Bible Survey - Revelation 1-18

program in the seminary, they had me slated for quite a number of counseling courses. And after taking the first two, I recognized, you know, this isn't enough biblical counseling to satisfy me. I don't think I'm going to continue along with this program. It isn't biblical enough. this to, and basically what I did is I switched everything over for the rest of the counseling program to studying the book of Revelation, various courses on Revelation.

And what attracted me to the book of Revelation is not because I'm a prophecy nut, but rather While we're told by the Apostle Paul that we're seated with Christ in the heavenlies, we have a heavenly citizenship, and we saw Hebrews, and we have a heavenly high priest, Revelation has 150 verses of description. Paul was told that he could not, even though he had been to paradise, that's the word that he used, even though he had been to paradise, he could not speak of it. He was not permitted to speak of it. John, on the other hand, writes 150 verses describing what he sees on the heavenly scene.

So that to me was phenomenal. That's what attracted me to the book of Revelation. So what we have here, we've done this as a Sunday morning main service study. We've done this as a year-long elective. about five years back. We did it summer of last year in a condensed, compressed format. We had four six-hour sessions on the book of Revelation. So we're going to compress that now into two Sundays.

So fasten your pew belts and let's go. So this book of Revelation here is one book that has a promised blessing for those who read, and that's by the way in the singular, and those who hear in the plural. So it's a book with a promised blessing for those who read and hear it. It describes Christ and us in the heavenlies. So that's a very special thing.

The author is John the Apostle. He also wrote the Gospel of John and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, the three epistles. As far as we know, John was the last living apostle at this time and the only one we know of that died a natural death. All the other apostles died a martyr's death. The date and place of time is about 95 AD from the island of Patmos. and Patmos was a prison island the account which is outside of scripture is that Domitian tried to kill John by boiling him in oil and was miraculously preserved from that and so the only thing he could do was put him on a prison island and so that was Patmos off the coast fairly close to Ephesus so now this is one book about which there is a great variety of teaching People have a wide and wildly differing set of understandings of the book of Revelation.

However, I'm going to present here ten principles which, when followed, allow the book of Revelation to become very clear. As I've gone through the twenty-two chapters, once you understand some things about how you approach it, there's very little that's ambiguous or still worth wondering about. So those are, and we have them starting in the middle of the page there, we will interpret the book of Revelation literally. That is, if the plain literal sense makes sense, seek no other sense. So we first take a literal approach.

But then here are some of the additional principles. Number two, when John uses the word like or as, and he does it over a hundred times, We take that to be a comparison to the thing he uses to compare. In examples, his face was like the sun shining in its straight. A great star fell from heaven burning like a torch. So you have over a hundred of those kinds of things where there's some comparison to give you an idea. And then you have the next one.

The text explains a symbol right in the text. We simply take John's explanation, and it happens repeatedly in the book of Revelation. As for the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, then he tells you what those things are. The seven stars are the angels or the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

So he explains the symbol, and he does that fairly often. And then the next thing we will examine carefully the word usage, grammar, and verb tenses that John uses. We'll examine everything in context, in the context of the book of Revelation. And then there's a larger context we'll refer to shortly here. We'll interpret according to the history and culture in which John wrote. Revelation chapter 3.

Here is the church at Laodicea. And he says, you know, I would that you were hot or cold, but because you are lukewarm, I'll spit you out of my mouth. Well, Colossae upstream had cold water, right? Hierapolis, which was six miles across the valley from Laodicea, Hierapolis had hot water. But that was the source of water for Laodicea. And so they had a pipeline going six miles underneath the ground and pieces of that are still visible. A pipeline that went across the valley, and by the time the hot water got to Laodicea, it was lukewarm.

Lukewarm. So that fits the context. He talks about, I'll give you a new name, right? He talks about a new name, and it was a city that kept getting a new name. So the things that are in it fit the character and culture and history of the time. Now, next, here, page two. Now, here's a very important point.

A lot of people read the book of Revelation and they think, what is that? Here's the description of Christ, and he's got hair like wool, and he's got eyes that are on fire, and he's got a five foot long barbarian battle sword hanging out of his mouth. You say, wow, when I put that together, what it looks like, he's a freak. So our Greek background, as the Greeks would say, what does it look like? The Jews, on the other hand, would say, what does it mean?

Now we've got a very different understanding. What does it mean? The next thing here, we'll take advantage of the fact that 70% of the book of Revelation is straight out of the Old Testament. Yes, Morgan? The audience of Revelation is with those who are Greek significantly, but with also a strong Jewish minority background.

What happened is, originally the Jews are in Israel. A lot of them get hauled off to Babylon and to Persia. And then after Alexander the Great, he had a number of them move in the area around Ephesus. So it's these seven cities. A number of the Jews. He gave them 10 years tax-free if they would move over to the area around Ephesus. And so a number of them moved there. So there was Jews in Israel. Jews over in Babylon and Persia, and then a bunch of them encouraged to move to the area around Ephesus. They got a lot of Greek influence, but the Greeks also got a lot more exposure to the Jewish culture. So John could write in Jewish ways, and there would be Jews present to explain it, perhaps already having explained it before John wrote.

Then, the next thing we see here, there's 70% of the book of Revelation straight out of the Old Testament. What that means is, if I can find the Old Testament connection, I can go back in the Old Testament passages and look at those contexts to get more understanding of, oh, here's what John's talking about. John talks at one point about reaping and stomping the wine grapes and all that, and that comes out of Joel chapter 3. So everything connects.

Alright, the next one we'll read, Israel is Israel and the church is the church. And we will differentiate between the saints of the church age and the saints of the tribulation. One of the differences that makes when you come to Revelation chapter 7, for instance, That's where we have 144,000 of 12 tribes, 12,000 each, right, of the Jews. And it says Israel, and it gives the name of the tribe, and the numbers for 12,000 for 12 tribes adds up to the 144,000.

I mean, everything's in sync. And so Protestant interpreters who don't interpret literally say that those represent the Christian denominations. Where'd you get that? And of course, the numbers don't add up. The names don't add up. But that's how they interpret. We're not going to do that. We're going to say if it says Israel and gives the tribal names and says 144,000 and 12,000 of each tribe, we're going to take that literally. OK, here's another one.

And nine, we'll take full advantage of John's amazing consistency, such as, Christ is called the Lamb 30 times. And by the way, what other place, aside from Book of Revelation, is Christ called the Lamb? John chapter 1, okay? John the Baptist says, Behold the Lamb, the Lamb of God, right? Twice. And so we note that as that's John 1, 29 and 36.

No other New Testament author calls Christ the Lamb, but John does, both in the Gospel of John and the book of Revelation. Then Christ has a sword in his mouth five times, and it's not the machaira, the Roman short sword. It's a rumphia, which is a barbarian battle sword, or sometimes the cavalry would use it because they would need the distance. There so this is this is this five-foot-long barbarian battle sword coming out of Christ's mouth And it's that one and not the makaira every single time and by the way the sword coming out of the mouth is From Isaiah, so that's out of the Old Testament, too And the next one a loud voice occurs 19 times and loud voice never comes from someone on earth. It's always in heaven Okay, always in heaven So John is an amazingly consistent writer, even from the Gospel of John into the book of Revelation. John has astounding consistency. Alright, the next one, point 10. We will recognize that there are some things that are clearly spelled out but will not be understood clearly as to their application until the time in which they're fulfilled.

An example would be, who's the Antichrist? People have been guessing about who's the Antichrist Believe it or not, the Franciscan order around the year 1200 pronounced that the Pope was the Antichrist. So people have been guessing for a long time. Martin Luther guessed.

People go around trying to match that up and they mess up every time. They mess up every time. So the thing to do is look at it and say, what does it say? And just realize that the application of it, we shouldn't be grasping at things, you know, jumping at something. The application of some of these things will not be apparent until the time has come. And then people will know, you know, all right, this guy made a treaty, and we've started this judgment, and this judgment, and then it'll fit, and then it'll be very clear. But trying to jump ahead at conclusions is not a good idea. So, those are the ten principles. None of them are all that wildly complicated, but looking at the book of Revelation using those ten principles makes the entire book far more clear. And it becomes very consistent.

Now, the other thing to look at is at the bottom of page two, there is a color-coded alternation between earth and heaven. And Nancy particularly pointed out, boy, that really helps clear things up. Because as people are trying to figure out, man, this is a crazy book. They're looking at this wild symbolism because they're thinking, what does it look like? And not, what does it mean? This wild symbolism.

And then this thing goes back and forth between heaven and earth. Once you understand that, that's a pattern. And by the way, where does it end up? On earth or in heaven? Starts on earth, ends up in heaven. And it has this eight cycle alternation between heaven and earth.

It is another observation again that makes the book of Revelation very clear. Something else that I think this is important to point out, Paul wrote like a logician. Paul wrote like a logician. This and this and this, therefore, there is therefore now. And so Paul would lay out his case and draw his logic conclusion because of this, therefore this, since this, if this, then that. So Paul would be a logician.

John writes like a musician. John writes like a musician. Here is this, you know, building crescendo, you know, now you've got this heavenly scene, and then whoosh, brings it back down, and then comes back up with the crescendo again. So John writes like a musician. Paul writes like a logician. It's very interesting, here they are all co-apostles, but very different in the way they present and think things. John writes very simply, doesn't use a compound word unless he has to.

Paul, on the other hand, came up with two, three, and even four part compound words, and in some cases it appears that he invented it. Made the word up, we can't find it anywhere else in Greek literature. So Paul would pack things together. Paul would come up with long sentences. Ephesians 1, 3-14 is the longest Greek sentence in all of Greek literature.

John writes simply, but as a musician. So would that end the way that Jesus taught Paul? the way that he spoke to John? Or would this have been their method of writing it out? I think if you think of it, here's John and Paul, both Jewish, right? So they have that in common.

John had been with Christ in his earthly ministry, but what kind of an occupational background did John come from? He had a fisherman's background, for one, but number two, and we observed this as we went through the gospel of John, that John also had some connections with the priesthood, even up to the Sanhedrin and the high priest.

When Peter wanted to get into the high priest's courtyard, they wouldn't let him. They'd say, who are you? And then John, however, oh, we recognize you. And John says, let Peter in. And Peter gets in. John was recognizable by the high priests. So he's got some connections there. Some have even theorized that he was a priest. I don't know. But John is a very different kind of fellow, having come up with a fisherman's background, having some connections there. Only John writes, for example, about Nicodemus, who was on the ruling council. Paul, on the other hand, was one who came under a conventional rabbi, Gamaliel, and went through that training. Paul would have known Greek and Latin and Hebrew and Aramaic. Those four languages he would likely have had.

And Paul, having a ministry directed at the outset towards the Gentile lands and the Gentile people, having a ministry that way, spent time explaining to the Gentiles, here's your position, and now based on that, here's how you live. The Jewish mindset was not like that. Position and condition is something that Paul talks about. The Jews would have said, of course you're going to do it.

If it's true, of course. Let's turn to page three, and what that has is kind of a graphical outline of the entire book. Chapter one is the introduction. It's John's vision of Christ. The first eight verses of chapter one are a legal certification that John is writing what he saw and heard and what's true. The rest of chapter one is the vision of Christ and in verse 19 He's told and this is the bottom line in in this chart in Verse 19 right therefore the things which thou hast seen the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter in the future So that's his outline the things you've seen Okay, the things that are right now.

That's the seven churches. Okay, and then the things that shall be hereafter in the future and And so with that, we have chapters 2 and 3 is the messages. They've been called letters, and they're actually more messages because they're not written in a form of a letter of that day. So the messages to the seven churches.

And at that, and this is what has thrown a number of people, they're looking for the description of the rapture in the book of Revelation. And I think by looking for it, they've gotten very confused. John does not describe the rapture, he describes the results of the rapture. Let me make a comparison.

In the Gospel of John, you can find identification in chapter 15 and chapter 17. Abide in me, I in you. You can find identification in chapter 17. Jesus praying to the Father. I in you, and you in them, and they in us. So you can find identification, that doesn't mean that John explains it.

Similarly here, John describes the results of the rapture, but not the rapture itself. By people looking around trying to find the rapture in the book of Revelation, they've gotten very confused. And that's where you get people coming up with some of the mid-trib views and all those kinds of things. We won't try to cover it all here. The pre-tribulation rapture is abundantly clear. Once again, you've got to understand what the book is saying.

So here's the rapture, and then chapters 4 and 5 begin to show the results of the rapture. And then what you see, and keeping in mind that you have this heavenly-earthly alternation continuing through the book, then we get to see the chapter outline, and it goes through the tribulation period from chapter 6 to chapter 19. so we look at that and then the millennial kingdom begins in chapter 20 first verses there six times it says a thousand years so that's why we say millennial kingdom millennium being a thousand years and at the end chapters 21 and 22 is the new heavens and new earth we'll be looking at chapters 19 through 22 next Sunday when we complete our study of the book of Revelation here Okay, thoughts, questions, ponderings, exasperations?

So, like, people wanting to bring up or wanting to find the details of the rapture, how do they conjure up enough information if it's not there? Well, I think part of what happens is people are trying to look for the description of the rapture and so they grasp at things. That's how several of the mid-trib rapture views come up. It's just not consistent with the Book of Revelation for there to be any rapture after the church is taken out. Sometime later is what I mean. And if you just get it settled in your mind, I'm going to see the results of the rapture, but not the description of it. The first place the rapture comes up in the New Testament is in John 14.

Behold, I go to prepare a place for you. And I will come again and take you to Myself that where I am you may be also." And guess what the groom would tell the bride in Jewish culture? Tell the bride, I'm going to prepare a place for you and I'll come again and take you to Myself. Those words. Okay, let's turn now, and this is looking at the seven churches, which is chapter two and three. Stan?

Okay, so when you're going back to the alternation, it actually ends, not necessarily in the current heaven, but in the new heaven. In the new heaven, yep. In the new heaven and new earth. So it shoots up or shoots out or whatever. The real thing instead of the shadow and the evil. Well, and I think also, we'll take a look at this more next week, but just a quick glance. Think about it. You can figure out why the earth would need to be replaced. This is a place of rebellion.

But also, why would heaven need to be replaced? Also a place of rebellion. And we find out from Revelation chapter 12 that a third of the angels fell with Satan. Third of the angels fell with Satan. So it is a place of rebellion as well. And it is a place where Satan still has access to accuse the brethren. But during the Millennial Kingdom, he'll be bound for a thousand years. He won't be able to do that.

Okay, let's take a look here. Seven churches. This is on page four. There is a table that shows the seven churches. And the sequence is clockwise. They go along a Roman postal route and the sequence is clockwise, starts with Ephesus and ends up with Laodicea. Laodicea and Hierapolis and Colossae were three cities in that one valley, kind of at the end of the route of the Book of Revelation. So you have Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. So those are the seven churches in those cities.

Then what you have in each of those, and it gives the particular chapter and verses, you have an opening. To the messenger of the church at, right, and a lot of times it's angel, is what's presented there. I think messenger is a better way to carry it off. The word angelos is used for messenger or angel and one of the reasons why that would be the case is that sometimes the angels were messengers. Take for example, we just looked at the Gospel of Luke in the Christmas account just some weeks back. And so here's Gabriel who's sent to give a message to Zacharias and then to Mary. So you have that part.

The description of Christ. He holds the seven stars, walks among the seven lampstands. This description of Christ is, when you put it together, everything there is from the first chapter, verses 9 through 20. So, for example, holds the seven stars, walks among seven lampstands, that's from the first chapter. He's the first and the last, died and came to life, that's from the first chapter. So what happens is the description of Christ from Revelation 1, 9 through 20, is distributed among the seven churches. Then you have the next thing, what Christ knows, and he knows something about each of these churches. Then there is a commendation. However, not every church gets one. Notice which one doesn't get a commendation. Laodicea does not get a commendation. In the early 60s, Laodicea had a large earthquake that did a lot of damage.

And the emperor offered some Roman money to help rebuild. And they said, no, we don't need it. We're rich enough. We can cover it. Thanks. So this sense of, boy, we've got bucks and we're doing good was well established in the Laodicean mindset. And just like you would find out characteristics of the city are then turned around, the lukewarm, the rich, he says you're blind. Laodicea was famous for an eye salve that they would make, mixing up olive oil with the local clay. And they would sell that. They had a medical school there. So everything that's in there, it fits their history and the culture quite well.

But Laodicea is the one that gets no condemnation, excuse me, commendation. There are rebukes. And notice, who does not get a rebuke? You got two of them. You got Smyrna and Philadelphia. The second one and the second to the last. Those two do not get a rebuke. But the others do. Then there is a counsel for each. And there are no exceptions for that. There is a counsel for each. Then a warning. And again, Smyrna and Philadelphia don't get a warning because they didn't have a rebuke.

So the pattern is consistent. what you have and So each of them, you know has something and twice these Nicolaitans are mentioned and Nikos Laos is is a ruler of the people. So these guys were apparently very authoritarian very authoritarian And I've seen that in churches. Some pastor comes in and they're real heavy-handed. Nancy and I were aware of a church where the elders wanted to inspect everybody's checkbook register. So anyway, very heavy-handed. And he says, I hate it and I'm glad that you do too. I don't like this heavy-handed eldership. Reward for overcomers. Of course, one of the questions I didn't deal with, I'll just address it briefly.

Who are the overcomers? Who are the overcomers? Is every believer an overcomer or is it a special group within the church? I have heard guys say, that this is some special group within the church that's only promised to them. There are two reasons, and I think they're consistent.

One is, remember, John's consistent, a consistent writer. 1 John chapter 5, he says, the overcomers are those who believe. That's part one. So if I look back in John's writings, I get that answer. The overcomers are those who believe. The other thing is I take every single one of these overcomers and they are fulfilled for all believers in chapters 19, 20, 21, and 22. So you see the fulfillment for all believers in those final chapters we'll be looking at next week. So I think either way, whether you go to 1 John 5, or whether you look at the end of Revelation, it's an open and shut case.

And one thing that ties in with it, when you think of overcoming, you don't overcome Satan. God is the one who deals with Satan. That's right. And He says, what is the thing, what's the power that overcomes the world? He says, even our faith. It says it in a different way, but it says the same sort of thing, that it has to do with those who have put their trust in God's ability, God's faithfulness, God's power. Now, if these churches have a problem, is it the problem in their position or in their condition? The problem is in their condition. Their position is perfect. Nothing wrong with it.

Yeah, and think about this. Is it possible for Christians to go backwards spiritually? Is it possible for a Christian to get to a point where the Lord says, I'm taking you out? And I think the scripture indicates that it is possible. Yeah, we looked at that when going through Hebrews.

Then there are other promises. The crown of eternal life to the ones faithful unto death. The rest are given no other burden. Undefiled ones will walk in white. Submission of false Jews kept from the hour of trial. Eat with those who open the door. By the way, this kept from the hour of trial is a rapture promise. It's a rapture promise.

Okay, so this is the seven churches. This covers chapters two and three. What we find is then four and five are on the heavenly scene, and this is where John is first introduced to the heavenly scene. Here's heaven, but it's also heaven at a particular stage. During the Tribulation, heaven is certainly heaven, but it's also the control room for the Tribulation period. It's like a military control room for the tribulation period.

Now, so, then Christ begins opening the seals. And by the way, the seven sealed scroll, that in the Jewish legal custom, A seven-sealed scroll was when you open up an inheritance document, okay? Seven seals were put on it, and you'd find out what's inside as you open them up. Okay, now, so here on page 5, you'll see the outline of chapter 6 through chapter 16, okay? And what you see is three sevens, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. And each of those is given as to what it is, and then the scripture passage that that comes from.

And so, for example, the seven seals, it starts with the rider on a white horse, so that's Revelation 6, 1 and 2. The second seal is open, the rider on a red horse, Revelation 6, 3 and 4. And then the next is famine, rider on a black horse, Revelation 6, 5 and 6. And then death, the rider on a pale horse, war, famine, plague, and wild beasts.

This is where the wild beasts turn on people. So Revelation 6, 7 and 8. Then you see persecution breaking out, Revelation 6, 9-11, martyred souls. Persecution isn't just a tough time, it's people are dying. The next is destruction. There's earthquakes, sun turned black, moon red, and stars falling from the sky.

Notice the pattern for all three sets of judgments for the seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls. Between the sixth and the seventh, there's an interlude. So that's the pattern for all of them. So I put that in the yellow highlight. for this interlude, and then finally the opening of the seventh seal then brings the trumpet judgments, seven of them.

One of the patterns you'll notice in the trumpet judgments, several of them have one-third. You notice that? So fire, one-third of the earth, trees and all grass burned, one-third of the ships and fish destroyed, one-third of all water poisoned, So you see that pattern of one-third, not in every case, but in several of those in the trumpet judgments. Now, what you have in Revelation 10, 1 through 11, 14, is there are two witnesses who God has basically be untouchable for the first half of the tribulation period and those two witnesses are located in Jerusalem and People will try to come against them and the witnesses will just bang call out judgments at will boom bang You know you're going to come after me. You know boom.

They're taken out and then finally in the midpoint of the tribulation is when the two witnesses themselves are taken out and One of the things that we point out in this, between the seven trumpet judgments and the seven bowl judgments, we have a section there that we have highlighted in blue that goes across there, Revelation 12.1 through 14.20, and that provides different prophecies and revelation. And one of the things that is interesting to look at, who are the various witnesses to the gospel during the tribulation period. So here you have this time with all kinds of activity by Satan, right? But the gospel is still being presented. And those witnesses are, you've got 144,000 single Jewish males who can't be touched. You have, who else?

You also have two witnesses, and what's interesting, when you read that account of the two witnesses, worldwide communication seems to be implied in that description. So it's interesting the era that we've come to. Worldwide communication. So they're in Jerusalem, but the whole world is all focused on these guys. But if anybody wants to come against them until the midpoint of the tribulation period, they don't get anywhere. So you have 144,000 single Jewish males, 12,000 from each of the tribes named. You have two witnesses in Jerusalem. So Jerusalem is really getting to be, and the Jews are really getting to be central here. Notice the church is out of the picture. The church is not mentioned once you step into The heavenly scene right before the tribulation period starts Okay, what else?

We have a gospel angel who goes about now there's three levels of heaven in the Bible one is atmospheric heaven the other is stellar heaven out in the solar system and out out into the stars and The third heaven is the heaven where it's a dwelling place of God.

So we have those three heavens It's that atmospheric heaven This angel goes about preaching, and what's interesting is the gospel of the kingdom. Remember, there are two gospels, gospel of the kingdom and gospel of substitution. This angel goes about preaching the gospel of the kingdom around the globe, visible for people on earth, visible from the atmosphere. The three heavens are one, our atmospheric heaven, which is the lowest one, that's where this angel is located. The next one is stellar heaven, out beyond our atmosphere in the solar system and on into the far reaches. That's right, that one. And then the third heaven is the heaven where God dwells. So those three, yes.

It uses the same word for heaven, but we know it from different verses, how it's described. Which one is Midheaven? It refers to some place in Revelation as Midheaven. Midheaven, I would have to Double-check that. I believe it's atmosphere, but I'd have to double-check that.

The gospel angel, the content there says that this gospel angel is presenting the gospel of the kingdom. The gospel of the kingdom. And why the gospel of the kingdom significantly? Because the period of the church has ended and now the focus is Israel and the Gentiles Yeah, and we'll be touching on it briefly in this morning's message, but let me just do that anyway the gospel of the kingdom is the gospel that John the Baptist preached, the gospel that Jesus preached. It actually starts in Genesis and continues on to the book of Revelation. It's spread throughout the Bible.

Even like the Sermon on the Mount, Christians try to grasp at that, but it's really the gospel of the kingdom. It's looking forward to the coming kingdom, and you're not going to get in You're not going to get in automatically just because you're Jewish into the kingdom.

You've got some understanding to have and do you embrace Christ as your Messiah? Do you embrace Christ as your Messiah? That's the question. And if your answer is yes, then you're going into the kingdom. Either as a resurrected Jew or You're not going into the kingdom because you don't embrace Christ as the Messiah.

Then you have the gospel of substitution, which is the gospel that Christ died in my place. Christ died in my place. And then along with that goes, of course, he was buried and resurrected and all that. But it starts off with Christ died in my place.

Yes? So that would be from Romans to Revelation, right? What's that? Yeah, but it's even in the Old Testament. Let's take, for example, Isaiah 53. All we like sheep have gone astray, but our iniquities are placed on him. Gospel substitution there. Here is Abraham, and he's about to sacrifice Isaac, right? And God provides a ram. What for? It's pointing to Christ. as the lamb. Yep. That's right. An animal had to die in order for Adam and Eve to have the skins. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I would say it's right after the fall and it's the first picture of an animal sacrifice for the benefit of man. Right? Yes. Right. Right.

Well, look at it this way, okay? The Passover, the Passover that the Jews first had, the Jews when they celebrated that looked back to the Passover when they went the next morning and left Egypt. But it looks forward to Christ's sacrifice. When we take the Lord's table, what do we do? We look back on Christ's sacrifice and we look forward until He comes.

Right? So the time perspective is to look back and look forward. In the Passover you have the sense that lamb was substituted for your firstborn. Yeah, that's right. You didn't have the doorposts and the little... that the lamb, the lamb, the lamb was killed for your firstborn. Right? Yeah.

I want to get a thorough explanation of the gospel of substitutions. Romans 6, 7 and 8. Yeah, 6, 7 and 8. Also, just a very quick summary of the gospel. 1 Corinthians 15, verses 3 and 4. Christ died for your sins, buried, rose again. Do you believe it? Good, you're saved. That simple. Okay? Alright, now. Then you have the seven bowl judgments there.

Boil, sea of blood, rivers of blood, heat, darkness, dry up the Euphrates, Armageddon, hail, and earthquake. Armageddon is not the once and final thing. The reality is Armageddon is a campaign, an eight-stage campaign. And people frequently forget that. It's an eight-stage campaign that ends up in Jerusalem, but includes various parts of the Middle East. Armageddon has nothing to do with Bruce Willis, but it actually, in fact, is Har-Megiddo. It's the Valley of Megiddo, which is the port city. There's Haifa. That's Haifa in northern Israel, and that valley that leads up from there is the Valley of Megiddo.

Nazareth overlooks that valley. So you imagine when Jesus was there at Nazareth, imagine Him going out and cutting trees and whatnot in order to get some wood to work with, and imagine Him looking over this valley, knowing full well what's going to happen.

So that's Armageddon, and then the final hail and earthquake, and then Christ comes. Now, chapters 17 and 18, I want to address those quickly. This is dealing with Babylon and the end of Babylon. And again, that's another thing where once those who are living in the tribulation period see it, they'll have it very clear as to what this is. but it's something else where people try to go grasping at something and trying to make assignments to something that's currently there. So that's chapters 1 through 18, flying through those chapters.

And then we're going to go 19 through 22, which is fewer chapters, but there's reasons to slow down for a minute and take a look at some things there. Especially because it's chapters 19 through 22 that will definitely involve us, with one exception.

We won't be at the White Throne Judgment. And you don't want to be there. You don't want to be at the White Throne Judgment. Yeah, I understand there's a Masonic set of words. Well, see you at the White Throne. Well, you don't want to be at the White Throne. They don't understand. That isn't a neutral place of judgment. That's only for those who are headed from there to the Lake of Fire.

So, anyway, we'll start in chapter 19, go through chapter 22, lots of really good, rich stuff in there as well. So we'll slow the pace down a little bit in order to pick that up. Okay? Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Yeah. Pat? Why does the angel only proclaim the gospel of the kingdom? which is looking forward, or embracing Christ as a Messiah, and I've just said Christ died in my place. It's very interesting. I don't know the answer.

I would suspect that a part of it is because you've got the other sources, the 144,000 single Jewish males, you've got the two witnesses, you've got those kinds of things. What you see though is both Gospels go from Genesis to Revelation. Both of them continue through, even like through the book of Acts. The apostles are telling the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of substitution, side by side, all the way to the last verses of the book of Acts.

It's almost like saying The Gospel is not just some spiritual, meditative thing. There's a practical side too. So it's almost like one coin that you're looking at the two sides of. That the theology behind it has to do with Christ died for my sin. If that's the emphasis, as it is in the Protestant Bible Church, then The gospel is substitution. If you're looking for being blessed in the land, and having things with God in control, and you're knowing the law, and you're able to do it, etc. Morgan, you had a...

Yes, sir. So, these messages are about the seven churches. They have to do with the church as a whole, not just those specific... Let's talk about that. Is it quite possible for other churches to have the same problems? Certainly, yes. These churches were churches that existed during the end of the first century. Real churches. They also are kind of a spectrum. They don't all just get the same thing. I think how we look at it is those were messages to those specific churches.

It's a little bit, I could use the term, if the shoe fits, wear it, you know, in terms of the churches today. We look at it and say, how much of this applies to me? You could also say, okay, looking at these, what would the message to Holly Hills be? So, we can't look at these and be like, okay, that was too Philadelphia, but we can look at that and see what applies to us.

You heard Jesus with the church at Laodicea. He says, Behold, I stand at the door and knock. Well, positionally, He already indwelt them. So what was the message about? It was about condition. And it was written to a church. Is it also personally applicable?

Because Christ intends and desires to have fellowship with you. So as believers or as a church, we can, even though we say positionally Christ already indwells us, in our condition, we can keep Him on the outside. We say, no, I've got this covered, Lord. And He's saying, uh-uh. Right? Yeah. If I say I know everything I need to because I've been a Christian over 60 years, I'm violating growing in grace. Yeah, yeah, so you know I think that what we do is we we look at it and say Lord how much of this fits me? How much of this fits me? Or even even it's a you know boy. You know I could see that I could go there So I'd better watch out right I better watch out and and individuals can go in these directions and additionally the whole churches can go in a certain direction.

Since number seven is related to perfection, it's interesting that you take seven aspects of Christ, more or less his character, and it relates to the entire description of that church. these seven churches all summed together are like the perfect church if you take each and every aspect of it and it's also interesting what Al was saying about the kingdom and the substitution obviously the kingdom one has to do with law because you've got the law until the church and then you have grace and then you have law coming in later and so since the angel is teaching the gospel of the kingdom again in the tribulation period. It's connected with law somehow, right? You have law and dress. Yeah, you've got to transition into law and in the Millennial Kingdom, as we'll see, the Jews will have the New Covenant where they will know the law by heart and be empowered all the time, every one, to live it out.

Let's stop and pray because we've got people pressing their noses up against the glass doors here. Lord, we do thank you for your word. We just thank you for this prophetic masterpiece that you inspired John to write. And we look forward to finishing up those last several chapters as we also wrap up this elective. And we just thank you for your amazing, astounding grace. We just pray in Jesus' name. Amen.