to Patmos until released to
Ephesus where he died
Tradition says the young men carried him in a chair all over
the city & told everyone to love one another.
Patmos
Greek island off coast of Turkey
Work the mines
Means “my killing”
NO production of fruit
Rock island 6 miles wide & 10 long
Who is the “revelation” about?
JESUS! 1 single revelation.
the pulling back of the curtain
of future events
VS 3 tells us WHY we should read
it?
3 Blessed is the
one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear,
and who keep what is written in it,
for the time is near.
Early church they read it publicly while the average church member listen to it being read.
Want a blessing? I do that's why we’re reading, hearing it,
and keeping it!
What is this blessing for reading, hearing, and keeping?
You will know what MUST come!
You
will know who’s in total control!
You
will know who loves you in the deepest way! – God shows much grace!
You
will know how Satan & evil is dealt with in finality!
You
will grow in your trust & confidence in Jesus our Lord!
Some of you read it & don't
see the encouragement – scary! – or hard to understand! WHY?
Symbolism – can be confusing BUT the early church understood
multi-headed dragon - two strange beasts - marks on heads and right
hands - a figure's w/a sword from his mouth – lots of death
these symbols are common to their knowledge of the OT where they start
& pagan myths
multi headed dragons slain by a warrior god was common.
Again it's the “revelation” NOT the “Hidden”.
How did they view Revelation?
The Jews had 5 “cups of promises” 4 given clearly in Exodus
6:6-7.
Passover involved 4 of these cups. As the remembered their
salvation from Egypt
You can clearly see these “cups/promises” in Revelation.
1.
I will take/brig you out…Gods people are “taken out” of the
world
2.
I will give you freedom…a new heaven and new earth true
freedom from evil world
3.
I will redeem you…He will make us a pure holy and redeemed
people for Himself
4.
I will protect you…He’s our warrior on the white horse waging
war NOT us.
Then the 5th cup in scripture is the cup of God’s
wrath. Psalms 69 & 79, Jerimiah
It's the “cup” that Jesus ask to pass from Him while praying
in Garden
This 5th cup (God’s wrath) was what caused Jesus
anguish to the point of sweating blood.
Jesus drank every last drop of this cup & said IT IS
FINISHED!
You’re going to see this same cup of Gods wrath poured out on
those that REJECT JESUS & HIS SACERFICE.
They will receive every last drop of Gods wrath in chapt 18
NOT pretty. But you don't have to. TRUST JESUS!
God’s opportunity & grace will be seen up to the end chp
18.
So
we will prayerfully, humbly, and with grace walk through it together & be
blesses!
Greeting to the
Seven Churches
4 John to the seven churches
that are in Asia:
WHY 7? 49 times
which is 7 x 7 in Revelation
7 is the symbol
for COMPLETION not perfection (7 days in week)
which is it here:
7 distinct
churches
7 churches rep
all churches. 7 circumstances.
7 distinct
periods in the church age
Grace to you and
peace from him who is and who was and
who is to come (COMPLETE), and from the seven spirits who are before
his throne, 5 and from Jesus
Christ the faithful witness, (PROPHET) the firstborn of the dead (PRIEST), and
the ruler of kings on earth. (KING)
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins
by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests
to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
He made us a
priest – shocking – people didn't have to approach a priest to go to God but
they could! They are as close to Gods as priest!
7 Behold, he is coming
with the clouds (mark 14:62 Jesus said that too), and every eye will
see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on
account of him. Even so. Amen.
Mean?
Jesus is returning as king of kings & Lord of Lord THIS TIME! NOT like He
came the 1st. Not as a humble peasant to die
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John’s
is having a Vision & he trying to write it down as he sees it.
9 I, John, your brother
and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that
are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and
the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on
the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying,
“Write what you see in a book and
send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to
Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” (MORE NEXT WEEK)
Day of the Lord? What?
1. Sunday
when he had the vision
2. transported
unto the OT idea of day of the Lord which is series of events in the end times
against Israel’s enemies. (Amos, Joel, Isiah)
12 Then I turned to see
the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, (rep the church) 13 and in the midst of the
lampstands one like a son of man, clothed
with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
The robe was worn by judges seated to
make their judgments
Time will come for Jesus to judge. It
finality it's the good judge.
God is patient BUT NOT forever. You will
give account!
14 The
hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. (reveals infinite
wisdom) His eyes were like a flame of fire, (penetrating even the
motives/heart) 15 his
feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, (crush any opponent) and
his voice was like the roar of many waters. (authority) (Ezek1:14)
16 In
his right hand (intimately involved in) he held seven stars, from his mouth
came a sharp two-edged sword, (scripture=word of God) and his face was like the
sun shining in full strength. (His divinity)
Daniel 7:9 describing the ancient of
days
9 “I watched till thrones
were put in place,
And
the Ancient of Days was seated;
His
garment was white as snow,
And
the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His
throne was a fiery flame,
Its
wheels a burning fire;
clothed with a long
robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
What was Johns reaction?
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though
dead.
Principle:
ALL people will fall at Jesus’ feet in worship eventually.
I choose NOW. What about YOU? Come to
Jesus while you can before you meet Him as your judge!
How does
Jesus treat those that are His?
But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the
last, 18 and the living one. I
died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and
Hades. (conquered) 19 Write therefore the
things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place
after this.
(important)
What did
Jesus say to Write?
1. what
you've seen: the vision
2. thing
that are: to the churches (current)
3. thing
that take place after this (metaTalta)
4:1 MedaTalta – He’s told to write the
things after these things
structure of the whole book – important
to discover which he’s writing as you read.
20 As for the mystery of
the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands,
the seven stars are the angels (messengers may be a better translation) of the
seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Principle:
The church is the visible expression of Christ.
Are you a
good lampstand? How does your light shine?
Will
you bow to Jesus NOW or be made to later? (Jesus' return is coming)
Are you a good visible
expression of Christ NOW?
