back to indexWed Bible Study - Revelation Review
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Well, we're going to be doing a review today, so I know that the last session we ended with 00:00:10.640 |
the review from the previous session as it ended. 00:00:13.560 |
So this is going to be like a re-review, rehearsing all the stuff that we know. 00:00:20.560 |
We want to be able to, you know, just for the sake of knowing the content of the book 00:00:24.840 |
of Revelations, we definitely want to be able to kind of outline what's contained in each 00:00:32.340 |
But some of the details of, let's say, what are the sequence of the six seals, the sequence 00:00:37.840 |
of the six trumpets, I mean, we encourage you guys to study that, but I think also learning 00:00:44.140 |
at least the names and the spiritual state of the seven churches in the book of Revelations 00:00:50.840 |
is really important as we review this first section, this first half of the book, chapters 00:00:58.080 |
So please turn your Bibles there and you can kind of like glance at it as we do this. 00:01:06.960 |
And as we look at it, remember in chapter 1, verse 1, it talked about how the revelation 00:01:12.620 |
of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservant the things which must soon 00:01:17.920 |
take place, and he sent and communicated by his angel to his bondservant John, who testified 00:01:23.520 |
to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all he saw. 00:01:28.360 |
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy and heed the things 00:01:33.120 |
which are written in it, for the time is near. 00:01:37.680 |
So by way of review, I want to ask the question about the purpose and setting of the book. 00:01:43.400 |
You guys recall that around that time there was so much persecution. 00:01:53.120 |
And believe it or not, although yes, this book is in many ways, in many ways devastating 00:01:59.100 |
to read, in many ways gloom, destruction, and judgment, it was for the purpose actually 00:02:07.480 |
It was an encouragement to those who are suffering, okay? 00:02:10.720 |
But also it was an encouragement to prepare for the coming of Christ. 00:02:23.160 |
Here we have the passage in Revelations chapter 16, verse 15, and the scripture says, "Behold, 00:02:31.120 |
Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on, that he may not go about 00:02:39.280 |
Being ready, being prepared, that was actually the teaching of Christ through the Gospels, 00:02:44.000 |
and that is the message of the last book of the Bible. 00:02:47.800 |
The coming of Christ is truly eminent, and that we need to be prepared in every way, 00:02:55.040 |
So as we think about this, as I go through each chapter, try to remember what was contained, 00:03:03.320 |
And if you recall it, go ahead and shout it out, all right? 00:03:06.440 |
So what was contained in chapter 1 of Revelation? 00:03:20.560 |
Vision of Christ amidst the seven lampstands, okay? 00:03:24.960 |
Vision of Christ in the midst of the seven lampstands. 00:03:29.960 |
I know it's always a little bit hard to speak up in front of a big group, but let's all 00:03:42.720 |
Excellent, the seven churches, okay, the seven churches. 00:03:47.240 |
So chapter 2 and 3 together, you have the message to the seven churches, okay? 00:03:58.400 |
They were a call, there was a call to repentance. 00:04:02.440 |
First a commendation of what they were doing well, but then Jesus would say, "But this 00:04:22.880 |
And the glory of Christ is seen in this vision. 00:04:27.600 |
And you can put actually chapter 4 and chapter 5 almost together as chapter 5 contains then? 00:04:54.600 |
Like in the vision, he was just in tears because there was no one worthy, no one worthy to 00:05:00.320 |
take the scroll, no one worthy to open the seals. 00:05:04.000 |
And in chapter 5, there was a vision of the Lion and the Lamb who was worthy, okay? 00:05:15.560 |
As the Lamb opens and breaks the seals, you have the first sequence of the judgments that 00:05:32.720 |
And then chapter 7 is not the seventh seal but? 00:05:45.520 |
So you can write the great multitude and the 144,000. 00:05:54.800 |
So you can just write 144,000, multitude and worship. 00:05:59.320 |
In the midst of the sequence of the seals, as each seal opens, there's devastating judgment. 00:06:06.240 |
But in almost a sequential pattern, almost like alternating, you will see that pattern 00:06:11.520 |
of there's judgment and then there's a scene in heaven. 00:06:15.320 |
There's judgment and a scene in heaven constantly showing that God is in control and that there's 00:06:21.160 |
worship of the glorious One who is sovereign, okay? 00:06:33.160 |
So the seventh seal introduces the first trumpets, the first four trumpets. 00:06:48.960 |
With the trumpets come a sequence of like worldwide catastrophic judgment, right? 00:06:55.360 |
A third of this, a third of that, a third of the world, okay? 00:07:00.600 |
And then afterwards comes the next trumpets, trumpets 5 and 6. 00:07:08.320 |
Trumpets 5 and 6, the description was intense. 00:07:11.440 |
It talks about the smoke, smoke of locusts with power of scorpions, inflicting pain, 00:07:20.400 |
So you can write just trumpets 5 and 6, right? 00:07:28.120 |
So as chapter 8 was seventh seal to seventh trumpet, first four trumpets, chapter 9, trumpets 00:07:46.960 |
The strange angel who had one foot on the land, one foot on the sea. 00:07:50.760 |
So you can just write maybe huge angel, teeny scroll, okay? 00:08:01.480 |
Remember the tiny scroll, John was commanded to eat of it and it was sweet in the mouth 00:08:11.960 |
Sweet in the mouth and bitter in his stomach. 00:08:14.560 |
And then lastly in chapter 11, what happens in chapter 11? 00:08:23.520 |
Measuring the temple and, oh wait, did I go in too far? 00:08:35.520 |
So you can write measuring the temple, two witnesses. 00:08:45.280 |
I hope that refreshed your memory a bit going through. 00:08:49.280 |
Again, we're not trying to memorize an outline just for the sake of it but knowing the content 00:08:55.720 |
and flow, again, you're going to actually see themes and patterns as you read the passage, 00:09:05.280 |
Now one of the things I said was that as important it is to know the content of the book, there 00:09:11.640 |
are some key details I think that we should know, things that are very convicting, right? 00:09:16.200 |
And one of the key elements is that because this is a message to the churches to be prepared, 00:09:22.180 |
because this is a message to the churches to be encouraged, the letters to the seven 00:09:28.100 |
churches is actually I think very important for people to be familiar with as they study 00:09:34.980 |
So in thinking about the seven churches, notice I have the three letters there. 00:09:42.840 |
We're going to go down and try to remember their names but for me, the way that I memorized 00:09:47.840 |
their names was just to say ESP, TSP, you know? 00:09:53.000 |
ESP, TSP and then L, I don't know what to do with. 00:10:06.600 |
And who recalls what their, you know, rebuke was? 00:10:11.480 |
Who recalls the problem that existed in the church of Ephesus? 00:10:18.320 |
They're the first on the list, they forgot their first love. 00:10:21.200 |
That's kind of the way I remembered it, okay? 00:10:24.120 |
And it was a strong, that's a strong rebuke in the midst of a church that was doing well. 00:10:29.000 |
So just on the next of it, description-wise, you can just write church that lost its first 00:10:35.660 |
The second church starts with an S and that church is? 00:10:43.740 |
You can think of this church as the suffering church. 00:10:47.060 |
So it begins with an S and it began the description with an S, suffering church. 00:10:52.540 |
This is a church where Christ admonishes them, persevere even unto death. 00:10:58.900 |
And He started to warn them, there's going to come such a testing in your day, okay? 00:11:05.620 |
And then the church that starts with P, good, Pergamum or Pergamos, okay? 00:11:13.860 |
This I didn't have anything really creative for, sorry. 00:11:18.540 |
They believe in doctrines of the Nicolaitans, okay? 00:11:29.300 |
The next church that starts with a T, that church is? 00:11:48.980 |
Because once you hear that word, you already know it's an adulterous church, okay? 00:11:55.380 |
And Christ rebukes them for tolerating that kind of immorality and adultery, okay? 00:12:04.500 |
And then the next church that starts with an S is? 00:12:18.500 |
He says, "You have a name of being alive, but you are actually dead." 00:12:26.900 |
And then the last church, or not the last, second to last church that starts with a P 00:12:32.780 |
And you can just describe that church as a loving church, okay? 00:12:42.380 |
That was the one church, Smyrna and Philadelphia were the churches where Christ gave commendation, 00:12:59.860 |
And then the last church, Laodicea, lukewarm, okay? 00:13:05.420 |
Starts with an L, description starts with an L, lukewarm. 00:13:16.580 |
That kind of review sometimes, I know it's -- what's the word? 00:13:23.580 |
But I recommend that, again, on your own time, try to review some of that, like, just knowing 00:13:29.500 |
the content and going through what's contained. 00:13:33.940 |
Because sometimes, actually, those are the times when you're going to have -- you're 00:13:38.500 |
going to be able to read other parts of Scripture and then have immediate references because 00:13:42.800 |
you're familiar with the content of the book. 00:13:46.020 |
Especially I would say, again, if you want to review chapters two and three and go through 00:13:50.420 |
the churches and listen, listen to the tone, listen to the admonition to those churches, 00:13:56.340 |
listen to what Christ is challenging them with, you know? 00:13:59.620 |
And those are all things, actually, again, that are absolutely relevant to our day and 00:14:08.060 |
Now, having done that, okay, having done the review in terms of just going over the content 00:14:14.140 |
of the text, let's talk about some major themes, okay? 00:14:19.240 |
And today we're going to do a review by way of talking about some major thematics of the 00:14:24.060 |
book of Revelation, especially in chapters one through 11, okay? 00:14:29.660 |
Point one, the very first thing -- let's see, I think I have a slide. 00:14:42.140 |
The first thematic that we want to focus on and bring our attention to is a theme of the 00:14:48.780 |
Here is this intense, intense drawing that someone drew of Christ, where His eyes are 00:14:55.820 |
It's like, "Behold, I am Alpha and Omega," right? 00:15:01.060 |
Well, as you think about the book entirely, actually, the whole book can be outlined thematically 00:15:09.220 |
For example, let me give you an outline with Christ's theme. 00:15:13.740 |
In chapter one, there is clearly a depiction of a vision of Christ. 00:15:20.340 |
And I actually challenge you, and we're going to do a little bit later, to periodically 00:15:25.740 |
read that, because whatever we get thrown in terms of a picture, a visualization of 00:15:32.140 |
Christ, I'm pretty sure it's not this, right? 00:15:38.260 |
Like if you were to just answer the question of, "Okay, word association, Jesus," and then 00:15:42.780 |
the first image that pops up in your head, it's not this. 00:15:46.600 |
It's typically like a very soft, long-haired, beautiful man with like perfect beard. 00:15:55.400 |
Chapter two to four, Christ's authority over the church. 00:16:00.000 |
I mean, the description that you see in chapters two, three, and four, He's enthroned. 00:16:05.960 |
He's standing in the middle amongst the lampstands, and He's commanding the church, saying, "Repent. 00:16:19.160 |
And He speaks as one who has vast, vast authority. 00:16:23.160 |
Next, chapter five through 19, all of it, okay, the huge chunk of it, you could actually 00:16:29.940 |
summarize by saying it's Christ's authority to judge the world. 00:16:36.720 |
I mean, think about every worship scene, and then think about what John is saying. 00:16:41.960 |
Like, "Oh, who," like Christ is crying, "Who is worthy?" and then everyone's worshiping, 00:16:51.880 |
It's a depiction of how much authority He has over the entire created universe. 00:16:57.120 |
And then finally, chapter 20 to 22, Christ's future reign, okay? 00:17:03.720 |
So as we think about the thematics of the book, I mean, we cannot escape the fact that 00:17:07.760 |
this is truly a revelation of Christ's glory. 00:17:11.220 |
The whole book is chock full of His power, His wisdom, His reign, His justice, you know, 00:17:18.280 |
like everything pertaining to the majesty of Jesus Christ. 00:17:22.240 |
I actually have in your handout a little ongoing list, right? 00:17:28.280 |
If you look at your handout, there's this long list of various depictions and descriptions 00:17:35.560 |
And we're not going to go through every single one, but just like, you know, just kind of 00:17:41.060 |
scanning down to some of those, it's quite profound how vastly in so many angles and 00:17:47.920 |
attributes of Christ, the book of Revelation reveals to us about who He is, right? 00:17:53.300 |
So going down again, the faithful witness, the firstborn, the ruler over kings of the 00:17:58.580 |
earth, the Son of Man, the first and the last, the living one, right? 00:18:03.820 |
And we can just go on and on, and the rest of the book will have more depictions of Jesus 00:18:09.140 |
So there's a sense to which I am so glad that we were studying the book of Revelation, because 00:18:15.300 |
if we really want to know Jesus as He is, then we should be studying the book of Revelation, 00:18:22.380 |
If we really want to see and like perceive of Him as He actually is in reality, especially 00:18:29.900 |
now, then we better be studying the book of Revelation, okay? 00:18:35.660 |
So here's an interesting question that I want to ask you, okay? 00:18:41.060 |
How do you think you will react when you finally see Jesus face to face? 00:18:49.860 |
You could even close your eyes if you want to, okay? 00:18:56.660 |
You know, I definitely feel like the end is coming close, right? 00:19:02.700 |
And Jesus appears in the sky, coming down with His host. 00:19:18.860 |
Or would you just be like stunned and awe and shock, and you just like, "Gasp!" 00:19:26.100 |
Or would you be running scared, I don't know, bowing on the floor? 00:19:29.460 |
Like how would you picture yourself reacting and responding to your first actual physical 00:19:37.100 |
Where we're no longer seeing in faith, but we're seeing Him with our eyes. 00:19:46.020 |
Well, as you envision that, I want to read some passages about Christ. 00:19:51.480 |
So just flip along with, together, and this will be our form of review by reading several 00:20:12.740 |
In chapter 1, verse 5, it says, "And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn 00:20:19.360 |
of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to Him who loves us and released 00:20:27.460 |
And in chapter 1, verse 8, it says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, 00:20:33.340 |
"who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." 00:20:38.620 |
So already, there are revelation of certain titles, certain elements of who He is. 00:20:44.160 |
And then starting from verse 12 is where we see the vision of Christ. 00:20:47.900 |
So let's turn our eyes there, and I'll restart reading for us. 00:20:51.140 |
It says, "Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. 00:20:56.360 |
And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 00:21:00.180 |
And in the middle of the lampstands, I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe, 00:21:05.340 |
reaching to the feet and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 00:21:10.020 |
His head and His hair were white like wool, like snow, and His eye was a flame of fire. 00:21:17.360 |
His feet were like burnished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace. 00:21:21.660 |
And His voice was like the sound of many waters. 00:21:25.480 |
In His right hand, He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. 00:21:30.840 |
And His face was like the sun shining in its strength. 00:21:34.160 |
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man." 00:21:40.520 |
Let's take a moment to just pause right there, okay? 00:21:44.240 |
So clearly, clearly, Christ is one who would embrace those who love Him. 00:21:52.260 |
Christ is one who would pour out and lavish with His unending love, yes? 00:21:58.420 |
Christ is one who would sacrifice Himself so He's seen as the slain Lamb, humble and 00:22:08.440 |
But when John turns around and he like, you know, captures a glimpse, this vision of 00:22:15.600 |
Christ, his immediate reaction, his immediate reaction is he is so in terror, he falls to 00:22:23.400 |
the ground and he describes himself as a dead man. 00:22:28.240 |
But I want you to think about for that moment, just for a moment, like in context, who is 00:22:36.160 |
Do you recall that John was called the beloved disciple? 00:22:40.560 |
Do you recall that when John walked with Jesus, John would recline and he would like lean 00:22:47.300 |
He would be so close and intimate, he would actually like as they're reclining at the 00:22:58.680 |
And yet his reaction to seeing Christ, man, I mean he was completely, completely shocked, 00:23:11.080 |
I mean, this is how profound and deep Christ is because the book of Revelation paints this 00:23:17.920 |
picture like you see Him as the Lion and the Lamb. 00:23:21.760 |
So what's very interesting about this is the question being is, well, do we have a then 00:23:33.120 |
Is our view of Christ primarily and first and foremost loving, comforting, embracing? 00:23:42.880 |
Or does our vision of Christ actually involve this as well? 00:23:47.880 |
And here's an interesting question too is, do you typically, do you typically have this 00:23:56.920 |
You do realize John experienced this vision in the past, so is this vision of Jesus accurate 00:24:10.280 |
Like this was written 2,000 years ago and Christ is the same. 00:24:19.280 |
There is an element to which like even Christ in His earthly form, do you realize that even 00:24:25.560 |
demons when they first caught a glimpse of Christ walking the earth, do you know what 00:24:38.320 |
Demons would ask Him, "Don't do this now, don't do this now." 00:24:42.880 |
So again, it really radically transformed if we have again been maybe given, given a 00:24:49.040 |
picture of Christ that is entirely lopsided, where it's like altogether plush, you know? 00:24:57.360 |
We really have to answer the question, is this picture that John experiences, is this 00:25:08.520 |
Or is this actually an accurate picture of Christ now? 00:25:13.080 |
And that should radically kind of affect us in terms of the way we think and behave towards 00:25:23.080 |
It says, "And He placed His right hand on me saying, 'Do not be afraid. 00:25:27.480 |
I am the first and the last and the living one. 00:25:30.520 |
And I was dead and behold, I am alive forever. 00:25:36.400 |
Therefore, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things 00:25:42.760 |
As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden 00:25:46.480 |
lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lamps 00:25:52.060 |
are the seven lampstands are the seven churches.'" 00:25:56.760 |
So I love the fact that Christ again is seen as so entirely powerful and yet He reaches 00:26:18.360 |
Chapter 4 verse 8, it says, "And the four living creatures, each one of them having 00:26:22.760 |
six wings, are full of eyes around and within. 00:26:26.360 |
And day and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, 00:26:35.160 |
And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, 00:26:39.920 |
to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits 00:26:44.800 |
on the throne and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast down their 00:26:48.820 |
crowns before the throne saying, 'Worthy are you, our Lord and our God, to receive glory, 00:26:55.720 |
For you created all things and because of your will they existed and were created.' 00:27:01.080 |
Saying with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches 00:27:06.080 |
and wisdom, might and honor and glory and blessing. 00:27:10.360 |
And every created thing which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the 00:27:13.800 |
sea and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the 00:27:19.120 |
Lamb be blessing, honor, and glory and dominion forever and ever.' 00:27:23.680 |
And the four living creatures kept saying, 'Amen.' 00:27:33.320 |
In review of, you know, in review of the chapters that we've been studying, I find this to be 00:27:42.640 |
There is a sense to which, you know, Pastor Peter, I recall when he was preaching through 00:27:46.480 |
this passage, I remember him saying, "If the glory of Christ in this fashion is not attractive 00:27:54.400 |
to you, Christianity has very little to offer you." 00:28:00.120 |
When he was saying, "If this worship of God is not enticing, is not satisfying your desire, 00:28:08.120 |
is not an ambition for you, Christianity as a whole would really be a mood point for you." 00:28:15.880 |
Because truly in terms of the worth, the value of all that we're doing, where is it contained? 00:28:24.840 |
And so that whole worship scene where all things just as it is given to God the Father 00:28:30.280 |
in both glory, honor, and worship is given to the Lamb who was slain, to us, to us. 00:28:38.680 |
I pray and hope that would be the most satisfying thing. 00:28:45.160 |
When we think about our Christian endeavor, when we think about our Christian involvement, 00:28:48.600 |
when we think about what am I doing as a Christian in this life, the most satisfying thing would 00:28:54.840 |
be to experience and see the glory of Christ. 00:28:58.640 |
The most satisfying thing would be then also be used by God to honor Him more, to give 00:29:04.880 |
more thanks to Him, to give more glory to our Savior. 00:29:09.440 |
So by way of application, I want to ask again, how do you picture Jesus specifically today? 00:29:21.440 |
Are we thinking about Jesus Christ in one lopsided facet or are we thinking about Him 00:29:29.060 |
What's more, are we thinking about Him with the kind of majesty, splendor, and reverential 00:29:35.520 |
fashion that is dictated by who He is in Revelation? 00:29:42.040 |
Just by way of like, again, taking a quick moment to do a self-evaluation. 00:29:47.340 |
What would your best friends who know you, what would your parents, what would your brother, 00:29:51.280 |
what would your sister, whoever lives with you and sees you all the time, what would 00:29:59.640 |
What would people deduce about your view of Christ? 00:30:04.040 |
By how you speak to Him, how you treat Him, how you respond to His commandments? 00:30:10.160 |
See, for me, it has been my own personal conviction. 00:30:14.880 |
Like, going through the book of Revelations, like I was really, really just wowed as I 00:30:21.040 |
I really felt like I only pictured Christ in this fashion way in the distant future. 00:30:30.240 |
Like, only in that time when He comes, He's going to be like, "Bada!" 00:30:35.720 |
And then show Himself to be that powerful, show Himself to be that glorious. 00:30:40.480 |
But it didn't, like, it just blew my mind and it didn't strike me that that's His picture 00:30:48.300 |
If there is a more accurate way to view Him, He is not dressed with the waiter's, you know, 00:30:56.960 |
Rather, He is this glorious Christ receiving worship, and that's the way we ought to picture 00:31:06.280 |
So later on in your discussion time, please, I know some of these questions can be kind 00:31:10.440 |
of like, I don't know, it's a big question, like, "How do you view Jesus?" 00:31:13.880 |
I mean, that's a huge question, but take a moment to examine your heart and share what 00:31:18.600 |
your personal thoughts about that question are in your discussion groups, okay? 00:31:25.200 |
So then, the next major theme, obviously, okay, obviously is judgment. 00:31:31.120 |
The vast, you know, chunk of real estate in the book of Revelation is about judgment. 00:31:36.320 |
And I found this picture of a man who is really, really scared, okay? 00:31:42.320 |
Because again, the whole book can be summarized and outlined by way of the thematics of judgment, 00:31:52.320 |
Chapters 1 through 3, you can think of as warnings of the judgment to come, right? 00:32:00.600 |
And what's appropriate for us now is actually that. 00:32:05.960 |
You know, I want to challenge you, just take a moment, quick application, okay? 00:32:10.240 |
Going from just that to application, really quick. 00:32:15.000 |
I have been challenged about the methodology I use to evangelize. 00:32:20.520 |
Because there has been methodologies, and I have been taught many strategies of how 00:32:24.960 |
to get to the truth of the gospel when I share the gospel with an unbeliever. 00:32:30.080 |
I had yellow packets called the four spiritual laws, the four keys, I used Romans Road, I 00:32:35.360 |
used lots of different things, and that's good. 00:32:40.460 |
But thinking about what's really relevant, think about what actually makes a lot of sense, 00:32:50.200 |
Warning people of the consequences that our faith in Christ or our rejection of that faith 00:32:58.920 |
We absolutely live in a generation where all these like young people expect to try this, 00:33:04.880 |
test that, go about their own way, you know, learn by trial by error, but experience no 00:33:12.680 |
But it is actually good, realistic, and appropriate to warn individuals. 00:33:19.200 |
What you do with your life now, what you choose to believe has immediate and eternal and weighty 00:33:30.280 |
So I think about that even in terms of the way I share the gospel. 00:33:34.040 |
Do I ever share the gospel where I challenge individuals like, you know, the way Christ 00:33:39.000 |
would even as He appeared on scene, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:33:49.120 |
Would He do it the same way when I preached on Sunday in John chapter 11, where He has 00:33:55.040 |
an opportunity to teach all these individuals, thousands of individuals, and the first thing 00:34:06.520 |
And I think that's something that, again, we can be challenged with in the way that 00:34:12.800 |
Next part of the outline, chapter 4 through 5, okay? 00:34:18.260 |
In chapter 4 through 5, there is, again, the release of the judgment, the vision of – let 00:34:28.680 |
The vision of Jesus who has authority to open the seal or open the judgment, right? 00:34:34.480 |
Because He has the right to the deed, meaning He has the right to the earth. 00:34:44.520 |
And then going down, these are all review, okay? 00:34:48.480 |
Chapter 6 is the first sequence of the seal – oh, sorry. 00:34:54.040 |
Chapter 7 is those individuals who are saved out of judgment. 00:35:00.160 |
So if you actually read chapter 7 carefully, it'll say the great multitudes, but it'll 00:35:04.920 |
say the great multitudes out of the tribulation, okay? 00:35:10.280 |
So it's still in relationship to the judgment. 00:35:13.680 |
Chapter 8 through 9, the transition from seal judgments to the trumpet judgments, okay? 00:35:19.960 |
Transition from the seal judgments to the trumpet judgments. 00:35:24.040 |
Here's another way also of seeing chapter 10 and 11. 00:35:29.280 |
Chapter 10 and 11 actually is the 3.5 years of the tribulation judgment, okay? 00:35:34.760 |
The passage calls it the great tribulation judgment. 00:35:39.440 |
And I want to take that opportunity of talking about the great tribulation judgment to highlight 00:35:47.360 |
I think it's one thing for us to know like, "Yes, I believe in hell." 00:35:52.600 |
It's another thing for us to be like, "Yes, I believe there's going to come a time when 00:35:56.600 |
Christ will come and He's going to give – He's going to make people give an account for their 00:36:04.280 |
But it's another thing to actually picture it, to have an – almost a preview experience 00:36:14.280 |
It's one thing to know certain things like when you – for many of you who are in the 00:36:18.440 |
medical field, you learn through the biology books of like, "Okay, this is how you do 00:36:25.680 |
This is what the blood looks like," and yada, yada, yada. 00:36:28.160 |
It's another thing to actually go to an operation and see blood, right? 00:36:33.720 |
There was a small, small moment in my life when I thought that maybe I could go down 00:36:38.440 |
And then I saw blood and I was like, "Blech," and I said, "No," right? 00:36:42.400 |
The experience taught me very vividly the memory, the reaction that I have is entirely 00:36:48.840 |
different when there is a vision of it, right? 00:36:53.440 |
So that being said, we should give careful attention to the fact that in the telling, 00:37:00.960 |
in the revelation of the visions of judgment to come, it's actually very descriptive. 00:37:07.200 |
And that's supposed to create an effect in us, right? 00:37:12.320 |
If you feel emotional about the book of Revelations, good, right? 00:37:17.960 |
If you feel a sense of fear, if you feel a sense of being like shaken by the book of 00:37:26.400 |
So in reviewing the thematics of judgment in the book of Revelations, let's talk about 00:37:35.640 |
Let's go over to chapter 6, verses 12 through 17. 00:37:52.840 |
Chapter 6, verse 12 through 17 says this, "I looked and when he broke the sixth seal, 00:38:00.960 |
The sun became black as sackcloth made of hair and the whole moon became like blood. 00:38:07.000 |
And the stars of the sky fell to the earth as a fig tree cast its unripe figs when shaken 00:38:13.880 |
The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up and every mountain and island 00:38:20.640 |
When the kings of the earth, the great men and the commanders of the rich and the strong, 00:38:24.640 |
and every slave and free man hid himself in the caves among the rocks of the mountains. 00:38:29.560 |
They said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence 00:38:34.400 |
of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 00:38:39.360 |
For the great day of the wrath has come and who is able to stand?'" 00:38:52.280 |
People made a huge deal about it, but I was able to watch some of the subsequent newsreels. 00:39:00.000 |
I went and watched YouTube of like certain scientists who watched and it was hilarious. 00:39:08.200 |
And then all of a sudden this grown man's like, "Oh my gosh, I'm crying." 00:39:11.880 |
And then they show like the land surrounding them, the people especially along that, you 00:39:18.720 |
The land surrounding them just goes dark and then everyone's like, "Oh!" 00:39:25.040 |
Just over a brief four or five minute experience of seeing an eclipse. 00:39:31.200 |
But we're talking about the sky splitting apart and rolling like a scroll, mountains 00:39:40.160 |
And it's so scary that it doesn't even matter. 00:39:42.200 |
It's saying it doesn't matter who you are, whether you felt like you were the bomb, whether 00:39:46.760 |
you felt like you were, you know, powerful, rich and mighty, free or slave, you were in 00:40:01.200 |
Again it's so descriptive of the judgment to come. 00:40:06.080 |
It's like, "Okay, there were the seals and then there were the trumpets," you know. 00:40:10.440 |
So on top of the intensity and the severity of the judgment, there is also the extent, 00:40:19.820 |
So turn your Bibles to chapter 9, verse 13 through 21. 00:40:33.560 |
So here the passage says, "Then the sixth angel sounded. 00:40:40.080 |
I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God. 00:40:45.120 |
One saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are 00:40:50.840 |
And the four angels who had been prepared for the hour and day by month and year were 00:40:57.760 |
released so that they would kill a third of mankind. 00:41:01.480 |
The number of the armies of the horsemen was 200 million. 00:41:05.920 |
I heard the number of them and this is how I saw the vision of the horses who sat on 00:41:11.320 |
The riders had breastplates the color of fire and," I don't know how to pronounce that, 00:41:17.600 |
"siasynth and brimstone," sorry, "and the heads of the horses are like the heads of 00:41:21.760 |
lions and out of the mouths proceed fire, smoke, and brimstone. 00:41:25.720 |
A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues, by fire and smoke and brimstone, 00:41:32.880 |
For the power of the horses is in their mouth and in their tails. 00:41:36.000 |
For their tails are like serpents and have heads and with them they do harm." 00:41:48.360 |
Perhaps the greatest, you know, collection of people that we've seen in one place is 00:41:57.280 |
But just to imagine just the armies of the horsemen were 200 million and a third of the 00:42:05.680 |
Earth's population, you know, is like 6.8 or something like that, billion or something, 00:42:11.080 |
But I just want you to imagine the extent, the extent of horror, the extent of judgment. 00:42:25.920 |
So as we take a moment to think about that, we can now kind of quickly turn to questions 00:42:34.000 |
You know, first assessing again our perception of the judgment to come. 00:42:44.920 |
If perhaps, if perhaps, we too have minimized consequences, so to speak. 00:42:52.560 |
If we minimize, if we minimize the power of God in terms of His wrath, we should be weary. 00:43:03.000 |
Because Scripture makes it such a big deal for us to understand that for us who believe 00:43:09.400 |
the first realistic vision we should have of God is one of fear. 00:43:14.240 |
That we ought to learn what it means to fear God and His power. 00:43:18.240 |
When you look at all the Old Testament passages of the admonition for the people of God to 00:43:22.640 |
learn how to fear God, it talks about God's creative power. 00:43:27.600 |
It also talks about God's destructive power, right? 00:43:31.320 |
And so as we think about that, here's an interesting thing. 00:43:34.280 |
We can immediately dismiss the kind of judgment that we see by saying, "Well, thank God we're 00:43:42.200 |
We could immediately dismiss all that we're reading in terms of the book of Revelation 00:43:46.040 |
and say, "Well, thank God I'm on the right side." 00:43:49.920 |
But the fact of the matter is, yes, we are not going to experience the wrath of God because 00:43:55.680 |
Christ, Christ has already dealt with the wrath of God for us. 00:44:01.480 |
But everything we know of this world, everything we know of the world that we know is going 00:44:07.400 |
to experience a kind of intense, severe, and great extensive punishment. 00:44:14.200 |
And that's something in of itself to be fearful of. 00:44:17.960 |
What's more, understanding and knowing that should cause a level of sobriety. 00:44:24.960 |
It should cause a level of all kinds of different amifications, which I'm going to ask you guys 00:44:37.040 |
Yes, for those of us who have the assurance of Christ's sacrifice on our behalf, for those 00:44:42.580 |
of us who have entrusted our lives into His gracious saving hands, does the knowledge 00:44:48.380 |
of the judgment that is to come still play a role in our sanctification? 00:44:55.880 |
Does an understanding of this pervasive, intense judgment that is to come still have a role 00:45:05.720 |
Does it only stand as a dire warning for everyone who is unbelieving, or does it actually still 00:45:11.080 |
stand as a means of sanctifying us as believers? 00:45:19.040 |
So those are some of the questions that I would like you guys to discuss in your discussion 00:45:22.420 |
groups, but the last thing I want to challenge you with is with this, is the book of Revelation 00:45:28.680 |
definitely is not like your typical New Testament letter, where it tells you you ought to be 00:45:34.320 |
loving, you ought to sacrifice, you have to watch your words, you have to be diligent, 00:45:38.600 |
and you have to be persevering, and all of these didactic teachings, right? 00:45:43.640 |
And what's more, I'm pretty sure that many of you have felt going through the book of 00:45:49.640 |
It's like, okay, we've read about the judgment, and we read about this fiery testing, and 00:45:57.080 |
we read about this purging that's going to happen, and it's going to repeat. 00:46:02.440 |
But what is that supposed to do to our hearts? 00:46:05.320 |
Well, I want to reiterate, in all things, when we are approaching Scripture with this 00:46:11.920 |
kind of theology and teaching of what's to come, we're supposed to grow in our understanding 00:46:22.600 |
You're supposed to grow in your understanding of how to fear God, because your fear of God 00:46:28.280 |
is going to affect every single aspect of how you approach God and the things of God. 00:46:34.360 |
I talked about it on Sunday a bit, but I feel like this is such a huge, huge topic that 00:46:39.280 |
we need to keep wrestling with for the rest of our lives. 00:46:43.080 |
What does it mean to truly fear God as a Christian? 00:46:47.260 |
And the fear of God is going to affect everything from, yes, our attitude of respect. 00:46:53.060 |
If we, let's say, have attitudes of maybe lack of appreciation, you know, where we're 00:46:59.240 |
not as thankful as we ought to be, there's almost a question of do we really understand 00:47:05.680 |
Because an individual who genuinely knows how to fear God, who understands, yes, there 00:47:11.440 |
is this devastating, terrifying, powerful, so incredibly powerful individual, yet he 00:47:18.560 |
has touched my shoulder and said, "Do not fear. 00:47:21.840 |
And when it comes to your attitudes of flippancy, well, the fear of God is going to teach you 00:47:30.080 |
The fear of God is going to teach you to carefully do and to carefully obey. 00:47:35.040 |
Whether it be even your lack of love and concern for others, your fear of God is going to teach 00:47:38.880 |
you to do that as you wonder how people would fare against such a terrifying God. 00:47:44.360 |
Attitudes of urgency, attitudes of discernment, attitudes of how to make a decision that matters, 00:47:49.640 |
all of this is contingent upon your fear of God. 00:47:54.600 |
So by way of, again, concluding, I think if anything, if you're striving for any kind 00:48:02.480 |
of like result and fruitfulness from the study of Revelations, really want to challenge as 00:48:07.360 |
we kind of review chapters 1 through 11 and the beginning portions of the sequence of 00:48:11.200 |
judgments that we have to be asking the question, "Am I learning and experiencing and seeing 00:48:17.680 |
a greater aspect of the fear of my God who is so powerful?" 00:48:22.920 |
Well, let's take a moment to pray, and then we'll dismiss you guys to your small groups 00:48:29.960 |
Heavenly Father, we want to begin by saying thank you that God, you have warned us. 00:48:42.720 |
You have warned us, Father, of what your plans are. 00:48:49.520 |
And I ask God that just as the Scriptures and your Word advises us to do, I pray, Lord, 00:48:56.720 |
that we would heed your Word and, God, that we would be desiring to be ready. 00:49:01.960 |
Lord, I pray that you would give us discernment of wisdom so that first we'd be ready by preparing 00:49:08.960 |
Lord, that we would be all the more challenged to examine our faith, to see if we really 00:49:15.120 |
are in belief and trust of Christ, but what's more, eagerly anticipating your coming, Lord. 00:49:21.800 |
I also pray, Father God, that all the things that we are learning would continue to make 00:49:26.960 |
its impact in both the way that we think and view the world, but what's more, impact the 00:49:35.680 |
I ask, Lord, that your Word would continue just to guide every aspect of who we are. 00:49:40.960 |
We pray for a fruitful time of discussing with each other. 00:49:43.960 |
I pray, Father God, that you would help us to examine our own hearts, be willing to share 00:49:52.160 |
We thank you, it's in Christ, and we pray, amen.