Revelation 1:10-20

Notes for Revelation lessons are >>>HERE<<<

The original, complete audio for Revelation Chapter 1 can be found >>>HERE<<<

John was banned to the Island of Patmos and was given a vision in which he was told to write what he saw. Part of the revelation given him related to local churches to which John ministered before being incarcerated. Each one of the churches has an associated city name, and the name identifies the character of that church. It’s fascinating how these names were given to those cities just so that they would reflect those churches at the right time in history. Additionally, John puts them in a particular order, beginning with Ephesus, so that he can reveal to us the progress of the Church through the ages. I don’t think anyone would question we are living in the Laodicean age which was a lukewarm church as judged by Jesus in the vision. The next video will cover those churches (Revelation Chapters two and three.)

What would you do if you heard the voice of a trumpet behind you? You would do what John did in Revelation 1:12, namely, “turn to see the voice that spoke with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, but the seven golden lampstands are pictures of the churches I saw.” The lampstands John sees are not “under a basket” but lights to the world. John also sees “one like the Son of Man” in the midst of the lights. Why would John say it that way? Well, he knew “the Son of Man” well, didn’t he? While Christ was on this earth, who was the closest disciple to Him? John knew him better than anyone else. The phrase “Son of Man” also harkens to Daniel Chapter seven, where you’ll remember Daniel saw the “Ancient of Days” seated on the throne. That was God, the Father, and “one like the Son of Man.”

John sees Jesus Christ clothed with a garment “down to His feet, and He is girded about the chest with a golden band.” Now, in the ancient world, the higher your rank, the wider your belt. The widest belt or golden band from your waist up to the chest speaks of His deity and authority. His head and his hair were white which connotes purity, and the holiness of God. His eyes “a flame of fire” speaks of judgment. He is coming to judge those who belong to Him. Those who walk in fellowship with him have nothing to fear. His eyes were a flame of fire and notice His feet were like, fine brass. An Old Testament idea of burnished bronze was judgment as it had been purified through fire. You’ll remember Peter talks to us about the fact that, “our faith being more precious than gold tried with fire, may be found onto praise, honor and glory of a Lord Jesus Christ.” So, our faith has to go through the refining furnace, just like gold or here as burnished bronze or brass.

John heard “His voice was the sound of many waters.” If you’ve been in Niagara or Victoria Falls, you know that thundering sound. “He had in His right hand, seven stars, and out of His mouth went a two-edged sword.” There are two kinds of swords mentioned in Scripture. The Roman short sword measured from the elbow to the fingertip a broadsword which measured which could be 6 feet long. “His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, ‘Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last.’” That’s what Jesus would say to you and me, “Do not be afraid.” We have nothing to fear from our Savior. “I am He who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.” This speaks of His humanity. “I have the keys of Hades and death.” Why the keys of hell and death? He can open the “door to death” behind which you are locked and set you free. Or he can take the keys to hell and lock you in there for eternity. Jesus Christ alone has the power of life! One more note from this passage. “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.” The word “angel” means messenger. I take then that an angel of a church is the pastor, the messenger in that church. So the seven stars are the pastors of the churches and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. John has made this easy for us because he has explained the meaning of the signs that he saw.

This world seems to be hurtling in the direction of the tribulation period. How important it is that we understand this book and know and apply it to our lives considering the nearness of the coming of our Lord. We should be challenged to do everything we can to bring other people who are saving knowledge of Christ and be faithful to His word in these perilous times.

Gene Cunningham - August 18, 2022

"...they were eating and drinking..."

Watch
Listen

Matthew 24:37 says, "But as the days of Noah, so also will be the coming of the son of man. For as in the days before the flood they were eating, drinking, marrying and giving in marriage." Let me ask you a question. What is wrong with those activities? This is not self-indulgence. They were eating. They were drinking. They were marrying. What's wrong with that? Now, the point here is not how nasty they were, although no doubt they're going to be nasty. In the days before the flood they were really nasty people, but Jesus is making a point here. It is not how sinful they were, but how deluded they were to think that everything was going to go on as it always had. Peter said in 2nd Peter chapter 3, "...scoffers are going to come with their scoffing, saying, 'Where is the promise of his coming forever since the fathers fell asleep? All things continue as they were until this present time.'" The people in Noah's time thought time was going to go on forever, and it was not. And then what happened? "...until the day that Noah entered the ark." By the way, who closed the door? God closed the door. God sealed the family in. That's a picture of us being placed in Christ and sealed in Christ. When judgment falls on the earth, we rise up above the judgment. This is another analogy of the rapture of the church.Matthew 24:39. "And they did not know." Could they have known? They should have known. Noah was preaching for 120 years and they did not know "until the flood came and took them all away. So also will be the coming of the son of man." Let me ask you a question in Matthew 24:39 who got taken away? Unbelievers. What does "took away" mean? They died in the flood. Read the parables and ask yourself how how if at all they can be applied to the church. They cannot be applied to the church. Matthew 24:40 says, "then two men will be in the field. One will be taken and the other left." Taken in the rapture? And the other one is left? That's not what Jesus is teaching. "Two women will be grinding at the mill. One will be taken, and the other left." And these are taught as if they refer to the Rapture. But remember, Jesus is not talking to the church. In Matthew 24 and 25, He's talking to Israel. And "the taken" is based on those that were "taken" at the flood, and that were "taken away" in judgment. The ones who are taken here in Matthew 24:40-41 are unbelievers at the end of the tribulation period when Jesus Christ returns with the armies of Heaven. They are taken away in judgment They are removed from the Earth. They are killed in the Battle of Armageddon. Matthew 24:42 says, "Watch. Therefore, for you do not know when our Lord is coming." In other words, be vigilant. Be alert. "...Know this that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come he would have watched and not allowed. His house could be broken." If you knew that tonight at 2:30 in the morning a thief was going to attack your house, what would you do? You wouldn't go to sleep. You'd be armed and ready, and you'd be waiting for him. You maybe even leave the front door unlocked. What is the point? The point is, you "don't know the hour" and therefore you have to watch all the time. Be vigilant. Matthew 24:44 says, "Therefore, you also be ready for the son of man is coming at an hour when you are not expecting." How do you get ready if you were living in this time; how do you get ready? Number one, you better "believe" (Acts 16:31) that's the first thing. You better make sure that you are a child of God by faith in Jesus Christ. And then number two, you make sure that you're in the Word and in the will of God doing what he's called you (2Pe 3:18). Do stay alert. Stay vigilant. You're looking and you're waiting.

From Series: "Jesus' Roadmap for the Future"

The Olivet Discourse -- Jesus' Roadmap for the future, is one of the three major discourses (sermons) of Jesus. They include: 1. The Sermon on the Mount/Galilee Discourse (Matthew 5–7) 2. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24–25; Mark 13; Luke 21 3. The Upper Room Discourse (John 13–17) Each of these messages is aimed at a specific period of history, which we call a dispensation. They lay out God’s dispensational plan, like a road map, from the time of the crucifixion to the end of time. The Sermon on the Mount was directed to the generation in which Jesus lived and was His platform as King—if Israel would receive Him. Obviously, they rejected Him as their King. However, this will be the basis of Jesus’ administration during the 1,000-year Kingdom Age (Millennium). Then, the Olivet Discourse was aimed at the consequences of Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah, and anticipated the destruction of the nation (70 A.D.) and the final Tribulation period. Remember that the Church Age is an intercalation—meaning an insertion, like a parenthesis, into the Age of Israel. This means that with the Rapture of the Church, the Tribulation picks up where 70 A.D. leaves off. This is why the Church Age is called a “mystery” (Rom. 11:25; 16:25; Eph. 3:1–13; Col. 1:26–27), which is a graduate course to “the principalities and powers in the heavenly places” (Eph. 3:10). Finally, the Upper Room Discourse was directed toward the Church Age, which began at Pentecost and would continue to the Rapture (1 Thess. 4:13–18). The uniqueness of this Age is summarized by Paul’s phrase “in Christ,” and all of the elements involved in what we call “positional truth”—our total union with Christ and the indwelling of His Spirit in us, which occurs nowhere else in history. With the removal of the Body of Christ, the Church, Israel would again become the focus of God’s working on this Earth (Romans 9–11; Revelation 6–19).