Reviewing Revelation, Part 1

Turn with me in your Bible to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. We're glad that you're here tonight and if you haven't been with us. You have nothing to worry about because we will explain everything to you so fast your head will spin. On top of that, if you have been with us, you have nothing to fear because we will review everything for you in such a way it'll all come together. I am hoping that this week and next week, Lord willing. We will be able to go through all 22 chapters of the book of Revelation.

So you have a panoramic view of the entire book. So that you can somehow understand it. Now, before we begin, let me help you understand something.

I'm not quite sure you're going to be able to take notes this week. And next week. We have an outline. We always have an outline. But we're going to go pretty fast. And so we want you to maybe sit back. Let it soak in, maybe get the tape, but there'll be two tapes, Lord willing, this week and next week that will cover all 22 chapters. And if you understand those two tapes, you'll understand the end of the world. And what we're going to do then on our third week is go back and pick up where we left off a few weeks ago in Revelation chapter 11 with the blowing of the seventh trumpet.

And begin then to fill in all the details for you. Let's look at Revelation chapter 1. That's where we'll begin the apocalypse. The revelation, the unveiling, the uncovering of Jesus Christ our Lord. The next thing on God's messianic timetable is the return of Christ. And God wants his message out. He wants people to understand not only the events surrounding the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, but he wants people to understand his Son, Jesus Christ. And so, with that in mind, Satan on the other hand doesn't want you to understand Jesus Christ and doesn't want you to get a glimpse of the end of the world.

He doesn't want that to happen. Because Christ wants it to happen, Satan most definitely doesn't want it to happen. But we are here tonight because we want to be obedient to the Word of God and understand what the Lord has for us. So, the very first thing I want you to see is chapter 1.

Chapter 1 is the revelation of Christ. Revelation chapter 1, verse number 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ. Which God gave him to show to his bonds, the things which must shortly take place. And he set and communicated it. By his angel, to his bonds John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even To all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear, and the words of the prophecy, and heed. The things which are written in it, for the time is ne. We 'll stop right there.

All scripture is a revelation of Jesus Christ. But this particular book is an unveiling not only of the plan and the purposes of God for his son and the world, but they uncover The Lord Jesus Christ, as no other book uncovers him. For what the Lord God wants us to see is the glory of his son, the greatness of his son. In the Gospels, he came in humiliation. In the book of Revelation, we see him in awe of his glorification. This book is not intended for the unbeliever. It is designed specifically for the Son and for his servants.

For once we read it, we have a duty. We have a responsibility to tell the unbeliever about the end of the world. But the reason the unbeliever doesn't understand it, the reason the unbeliever is all confused when they read it, it's because it's not for them. It's for the children of the living God. Down to verse number four. It says, John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood. And He has made us to be a kingdom priest to His God and Father. To him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Am. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Even so Amen. And thus concludes the salutation in the book of Revelation chapter 1. The text talks about seven spirits. Who are the seven spirits? The seven spirits is a description of the Spirit of God.

He is the Almighty One, the Pantoc, used ten times in the New Testament, nine of those times in the book of Revelation. Because the almightiness of God is best seen in the book of Revelation more so than in any other book in the Bible. Because it shows us his power, his greatness, his vastness, his magnificence. Because that's. Who Jesus Christ is. That's the salutation. From the salutation, you move to the vision. Let's look at the vision together.

Don't worry, we'll get through it tonight. Verse number 8: I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. And I, John, your brother, and fellow partaker in the tribulation, and kingdom, and perseverance, which are in Jesus. Was on the island called Patnas because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And I heard behind me a loud voice, like the sound of a trumpet, saying, Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches.

To Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatir, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstand, and in the middle of the lamp one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across his breast with a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire, and his feet were like burnished bronze when it has been. Caused to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, and in his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man. John, receive the vision. A very unique vision. And John saw the seven golden lampstand. Why are churches represented as lampstand? Because churches are to be the light of the world. The number seven, of course, is the number of perfection, the number of fulfillment, the number of completion. Helps us understand a little bit about those churches, and we going to look at them here in a moment.

Those lampstand are representative of all the churches, not just seven specific churches. Because the number seven is the number of completion, it represents all the churches. And it says that one who is like the Son of Man. Who was clothed in a robe, illustrating his priestly, kingly robe, a role, excuse me. And he had a golden girdle about him. Priests. Wore golden girdles that symbolized their righteousness. And Christ is acting as our royal priest. And as He moves among the seven churches, it emphasizes His presence among the churches.

It emphasizes the fact that he is praying for the churches because he has a mission to purge the church, because he wants the church to be perfect as he him is perfect. And all John could do when he beheld the Lord God was to fall on his face before him as a dead man. He saw him, and all he could do was fall. He could not stand in the presence of a holy God, of a pure God, of a righteous God. For he saw God, and the first thing he could realize was his own sinfulness.

And so he had fallen down before the king of the universe. And that says in verse number 17, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid. Don't be afraid, John. You need not be afraid. There are people who will definitely need to be afraid, but John, you are not one of them. And John, I'm telling you, you need not fear me. So get up and stand up. And in verse number 19, we have the implication. Write, therefore, the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.

Verse number 19 is a composite outline of the book of Revel. The Lord God says, Write, therefore, the things which you have seen.

John, what you saw, I want you to put down on paper. I want you to write it down because people need to see what you saw, hear what you heard. Write it down, John. And that's what we just read. And John wrote it down. And so, what we have in the very first chapter of the book of Revelation.

Is an understand not only of the revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling of the Son of God, but we have an understanding of our responsibility to make sure that people see. The Son of God through our lives, and that we tell him, tell them who he is and what he does. Point number two covers chapter two and chapter three.

Point number one is the revelation of Christ. Point number two is the examination of the church. Chapter two and three, we have seven letters to seven churches. Seven act churches. They all existed in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey today. And these seven churches. Represent partic churches, yet they also represent different types of churches throughout the history of the church. For in every period of the church age, there are these kinds of churches. We're not going to read all seven letters to the churches.

We've covered them all in great detail. You can get the tapes on those if you desire. But some things you need to see, some things I want to point out to you. One is this: that every letter is introduced with a description of the one who wrote it. And the description to every letter is rec in chapter 1. Let me give you an example.

Chapter 2, verse number 8, says, The first and the last, who was dead and has come to life, says this.

We read about that in chapter 1, verse number 18. Chapter 2, verse number 12, Church of Pergamum. The one who has a sharp two-ed sword says this. We read about that in chapter 1, verse number 16. Chapter 2, verse number 18. The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and his feet are like burnished bronze. We read about that in chapter 1, verse number 15. The point is that the letters to these churches are the words of Christ. This is how he sees the churches. And this is what he demands that the churches do as a result of what he sees.

Christ him speaks to the churches. There, we need to listen to what he has to say. John would write these letters, and they would be delivered by seven messengers, given to these churches. And these people would have these letters read to them as they would assemble together. And they would hear what the word of the Lord had to specifically say to them. And so when you read these letters, Know this, God is speaking not only to those particular churches, but is speaking to every church in every age of the church who falls into one of the categories of these seven churches.

And that's why every letter closes. He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If you have ears, and you do. Then you must hear what the Spirit of God is saying to you through these letters. And therefore, we need to heed what is there. Each letter is given an affirmation, or in it it's an affirmation, an accusation, an admonition, and an application. The only churches without an accusation leveled against them is the Church of Smyrna and the Church Of Philadelphia.

Why is that? Well, the church of Smyrna was the persecuted church, right? Persecution clears and cleans the ranks. If you're a nominal Christian, If you're a professing Christian, but not a possessing Christian, that is, you profess the name of Christ, but don't. Own the name of Christ. When persecution hits, you're going to deny the name of Christ. You're not going to be around those who are faithful to Him. So, when the letter is written to the church of Smyrna, because it is a persecuted church, all the phonies are gone, all the fakes are gone, all the nominal people are gone, only the real, solid, sick-tuitiveness.

True believer is left. And so there is no accusation leveled against the church of Smyrna. The church of Philadelphia was a church that exemplified the character of God. We'll see that in a moment. They too received no acc. And the Church of Smyrna and the Church of Philadelphia were the only two churches told not. To repent from something. The other ones were told to repent from something. The other five, but not those two. Let's look at them real briefly.

There are seven of them. The first one is in chapter 2, verses 1 to 7. The church at Ephesus. That is the complacent church. The complacent church. They would leave their first love.

There was a coldness about them, their hearts. Had cooled down. Everything they did was mechanical. They went through the motions. Oh, they could defend the doctrines of the word, but they had forgotten. Where the doctrines had point them in the word. That 's in verses 4 and 5. I have this against you. You have left your first love.

Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless.

You rep. This is the Orthodox Church. This is a church committed to strong biblical teaching and to doctrine, but somehow they had forgotten the Lord of the work. They were caught up in the work of the Lord, but forgot the Lord of the work, and their hearts began to grow cold. And the church of Ephesus is the complacent church. Number two, the church of Smyrna is the crushed church.

That's in chapter 2, verses 8 to 11. It says, And to the angel of the church in Smyrna, write, I know your tribulation. Christ knows, and only God knows what they're going through, and therefore he could write to them. And comm them to be fearless and to be faithful amidst their persecution. There are ten days in which they would be thrown into pr. The third church was the Church of Pergamum.

They were the compromised church. But in this letter, during the time of John in 95 A, Pergamum was the center of Babylonian rel. They were the church who courted the world. God wants undivided loyalty to him, but this church would fool around in that Babylonian religion. It says in Ephesus, I have this against you, but in Pergamon it says, I have a few things against you. So the list begins to grow as we go through the churches. Ephesus the complacent church. Smyrna the crushed church. Pergamon the comp church.

Fire Tyra is the corrupt. Church. Where Pergamon courted the world, Phy was consum with the world. Completely absorbed in the world. And although there were character qualities about them that Christ did commend, there was something deadly wrong in the church. And so with surgical precision, he would cut to the core of the problem, and it set it around immoral. Practices. They had allowed Jezebel to seduce their servants, and the church refused to purify its ranks. And therefore Christ says, Because you are consumed with the world, I am coming to you to cleanse you.

Then the church of Sardis. That's the corpse church. That's the dead church. Revelation chapter 3. And the angel of the church in Sardis, he who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars, says this, I know your deeds, that you have a name, that you are alive. But you're dead. There's a wake-up call to the church at Sardis. It's given to those who look good on the outside, but are dead on the inside. There were a few, the text says, who did not defile their garments, but the majority of them were dead.

Sardis was a church that was into flash and into show. Their reputation was more important to them than their character. And then there was the church of Philadelphia, chapter 3, verses 7 to 13. They are the crown church. The crown church. And Christ had nothing but good to say for the church at Philadelphia. And lastly, the church at Laodicea. That is the counterfeit church. The counterfeit church. That is the worst church. Christ doesn't have anything good to say about the church. At Laodicea. They were the apostate church.

They were the false church. They were the unsaved church. They were into liberalism. Because they were lukewarm, they were nause to Christ. And so, what would he do? He would spew them out of his mouth. That does not mean that because they were lukewarm, they were carnal Christians. That 's not true. Because no matter how carnal you are, God never rejects His own children. These people are completely rejected. That's why He says, I would rather you were cold. You outright defied my name, or you were hot.

There was some fervency about you, and you were committed to me. But instead, you are lukewarm. That is, you play the religious game. You know the truth, but you reject it and you make a mockery of Christianity. Christ ends this let to Laodicea. With an invitation that is reminiscent of all of his invitations about how each individual needs to make a personal commitment to invite Jesus Christ to be a part. Of their life. So, in chapter one, we have the revelation of Christ. In chapters two and three, we have the examination of the church.

In chapter 4, we have the adoration of our God. And in chapter 5, we have the exaltation of the Lamb. Let's look at chapter 4 together.

And praise begins, and their praise of the 24 elders, they begin the praise with a quartet. I mean, yeah, excuse me, the cherubim, the four cherubim begin the praise as a quartet in verse number 8. The 24 elders join in in verse number 10. In chapter 5, verse number 8, harps are added. Chapter 5, verse number 11, the rest of the angels join in. In chapter 5, verse number 13, all created beings join in on the adoration of God. But their praise is very instinctive and very incessant, for it says that day and night, verse number eight.

They do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is. To come. And we see the twenty-four elders fall down before the throne, and they cast their crowns before the throne. And why do they do that? Because in heaven, nobody is preoccupied with their accomplishments. No one is concerned about what they have done. Everything in heaven is about God and what He has done and who He is. And so heaven is described as one big praise service that is instin, that is incessant, and that is instructive.

Because it instructs us on how we are to worship. You see, John needs this vision. He needs this vision before the seals are broken. Because he needs to understand three things. Number one, he needs to understand that God is in control of the world.

He needs to understand that when chaos happens on the earth, God is in complete control. He needs to understand that God is the center of the world, and therefore God should be celebrated in this world. And that's what Revelation chapter 4 is all about. The ad of our God. And we move to chapter five, and that is the exaltation of the Lamb. Worship is continuing in heaven. All heaven is worshiping the one who is worthy. For God, John 4, verse number 23, seeks. True worship. And in chapter 4, we see the worship of God the Father.

And in chapter 5, we see the worship of the Lamb of God. And there's something in the hand of God. It says, I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a book. But in the right hand of God the Father is a scroll that's been sealed seven times. And the angel says, Who is worthy to break the seal and to reveal its contents? And John sees no one coming forth, no one coming forth to break the seal until he sees and understand that there's a lion. And there's a Lamb that's worthy. And the Lamb, of course, is Jesus Christ.

And it says in chapter 6, verse number 1, And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying, as with the voice of thunder, Come. Come. Why? Because I want to show you what happens when the seals break. And I say to you, come next week, and I'll show you what happens when the seals break. Let's pray together.