Participants:
Series Code: SSP
Program Code: SSP190001A
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00:30 Hello and welcome to 3ABN Sabbath School Panel,
00:34 I'm Jill Morikone and we are so excited that you have 00:37 joined us for the study of the word of God. 00:40 It is a brand new year 2019 and we have a brand new Quarterly, 00:46 a brand new book to study, that's the Book of Revelation. 00:49 I'm so excited to delve into this book and to see 00:52 what God has for us in this book. 00:55 I want to introduce to you our panel at this time... 00:58 To my left is Pastor Kenny Shelton, Pastor John Lomacang, 01:02 Pastor Ryan Day and my Sister Shelley Quinn, 01:05 and it's a privilege to open up the word of God 01:08 with each one of you. 01:09 You are each a student of the word and I'm excited 01:12 to hear what God has for us through each one of you, 01:15 and through the word of God. 01:17 We want to encourage you, since it's a new quarter, 01:19 you need to get your own copy of the Quarterly, 01:22 "The Book of Revelation" 01:23 You can go to the website that's: ABSG.Adventist.org 01:29 That stands for Adult Bible Study Guide.Adventist.org 01:35 You can get your own copy and follow along with us 01:37 or we always encourage you to visit your local 01:40 Seventh-day Adventist Church, they would give you one 01:43 of these and they would encourage you to join a class 01:46 and to have discussion together. 01:48 Before we go any further into the Book of Revelation, 01:52 we always want to open up with prayer, so Pastor Kenny, 01:55 would you pray for us? Sure, absolutely. 01:57 Gracious Heavenly Father... What a privilege it is 02:00 that we might come before Thee. 02:02 Lord, we come before Thee because we need Your help 02:04 today and we need the power of Thy Holy Spirit. 02:07 We pray that You will clear our hearts, clear our minds. 02:09 Lord, forgive us of any sin, anything in our heart 02:11 and life that need not be there. 02:13 We need direct communication with heaven. 02:15 These are very, very important lessons in this 02:18 quarter and I pray, once again, that Your Holy Spirit 02:20 will be with each individual; many minds and hearts be 02:23 opened as they study along with us. 02:25 May we here strive to enter into that straight gate, Lord, 02:28 and we pray by presenting what is truth; 02:31 we pray our hearts will be uplifted and we will see 02:33 Jesus in a very special way and encourage and strengthen 02:36 us along the way. 02:37 These things we ask in Jesus name, as we thank You... Amen 02:40 Amen! Thank you so much Pastor Kenny. 02:43 Sometimes people look at the Book of Revelation 02:46 and there are beasts, and there are symbols, 02:49 and they could say... "This is a little scarier, 02:52 this could be a little difficult but you know what, 02:54 Pastor Kenny, Revelation first and foremost is about Jesus. 02:58 It's a revelation from Jesus about Him. 03:02 It reveals His character, His love, His death, 03:05 resurrection and ascension, His heavenly sanctuary 03:09 and throne room. 03:10 In fact, each section of the Book of Revelation 03:13 begins with an introductory vision of Christ 03:17 and something taking place in the heavenlies. 03:19 It reveals His plan of redemption for fallen 03:22 humanity; His plan for the future; His soon return; 03:25 His home which is the inheritance of the saints; 03:28 His power; His glory; His honor, and most of all His victory. 03:34 Praise the Lord for the Book of Revelation! 03:36 We know it was written by the Apostle John. 03:39 He was exiled on the Island of Patmos which is a really 03:43 tiny island in the Aegean Sea, just on the southwest side 03:47 just off the coast of Turkey and it's probably only 03:50 13 square miles and it's rocky, and it's barren... 03:54 And he was exiled there, in the time then, you know, 03:57 the Roman Empire ruled the world at that time. 04:01 And criminals were sent to Patmos, 04:03 and John went to Patmos. 04:06 This was probably written about A.D. 95, give or take 04:09 a few years and toward the close of Emperor Domitian and he 04:15 encouraged worship of himself as a deity. 04:18 They had compulsory emperor worship at some of the 04:22 locations; there was suppression of Christianity. 04:27 There was the beginning of persecution for Christianity, 04:31 and the Christians at that time needed hope, 04:33 needed encouragement and the Lord gave to the Apostle John 04:37 the Book of Revelation. 04:39 There's much of the Old Testament in the Book of 04:41 Revelation and Revelation contains citations from 04:45 or allusions to 28 of the 39 books of the Old Testament, 04:50 and there's probably 550 direct references to 04:54 something in the Old Testament. 04:56 As we look at the Book of Revelation, just before we 04:59 jump into Sunday, there's different interpretations to the 05:03 Book of Revelation - this would be across many 05:05 different Christian denominations, 05:06 there's the "idealist" and they focus on ideas. 05:10 They say Revelation provides, in symbolic terms, 05:13 broad principles for everyday life and certainly, 05:16 there are things in Revelation that we can learn from them. 05:18 There's the "preterist," they focus on the past. 05:22 And they say Revelation addresses specific first century 05:26 churches, first century things and there is 05:28 some truth to that too. 05:30 Then there's the "futurist" who say the focus on the future. 05:35 Revelation features the second coming and those 05:37 eschatological events meaning end-time events. 05:40 And, of course, there are some 05:42 end-time events in the Book of Revelation. 05:44 But the focus of our panel and our discussion 05:47 for the next 13 weeks will be the "historicist" viewpoint 05:51 with the focus on that flow of history. 05:54 Revelation speaks to the full range of Christian history 05:57 from John's day, all the way until the second 06:00 coming of Christ and beyond. 06:03 Our quarterly here is written by Dr. Ranko Stefanovic... 06:06 Shelley, can you pronounce it? 06:07 "Stefanovich." Okay. 06:09 And I know he is a professor of the New Testament 06:11 at Andrews University and he also has a program on 3ABN, 06:15 "Revelation of the Coming King" 06:17 So let's jump into our memory text and our topic today, 06:21 Sunday, is: "The Title of the Book" 06:23 And our memory text is: Revelation 1:3, 06:27 so if you have your Bibles, open up and follow along with us. 06:30 I'll be looking at the first three verses here in Revelation. 06:33 Revelation 1:3... "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear 06:38 the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are 06:42 written in it, for the time is near." 06:46 Now Sunday's lesson is actually the title of the book 06:48 which is, of course... "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" 06:53 So, look at the first verse. It says, "The Revelation 06:56 of Jesus Christ." 06:59 The word "Revelation" in Greek is Apocalypse. 07:02 It means "an uncovering, revealing or unveiling." 07:08 So what John is saying is this is an unveiling of Jesus Christ, 07:12 a revealing of Jesus Christ. 07:16 Who is He? These are all found in the Book of Revelation. 07:22 He is the faithful witness. 07:23 He is the first begotten of the dead. 07:26 He is Prince of the Kings of the earth. 07:29 He is the Son of Man. 07:32 He who lives and was dead. 07:34 He who holds the seven stars. 07:36 He who walks in the midst of the golden candlesticks. 07:40 He is the Son of God. 07:42 He which searches the reins and hearts. 07:45 He that has the seven stars. 07:47 He that is holy and true. 07:49 He that has the key of David. 07:51 He that shuts and no man can open. 07:54 He is the faithful and true witness. 07:57 The Amen, the beginning of the creation of God. 08:00 The Lord, the Lion of the 08:02 tribe of Judah. The Root of David. 08:04 A Lamb as it has been slain. 08:06 The Lamb. The King of Kings, 08:07 and Lord of Lords. 08:09 The faithful and true. The Word of God. 08:11 The Rider of the white horse. The Christ. 08:13 The Lord God of the Holy Prophets. 08:16 The Bright and Morning Star. 08:17 Alpha and Omega. 08:20 The beginning and the end. 08:21 The first and the last. 08:23 That is what Jesus Christ is. 08:25 All of those references are Jesus Christ in the 08:28 Book of Revelation and we'll be studying that 08:31 as we go through that. 08:33 What does Revelation reveal about Jesus? 08:35 It reveals many things, but three things that I can 08:38 think of... it reveals He is victorious #1. 08:42 #2... It reveals He is our King. 08:46 3... It reveals He is our Judge. 08:51 He is victorious - Of course we know from many passages 08:54 in the word of God that He was victorious at the cross. 08:57 I think of, He's victorious over the condemnation of the law, 09:04 specifically at the cross. 09:05 Galatians 3:13... Christ has redeemed us from what? 09:10 The curse of the law, the condemnation of the law. 09:15 Romans 3:23-24... "All have sinned and fallen short 09:20 of the glory of God, being justified freely by His 09:25 grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. 09:28 So we know that He was victorious over the 09:32 condemnation of the law, and because of His 09:35 perfect life and perfect sacrifice, you and I 09:37 can be justified and sanctified. 09:40 That's revealed in many other portions of Scripture, 09:43 as the Scriptures I just read. 09:44 We also know He is victorious over the power 09:47 of sin that enslaves us. Amen! 09:50 Matthew 1:21... "Thou shall call His name "Jesus" 09:53 for He shall save His people not in their sins, 09:56 but He saves them from their sins. 10:00 Romans 6:22... "We are set free from sin and having 10:04 become slaves of God, you have your fruit to 10:06 holiness in the end everlasting life. 10:08 We also know He was victorious over the power of Satan. 10:12 Hebrews 2:14-15... "Inasmuch then as the children have 10:17 partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise 10:21 shared in the same, that through death He might 10:24 destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil, 10:27 and release those who through fear of death 10:30 were all their lifetime subject to bondage." 10:34 And we know all of that from many passages of Scripture 10:37 outside of the Book of Revelation, but I believe 10:40 Revelation shows us clearly that Christ is 10:43 victorious the final triumph at the end of time. 10:47 It shows us He is victorious over Satan in this thing 10:51 we call "The Great Controversy." 10:53 It shows us that sin will eventually be annihilated; 10:57 that death will be no more and that Christ wins. 11:02 Revelation 21... "I saw a new heaven and a new earth, 11:07 for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. 11:10 Behold the tabernacle of God is with men. 11:13 He will dwell with them and they shall be His people. 11:16 God Himself will be their God, and God will wipe away 11:20 every tear from their eyes. 11:22 There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, 11:25 no more pain, for the former things have passed away." 11:29 So Revelation tells us Christ is victorious in the end. 11:33 Revelation also tells us Christ is our King. 11:37 Now we know from many passages in the Scripture that He is 11:40 our Savior and Lord, but Revelation really shows Him 11:43 coming as King of Kings and Lord 11:46 of Lords with majesty, glory and honor. 11:49 Revelation also shows that He is our Judge and we know that 11:53 He is our merciful and faithful High Priest. 11:56 But Revelation also shows that He's coming to judge the wicked. 12:01 That that cup of iniquity will reach its point of fulfillment 12:05 and that judgment will be poured out. 12:08 So let's read the rest of our verse here... 12:10 We're in Revelation 1:1... "The revelation of Jesus Christ 12:14 which God gave Him to show His servants things which must 12:17 shortly take place and He sent and signified it 12:21 by His angel to His servant John, who bore 12:24 witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of 12:27 Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw." 12:30 Now this is the first of seven beatitudes in the Book of 12:33 Revelation... "Blessed is he who read and those who hear 12:37 the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are 12:41 written in it for the time is near." 12:44 Blessed is he who reads, in the Greek "reads" means 12:47 "to know again" through reading. 12:50 So blessed are we if we study again; if we read again; 12:55 if we look at this Book again. 12:57 Blessed are those who hear. It means to comprehend 13:01 by hearing, so not just hear, but to understand. 13:05 And finally, blessed are those who keep... in Greek it means, 13:10 "to watch over, to guard, to observe." 13:14 So we are called not only to read this Book, 13:18 because it reveals Jesus. 13:20 We're called not only to hear the Book and to understand 13:23 what is in this Book, but we're called to observe. 13:27 We're called to do what is in this BOOK; 13:30 we're called to walk in obedience to the truth 13:34 that the Lord Jesus Christ shows us. Pastor Kenny! 13:38 Well I have Monday's lesson and what I've just heard here 13:41 has been good - good stuff kind of gets you excited, 13:43 doesn't it. Praise God, I hope you're 13:45 getting excited there at home too. 13:46 Monday's lesson, I want to just do this... it talks about 13:49 the purpose of the Book and I think they'll be some things 13:52 that will overlap but it's always good, you know, 13:54 the more I hear of things, the more it sticks in my mind, 13:56 I pray the same thing for you. 13:58 And I'm thinking about not only the purpose of it, 14:00 but the importance of it. 14:02 So I just wanted to go over just several things here 14:04 real quickly that we will be going probably in 14:05 the coming weeks even that would 14:07 help us in the Book of Revelation to see 14:09 the purpose of the Book. 14:11 1... Christ gave the message to John... it's gotta be good. 14:15 It has to be good because why? 14:17 Because Christ gave the message to John. 14:19 It also shows things sometimes we don't want to see. 14:22 It shows the church when it was backsliding... 14:24 But it also shows the church when it's victorious. 14:27 These are the good things but it compliments 14:29 the Book of Daniel - as we read, we need to be studying 14:32 certainly the two together. 14:34 It tells what's going to be has been mentioned here, 14:37 it's going to take place in the last days. 14:39 We are all interested in that, in what is soon to take place 14:42 what's taking place even right now. 14:45 We realize that it's not a sealed book, 14:47 it's an opened book, praise God for that. 14:49 We need it to be opened because it says simply, 14:52 reading - write the blessing on those who what? 14:54 They hear and keep these things - how wonderful that is. 14:58 It emphasizes and it will emphasize, I think, through the 15:01 whole Book of Revelation, the nearness of Christ coming. 15:04 I think that's so wonderful. 15:05 That's what gives us hope in this hour that we're living in. 15:08 Anyone who studies this, regardless of what 15:11 hmm, I'll just say some people say... 15:14 There is a blessing that will be to those who study 15:17 the Books of Daniel and Revelation. 15:18 There's going to be a blessing there for us. 15:21 Present truth is contained... 15:23 I hear people talk present truth all the time. 15:24 Even in the Book of Revelation, you're going to see 15:26 some real heavy duty present truth. 15:29 You're going to see the rise and fall of nations naturally. 15:31 And I'm going to say this here because we've always, 15:34 and it's true, the Book of Revelation, as far as I know 15:37 Pastor, has never been sealed, it's always been an open book. 15:40 But, it's sealed to a certain group of people who 15:44 refuses light and truth. 15:47 It's kind of interesting to think about. 15:49 We can read more about that in, I'm thinking it's the book 15:52 "Education" right now, you can read some more on that. 15:54 Page 195- gives us some insight on that. 15:58 It tells a special work that God's people 16:00 has to do in the last days. 16:01 We have a special work to do, a message to give 16:05 to the world is found in what we will be studying 16:07 this quarter if you haven't studied it before, 16:09 you're going to love it. 16:11 And certainly it reveals, I think the triumphs, the joys, 16:15 and what the redeemed are going to have in the new world. 16:19 These are just things just barely touching 16:21 on some of the things that's going to happen 16:22 in this quarter that you're going to be excited about. 16:25 "The Purpose of the Book," 16:27 God always has a plan, doesn't He? 16:29 God always has a plan, I'm glad that He has a plan, 16:32 and we need that - we know He has and it makes me 16:34 feel good to know God has a plan. Amen! That's right! 16:36 When I don't have a plan, God has a plan, 16:38 and I'm very grateful and thankful for that. 16:40 And He reveals prophecies, things that have already taken 16:43 place and if we have faith to believe these things... 16:46 we want, we look, we study and say, 16:48 These thing have taken place." 16:49 It helps me to believe and have faith enough to accept 16:52 those things that are in the future which we need. 16:55 It's easy, it's easy to believe these things as we see 16:59 them come to pass but we need a faith that will help us 17:02 with those things that are still yet in the future. 17:03 The Book of Revelation simply does what? It guides us. 17:07 And I love it because it guides us, notice... a step at a time. 17:10 I'm like a little child, I don't need a giant leap, 17:14 sometimes a need a little step at a time in my relationship 17:17 with Christ and when we do that, He reveals things 17:21 that have taken place... you know - past, historically. 17:24 He reveals things that are personally good for us 17:27 that we need right now that will help us, 17:29 and, certainly, we said things in the future. 17:31 Each prophecy reveals that God is in control, right? 17:36 You've said, every prophecy reveals 17:38 that God is still in control and with His people 17:41 from the very beginning to the end. 17:44 Don't you like that? From the very beginning 17:45 to the end - God is with His people. That's right! 17:49 He doesn't do anything until He reveals it, Amos 3:7, 17:52 look that up when you have the opportunity to do so. 17:54 He doesn't have anything to happen until it's revealed 17:57 to His people first. That's right. 17:58 Certainly we look at the purpose of the Book of Revelation. 18:01 Revelation reveals - we were talking about prophecy 18:04 a while ago...six important things: 18:05 #1... Things that have already been fulfilled. 18:08 Things that are in the process of being fulfilled. 18:11 And things that are going to be fulfilled in the future, 18:14 things that are soon to be. 18:16 Also, I found this out in studying this lesson quickly... 18:18 is that it teaches us, right now, to live for today. 18:23 And it teaches - we can look at it and say, 18:24 this is how we need, by the grace of God, to live today. 18:27 It also teaches us how to prepare for the future. 18:30 It's very important how to prepare for the future 18:32 and one thing I sure like about Revelation, the word of God, 18:36 it really reveals only those things that we really 18:40 need to know to make sure heaven is going to be our home. 18:43 There's a lot more, Pastor, you think about, that could 18:45 be revealed in Scripture that would blow our minds. 18:48 You know? You're right! 18:49 It's, I mean, heavy duty stuff, but God has revealed 18:51 enough that's what we need for this day and this time, 18:54 and I'm thankful for that. 18:56 It says it reveals the deep things of God. 18:58 I think that's in 1 Corinthians 2:10. 19:00 You know, we talk about the deep things of God... 19:02 The Spirit reveals the deep things to us that 19:05 we certainly need in this world that we're living in. 19:08 And just that statement really alone, if you think about, 19:11 contradicts those things that you write that you can't 19:14 understand Revelation, that it's a sealed book 19:16 because He said, I'm going to reveal those deep things, 19:19 the things of God. 19:20 "Adventist Home," p.558, (we're moving just as quickly 19:23 as we can here) It's interesting... 19:24 "Acts of the Apostle," sorry, p.585 says... 19:27 "In Revelation, all the books of the Bible what? 19:30 They meet and they end, right? Yes 19:32 Everybody has read that many times. 19:34 I'm sure you have, all the books of the Bible, 19:35 they meet and end in the Book of Revelation. 19:38 Here's some good news... I love good news, 19:40 talk about good news... Good news delights His people. 19:43 You know, if your heart is open, I've heard many, many, many 19:46 and each one of you here have heard many, many say, 19:47 "We just can't understand it." 19:49 Pastors will preach and teach, you don't need to be in it. 19:51 You don't need to be reading it, it's too much for us. 19:53 The truth will be revealed if any heart is opened 19:57 and wants to know what truth is. Amen! 19:59 As you study the Book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit 20:02 will reveal those things that we need to know to 20:05 understand and receive it. 20:06 It a blessing because that's what Revelation 1:3, I think, 20:10 that you read right there talking about the blessing. 20:12 Those that hear the prophecy of this book and things 20:15 that are written therein, certainly are those 20:16 that keep them. 20:18 The purpose of the book centers around the theme 20:20 (notice) of the Great Controversy. 20:24 I find this more and more as I study it, 20:25 the whole theme of the Great Controversy just goes 20:27 around and around again for us to see. 20:29 Heavy focus, I found out here, is upon the end time events, 20:34 naturally the coming of Jesus and the work Jesus is doing; 20:39 the work that He is wanting to perform in each 20:41 of our lives as perfecting our characters that our 20:44 character may be like Him. 20:46 You know, that's why I will say, "pray with kids, 20:48 we need that in our hearts and our life. 20:51 Really if I think about it here, I look at "Education," 20:53 p.173, says this... This just should give us 20:56 comfort and should give us some encouragement... 20:58 "Education," p.173, says: "Behind, above and through all 21:04 the play and the counterplay of human interest and power, 21:08 and passions (notice this) patiently working out the 21:12 counsel of His will." Amen! 21:15 All this is God's will, right? 21:17 He's revealing His will, He's revealing His purpose 21:20 to us as we study in this quarter, the Book of Revelation, 21:23 and I'm thankful for that, that God does that. 21:25 Keep in mind, as we study these things in this quarter. 21:28 John, in vision, saw many fascinating events. 21:32 He saw things that some of our minds, 21:34 I don't think we could probably take... 21:37 Revelation was given to guide us; 21:39 it's given to comfort us; 21:41 it's given to strengthen us. 21:43 Regardless of what the world may teach or preach on this, 21:46 the Book of Revelation will give you comfort, 21:49 even though you talk about the beast and things that may be 21:51 kind of frightening, God has an answer for all 21:53 these things - there's a reason for all of these things. 21:56 And notice, it's going to guide us; 21:58 it's going to comfort us; 21:59 it's going to strengthen His people. 22:01 Again, not only in his day, but I think it's more for, 22:04 don't you believe, our day. That's right! 22:06 The Book of Revelation is for that right now, 22:08 that all of us might have it, I call it just an intelligent 22:11 understanding of all the battles and the conflicts 22:15 and the struggles that's going to go on, 22:17 and go on in this world and even in our personal life 22:19 that God wants us to make sure that we can understand. 22:23 You know, just to mention quickly here before the 22:25 time is up, some people say, "Well, all those things 22:28 are not fulfilled in Revelation. 22:29 I read some of the promises and the threatenings of God, 22:32 remember the promises and the threatenings of God... 22:35 they're conditional. 22:37 And if God's people are faithful every one of them will 22:39 come to pass - those that have not, will because God has 22:42 said that it will in His word. That's right! 22:44 We call it "deferred." 22:47 Deferred until the time because of the failure, 22:50 I'm going to say this because of the failure of God's 22:52 people and the failure of God's church to live up 22:55 to the privileges and the opportunities that He's 22:58 given us, but I like what you mentioned for it, 23:01 God is going to be victorious. 23:02 The church is going to be victorious. 23:04 You can be victorious, I can be victorious, 23:07 all in the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. 23:10 So make sure you have your Bibles; 23:12 make sure you study along with us in this quarter 23:15 because we will get into some stuff that will be 23:16 very, very heavy that we all need to go over and over 23:19 all the time to try to understand more thoroughly 23:22 what's about to happen in this world, 23:24 and what is happening right now. 23:25 I'm convinced, I'm convinced that Jesus is coming. 23:29 Amen! I'm convinced that His word 23:32 is going to stand fast forever. 23:34 I'm convinced that He loves me and Calvary proves that. 23:38 And I'm convinced that He's coming soon, 23:41 and I'm convinced, by the grace of God, 23:43 by His life, by His sacrifice I can make it there, 23:47 and you can make it there too. 23:48 Just make sure you're ready. Amen! Amen! 23:51 Powerful Pastor Kenny, thank you so much. 23:54 Right now we're going to take a short break. 23:55 We'll be right back. 24:02 Ever wish you could watch the 3ABN Sabbath School Panel 24:05 again or share it on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter? 24:08 Well, you can by visiting 3ABN Sabbath School Panel.com 24:13 A clean design makes it easy to find the 24:17 program you're looking for. 24:18 There are also links to the Adult Bible Study Guides 24:22 so you can follow along. 24:23 Sharing is easy, just click "share" and choose your 24:26 favorite social media. 24:28 Share a link, save a life, for eternity! 24:34 Welcome back to our study of the Book of Revelation, 24:37 and Pastor John, you want to pick it up with 24:38 "The Symbolic Language of Revelation." Sure! 24:40 Thank you very much, you know, I'm excited about 24:42 this book for a number of reasons. 24:44 One of those is Revelation is like a toy box... 24:48 People have different toys in the book. 24:51 I want to make sure that my toys don't interrupt 24:53 their toys but what I want to do more than anything else 24:55 is stay true to the full language and the full 24:58 message of Revelation because there's so much 25:01 symbolism in the book, you can get lost in the symbolism. 25:03 It's like defining all the buttons on my coat, 25:06 but you never see me. 25:07 And so we don't want to be so close to the building 25:09 that we're just enamored by the architecture, 25:11 but we have never entered the building. 25:13 So we're going to talk about the architecture, the outside, 25:15 what the building is made of; what the language is of 25:18 Revelation but we have to find the message on the inside. 25:21 So bear with us... Pastor Kenny alluded to something... 25:25 Amos 3:7... "Surely the Lord God does nothing except He 25:29 reveals His secrets to His servants, the prophets." 25:31 In Revelation 1 which Jill began with, it says... 25:35 "He sent and signified that is the message of Revelation 25:40 is signified in symbols and in signs and in decoded language. 25:46 But something that's very important when you decide to 25:48 interpret the Book of Revelation... every symbol 25:51 that Revelation gives to us has to be defined by the Bible. 25:56 Look at 2 Peter 1:19-21, here is what we know for sure 26:03 because if we violate the principles of Revelation, 26:07 if we violate the principles of interpretation, 26:10 we come up with languages that cannot be endorsed 26:14 or substantiated by Scripture. Amen! 26:17 2 Peter 1:19... And so we have a prophetic word confirmed 26:22 (or word made sure) which you do well to take heed, 26:26 as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day 26:28 dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 26:32 (this is key) knowing this first, that no prophecy of 26:36 Scripture is of any private interpretation." 26:39 When you do not stay true to the symbols in the Bible 26:42 defining those, it becomes private and you could make 26:46 Revelation say whatever you want if the Bible 26:48 doesn't define the symbols, but how did the 26:51 symbols come into being? 26:52 Verse 21... "For prophecy never came by the will of 26:56 man, but holy men of God spoke as they were 26:59 moved by the Holy Spirit." 27:00 Case in point, John was a holy man... the Lord did not put 27:06 an unholy man in the position to handle a holy message. 27:09 So when people say the Bible was written by a man, 27:12 I don't agree with that. 27:13 The Bible... God chose men whose lives were sanctified, 27:17 and men's lives were receptive to the Holy Spirit. 27:20 So they wrote down... they were just the conduit, 27:22 the penmen - the message did not come from John, 27:26 it came through John. 27:27 But if you look at the progression of it, 27:29 it says, verse 2... "... who bore witness to the word of God, 27:33 (are we back to Revelation? Revelation 1:2, thank you Jill) 27:35 "... who bore witness to the word of God, and to the 27:39 testimony of Jesus Christ and to all things that he saw." 27:44 So John was given a picture and then he was able to 27:47 now take that picture and scribe it into the language 27:50 that we could understand today. 27:52 The other thing about it... Not only is it signs and 27:54 symbols or significant messages that are going to be 27:57 decoded by the Bible itself, but the other thing is 28:00 symbolism is governed by the context. 28:03 I want to say that because you can read Daniel is the 28:07 sister book of Revelation. 28:08 Daniel introduces a symbol that carries on through Revelation 28:14 and once that symbol is introduced and identified 28:16 and defined, you cannot, in the middle of the story, 28:19 change its definition. Amen! 28:21 That's what people often do. 28:22 But let me show you the only time that that symbol 28:26 can mean something different than what it was introduced 28:29 to mean because that happens in the Bible. 28:31 Let's go to Daniel very quickly... 28:32 I'll point out a few examples... 28:34 For example, in Daniel 2, Nebuchadnezzar was 28:38 given a dream and Nebuchadnezzar was given a dream in verse 38 28:42 of Daniel 2 which we see the symbol doesn't 28:45 show up again in Revelation. 28:46 In Daniel 2, at the very end of the passage when Daniel 28:50 is interpreting the vision or the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, 28:53 he says, clearly - the last six words, "You are 28:57 this head of gold." Unequivocally! 29:01 So the leader of the Kingdom of Babylon 29:04 represents the head of gold. 29:06 The Kingdom of Babylon is the kingdom of gold, 29:09 very clear, the Bible makes that clear. 29:11 So when you go down to Revelation 17 and 18, 29:13 and Babylon is talked about as having gold - the golden cup, 29:17 where did that come into being? 29:18 In Daniel that symbolism carries on through. 29:21 But, we know that when the Bible gives these symbols 29:24 in Daniel 2 and 7 and it says, "After you shall 29:28 arise, another kingdom inferior to you... 29:31 we know that the progression of Babylon - there's another 29:34 kingdom after that, another kingdom after that, 29:36 and the fourth kingdom after that. 29:38 We know, historically, Babylon and what's the next one? 29:40 Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. 29:43 That in the symbolism of Babylon, then Medo-Persia 29:47 is silver (the chest of silver), but in Daniel, 29:52 the Bible also gives Medo-Persia another definition. 29:57 Let's go to Daniel 8:20-21. 30:04 I'm kinda laying some foundation because of what I said, 30:06 "The symbolism is governed by the context." 30:08 Here it is, verse 20... "The ram which you saw, 30:13 having two horns - they are kings of Media and Persia." 30:19 What was defined as silver is now defined as a ram." 30:23 So the context, the meaning is governed by the context, 30:28 so don't pull something from this context and try to fit it 30:31 into that context any more than my shoes will fit 30:35 Kenny's feet or vice versa. 30:37 It has to be governed by the context. 30:38 Another way is... look at verse 21. 30:41 Because we know that in the four kingdoms, Babylon, 30:44 Medo-Persia, Greece... Greece was symbolized by which? 30:47 The leopard with four heads and four wings 30:50 in the Book of Daniel 2 and Daniel 7. 30:53 In Daniel 2, it was symbolized by the bronze; 30:56 Daniel 7 by the leopard with four heads and four wings. 30:58 But in Daniel 8:21, you're seeing now a small 31:05 slice of the picture but now they're showing the struggle 31:07 between Medo-Persia and Greece and they're showing 31:10 how they are butting heads. 31:12 And verse 21 says, "And the male goat is the kingdom 31:14 of Greece; the large horn that is between its eyes 31:19 is the first king (Alexander the Great). 31:23 So you find, right away, these symbols are defined 31:25 and when you define the symbols, 31:27 you gotta stay true to it in the context of that story 31:30 or that structure. 31:32 And so don't take this ram and try to put him 31:34 in another chapter because he's only pertinent to this 31:37 particular structure of this story. 31:40 The other thing is, when a symbol is introduced, 31:42 it's often defined. 31:44 Let's go to Revelation 9, I want to show you something 31:48 because Revelation 9 and Revelation 12 introduces 31:53 symbols, then it defines it immediately. 31:56 Once it's defined immediately, 31:58 you cannot change it's definition. 32:01 That definition carries all the way through. 32:03 Revelation 9:1, let me show you a symbol that's introduced 32:05 that carries on through the Bible and by the way, 32:08 there are some sevens that are hidden in the Bible. 32:10 You know, we have seven plagues, seven churches, seven angels, 32:13 seven stars and the angels are messengers from the Greek 32:16 word "Aggelos" which means messenger showing the 32:19 importance of the message. 32:20 Three angels flying are not really angels flying 32:23 and yelling from the heavens, but the importance of it is 32:25 handled by angels. 32:27 A very important message - if an angel rang your doorbell 32:30 during Christmas with a FedEx package, 32:31 I'm sure you'll say, "This is an amazing package." 32:34 So the amazing message is handled by angels 32:37 showing the great importance of it. 32:38 But look at Revelation 9:1, it says... "The fifth angel 32:43 sounded and I saw a star fall from heaven to the earth. 32:47 To him was given the key to the bottomless pit. 32:50 By the way, that's the first time in Revelation, 32:52 the bottomless pit is introduced - the first time. 32:54 So what is talked about and when you go through 32:57 Revelation, we'll talk about this later - I'm not going to 32:59 get into it now, but when we get to that particular 33:02 part of the prophecy, the fifth trumpet, you'll understand 33:04 something - when the symbol is introduced and 33:07 defined, it maintains that definition all the way 33:10 through the remainder of the book. 33:12 Bottomless pit, Revelation 9:1-2, Revelation 9:11; 33:15 it's spoken of more in Revelation 9 than any other 33:18 book or any other chapter in Revelation, 33:22 but then it comes again in Revelation 11. 33:24 Then in Revelation 17, the beast 33:25 that ascends out of the bottomless pit. 33:27 Then Revelation 20, where we know that Satan is 33:29 thrown into the bottomless pit. 33:31 He comes out, then he's thrown in. 33:33 And then in Revelation 20:3, 33:34 they cast him into the bottomless pit. 33:36 So when the symbol is introduced, it maintains 33:38 its clarity all the way through the Bible. 33:40 And quickly, lastly but not least... 33:43 I thought I had 99 minutes, whatever happened... laughter 33:47 The other thing about it is Revelation's symbols are 33:51 intended to conceal a message from those who can do 33:55 harm if they understood the context of it. Oooo 33:59 It's intended to conceal it from the enemy, not to conceal it 34:02 from the people of God. That's right! 34:03 The language is symbolic, but the event to which 34:06 it points is literal. 34:08 Revelation is an acknowledgment that God knows 34:10 and unfolds the future. 34:12 And in a case in point, Revelation 7 is a condensed 34:16 version of Ezekiel 9 which is an expanded version of 34:20 the sealing prophecy. 34:22 And Revelation 17 talks about water - when the Bible 34:27 talks about water, it's defined in the context of Revelation, 34:31 we must maintain that symbolistic definition 34:34 so the story can be clearly understood. Amen! Pastor Ryan... 34:39 Amen! It's hard to follow that one. 34:42 It's a lot of information, but it was great. 34:44 I have Wednesday's lesson, "The Godhead" 34:47 which is a very deep subject, I don't know of any person 34:52 who knows ALL that there is to know about the Godhead. 34:55 But what I'm going to look at this evening as we're 34:58 going to study together (or this morning, excuse me) 35:01 we're going to be looking at the Godhead 35:04 within the Book of Revelation. 35:05 And so where I would like to start is Revelation 1:11, 35:10 so we can just go there, Revelation 1:11, 35:14 and I'm going to read that here. 35:15 Notice what the Bible says, "Saying, I am the Alpha 35:20 and the Omega, the first and the last; and What you see, 35:24 write in a book and send it to the seven churches 35:28 which are in Asia:" (and of course, then it lists 35:31 the seven churches there) Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, 35:34 to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." 35:37 But the part I want to focus on here it says, "What you see, 35:39 write in a book and send it to the seven churches 35:41 which are in Asia Minor. 35:43 So we know that the Book of Revelation starts out with 35:46 this powerful message that Christ, Himself, is delivering 35:49 to these seven churches in Asia Minor - which we will 35:52 get in to in later lessons. 35:54 But, you know, who is this message coming from, 35:57 and what kind of message is it? 35:58 And we're going to talk a lot about that, but I just want to 36:00 confirm because when it says that these messages are going 36:04 to the seven churches in Asia Minor, I found this 36:07 quote in "Acts of the Apostles," p.585, 36:10 notice what it says here... "The names of the seven 36:13 churches are symbolic to the church in different periods 36:17 of the Christian era. And so it's kind of 36:19 playing off of what you were saying, Pastor, is that 36:22 while, not all of the Book of Revelation is symbolic, 36:25 there are some literal elements to the Book 36:27 of Revelation, we are told by inspiration that these seven 36:30 churches are, of course, different periods of the 36:33 Christian era from, of course, the first century A.D. 36:36 all the way down to the end of the world. 36:38 And so it goes on to say that number seven indicates 36:40 completeness and is symbolic of the fact that the 36:43 messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols 36:47 used revealed the condition of the church at different 36:50 periods in the history of the church." 36:53 So the message of the Book of Revelation... excuse me, 36:55 history of the world, that's a good point, thank you. 36:58 This powerful revelation of Jesus Christ is being 37:03 revealed not to just seven literal churches 37:06 while they were, but rather to different eras, 37:09 different generations all the way from the early 37:11 Christian period - all the way down to the end of time. 37:13 Now we come to the greeting. 37:15 Now who is delivering this message? 37:17 Who is sending this message? 37:19 We find this, I believe, in the greeting found in Revelation 37:22 1:4, so notice what the Bible says here... 37:25 Revelation 1:4... "John, to the seven churches 37:30 which are in Asia: grace to you and peace from... 37:34 and then begins to identify or give us some insight 37:37 on who is greeting us from the Book of Revelation. 37:41 It says... Grace to you and peace from Him who is 37:45 and who was and who is to come, and from the seven 37:49 Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, 37:55 the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, 37:57 and the ruler over the kings of the earth." 38:00 So we have what appears to be a person, and another person, 38:06 and another person. 38:08 So many people would consider this 38:10 to be the Godhead and what is the Godhead? 38:12 I just came up with my own little definition while I also 38:16 looked and researched more 38:18 formal definitions of the Godhead. 38:20 We're talking about the divine persons within the Christian 38:24 deity that we call God - the three persons of the 38:26 Godhead Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 38:29 And so is this complete Godhead present 38:32 within the Book of Revelation? 38:34 I believe so, there are many, many examples given 38:36 throughout the Book of Revelation where we find 38:38 the Godhead present indeed. 38:40 I want to start with this first being that verse 4 says... 38:46 "Who is and who was and who is to come." 38:49 This would, of course, be the Father if you were reading 38:52 the context of this particular verse because we see 38:55 right after that - the Spirit is mentioned and, of course, 38:57 Jesus Christ is mentioned separate. 39:00 And so, many people, as we read this again notice 39:02 it says, "John, to the seven churches which are in Asia, 39:04 grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was, 39:08 and who is to come." 39:10 So we know that this has to be the Father from within 39:12 what we call "the Godhead." 39:14 And so Revelation 1:8 gives us some insight to this as well. 39:18 Notice what verse 8 or chapter 1 says... 39:21 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, 39:24 says the Lord who is and who was 39:26 and who is to come, the Almighty." 39:29 Now I remember reading that many, many years and I've 39:32 always thought that that was Jesus Christ and while I 39:34 still believe that it is, to a certain extent, 39:37 I saw as I was studying this, that there's evidence to show 39:40 that perhaps maybe the Father 39:41 is speaking in this particular text. 39:43 For instance, Revelation 4:8, there's a little bit of evidence 39:48 to support this claim. 39:50 If you go to Revelation 4, you are in the throne room of God, 39:53 and we will get there eventually but right there in the throne 39:56 room of God, Jesus is not present yet - Jesus doesn't come 39:58 into the picture until Revelation chapter 5, 40:01 and so you have this heavenly scene in the throne room of God 40:04 where the Father is apparently sitting on His throne 40:08 and, of course, the four living creatures are singing 40:11 and praising and chanting before the throne day and night 40:14 "Holy, Holy, Holy," again this is 40:15 verse 8 of Revelation chapter 4, "Holy, Holy, Holy, 40:19 Lord God Almighty, notice the words here... 40:21 "who was and is and is to come." 40:24 The Lamb isn't present yet, He comes in chapter 5. 40:28 There's a little bit of support here that the Father 40:30 is most definitely, you cannot deny that He is the Almighty. 40:35 He is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. 40:38 But what about Christ? 40:39 Does that take the spotlight off Jesus? 40:42 I don't think so and I'm going to show you how 40:45 Christ is included within that Alpha, that Omega, 40:48 the beginning and end concept, 40:50 the Almighty God that He is indeed. 40:52 I'm going to show you that in just a few moments. 40:54 But I want us to kind of stick with the chronology 40:56 that we have in Revelation 1:4 where again it says... 41:00 "Him who is and who was and who is to come," (but then 41:04 notice what it says) "and" (so there is a 41:06 separation of thought here) from the seven Spirits 41:10 who were before His throne." 41:12 So now the Spirit is included in this conversation. 41:17 We see, again, in the throne room in Revelation 4:5, 41:24 notice what the Bible says... 41:25 "And from the throne proceedeth lightenings, thunderings 41:30 and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning 41:33 before the throne which are the seven Spirits of God." 41:37 So these seven Spirits, of course, would be none other 41:41 than that of the Spirit of God. 41:43 If you go over to one chapter later, Revelation 5... 41:46 Now the Lamb has come into the picture - we're going to 41:49 get to the Lamb in just a few moments. 41:50 But notice what it says here, verse 6, Revelation 5:6... 41:54 "And I looked and behold in the midst of the throne 41:56 and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders 41:58 stood a Lamb as though it had been slain - having seven 42:02 heads and seven eyes (and then it tells us what this represents 42:05 back to the symbolism here, what do they represent?) 42:07 which are the seven Spirits of God 42:10 sent out into all the earth." 42:12 I believe that communicates the completeness 42:15 and the eternal concept that the Holy Spirit is eternal along 42:20 with the Father and the Son, but also is, in a universal 42:23 sense, doing the work of God all over this world for it 42:26 tells us that He was sent into all the earth. 42:30 Now the seven Spirits, you also have to consider Isaiah 11:2 42:34 because many people ask, "What are these seven Spirits, 42:37 why doesn't He just say "the Holy Spirit." 42:39 I believe these seven Spirits, as we believe this is the 42:41 Holy Spirit of God, communicates the seven characteristics 42:45 of God, the beautiful, wonderful character of God. 42:50 Notice Isaiah 11:2, and if you count these up, 42:54 you will find there are seven different Spirits that are 42:57 mentioned here in this particular verse. 43:00 Notice what it says here... "The Spirit of the Lord 43:03 shall rest upon Him." There's one. 43:04 #2... "The Spirit of wisdom. 43:08 #3... An understanding. 43:10 #4... The Spirit of counsel. 43:15 #5... And might - the Spirit of might. 43:17 #6... The spirit of knowledge and... 43:20 #7... The fear of the Lord. 43:22 So this is kind of an insight, a Scriptural insight 43:25 into what these seven Spirits represent. 43:27 The different characteristics of God in wisdom 43:29 and understanding, counsel in might and knowledge, 43:31 the fear of the Lord - all of this is comprised, 43:33 of course, and communicated as the Spirit of the Lord. 43:36 Now we come to the Son... 43:39 We can't leave without the Son, I have very little time to 43:42 communicate this, but I want to go through this very quickly. 43:44 Revelation 1:4-6 says... "John, to the seven churches 43:47 which are in Asia, grace to you and peace from Him who 43:50 is and who was and who is to come, from the seven Spirits 43:53 which are before His throne and, (here it is) 43:55 Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn 43:58 of the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth." 44:01 Christ is no doubt present throughout 44:04 all the Book of Revelation. 44:05 He is the epicenter of the Book of Revelation. 44:07 And I just want to go back to what I said earlier about 44:10 the Alpha and the Omega not to take the spotlight off 44:12 Christ and put it on the Father because we know that they 44:15 are coequal, they are co-eternal in every sense 44:17 in the highest sense, but notice verse 17-18 44:20 of Revelation, it says... "And when I saw Him, 44:22 I fell at His feet as dead, but He laid His right hand 44:25 on me - who is He? That is Christ. 44:28 ... saying to me, "Do not be afraid, I am the... 44:31 first and the last. 44:33 What does alpha mean? Beginning and, of course, 44:36 omega? The end. Okay, first and the last - there it is. 44:40 I am He who lives and was dead and behold, 44:43 I am alive forevermore." 44:45 If we study the Book of Revelation... 44:46 now I'm running out of time... you will see the Godhead 44:49 very present and very much at work throughout 44:51 the entire book and we'll continue to talk about 44:54 this as we continue through our study of Revelation. Amen! 44:56 It's very difficult to discuss the Godhead in 10 minutes! 45:06 I have Thursday's and this is the keynote of Revelation. 45:13 The focus of Revelation is the return of Jesus Christ 45:20 in power and glory and what I'd like to do is, before I 45:26 get into my Scripture, let me just set this up a little bit 45:29 because the Bible very clearly shows us that Jesus 45:33 is going to return in a visible bodily fashion 45:38 to complete His redemption. 45:40 And the Old Testament prophets foretold the coming of the 45:45 Messiah, the anointed One, who would be sent 45:48 from the Lord, from within the nation of Israel 45:51 but He would be God Himself. 45:55 So let's look at Isaiah 9:6... 46:02 such a beautiful Scripture and it says... 46:08 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; 46:15 and the government will be upon His shoulder. 46:18 And His name (who are we talking about here? Jesus!) 46:22 His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, 46:27 Mighty God, Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace." 46:34 Then Micah 5:2 is another great Old Testament prophecy 46:41 about the Anointed One, the Messiah. 46:44 And in Micah 5:2, Micah writes, "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, 46:53 though you are little among the thousands of Judah, 46:59 yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler 47:05 in Israel, (and get this...) whose goings forth are from 47:11 of old, from everlasting." 47:16 So the One who is coming to us, the One who will 47:21 become the Son of God, is God Himself. 47:24 I find it amazing! 47:26 Now, the Messiah is described in the Old Testament both as the 47:31 Mighty Redeemer who is going to come and bring salvation 47:35 and restore peace to His people and destroy His enemies, 47:39 but He is also spoken of in the 47:42 Old Testament as the suffering servant. 47:44 And when you get to the New Testament, 47:47 it clearly delineates these two separate roles distinguishing 47:53 between the two comings of Jesus... 47:56 First, at His incarnation - what role was He assuming there? 48:01 The suffering servant, but second will be at the 48:05 end of the present age which is what Revelation is addressing, 48:09 and He will return as the Mighty Redeemer! 48:12 Jesus has promised Himself that He would come suddenly 48:18 and unexpectedly like a thief in the night to claim His own 48:23 and to reward them. 48:25 At His ascension, what did the angel say as His disciples 48:31 were watching Him going up, they said, "What are you doing?" 48:34 staring here men? He's going to come back 48:37 in like manner so we know, that's found in Acts 1:11, 48:41 that Jesus is coming back bodily and then we certainly 48:45 see in the New Testament, the apostles Paul, Peter and 48:50 John echo the certainty of the literal, physical second coming 48:55 of Jesus in majesty and glory. 48:57 Now, I want to touch on something that you all 49:00 have said and I love it! 49:02 I grew up in what was called "The New Testament Church," 49:06 but we were not allowed to read Revelation, 49:10 and I finally figured out why. 49:13 If you don't know the Old Testament, you can't 49:15 understand the Book of Revelation. That's right! 49:20 There are 404 verses in Revelation; 278 of those 404 49:27 nearly 70% of Revelation alludes to the Old Testament. 49:33 Some Scriptures actually contain multiple allusions and of the 49:38 39 books of the Old Testament, Revelation alludes to at least 49:43 28 of them - we think most specifically the prophetic 49:47 books of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Zachariah. 49:52 So let's look at Daniel 7:13... and I'm doing all of this 50:00 to build up to show you, as John talked about, 50:05 Revelation 1 and 2 said... "He sent to signify (He's showing 50:11 everything in symbols because, remember, this letter was 50:16 going to be distributed among seven churches - this Book of 50:20 Revelation, and they are under Roman domination 50:26 Rome is persecuting Christians, so it's written in symbols 50:31 that all come from the Old Testament. 50:33 A Christian could understand it, but maybe a Roman 50:38 Centurion couldn't pick up the book and understand 50:41 who they are talking about. 50:43 So Daniel 7:13-14... Daniel says, "I was watching 50:46 in the night visions and, behold, One like the Son of Man, 50:50 Coming with the clouds of heaven! (and you're going to 50:54 see that language in just a moment in Revelation) 50:58 He came to the Ancient of Days and they brought Him 51:01 near before Him. Then to Him was given 51:03 dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, 51:07 nations and languages should serve Him. 51:09 His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not 51:13 pass away, His kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed." 51:19 Okay, so remember that language, "coming with clouds." 51:22 Zachariah 12:10 says... "I will pour on the house of 51:28 David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit 51:33 of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me 51:40 whom they pierced. (we're going to see that language 51:43 in just a moment in Revelation) Yes, they will 51:47 mourn for Him (we'll see that as well) as one mourns 51:51 for his only son, and grieve for Him 51:54 as one grieves for a firstborn." 51:57 Now Jesus said in Matthew 24:30, He says... "The sign of the 52:02 Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the 52:06 tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see 52:10 the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven 52:14 with power and great glory." 52:16 And then He said in Matthew 24:31... "He will send His 52:20 angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will 52:24 gather together His elect from the four winds 52:26 from one end of heaven to the other." 52:28 So now... we are ready for Revelation 1:7-8. 52:33 This is the conclusion of the prologue of Revelation. 52:40 The true focus of the Book of Revelation 52:44 is the return of Jesus. 52:46 So Revelation 1:7 says this... "Behold, He is coming with 52:53 clouds, (we've just seen that, have we not? We saw that 52:57 in Daniel; we saw that in Matthew) 53:00 He's coming with clouds, every eye will see Him, 53:04 even those who pierced Him. 53:06 (so see, we saw that was coming from Zachariah 12:10) 53:12 And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. 53:17 Even so, Amen." 53:18 He is coming, not with a crown of thorns, 53:22 but with a crown of glory and the same glory He had 53:26 before His incarnation, right? Yes. 53:28 You know, the Bible teaches (well, I've got to rush) 53:32 two general resurrections; one of the righteous, 53:34 and one of the condemned. 53:36 Jesus said in John 5:28... "Don't marvel at this because 53:39 the day is coming when all who 53:41 who are in the graves will hear My voice." 53:44 Some will come up in the resurrection of the righteous; 53:47 others will come up in the resurrection of the condemned. 53:50 Daniel 12:2 talks about the same thing - that some come up 53:55 to shame and everlasting contempt, while others 53:58 come up to everlasting life. 54:00 And in Revelation 20:5-6... He talks about a second 54:07 resurrection and a second death that is mentioned four times 54:12 in Daniel. 54:14 So when it says "Every eye will see Him, this indicates 54:19 that there's going to be a special resurrection of 54:24 those who crucified Him right before the return of Christ. 54:28 And in Revelation 1:8, you've read this... "I'm the Alpha, 54:31 the Omega, the beginning and the end, says the Lord, 54:34 who is and who was and who is to come." 54:36 So what we see here, Jesus says, "Behold I come quickly, 54:41 My reward is with Me, He says in Revelation 22, 54:45 and He says, "This is all this Book is about - the coming 54:51 of Jesus Christ. Amen! 54:52 God has kept every promise, not one word has failed, 54:56 and we can count on the second coming of Jesus Christ 55:00 in a bodily physical form. Amen! Amen! 55:04 Thank you so much each one of you. 55:06 We're just ending the prologue, as it were, of the Book of 55:09 Revelation and I can't wait to launch into each one of 55:12 the next weeks. 55:14 Revelation is really divided into seven different pieces; 55:16 seven different sections; the seven churches, 55:19 the seven seals, the seven trumpets, 55:21 the wrath of the nations, the wrath of God - that's the 55:24 seven plagues; the final destruction of 55:26 evil and the New Jerusalem and I'm excited about this study. 55:31 I want to give each one of you a few moments to share 55:33 a closing thought about your day or about something else. 55:35 Pastor Kenny. Well I think of something 55:37 that was in my mind, you know, as a people we believe in 55:39 prophecy - that's for sure, and we use Revelation 55:43 as a marker that helps to kind of mark what's going on 55:47 in history and so on, and establish 55:49 end-time events and so on and so forth. 55:52 And my prayer is that God help us to balance it, 55:56 the Book of Revelation - to be able to understand the Book 55:58 of Revelation and to teach it to other people. Amen! 56:02 Secondly, God has not given us the freedom to interpret 56:06 prophecy in the context of our own preference. 56:10 But the prophecy is history concealed and history is 56:14 prophecy revealed. Amen! 56:16 So it's a timeline that let's us know where we are 56:18 as we prepare for the second coming of Christ. Amen! Amen! 56:21 Amen! You know, when I study the Book of Revelation, 56:24 I want to always remind myself and others that this is the 56:28 revelation of Jesus Christ. 56:30 Studying the Book of Revelation separate from Christ 56:33 is a very bad mistake and so I want to be encouraged 56:38 and encourage others to look to Jesus when you're studying 56:41 the Book of Revelation. Amen! 56:42 And when we think about the second coming of Jesus, 56:47 we should be filled with hope because this will be the 56:51 conclusion of this world's history - all the pain and the 56:54 evil and it will be the beginning of God's eternal 56:58 kingdom where there is no more pain or suffering or sorrow. 57:01 But the one thing that I have to say is... for those who 57:05 believe in Jesus, it's hope, but the second coming, 57:08 those who spurned His love and His mercy, they will face 57:12 His justice. Yes. 57:14 That is so true, Shelley, and so important for each 57:17 one of us to make that decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. 57:21 To accept that rebuke, as it were, as we get into the 57:24 seven churches - we will see there are some rebukes coming... 57:27 to accept that and to accept Jesus into your heart 57:31 and into your life and to choose to walk in His way. 57:35 Thank you so much Pastor Kenny, Pastor John, 57:37 Pastor Ryan and Shelley Q, for joining us today 57:41 for our study of God's word. 57:43 Next week we're going to look at: 57:45 "Among the Lampstands" 57:47 We begin the first section, as it were, of Revelation 57:50 with the seven churches and I think we're on that 57:53 a couple of weeks and then we really launch into 57:55 our study of the Book of Revelation. 57:57 Thank you so much for joining us. 57:59 God bless you and keep you, 58:00 and we'll see you again next week. |
Revised 2024-08-12