SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Summit Church Podcast.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for joining us as we share weekly sermons and teachings from Summit Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
SPEAKER_00: Our prayer is that today's message encourages your faith and helps you grow in your relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Check out our website at summitchurchtn.com.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, and we pray this message encourages you today.
SPEAKER_01: I learned last time we did an extensive study on this on a Saturday that a lot of people were raised with the ideology that they should never read the book.
SPEAKER_01: They should stay away from it.
SPEAKER_01: And it was shocking to find out how many people were raised in that way.
SPEAKER_01: Some of it is fear-driven, fear-based.
SPEAKER_01: They were taught, you know, these things are terrible, horrible things, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: But I want to bring to clarity of something as we go through this course.
SPEAKER_01: This is simply not called the Book of Revelation.
SPEAKER_01: It's not called the Revelations.
SPEAKER_01: It's not called Book of Revelations.
SPEAKER_01: It's literally called the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: That's the official name of the book.
SPEAKER_01: And it's important that you grasp that as we go forward.
SPEAKER_01: If you do not have the understanding that this whole book is about the revelation of Jesus Christ, it is easy for it to become distorted.
SPEAKER_01: It is easy for it to become fearful.
SPEAKER_01: And it is easy for it to cause chaos and confusion.
SPEAKER_01: And so as we progress, I'm going to go ahead and tell you there are four main eschatological views.
SPEAKER_01: Eschatology of the study of the end times.
SPEAKER_01: We're not going to go deep into that at all.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm going to explain.
SPEAKER_01: The purpose of this study right here, Revelation chapter 1 through Revelation 22, is to look at the scripture of those.
SPEAKER_01: We might highlight and say, this is where this belief is and this, but I'm not going to break down and go through all the things of rapture or preterase or partial preterist or kingdom dominionism.
SPEAKER_01: I'm not going to do that because once we get through with this study, we're going to pick back up, and uh Daryl's going to bring Matthew 24, and then we're going to come down and take a week to study each one of those eschatological views and what they mean and how they function.
SPEAKER_01: So when we're studying Revelation, we're not going to plow through that on this side of it because we want to learn what the scripture says.
SPEAKER_01: Now, with saying that, if I have an opinion about something, I'm going to tell you this is my opinion, which I hope everyone understands.
SPEAKER_01: My opinion doesn't mean you have to agree with it.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean you have to say, oh, if I don't agree with Ryan, he's going to be mad.
SPEAKER_01: You can disagree.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't bother me whatsoever.
SPEAKER_01: But I want you to understand that when I do insert that, that's just my idea, my thought, whatever the case may be.
SPEAKER_01: But what we're not going to bend on is what the scripture actually says.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we have to understand that going forward, we're going to look at scripture.
SPEAKER_01: Everything else that a lot of people kind of put in there and jumble in there.
SPEAKER_01: I know how it gets there a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01: We'll get that eventually this year, but for this purpose, we're going to remove the fear, we're going to move the conspiracy ideas around it, and we're going to look at it for what it is, the revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So basically, if I can put this, and again, you'll have more detail, but the purpose and the theme of Revelation chapter one is not primarily about prophecy, symbols, or end time events.
SPEAKER_01: It is about the unveiling of Jesus Christ in his present glory, authority, and activity.
SPEAKER_01: It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ in his present glory, authority, and activity.
SPEAKER_01: Before the church can ever understand the tribulation, the Antichrist, the judgments of God, the events of the last days, it must first see Jesus clearly.
SPEAKER_01: This chapter, as we begin, it establishes several foundational truths that govern the entire book.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation is centered on a person and not just events.
SPEAKER_01: It's important to remember that because if we talk about the book of Revelation of Jesus Christ, you hear people focus more on the events.
SPEAKER_01: Tribulation, the wrath of God, the trumpets, all this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: We have this tendency to focus on the events and we lose the purpose.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I'm not condemning anybody for this.
SPEAKER_01: This was a problem with the disciples.
SPEAKER_01: When Jesus is on the earth, he kept telling the disciples that the kingdom is within you now, and they kept asking, when's your kingdom coming?
SPEAKER_01: We have a tendency as individuals to want to see certain things and we miss it.
SPEAKER_01: What's the old saying?
SPEAKER_01: You can't see the trees for the forest.
SPEAKER_01: Can't see the forest for trees, one of those things.
SPEAKER_01: I don't know.
SPEAKER_01: Something like that.
SPEAKER_01: In this, Jesus is not distant.
SPEAKER_01: He is present and he is active among his church.
SPEAKER_01: Christ is revealed in his glorified, authoritative, and his sovereign state.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy is given to produce obedience, not speculation.
SPEAKER_01: If there's anything that you want to jot down, I would encourage you to jot that down.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy is given to produce obedience, not speculation.
SPEAKER_01: And the church must learn how to respond to Jesus with reverence and not familiarity.
SPEAKER_01: So Revelation chapter one, it's going to shift our understanding of Jesus from historical to present, from familiar to glorious, and from passive to authoritive.
SPEAKER_01: If this chapter is understood correctly, it becomes the lens through which the rest of Revelation must be interpreted.
SPEAKER_01: If it's misunderstood, then that's how the entire book is distorted.
SPEAKER_01: An overall key theme, if I could identify a key theme of Revelation chapter one, it is this you cannot rightly understand in-time events until you rightly see the exalted Christ.
SPEAKER_01: So there's some direction in this chapter because it's going to move through four major revelations.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, the source of revelation, in other words, where it comes from and why it is given.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, the nature of revelation, the prophetic, the authoritative, and the meant to be obeyed.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, the person of Jesus Christ, revealed in glory, power, and authority.
SPEAKER_01: And number four, the response of man.
SPEAKER_01: Reverence, surrender, and alignment.
SPEAKER_01: The four areas: the source of revelation, the nature of revelation, the person of Jesus Christ, and the response of man.
SPEAKER_01: So if I can get that first image up, and you can pull this out and look at it if you can't see from the direction here.
SPEAKER_01: This is an overall view of what you're going to get as we go through this course, but it's going to kind of help you along the way through this.
SPEAKER_01: In this, you see John's vision of Christ, chapter one, the things which thou hast seen.
SPEAKER_01: Because that's what we're going to break down.
SPEAKER_01: But in Revelation chapter 1, you're going to see how the things that which I've seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter, how that theme goes throughout the entire book.
SPEAKER_01: So even though chapter one has this one vision of Christ, what is being said is going to carry out through the entire chapter.
SPEAKER_01: And it's why it's so important, and I keep reiterating this, I know, but if you remove Christ from this and you try to put anything else in its place, none of this will make sense.
SPEAKER_01: And this is the challenge that we run into because you'll just see some of this stuff, I mean, it's interesting.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, we're we might be familiar with the seven churches of Asia.
SPEAKER_01: We might be familiar with God's throne.
SPEAKER_01: But then we start getting into some things that are interesting, to say the least.
SPEAKER_01: And if you try to take, for example, 11, 12, and 13, and you try to ignore chapter 1, chapter 2, chapter 3, it's never going to connect the dots.
SPEAKER_01: So it's important to always know that that's what it is.
SPEAKER_01: Another image, if I can get the second image, please.
SPEAKER_01: This is another breakdown of what you just have right there, but it kind of gives you a little bit more understanding on history, looking back, dialogue on earth, shifts between earth and heaven, Christ's future triumphant, uh, some scripture there.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is the coming King of kings, Lord of Lords, who returned as judge and king to usher in the kingdom of God on earth.
SPEAKER_01: All these things we're going to cover, but you can see where we're right here, personal and biographical, the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which take place.
SPEAKER_01: Now, again, you see how those three things are going to be foundational.
SPEAKER_01: So let's look at Revelation chapter 1, verse 1 and 2.
SPEAKER_01: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants the things which must shortly take place, and he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
SPEAKER_01: The opening statement of this chapter establishes that the oh, I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: I look, we got to get a microphone so that we can uh I just want to know which word is good.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, New American Standard Bible is the Bible I have here.
SPEAKER_01: Um if you got a New King James, it'll be similar to New King James, or pull up on your phone and um you can get that.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations, words are definitely going to be a little bit different.
SPEAKER_01: And if it is different, we'll be able to cover that and ask that hopefully at the end if we can, somewhere along the way.
SPEAKER_01: And again, I I when we talk about translations, just really quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Um because I travel, I have people say, What is the best translation?
SPEAKER_01: I always answer that by saying, the one you'll read.
SPEAKER_01: That, you know, that's if you won't start out, start out with something, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But you know, you're gonna find one that is that you lean to more than the other, this, that.
SPEAKER_01: To be honest with you, I it's according to how you like to study.
SPEAKER_01: I still study out of a King James, I still study, I use a new chem occasionally, I still use an amplified as well, a new living translation, but my preaching and teaching one, I go with NASB.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Cool.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So the opening statement is establishing that the in, this is the entire foundation of the book of Revelation.
SPEAKER_01: Again, if we misunderstand this, everything that follows is going to be misinterpreted.
SPEAKER_01: The phrase, the revelation of Jesus Christ, this must remain central.
SPEAKER_01: The revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: No matter what chapter we're in, you need to keep that thought in your forefront because it is pivotal so that we understand.
SPEAKER_01: This is not the revelation of the Antichrist.
SPEAKER_01: Which, again, that's the fear-driven side of it.
SPEAKER_01: Will the Antichrist reveal himself?
SPEAKER_01: Sure.
SPEAKER_01: But this is not the revelation of the Antichrist.
SPEAKER_01: This is not the revelation of judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Will there be judgments?
SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01: But it's not about the revelation of judgment, and it's not the revelation of end time events.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here again, everybody would say, well, wait a minute.
SPEAKER_01: I thought revelation is in time events.
SPEAKER_01: If we look at it solely as end time events, we will miss why it is in time because we're not seeing it as the revelation of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: So a question you should ask yourself going forward constantly, why is this called the revelation of Jesus Christ?
SPEAKER_01: Who is it revealing to?
SPEAKER_01: Why is that significant?
SPEAKER_01: Why is that important?
SPEAKER_01: So the Greek word, and I don't speak Greek, so just bear with me.
SPEAKER_01: I barely speak English.
SPEAKER_01: As I was told Monday night, I speak Alabamaese.
SPEAKER_01: The Greek word apocalypse, and I know my kids are going to know what the English word of that is.
SPEAKER_01: A-P-O-K-A-L, A-P-O-K-A-L, U-P-S-I-S, literally means an unveiling, a disclosure, and a revealing.
SPEAKER_01: It ultimately and immediately confronts a common misconception.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation is not meant to hide truth, it's meant to reveal it.
SPEAKER_01: Now, someone might say, but there's a lot of things in the book of Revelation that we don't understand.
SPEAKER_01: Yep.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just going to tell you.
SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: So there is a clear chain of divine transmission.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, the father gives the revelation.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, the son receives and sends it.
SPEAKER_01: This is what you're going to see throughout the book.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, an angel communicates it.
SPEAKER_01: Number four, John records it.
SPEAKER_01: I'll repeat this.
SPEAKER_01: And number five, the church receives it.
SPEAKER_01: So number one, the father gives the revelation.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, the son receives and sends it.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, an angel communicates it.
SPEAKER_01: Number four, John records it.
SPEAKER_01: Number five, the church receives it.
SPEAKER_01: This establishes why and what is written when it sets up authoritative, divine, and not subject to human origin.
SPEAKER_01: The phrase, things which must soon take place, underscores the book's prophetic nature.
SPEAKER_01: The emphasis, though, is not on immediate timing, but on certainty and sudden fulfillment once events begin.
SPEAKER_01: So if we study Revelation and do not, and I keep reiterating this, but I have to, if we don't see Jesus clearly, we're gonna miss the whole purpose of it.
SPEAKER_01: And I know you'll get tired of hearing me say that, but um let me try to think how to say this.
SPEAKER_01: Well, uh escapism and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: And let me just I'll try to say it this way there's been a lot of things that have gone through the uh the circle in church world, and it's caused a lot of confusion, it's caused a lot of chaos, and even to this day, we have people that are now interpreting the book of Revelation based off church hurt, how a parent raised them, how a grandparent raised them, and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: And it's it's why you'll hear me say it.
SPEAKER_01: We got to keep our focus on Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: We have to.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation is meant to be received, it directly challenges the mindset that revelation is too complex or it's too symbolic.
SPEAKER_01: It even challenges the thought that it's not meant to be understood.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I've actually been told that.
SPEAKER_01: Matter of fact, a doctorate, and point blank looked at me and said, it's not meant to be understood.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm just kind of like, geez, what are they teaching at seminary?
SPEAKER_01: It's in the word of God.
SPEAKER_01: Are we always going to understand everything in the word of God?
SPEAKER_01: No, that's why it's called faith.
SPEAKER_01: There's some things that I can't explain, there's some things that you're not gonna be able to explain, but there's things that we have to live by faith.
SPEAKER_01: How do we live by faith?
SPEAKER_01: Because the word of God says it.
SPEAKER_01: It's kind of like, and we'll eventually get there, I know, but I'll give you a little teaser.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is coming back.
SPEAKER_01: He is going to come back.
SPEAKER_01: And uh, but but we got people that are like, no, he's never coming back, it's all done.
SPEAKER_01: And it it's it's scary to think where we are and how we got there simply because we lost focus.
SPEAKER_01: So we're to receive it, it is meant to be understood, and it's to know the distinction is revelation equals something unveiled, hidden is something concealed, of course, right?
SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you might hear people say the old testament is Jesus concealed, and the new testament is Jesus revealed.
SPEAKER_01: Kind of, I mean, it's a little bit cheesy in that understanding, but basically along those lines, if I can say it that way.
SPEAKER_01: God's intention with this book is not confusion, it is clarity.
SPEAKER_01: If God revealed it, he expects you and I to receive it.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation, the nature of this going forward, is clearly predictive prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is there are some things that you just know has happened or going to happen.
SPEAKER_01: That's predictive prophecy.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy sometimes, just really quickly, I'll get this.
SPEAKER_01: Prophecy sometimes is um is um, oh my gosh, um conditional.
SPEAKER_01: If, like, for example, um you're given a word, uh, let's say a prophetic word comes to you and it says that you know you're gonna get something, whatever, down the road, but instead of you doing that, you just sit down and put your hands on your bottom and you say, okay, God, let it be.
SPEAKER_01: It the prophecy that way is conditional.
SPEAKER_01: You still got to have an active role in that in order for that to go forward.
SPEAKER_01: But then there is prophecy that is predictive, and there's prophecy, can I say it this way, is just set in stone.
SPEAKER_01: Nothing's gonna stop it.
SPEAKER_01: For example, I I love to ask this question a lot of times.
SPEAKER_01: Those of you who know the answer, don't answer.
SPEAKER_01: But when was Jesus Christ crucified?
SPEAKER_01: The school of revival students know this.
SPEAKER_01: But when was Jesus Christ crucified?
SPEAKER_01: A lot of people try to say, well, 33 A.D.
SPEAKER_01: or when he was 33, this and that.
SPEAKER_01: According to Scripture, before the foundations of the earth.
SPEAKER_01: So because he was crucified before the foundations of the earth, what happened on the earth, it wouldn't have mattered if there was no Judas, somebody was going to be a Judas.
SPEAKER_01: Because that was already set in stone.
SPEAKER_01: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So not all prophecy in Scripture is predictive, not all of it's conditional, not all of it is set in stone.
SPEAKER_01: But this book is going to have a lot of future tone set to it.
SPEAKER_01: And it's why it can create the chaos.
SPEAKER_01: The phrase soon has to be understood correctly in the sense that it doesn't mean immediate.
SPEAKER_01: It means certain and rapid once it's initiated.
SPEAKER_01: So history has positioned us throughout mankind on the tipping point of how this thing is going for several years.
SPEAKER_01: And this is where we're at in this time.
SPEAKER_01: It is a dangerous mindset to look at this book and say prophecy doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_01: That's a dangerous mindset.
SPEAKER_01: And the reason it's dangerous is you are willingly choosing to be ignorant.
SPEAKER_01: And I don't mean that in a derogatory manner.
SPEAKER_01: I mean the lack of knowledge.
SPEAKER_01: And it's not going to be one of those things where we just get a pass on it.
SPEAKER_01: There are things that we've got to know.
SPEAKER_01: We have to know this.
SPEAKER_01: And I can't, I would never sit here and tell you, you've got to know Genesis to Jude.
SPEAKER_01: Eh, and Revelation just kind of hang on to it.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's so important.
SPEAKER_01: I would stress you, we need to know the book of Revelation, but I'm telling you, we need to know the entire word of God.
SPEAKER_01: So I'm not removing Revelation.
SPEAKER_01: I'm getting the understanding that it does matter.
SPEAKER_01: So, Revelation 1, verse 3.
SPEAKER_01: Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.
SPEAKER_01: That's an interesting verse.
SPEAKER_01: If you were told by a parent or a grandparent or a church that you shouldn't read this book, what does verse 3 immediately tell you?
SPEAKER_01: You're blessed to read it.
SPEAKER_01: And what?
SPEAKER_01: Read it, and those who hear it.
SPEAKER_01: So there's this application here that concerns me because we have a generation right now that is very nonchalant on this stuff.
SPEAKER_01: They're like, ah, you know, what's it matter?
SPEAKER_01: And I think, and I think the thing that really unnerves me the most is people are actually getting their understanding from TikTok or Instagram or Facebook reels or YouTube reels and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: And that's a bit unnerving.
SPEAKER_01: Because if you don't have a foundation of understanding, the person on the other end of the phone, all they got to do is put an ounce of truth in it.
SPEAKER_01: You'll recognize the truth, but then say everything else is true when it's a lie.
SPEAKER_01: And it is happening very, very quickly.
SPEAKER_01: Had someone just last week send me a video concerning replacement theology, and the person's like, this sort of makes sense.
SPEAKER_01: And the problem is I had to break it apart and say, here's what he actually said that was true, but here's where everything else was a lie.
SPEAKER_01: That's a hook.
SPEAKER_01: That hook is truth.
SPEAKER_01: That's not a hidden agenda.
SPEAKER_01: That's been since the garden.
SPEAKER_01: Let me give you just an ounce of truth where you'll go.
SPEAKER_01: Well.
SPEAKER_01: So we have to get this.
SPEAKER_01: So the first of seven blessings in Revelations is going to establish a pattern.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, read it.
SPEAKER_01: That is personal engagement.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, hear it.
SPEAKER_01: Communal instruction.
SPEAKER_01: Can yeah and somebody might say, why does it say read and hear?
SPEAKER_01: Let me just ask a simple question.
SPEAKER_01: You ever read something and then have no clue what you read?
SPEAKER_01: Am I the, I mean, I'm not the only one, right?
SPEAKER_01: You read it and go, huh?
SPEAKER_01: Or you hear somebody like right now and you go, huh?
SPEAKER_01: You know, it is it is important that we learn some of the best ways that we're gonna hear it is by keep reading it.
SPEAKER_01: And some of the best ways we're gonna keep hearing is by keep showing up and listening.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, keeps.
SPEAKER_01: Keeps it is an obedient response.
SPEAKER_01: The blessing is not attached to full understanding, the blessing is attached to obedience.
SPEAKER_01: I'll put it in simple terms.
SPEAKER_01: You can know exactly what the word of God says.
SPEAKER_01: You can quote it verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, and never miss a comma.
SPEAKER_01: But if you're not actively living it, all you know is how to quote it.
SPEAKER_01: This is the challenge in this.
SPEAKER_01: This is about our obedience.
SPEAKER_01: The word keep here means to guard, to hold firmly, and to live out.
SPEAKER_01: To guard, hold firmly, and to live out.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation is contrary to popular opinion, it is not given for speculation.
SPEAKER_01: It is about transformation.
SPEAKER_01: A key that we're gonna have to remember throughout this journey is you can hear a truth and not be blessed by that truth if you don't respond to it.
SPEAKER_01: If you don't respond, you don't activate it, you don't receive it, there's not gonna be that blessing in it.
SPEAKER_01: So before we get into the next few verses here, let me quickly give you a breakdown.
SPEAKER_01: This will be in your preview as well, because it's important how we look at this going forward.
SPEAKER_01: There are some keys that the book of Revelation is interpreted.
SPEAKER_01: Number one is a preterist view.
SPEAKER_01: A preterist places the events and visions described as belonging to the past, particularly to the Roman Empire of the first century, specifically around 70 AD.
SPEAKER_01: So this is what I'm saying when I say this.
SPEAKER_01: That point of view looks at the book of Revelation as though everything has already happened.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So you got people that would interpret it that way.
SPEAKER_01: Then there is the historical side of it.
SPEAKER_01: People look at Revelation and it's a panoramic view of history from the first century to the second coming of Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: Then there is the poetic or the symbolic.
SPEAKER_01: It portrays the continuing conflict between the forces of good and evil throughout the entire span of human history.
SPEAKER_01: And lastly, you have a futurist point of view.
SPEAKER_01: It maintains that from chapter 4 on, Revelation deals with events at the end time.
SPEAKER_01: Therefore, Revelation is not concerning events of John's own day as much as a later historical event, and particularly those happening that will take place in connection to the second coming of the Lord.
SPEAKER_01: I shared all this so that you'll get an understanding.
SPEAKER_01: I know that's a lot of information, but let me kind of get it right here in this nutshell.
SPEAKER_01: You can talk to people about the book of Revelation, and some people will say it's not important because everything's happened.
SPEAKER_01: You can read it for the sake of reading it, but it's not important everything's happened, and it's just kind of a reference guide.
SPEAKER_01: That's the partial predator, the full preterase.
SPEAKER_01: Then you're going to run into those that strictly look at it as a historical, and then you get those that are enamored with all the symbols and the energy of stuff.
SPEAKER_01: If you've heard me talk about it before, there's a part in the book of Revelation which talks about like giant locusts, and you'll hear people say, I think that's Apache helicopters.
SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, oh.
SPEAKER_01: Or it could be giant locusts.
SPEAKER_01: It could be, it could be Apache helicopters, you know.
SPEAKER_01: But I, and I'm not saying this to be belittling towards that.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just not going to camp out there.
SPEAKER_01: I I just I can't.
SPEAKER_01: I can read it and study it and see that the application is there, but I'm not going to get hung up on there.
SPEAKER_01: It's like you're going to see angels have a very pivotal role in this.
SPEAKER_01: A pivotal role.
SPEAKER_01: But I'm not going to get camped out at the feet of an angel.
SPEAKER_01: Then you have the futurist side of it, and you know, we'll we'll kind of go through all that, but I have to kind of get that in there.
SPEAKER_01: So the elements of Revelation are going to obviously include future events, predictive prophecy, and some end time things, right?
SPEAKER_01: There is a principle, though.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation speaks to the early church.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to see this, especially in the next couple of chapters.
SPEAKER_01: One sort of launches it, but we're going to get in deep.
SPEAKER_01: Then you're going to see that Revelation speaks through history, into the present, and toward the future.
SPEAKER_01: Let's read verse four and five, part of verse five.
SPEAKER_01: John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of this earth.
SPEAKER_01: Just stop there, because I'll pick back up and finish in just a moment.
SPEAKER_01: Right here, we get this greeting that reveals the triune nature of God.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: The Father, the Son, and the Spirit.
SPEAKER_01: The Father, eternal and unchanging.
SPEAKER_01: The Son revealed in identity and authority, and the Spirit complete and perfect, sevenfold fullness, is how it's articulated.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus is described as a faithful witness, perfectly representing truth.
SPEAKER_01: He's described as the firstborn from the dead, preeminent in resurrection.
SPEAKER_01: And by the way, I've got to get this on here.
SPEAKER_01: If you hear anybody say that Jesus wasn't physically raised from the dead, that it was only a spiritual application, in no uncertain terms, that is heresy.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So I it's so important because the resurrection is a big, big deal.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So I got that in there.
SPEAKER_01: The other aspect is ruler of the kings of the earth, establishing his sovereign authority.
SPEAKER_01: Here's a thing that sometimes we just fail to remember.
SPEAKER_01: Not only is Jesus Savior, he is reigning king.
SPEAKER_01: Let's pick up at verse five there.
SPEAKER_01: To him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood.
SPEAKER_01: And he has made us to be a kingdom priest, to his God and Father, to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: Three foundational truths right here.
SPEAKER_01: Number one, he loved us.
SPEAKER_01: And I want to tell you, that is rooted in the cross, not in our circumstances.
SPEAKER_01: It doesn't.
SPEAKER_01: Number two, he washed us.
SPEAKER_01: Complete cleansing accomplished by his blood.
SPEAKER_01: And I am not in no way am I critiquing any kind of worship and stuff.
SPEAKER_01: I'm just saying I read that, and every single time that old hymn about the blood of Jesus washing away my sins comes to my recollection.
SPEAKER_01: It comes into my spirit, and I just hear that over and over again.
SPEAKER_01: And it's such a powerful understanding.
SPEAKER_01: Number three, he made us kings and priests.
SPEAKER_01: Kings and priests.
SPEAKER_01: Kings representing authority.
SPEAKER_01: And priests representing access.
SPEAKER_01: And it is important that we understand the order of this.
SPEAKER_01: It's not he cleanses so he loves us.
SPEAKER_01: It's he loves us, he cleansed us, he washed us, then he made us.
SPEAKER_01: God doesn't clean you in order to love you, he loves you enough to cleanse you.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 7.
SPEAKER_01: Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him, even so.
SPEAKER_01: Amen.
SPEAKER_01: That word by definition there means a command that demands attention.
SPEAKER_01: His return will be visible.
SPEAKER_01: Every eye will see him.
SPEAKER_01: His return will be global.
SPEAKER_01: That means every nation is going to be impacted.
SPEAKER_01: And number three, his return is going to be convicting.
SPEAKER_01: All will mourn.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I want to tell you something.
SPEAKER_01: This is not a symbolic verse.
SPEAKER_01: They're going to see him.
SPEAKER_01: The return of Jesus, although many people tried to debate it, according to Scripture, not my truth, not your truth, not my opinion, not your opinion, according to scripture, it will be undeniable.
SPEAKER_01: Remember, we're going to look at scripture, and that's where our focus is going to be.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 8.
SPEAKER_01: I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
SPEAKER_01: I'm still old school, even though I never was raised up in old school.
SPEAKER_01: I hitched my wagon to an old school mindset, I guess.
SPEAKER_01: I love that decoration.
SPEAKER_01: I love when he says who is, who was, and who is to come.
SPEAKER_01: There's something about that is just Jesus declares his identity.
SPEAKER_01: I am the Alpha.
SPEAKER_01: We should know this.
SPEAKER_01: What does the Alpha mean?
SPEAKER_01: The beginning.
SPEAKER_01: I am Omega, the end.
SPEAKER_01: Almighty, sovereign over all.
SPEAKER_01: There is nothing that He is not Almighty over.
SPEAKER_01: This means that He initiated history.
SPEAKER_01: It means He will conclude history, and it means that everything in between He governs.
SPEAKER_01: Contrary to what one might think, nothing in our life exists outside of His authority.
SPEAKER_01: Let's look at verse 9 through 11.
SPEAKER_01: I, John, oh, let me stop here really quickly.
SPEAKER_01: I'm sorry.
SPEAKER_01: Um I needed to clarify this, and I know it's in your notes, but let me let me go ahead and get it right here.
SPEAKER_01: This is John the beloved.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: This is the disciple John.
SPEAKER_01: This is the John who wrote the Gospel of John, who never called himself by name, called himself the one whom he loved, which is my favorite gospel, by the way.
SPEAKER_01: It's my favorite book of the in the Gospels.
SPEAKER_01: I love the Gospel of John.
SPEAKER_01: It challenges me because I know that I'm not there yet, and I need to love better and I need to love more.
SPEAKER_01: It really pushes me.
SPEAKER_01: But John is a disciple who becomes an apostle.
SPEAKER_01: He also pins 1 John, 2 John, 3rd John.
SPEAKER_01: You get all that.
SPEAKER_01: But he ends up, you'll see in your note, the island of Patmos.
SPEAKER_01: This is him.
SPEAKER_01: This is where you'll hear people call him John the Revelator.
SPEAKER_01: So John the Disciple, the one whom he loved, Apostle John, John the Revelator, all the same person.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I say that, and I know no one in here would say this.
SPEAKER_01: I know, but I had someone years ago ask me, how did John the Baptist write the book of Revelation after he was beheaded?
SPEAKER_01: And I thought at first they were just kind of jerking my chain, and then I realized they were very serious that they thought it was John the Baptist.
SPEAKER_01: And to be honest with you, if you never took time to study it, why wouldn't you think it?
SPEAKER_01: I mean, just to be honest, why wouldn't you think him or another John?
SPEAKER_01: So it is John is on Patmos.
SPEAKER_01: He's isolated, he's exiled, he's under pressure, and this is what he says.
SPEAKER_01: I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation in the kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos.
SPEAKER_01: Because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna, and to Pergam and to Thiachra and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.
SPEAKER_01: All right.
SPEAKER_01: Here he's getting this download here.
SPEAKER_01: Now, you'll know it, but I'm going to go ahead and get here because again, you'll see it in your early notes.
SPEAKER_01: John is physically blind.
SPEAKER_01: When he is at the island of Patmos, he has his eyes completely gouged out of his head.
SPEAKER_01: Gouged out.
SPEAKER_01: Stuck, pulled out, all he has is empty sockets.
SPEAKER_01: And if that doesn't sound painful enough, he was dipped in hot boiling oil and still lives.
SPEAKER_01: How bad was your Monday really?
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: So it's so important that we understand that John just wasn't daydreaming and he was seeing things, you know, in the island and everything.
SPEAKER_01: When he says, I was in the spirit, it literally means that he was caught up in the spirit.
SPEAKER_01: And he has these revelations in this.
SPEAKER_01: And you'll see when we go in there.
SPEAKER_01: Verse 12.
SPEAKER_01: And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me, and having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.
SPEAKER_01: And in the middle of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed in the robe, reaching to the feet, and girded across his breast with a golden girdle.
SPEAKER_01: And his head and his hair were white like wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a Flame of fire, and his feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, and in his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01: Can you first of all let me let me clarify something?
SPEAKER_01: Have an imagination is not wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Vain imaginations is what's wrong.
SPEAKER_01: Have an imagination is not wrong.
SPEAKER_01: So when you read that, I mean I challenge you to go back and read it and close your eyes and start to picture that.
SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01: It is, it ain't peace, loving hippie Jesus.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's something about this image that is like, oh, you know what I'm saying?
SPEAKER_01: It is, it's no wonder.
SPEAKER_01: I read that and I what it comes to my mind every time, no wonder he can whip Satan and all the other fallen angels and demons.
SPEAKER_01: This is the epitome of a man's man.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, this is strong here.
SPEAKER_01: John sees Jesus in his glorified state, standing in the midst of the church.
SPEAKER_01: Each detail reveals his name.
SPEAKER_01: White hair, eternal wisdom.
SPEAKER_01: Which is why I'm letting my white come through.
SPEAKER_01: It has nothing to do with weddings.
SPEAKER_01: Eyes of fire.
SPEAKER_01: This is a tough one, but it's that penetrating judgment.
SPEAKER_01: Listen, the world wants to embrace him as a father, and he is.
SPEAKER_01: Don't misunderstand what I'm saying.
SPEAKER_01: He is father, and that's what ever that's what the world wants to embrace.
SPEAKER_01: Oh, God is love, and he's father, and he'll receive me and he'll accept me.
SPEAKER_01: The same father is also the judge.
SPEAKER_01: And what makes judgment right is that he is just.
SPEAKER_01: That's important.
SPEAKER_01: Bronze feet, strength and refinement.
SPEAKER_01: His voice, authority, and power.
SPEAKER_01: The sword, the word of God, and his face.
SPEAKER_01: Boy, don't this just correct the modern image of a can I just say it, a pansy Jesus?
SPEAKER_01: The way people portray Jesus now is like he's he's so soft and just kind of walks around.
unknown: Yeah.
SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just like, oh my gosh.
SPEAKER_01: Can I can can I tell you according to scripture, he's not weak.
SPEAKER_01: He's sovereign, he's holy, and he's powerful.
SPEAKER_01: Revelation 17.
SPEAKER_01: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_01: I am the first and the last, and the living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
SPEAKER_01: Some translations will say death, hell, and the grave.
SPEAKER_01: Right?
SPEAKER_01: So John's response is immediate.
SPEAKER_01: What does he do?
SPEAKER_01: He immediately falls in reverence.
SPEAKER_01: True encounters with Jesus, it should produce an ah.
SPEAKER_01: AWE.
SPEAKER_01: A true encounter with Jesus, it should produce that.
SPEAKER_01: It also should produce humility in you.
SPEAKER_01: And humility is something that you decide to embrace.
SPEAKER_01: And number three, a true encounter with Jesus should produce a surrender.
SPEAKER_01: Not my will, but your will.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: I genuinely believe that the reason some people don't have an encounter is they refuse to bow to him, and because they don't bow to him, he can't touch them.
SPEAKER_01: That's just it's that's my opinion, okay?
SPEAKER_01: I don't, you know, I see this and I'm like, oh my gosh, he touched him.
SPEAKER_01: Like, God, what what my first thought is what went through John's body?
SPEAKER_01: You know, was it like a thousand bolts of kilowatts that sent that car back to the future?
SPEAKER_01: You know, what was it?
SPEAKER_01: What was that like when he touched him?
SPEAKER_01: Verse 19.
SPEAKER_01: Write therefore the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.
SPEAKER_01: As for the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
SPEAKER_01: This right here provides the outline of revelation.
SPEAKER_01: Past, what you have seen, present, what is, and future, what will take place.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's the other thing, and this is where this is so comforting here.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have to try to speculate what the lampstands were or what the stars are.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have to sit here and go, well, I think it it represents seven of the 12 tribes of Israel.
SPEAKER_01: We don't have to sit there and guessimate on that.
SPEAKER_01: Jesus gives the revelation.
SPEAKER_01: What was the thing we need to remember?
SPEAKER_01: If it is given, we need to accept it and receive it.
SPEAKER_01: Okay?
SPEAKER_01: So there's no other way to say this, but the lampstands are the representation of these churches.
SPEAKER_01: And we're going to start diving into those in chapter two, but he's already been instructed to do this.
SPEAKER_01: The stars are the angels or the messengers.
SPEAKER_01: We'll say it that way.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Now, it is important to remember, like any other book of the Bible, when John wrote this, he did not write it in chapters and verses.
SPEAKER_01: Okay, it's a continuation of a whole context of things.
SPEAKER_01: So it's not like he got to the end of chapter one and went, Whew.
SPEAKER_01: All right, let me catch my breath before we go to these churches here.
SPEAKER_01: No, it's a this what has started right here in chapter one, and we get to chapter two because we take a break, it actually just kept rolling.
SPEAKER_01: So we understand that.
SPEAKER_01: So Scripture interprets its own symbolism here.
SPEAKER_01: Now, here's the thing, and I know we're not going to remember it per se, but we went through the entire book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_01: If you remember, the reason we went through the entire book of Daniel is you can't truly understand the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ without first understanding the book of Daniel.
SPEAKER_01: So when we went through all of Daniel, what is the whole main theme of Daniel?
SPEAKER_01: There is a kingdom coming that will destroy all other kings and kingdoms, and it cannot be destroyed, right?
SPEAKER_01: That's the overall theme of that.
SPEAKER_01: Now, what you're going to get is some types that you can be able to cross back and see.
SPEAKER_01: This is why there's certain things, even though it is symbolic, and you may not have a definitive answer like Jesus gives right here, you can look at other scripture and see where the scripture has already revealed it.
SPEAKER_01: So it's important for this, and it's it also further verifies or validates that man is not this smart.
SPEAKER_01: And what I mean by that is there's so many verses that connect and connect and connect and connect and connect that man ain't that smart to do that.
SPEAKER_01: We can't come up with that.
SPEAKER_01: This is why we have to hold it in the reverence of what it is.
SPEAKER_01: So Jesus is in the midst of his church.
SPEAKER_01: He's not distant, he's present, he's observing, he's refining, and he is leading.
SPEAKER_01: Can I add, is Zach still back here?
SPEAKER_01: Can you get that other picture up just really quickly?
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Okay.
SPEAKER_01: Remember what we brought this out at the beginning.
SPEAKER_01: Things which you have seen, past, things that which are present, and things which shall be to come are hereafter.
SPEAKER_01: That's the future.
SPEAKER_01: Now we've kind of read this and it's setting us up because he mentions he was at Patmos.
SPEAKER_01: He mentions some of the understanding that he's the Alpha and the Omega.
SPEAKER_01: We get this understanding.
SPEAKER_01: When we get to the seven letters, the seven churches of Asia, we'll see that that's what is happening.
SPEAKER_01: We're going to get that understanding, and then we're going to shift, and it's going to be in this, and we see all this broke down in its context.
SPEAKER_01: Now, again, Lord of the churches, Jesus Christ revealed as the lion over the nations and the lamb of eternity.
SPEAKER_01: What is the book of Revelation about?
SPEAKER_01: It is, oh, I honestly don't know.
SPEAKER_01: I it baffles me how people can't see it.
SPEAKER_01: I think in sometimes it is what the word of God says, there truly is a veil over some people's eyes.
SPEAKER_01: I I genuinely believe that.
SPEAKER_01: I believe that some people, it didn't matter, there's just a veil, or as Romans chapter 1 had has clearly stated, he gave them over to a reprobate mind.
SPEAKER_01: And that's alarming because the reprobate mind, according to scripture, it's not reversible.
SPEAKER_01: But having a veil or scales over your eyes, that can be removed.
SPEAKER_01: But a reprobate mind, whoa, something entirely different.
SPEAKER_01: So you have this as we go forward next week.
SPEAKER_01: I will have uh, you know, a chart that you can see the seven uh churches in the Asia and kind of get an idea of where they are ideally and understand.
SPEAKER_01: And those notes that you'll have going forward in each chapter, again, it's just there for your reference.
SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I hope this helps you because the purpose of what what my go throughout this whole thing is is to remove the fear and remove the um um lack of knowledge concerning the revelation of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_01: I want to put tools in your hand.
SPEAKER_01: That's the reason that we're going through this.
SPEAKER_01: Now, I did not have this up on the screen because what for things to go on the screen, I need it to be like this.
SPEAKER_01: I can't get it like this, okay?
SPEAKER_01: But this sheet right here is the book of Revelation, a complete overview in a different way than than that is.
SPEAKER_01: And this is probably the more easier one to understand.
SPEAKER_01: But this Revelation 119 is so pivotal, and I I needed, and I like this chart because I need this to show you that.
SPEAKER_01: But this does give you some breakdowns of you know where the seven seals are, the seven trumpets, and it kind of breaks that down and so on and so forth.
SPEAKER_01: And that gives an idea of that.
SPEAKER_01: So that's what that that is there for as well.
SPEAKER_01: Any questions?
SPEAKER_01: All right, good, brother.
SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
SPEAKER_01: Uh simply just uh um repeat the meaning of his voice when you listen to him.
SPEAKER_01: Authority and power.