(To hear a podcast of this sermon, please go to www.pacificviewbaptist.com and click on Sermons from the menu on the left.)
Revelation
Intro…most people are fascinated with end times. Some people (Mayans) think the world will end this year…Harold Camping predicted the world would end on May 21 of 2011…movies, songs etc.
Big Picture: Christians don’t need to be afraid for the world to end. We may not know all the details, but God does and we need to trust him for the perfect outcome.
The book is an “unveiling” of unseen spiritual forces operating behind the scenes in history and controlling its events and outcomes.
This unveiling or disclosure is conveyed in a series of symbolic visions from OT prophets like Daniel, Ezekiel and Zechariah.
Like all books of the Bible, God is the ultimate author, but here he used John to convey his thoughts.
Early church fathers identified John as the son of Zebedee, the disciple who authored the 4th gospel and 3 NT epistles. (1-3 John)
The book of Revelation is a book of apocalypse (revelation, disclosure, unveiling) and prophecy.
This book unveils the unseen spiritual war in which the church is engaged: the cosmic conflict between God and Satan.
In this conflict, Jesus has already won the decisive victory through his death and resurrection.
However, the church continues to be assaulted by evil through persecution, false teaching and the allure of material influence and cultural approval.
As we begin to understand the spiritual realities behind the churches trials, we need to be encouraged to endure suffering and to stay pure.
Revelation is addressed to the first century churches in seven cities of the Roman province of Asia (now western Turkey) as representatives of all Christ’s churches.
seven churches of Asia...
These first century church faced many of the same issues that we still do today. (idolatry, immorality, spiritual complacency)
History repeats itself. Too bad we are still dealing with the same problems.
Man is still sinful, selfish and prideful.
Jesus sent his revelation to John to fortify the churches to resist the devil.
There are 4 basic views concerning the interpretation of this book:
Preterist: the prophecies of this book have already been fulfilled in the early history of the church.
Historical: the book portrays a panorama of the history of the church from the days of John to the end of time.
Idealist: considers the book a pictorial unfolding of great principles in constant conflict without reference to actual events.
Futurist: views most of the book as prophecy yet to be fulfilled.
Some of the symbols in the book are explained and some are not.
We’re not going to study this book as a guide to all the answers about the end of the world.
Some of the symbols (today in chap. 1) are clear, some are more mysterious.
It’s important to notice carefully the words, “like,” “as,” and “as it were.”
These words indicate a comparison, not an identification.
Chapter 1
1:1-3 a great introduction.
The revelation of Jesus Christ…to John…to us.
Blessed is the one who reads these words aloud and blessed are those who hear….that’s us.
1:4-8 a greeting to the seven churches. (no great mystery here…)
The 7 Churches represent all churches
7 spirits..although the HS is one, he also appears as 7 spirits representing perfection.
Through Jesus we are freed from our sins, a kingdom, priests to God.
Jesus will come back in the clouds, all will see
“all tribes of earth will wail” a reaction to the judgment (that’ll put the fear of God in you…)
Describes the characteristics of God: who was and is to come, faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of kings on earth, Alpha and Omega (beginning and end), Almighty.
1:9-11 seven churches of Asia
Just as I’m sure those churches were diverse, we have so many diverse Christian churches today.
Kinda 31 flavors…
1:12-16 A vision of the son of man, Jesus.
And what an image/vision it was!
Long robe with a golden sash around his chest. Designating him as a priest and judge. Daniel 7:9-10
White hairs like wool or snow: represents infinite divine wisdom.
That’s probably why we see pictures of God with a long white beard and white hair…
Eyes like blazing fire: he can see right through our facades. He can say to each church, to each one of us, “I know exactly what’s going on.” 1 Cor. 3:10-15
Feet like bronze glowing in a furnace: he will crush any opponent.
Voice like the sound of rushing waters: like the sounds of the almighty, powerful, loud, deafening, scary.
Right hand, seven stars: right hand is the place of honor, the stars are the angels of the seven churches (v. 20)
This could refer to a superhuman being implying that each church has a guardian angel or refers to a human leader of each local church.
Sword: God’s word, the bible which searches hearts and judges thoughts. Heb. 4:12
Face like the shining sun…of course…
V. 17 Look at John’s reaction….can you blame him?
Actually that should be our reaction when we encounter God…
Jesus comforts him, as always, and reassures him.
And that is a pattern for our faith today.
We encounter God and it scares us, yet as we grow in our faith and understanding of God, he is there to comfort, guide and reassure us.
Now, that’s the kind of God I want to serve and worship!
Well…I hope that whets your appetite for the rest of the book…
And now a few end of times jokes…
At the end of the world, God will look in the book of life and you for all eternity to either the smoking or non-smoking section.
A man dies, goes to heaven, St. Peter says, “What was one of your best characteristics?”
Courage, how so, says St. Peter?
Well, one time I was in a bar with my wife and a big burly dude covered with tattoos, dressed in a black leather started making lewd comments to my wife and whistling at her.
I walked over to him and said, “Listen Sonny, Don’t ever do that again or you’ll have to deal with me. Then I reached up and grabbed his nose ring and yanked it right out and said, that’s just a small sample.
Wow, said St. Peter, that’s impressive. How long ago was that?
About a minute ago ….
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