Insights from Revelation Chapters 1-3

Okay, we are now in hour 22 of Learning the Bible in 24 Hours and we're going to address the first three chapters of the book of Revelation. And for a number of reasons that will become evident, I think this is the high ground of the Bible in some respects and it certainly, the book of Revelation is one of the favorite books of anyone that takes the Bible seriously. And secondly, it is... The most relevant parts of the book of Revelation for you and me is chapters 2 and 3. So this is going to be fun stuff as we go here. We've gone through the whole New Testament of course, what I call the five gospels using Luke volume 1 and volume 2, Acts is the volume 2 so to speak. We went through the 13 epistles that are ascribed to Paul. We went through the 8 epistles that are the so-called Jewish Christian epistles. But now we come to that book which among all the other books ties it all together. Everything that started in Genesis is wrapped up in the book of Revelation. In fact one of the most astonishing discoveries that I hope you are in the process of making as we do these things is to recognize, discover the unity. ...of the entire package. 66 books penned by 40 guys over virtually 2,000 years, and yet it's integrated in its design. There are aspects throughout the book that anticipate what needs to be there in order for Revelation to make sense. And so here we go. It's interesting that the Old Testament, of course, Christ appears in prophecy. In the Gospels, Christ appears in history. In the book of Acts, Christ appears in the church. And of course in the epistles we see Christ in actual experience. And then of course in the apocalypse we're going to see Christ coming in glory. So in a sense the Old Testament said, behold he comes. The gospels say, behold he dies. Acts says, behold he lives. Epistles, behold he saves. And we're going to see, behold he reigns. Christ is actually going to reign in this book. Anyone that wants to deny that has huge problems with Revelation. That's why many pastors try to avoid the book because it confronts some issues they're not prepared to deal with. I want you to first to notice the name of the book. It's a singular, not plural. You often, for some reason, you always see people say revelations. Whenever you hear that S, when you see it as a plural, you know immediately they have never taken a study of the book. All they know is somehow a collection of visions, so that's why they think it's plural. No, it's singular. It is the unveiling. The word revelation in the Apocalypse means the unveiling. And it is the consummation of all things. It's the only book in the Bible that has the audacity to say, read me, I'm special. No other book in the Bible has the chutzpah, if I can use the Jewish term, to say, read me, I'm better than the other guys. Lots of places in the Bible it says, search the scriptures, study the word of God, all those broad, the phrase always, embrace the whole thing. This is the only book that says, hey, read me and you are entitled to a very special blessing. So if you're really in the mood for a blessing, no matter how down you are, no matter what you're doing, if you need just... you're just one of those days you need a blessing, stop, read the book of Revelation. Doesn't take long. It's not a big deal. And watch what happens. Now one of the reasons the book is such a mystery to so many is because they haven't done their homework. Most Christians don't know their Old Testament. The book of Revelation consists of 404 verses that include allusions to over 800 items from the Old Testament. In other words, two to one. It's two to one. For every verse in Revelation there's in effect two allusions to the Old Testament. So if the book seems strange to our ears it's because we haven't spent time in the Old Testament. The more you know your Old Testament the more comfortable this book reads. And it is of course the climax of God's plan for man. And that's exciting for lots of reasons. Let's just take, let's take a look at what it is. Let's read just the first sentence. The revelation, singular, of Jesus Christ. What is it revealing? Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him. Whoops, wait a minute. Time out. God gave this to whom? Jesus. If this sounds a little strange, look who the addressee is. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him. There was a time in Mark 13, verse 32, no man knows the name of the hour, not the angels of heaven, not the son, but the father only. Strange verse. At least at that time, at that moment, the Father knew when Jesus was coming back, He was the only one that did. Whoa, we're on dangerous ground here. You mean there's things the Father knew the Son didn't? I thought they all knew all things. Yeah, I guess so, but that's part of the mystery. It could be that He didn't then, He knows now. I don't know that. You know, I'm not going to quibble with those things, but I just highlight it for your own consideration. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him, why? To show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. That word shortly is actually antaktsai in the Greek. It's the word from which we get the word tachometer. Shortly or quickly in the sense of speedily. It doesn't mean it's going to happen the day after tomorrow. It means when these things start happening, they're going to follow tightly. That's really what the Greek implies. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it, rendered it into signs. Information signers would say he rendered into semims, signs, idioms, whatever. He sent and signified it by his own. his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw."That he saw. Not that he thought or dreamed up. These were things that he wrote down that what he saw. So we're going to see visions. We're going to see many idioms, strange ones perhaps, but these are things that were visual. And they're not necessarily just three-dimensional, but we'll move on. Verse 3 is the verse you want to claim tonight. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Praise God. I'm reading and you're listening, so we're both in good shape. That doesn't mean everything I say is correct. You've got to check that out. But it does mean that if we do this with sincerity and commitment, that a blessing is in store. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy. Not history, prophecy. And it continues, John, now it reads like a memo, corporate memo. John is the, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come. And from the seven spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Whoo! So John is going to put up in front of this document a cover letter. And he's addressing this cover letter to seven churches. We're going to get into those seven churches when we get to the next chapter. But this is sort of a front end cover note, if you will. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. The word Asia there doesn't mean Asia as you and I think of it. It's the Roman province of Asia, which today is that region that we generally associate with Turkey. If you will. The Roman province of Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from him. Now we have a strange set of addresses. Him which is, which was, and which is to come. Who is that? God the Father. And from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Okay, with this first guy, him which is, which was, and which is to come, could mean any of several things. Yehovah, if you will, or Yahweh, or... Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, however you want to say it, or God the Father, that's a possibility. And then we have Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Great. But we have this strange phrase between these two. The seven spirits which are before his throne. If you're a New Testament reader, that sounds strange to your ears. If you know your Old Testament, who is it talking about? The Holy Spirit. So you have the Trinity here. Grace be to you and peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come. I'll call that the Father. From the seven spirits which are before His throne. I'll explain that in the next slide. And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. I want you to notice here in Jesus Christ there's three labels. Faithful witness, first begotten of the dead, prince of the kings of the earth. You'll discover that In chapter 1, there are 24 titles of Jesus Christ, and they're all used as identities somewhere else in the book. So if you're a computer programmer, this is like the data division. These are the data definitions. So if Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, if later on I'm talking about the faithful witness, you don't know what I'm talking about. You see, it's linkages that are being set up here. This is, the book of Revelation is obviously written by a computer programmer. In Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2, there's a passage that wouldn't be familiar to your ears unless you had studied Isaiah 11. But there he speaks of the spirit of Yehovah or Yad-Heh-Vav-Heh. shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. This is the sevenfold spirit of the term that you and I would call the Holy Spirit. He's a he. It's a person. And that's what really is in view. So we really have here a salutation by John that comes from the Trinity in a form that you're probably not familiar with. But let's move on. See we have actually seven spirits listed here. This is the sevenfold spirit of what you and I would lump together as the Holy Spirit. And he continues, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests, unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Whew. John can sure pen it. But I want you to notice an interesting phrase here. He hath made us what? Kings and priests, that is very non-Levitical. The only people that are kings and priests was Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, and who else? You and me, if we're in the church, because of this verse right here. We're going to encounter 24 elders. It's going to be, it's important to understand who the 24 elders are. We'll get to there, deal with that when we get there. In chapter 1, we're not going to go through the whole thing verse by verse. That'll take some time. We'll do that. separately. But the vision of chapter 1 has seven key features. The hair on his head, his eyes, his hair on his head is the same as the one in Daniel 7. His eyes, which show up in Hebrews chapter 1 and 4, is like a flame of fire. 1 Corinthians, also in Malachi. His feet, which is a symbol of the walk, are brass, which speaks of judgment. Remember the brazen serpent in Numbers 21? His voice is as of many waters. Ezekiel uses that phrase several times in chapter 1 and chapter 43. Daniel uses that phrase in chapter 10. These are idioms that speak of Jesus Christ, but from the Old Testament labeling, if you will. And there's seven feet. His right hand are seven stars, yet he's also in the middle. He has seven stars in his hand, yet he's in the midst of the lampstands. So there's a strange double meaning here. He's in the midst and yet we're in his hand. See we are in his hand in one sense and yet he's also in the midst of us. Sounds contradictory and geometrically it would be, but idiomatically it's not. You with me? Out of his mouth comes a two-edged sword. Hebrews does that, Ephesians, Isaiah 49, so forth. He judges the unbeliever in John 12 by his mouth. The earth is smitten in Isaiah 11. by his mouth. The Antichrist is consumed in 2 Thessalonians by his mouth. And his countenance is as the sun, as Matthew 17 at the Transfiguration demonstrates. So there are these seven features of Jesus Christ as he shows up in chapter 1. This is John seeing the vision of Christ and this is his recording of that vision using mostly idioms from the Old Testament. Then we get to verse 19. The book of Revelation is very generous to us because it gives us the outline of the book. Most books, when you sit down to study them, you have to figure out what the outline is. That's your first step to try to understand the book. Revelation gives it for you in verse 19. John is told, write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be metatauta, hereafter, or after these things. These are three categories. The vision of Christ in chapter 1 are the things which, John, you have seen at this point. Right? Right? The things which are. What exists at that moment. These seven churches that are going to be so prominent in the next two chapters. And then the things which shall be hereafter, or metatauta is the Greek term. Which follows after the churches. Chapter 4 verse 1 starts out with the words metatauta, after these things. So verse 19 breaks the book down into three parts. Chapter 1, which you've just seen. Chapters 2 and 3 that we're going to deal with shortly. And then the rest of the book from chapter 4 on, we'll deal with that in our next session. We're going to focus now on chapters 2 and 3, which are among the most fascinating in the book. They're usually overlooked by many people skimming through the book. They're probably in many...I've studied the book for 50 years. The most fascinating part of the book, in many respects, is chapters 2 and 3. There's more stuff hidden there that people miss. Anyway, continue chapter 1 for a moment. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand are the seven golden lampstands. Okay, Jesus himself, the book all the way through, for the most part, identifies the idioms for you. These lampstands, translated candlesticks in the old King James, but fine. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, colon. The seven stars are the messengers or angels of the seven churches. The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven... churches. Are we together? I want you to notice that these lampstands in chapter 2 and 3... He's among them. They're on the earth. Chapter 4 you'll discover they're in heaven. Notice those things as we go. Okay, the seventh churches. These are the things that are. The first question is why these seven? As you go through this list of seven, they're strange names. Ephesus is familiar to us, but Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Why those seven churches? Why those seven? Why did Jesus write those? What happened to the church at Jerusalem? What about the church at Antioch that was the headquarters for the Gentile outreach? What about Iconium, Lystra, Derbe? All these churches you read about next, they're not here. Why these seven? You need to figure that out. Furthermore, something else that's interesting, each of the seven letters has a phrase in it. There's one phrase that's in common to all seven letters. Each letter has this peculiar little code word. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. It may surprise you that these seven letters have at least four levels of meaning. Four levels of meaning. Levels of application. First of all, they really were local churches. This strange phrase that we see in the seven letters occurs, by the way, seven times elsewhere in the New Testament. An interesting exercise to track down every other place that that occurs. Seven times, not by accident. But let's not go too far afield, I'll never make it here. But they really were real churches. Sir William Ramsey, with great effort over many years, researched these seven churches and discovered they really were churches. They really had these kinds of problems. So there is a practical, immediate, local... reason for the letter. Good. Okay. There are actual churches. But there's another level, admonitory. You notice what this says, he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He doesn't say listen to the church, listen to the letter that applies to your church. He expects anybody that has, you know, to, to, this is for all the churches are to read all the letters. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If you're in Philadelphia you want to know what the Spirit said to Laodicea, etc. You follow me? So there's, it's admonitory. There's advice here for churches in their leadership. We're together? Okay. He that hath an ear. How many of you in the room have an earlobe? Can I see a show of hands? Okay. If your hand is up, it's written to you. It's personal. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So this is also... It applies, it applied locally historically. It applied as admonition to churches in general. It also applies to you personally to understand the dilemma and the solution, each of these seven letters. Well that's all pretty straight forward stuff. Let me show you the surprise. This also, these letters, lay out a history of the church. This is the most amazing part of these letters and if they were in any other order, this wouldn't happen. In the order they're in, once you understand the letters, it's astonishing because they lay out seven periods of church history with some surprising precision. Each letter has seven design elements. When you study these seven things, each one has a name of a church, and you'll discover the name of the church turns out to be significant to its message. Each church has a specific message, a specific theme, if you will. The name of the church turns out to be significant to its message. out to be relevant to that. The title that Jesus Christ uses of himself is different for each letter and it's appropriate to the mission of that particular church or the issues that face that church. Then there's a commendation. Hey guys, here's your report card. Here's what you got in the AM. Then there's some areas of concern and there's exhortation. It's like a report card. Let me tell you something that's really interesting about the seven letters in advance. Every church is surprised. The churches that thought they were doing great were doing terribly. The churches that thought they were doing terribly were doing great. You know, that's sobering. People like to organize church, you know, by watching the first century. I wouldn't do that. First century is all screwed up. Everybody there is surprised. If you want to design church governance, go to the Scripture. Go to the book of Acts. Go to this, go to these seven letters and so forth. Anyway, there's seven things. I said there's the name of the church, title of Christ, accommodation, a concern, and exhortation. And then there's a promise to the overcomer. There's a specific little prize for the overcomer. And the seventh element is this weird little phrase. It's almost like it's the close of the letter. It's sort of like a closing passage. Except it's not always closing. There's something very, that most people miss that I want to show you. And I think that's the key. I think it's very significant. So these are seven elements. And we hear the churches. We have Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Each one... name means something and then we'll go through. And we'll just... let's just go through them here. Then each one has a title of Christ and so forth. Let's take the first one, the letter to Ephesus. Under the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand and walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. The name Ephesus... means darling, darling. It's a term of courtship. These things saith he, Jesus Christ, that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven gold and lampstands. He gives them a commendation. I know thy works. Oh, that's wonderful to hear, Lord. I know thy works. and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not and hast found them liars and hast borne and hast patience and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted who we, that's A plus in that category. Done good, guys. You may recall in Acts chapter 20 when Paul gave his farewell address to the Ephesian elders. He warned them that there was going to be wolves coming among you that's going to not spare the flock. He warned about false teachers and so forth. Apparently, Paul's advice was heeded. They apparently were terrific. They did not allow false doctrine. They tried them, which they, the apostles, did not, and found them liars. They did a good job with doctrine. They were shrewd. sharp. They were orthodox. They were also patient. They labored, persevered. Terrific. Well done guys. Whoops, nevertheless. You're before your boss. Your boss says, man, you've really done great. You did this, this, this, this. You're feeling pretty good. Your thumb goes under your suspenders or whatever. Then your boss says, nevertheless, ooh, I mean that's deflating. Inkslip in his right hand. I mean you just see it coming, right? Nevertheless. Heavy word right here. Jesus is saying to them, after all this good stuff, he says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast, what? Left thy first love. Heavy stuff. They were so busy on the business of the king, they had no time for the king. Are you so busy in ministry, helping the poor, doing all this stuff, that you don't have time for personal devotions? Miss the real point. So he goes on, remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy lampstand out of its place except thou repent. Where is Ephesus? Where is their lampstand today? It's a great place to visit because there are elaborate ruins. One of the best of the seven churches to visit, it's really worth doing. It's incredible. But it's ruins. The lampstand isn't there anymore. Anyway, it says, but this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. This is a point of a lot of different scholars of different... Who are the Nicolaitans? There are at least two theories. Some books suggest that... there was a first century sect called the Nicolaitans that abused the liberty in Christ. Found after, it's speculative out of a guy by the name of Nicholas who was one of the seven that was chosen to administer to the church. the poor in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 6. And some feel that he founded a sect and that's really what somehow was involving. That may be true. Some people hold that view. I don't. I suspect something different. I think it's an untranslated word. word. The word negeo means to conquer, overcome, or rule. And the word laity, laos, means laity or people. The word, the Nicolaitans, the term implies conquering or ruling over the people. I believe what was emerging here that Jesus did not like was the whole concept of the clergy ruling over the laity. Jesus gave us our org chart when he dealt with the washing of the feet, you may recall. In John 13, Jesus told us how we should be organized. Let he that's the chief among you be the servant of all. See, I think the Nicolaitans were those that were using their clergy. Their clerical stature to... or position to rule over the laity. And I don't think that was God's plan. I don't see any of that in the Scripture. And having some senior elders do teaching, that's fine. But it doesn't say they rule over the people. You've got deacons to help and there's a whole different concept suggested. I think the formalism that we see in some denominations I think is Nicolaitanism. That's just my personal view. Anyway, then we come to this then because he didn't have to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then we have the promise of the overcomer, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Okay, so there's this unique promise of the overcomer. I want you to notice that this he that hath an ear phrase, which closes the letter, we have the promise of the overcomer as a postscript, like a PS. Follow me? The first three letters have that design. The last four are different. I'll come to that when we get there, but just I want you to notice it here as we go through here. Heed that aphaneer, let them hear what the Spirit says to churches. And then as a postscript, we have the promise to the overcomer. Each promise to the overcomer is unique in each letter. Let's go to the next letter, the letter to Smyrna. The word Smyrna is a synonym for myrrh. Myrrh is an embalming ointment. The word myrrh suggests death. When the Magi visited Bethlehem, they brought three gifts. There weren't three Magi, there were more than that, but there were three gifts. Gold. Frankincense and myrrh. Good. In the millennium, Isaiah tells us, they're going to bring the Lord gifts. They're going to bring Him gold and frankincense. No myrrh. No more myrrh. Why? Because the Bagi were prophesying His death. The millennium, His death is once and for all behind Him. Interesting. I want you to notice these things because it demonstrates the integrity of design of the Scripture. But in any case, the church in Smyrna speaks of death. Interesting letter for a number of reasons. Let's go on. These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Notice the very title Jesus chooses of himself is the one that would be the most encouraging to those that were facing death and persecution. These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. It's interesting that I think the Smyrna listeners were surprised. They're doing better than they thought they were. You say, you thought, I know your works in tribulation and poverty. I know that. But then he tells them, a little footnote, but you are rich. Really? Yeah. And I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. I am very concerned when I hear people feel that the church replaces Israel. Because they're saying they're Jews and are not. If that's what Jesus is talking about, boy, I don't want to trade places with them. Let's move on. Then there's an exhortation. I want you to notice something's missing. Did you notice there was no concern? There's a commendation, and there is an exhortation, some encouragement. But there's no commendation. This is one of two letters that has nothing bad said about it. But Jesus goes on and says, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried. And ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says of the churches. And then we again have a postscript. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. You see, if you're born twice, you die once. If you're only born once, you die twice. I'll let you chew on that one. But I want you to notice that the promise to overcome is a postscript. How interesting. Strange stuff. That's ten days. It's interesting that the persecutions of the church, scholars have suggested that it came in ten specific waves. Nero, Domitian, who was, that's where John was exiled. And... Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Nero is the one that had Peter beheaded. Excuse me, Paul beheaded and Peter crucified upside down. And this 10 days cover about 250 years actually. Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Marcus Aurelius had Polycarp martyred, bishop of Smyrna. And Severus had... Irenaeus, one of the early church fathers, killed. Maximus killed Ursula and Hippolytus. Diocletian was the worst of all of them. But ten days, interestingly enough. Let's go on to the next one. The letter to Pergamos. The word Pergamos, you know what bigamy means? That's two marriages, double marriage, right? Polygamy is multiple marriages, right? Pergamos is a mixed marriage or unfavorable marriage. Like a perversion or whatever. Under the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Jesus is talking about his weaponry here. What's the sharp sword with two edges? What is it? The word of God. You betcha. The remedy for this church is the word of God. Jesus goes on. I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days where Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. May not sound like it, but that's the good news. Let's get to the bad news. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Now to get these letters you have to know your Old Testament. Who on earth was... what was the doctrine of Balaam? What was all that about? Balaam was a prophet that was hired by Balak, the enemy of Israel. How do I beat these people? And Balaam knew that the only way this king could defeat Israel is for Israel to be out of favor with God. So Balaam counsels Balak to get his good looking gals along the fringe of the camp and get these guys into fornication. with these pagan gals. And if you do that, Balak, God's head will turn against Israel and you'll win. So Balak is giving, Balaam is giving Balak the doctrine that will put a stumbling block before Israel. And so Jesus... Jesus is making an analogy here between that and the situation in Pergamos where they're mixing idolatry. They're faithful on the one hand and yet they're mixing idolatry with their worship. They're marrying the world rather than being a witness to the world. That's where the Pergamos aspect. So to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. In other words, to compromise with the world. And it goes on, so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Previously it was the deeds of the Nicolaitans God hated. Now they've become the doctrine. Do you see the evolution of it going there? Okay. So here's the excitation, repent. Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Oh, oh. Well, of course, the doctrine of Balaam is the spiritual unchastity, marriage with the world. We also find the way of Balaam mentioned in 2 Peter. That's where Balaam was a hireling. Making a market for his gift. There's a doctrine of the way and the error. These are three similar things and yet technically slightly different. The error of Balaam, which is mentioned in Jude 11, is sacrificing eternal riches for temporal gain. So all three involve the same thing. They're slightly different aspects of the same actions in a sense. When we get to the he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. Churches, and again we have a postscript. To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. So there ends the letter to Pergamos. Let's take the Thyatira. Thyatira was formally named Semiramis. And Semiramis of course was the consort of Nimrod, the first dictator of the world back in Genesis 10 and 11. Under the angel of the church at Thyatira write, these things saith the Son of God. Strange term. I mean, he's used other titles. Why so specific? We're going to find the key player here is a gal by the name of Jezebel who calls herself the queen of heaven. He's saying, these things saith the son of God in contrast to the queen of heaven. Follow it so far. These things saith the son of God who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. Eyes flaming and feet like brass implies judgment coming. So this is a hostile letter. Probably the most hostile of the bunch. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and patience, and thy works, and the last to me more than the first. That's the good part. But here's the concern. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed unto idols. I gave her spent to repay of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. So what on earth is Jezebel all about? He's using that term as a label. I don't know that the gal that was causing the trouble in the church, her name was Jezebel. He's calling her a Jezebel in effect. She may have been named Jezebel or he may be just drawing your awareness to the scriptural Jezebel to understand what was she all about. You with me? Let's find out a little bit about Queen Jezebel. For this you would turn into 1 Kings 21. She did a lot of things. First of all, King Ahab. ...had everything he wanted. He's a king. He runs the place. But there was a little guy by the name of Naboth that had a little vineyard. And he loved that vineyard. And Ahab wanted the vineyard and Naboth didn't want to sell it. And King Ahab had a fit. He went into a pout. And Jezebel says, hey, let me handle it for you. What does Jezebel do? Well she arranges an inquisition. She got some false accuser to accuse Naboth of some improprieties and had him put to death and took his lands in the name of the king and said, hey, Ahab, here's my gift to you. So false witnesses, condemned, executed. And Naboth's vineyard was seized for the king. Does this sound familiar? Regarding history, where you contrive inquisitions to gain lands and wealth for the church, that's the parallel here. And I want you to notice God promised Jezebel that she would be cast into the tribulation. I'll come back to that a little later. Jesus continues, I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He that searcheth the range of the hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, Wow, as they speak, I will put upon you no other burden, but that which ye have already hold fast till I come. Then he has a promise to the overcomer. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. See, they apparently wanted power over the nations before. That wasn't appropriate then, but if they hang in there, he'll give it to them later. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. You notice now the promise of the overcomer is put in the body of the letter, not a postscript. Follow me? See the difference? First time we've seen that. Let's go to Sardis. The angel of the church of Sardis writes, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. You know, you look at the title, you can just infer by now that the title gives you a clue as to what the remedy is. Whatever Sardis'problem is, it's apparently the Holy Spirit that is the repair. Jesus says, I know thy works. Whoops. Where's the commendation? Usually the commendation comes first, right? There's no commendation in this letter. Ooh, this hurts. Many Protestant commentators make a big thing trying to tie Thyatira to the Roman Catholic Church. That's easy to do, by the way. If that's true, then Sardis is the Reformation. Sardis has nothing good said about it. Ooh, careful. He says, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Ooh. The word name echoes all through this letter. Name, name, name. That's a synonym for the denomination. His exhortation, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that they are ready to die. For I have not found thy works complete or perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief. Really? Apparently if you are watching you won't be as a thief. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Is the denominational church asleep today prophetically? How strange. The exhortation continues. Thou hast a few names, even in Tartus, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Who is they? The few names. Not everyone. Then the promise of the overcomer. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. And then the closing salutation. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Ask any church and they'll tell you they're part of Philadelphia, of course, because it's the one that has nothing bad said about it. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia by the way means brotherly love, as you probably know that. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. This is the missionary church. When God opens a door, the door is open. Like it is in Asia right now. Boy, exciting. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not. There they are again. They say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Man, that's pretty neat. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. No concerns, by the way. This is the commendation still going. But this verse, verse 10, is a key eschatological verse. What is Jesus saying to the church of Philadelphia? Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour or time of the temptation or tribulation or testing. Not from... I won't keep you from the testing. I'll keep you from the time of the testing. See the difference? It's one thing to be protected through the... It's quite another to be protected from the time of. See the difference? I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. One of the things you'll discover if you study the book of Revelation, there are two groups of people, those that are saved and the earth dwellers. All the way through the book of Revelation those that dwell on the earth are the losers. They're lost. So you don't catch it unless you read the whole book. You'll see that phrase again and again and again, them that dwell upon the earth. They don't just live on the earth. They don't happen to be physically on the earth. They dwell upon the earth. That's the concept. You and I are not earth dwellers. We may be here, but our allegiance is elsewhere. We're passing through. We're pilgrims. Here they're talking about the earth dwellers. This time, I'll keep you from the time of tribulation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. That's not us. For two reasons. If we don't dwell on the earth, then certainly we will be, that's what he's saying, we'll be raptured. It's a great passage. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. You may not be able to lose your salvation, but you certainly lose your rewards. Be careful about that. Then the promise to the overcomer, him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is in the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. And then he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says in the churches. There again the promise to the overcomer is in the body of the letter. Then we get to the last one. Laodicea. Laodicea means people. Laodicea means rule. This is where the people rule. Really? I thought Christ is supposed to rule the church. No, these churches do market research to make sure they're user friendly. These are churches that the people rule. Not the Word of God. Let's see what Christ says about the letter to Laodicea. Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things sayeth the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. That doesn't mean he was created. That means he was at the beginning in the creation. We know that from Colossians. Don't miss it. Don't let that... It's an interesting phrase, by the way. That title of Christ is used in only two letters. It's used in this and it's also used in Colossians. I'll come back to that later. Jesus goes on, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Yuck! Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. A friend of mine pointed out to me, you know, a lot of us are familiar with what we call the name it and claim it gospel. The people on television that raise money, you know, if you're sick it's because you don't have enough faith. And if you're in Christ then you should be rich and wealthy and it's the wealth, it's the wealth faith. You know, we call it the name it and claim it, the blab and grab it guys. Had a friend of mine say, you know, they're scriptural. I says, what? He rattled off some of the leaders of that figure. Yeah, they're all scriptural. What do you mean? He says, sure. Because they say they're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. That's what they're saying, right? They have need of nothing. You can tell by the Rolex watches and the limousines that, you know, have need of nothing. He knows not that he's wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked as far as Christ is concerned. These are the Laodiceans. His exhortation. Notice, by the way, there's no commendation here. Just concerns and exhortation. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and thou that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see."He's using that idiomatically of course. You want riches and garments and ability to see, invest in me, not these worldly things. That's what he's really saying. He's using them idiomatically. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent. Now we get into verse 20. This is one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture as you normally hear it. How many of you have heard this verse? Behold, Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. Isn't that beautiful? That's a fabulous verse. It's used by evangelists all over the world. when used as a single verse. That's legitimate, no problem. However, if you put this in the context of this letter, it's a scathing indictment. Why do I say that? Let's take a look at the church at Laodicea. Where is Jesus Christ? Outside knocking to get in. And His invitation is not to the church. It's to an individual. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. It's individual. An invitation coming from outside the church to the individual. That's an indictment of Laodicea. You see what I'm saying? He goes on then, promises to overcome. To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with me on my throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his throne. That's where Jesus is today. The day will come when the Father will say to the Son, go get him. That's where he is today. And then he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says in the churches. Those are seven letters. Now you notice. I'm going to read this one. That each one of these letters, typically a name, a title of Christ that was used, commendation, concerns, and exhortation. It's interesting that two letters had no, nothing good said about them. Sardis didn't, and Laodicea didn't. Those two letters are devoid of anything good. No A on their report cards. So if the Protestant commentators like to make mincemeat of Thyatira, they better take a good look at Sardis. It's worse off in a sense. And there are two letters that had no concerns. Smyrna, hey you're doing fine you guys, just hang in there. And Philadelphia are the two star witnesses here. Isn't that great? But something else is interesting, that he that hath an ear... in the first three letters, the promise to the overcomer is a postscript. In the last four letters, the promise to the overcomer is in the body of the letter. There's another distinct of the last four letters I'll show you. Let's go ahead another way. If we take these seven letters, Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphus, Ephesus is descriptive of the apostolic church. Strict on doctrine but forgot their first love. Smyrna is the persecuted church, suffering death, willingly being burnt alive for the sake of the gospel. And Pergamos is when the church marries the world, or the world marries the church. They were called to be separate, a testimony to the church, not to the world, not to be part of it. So in Pergamos the church marries the world. And that of course leads to what I'll call for lack of a better term, the medieval church. Inheriting the state church that then pursues temporal power. And then we have the reformation which leads to what we might call collectively the denominational churches. And they of course, then we have the Missionary Church and we have the Apostate Church. That's forgotten what the name of the game is. That's pretty exciting. Okay. What's interesting is this first three are a group and the promises to the overcomer are postscripted. That suggests to me that they have a historical termination. These last four, the promises are in the body of the letter, which causes me to suggest that they endure to the end, historically. There's another thing that the last four letters have, the first three don't. Each one of the last four letters has an explicit reference to the second coming of Christ. It's alluded to in the letter. And it's conspicuous by omission in the first three. But there's more to that. Thyatira is explicitly promised to go into the tribulation. Jezebel, I'll cast you and all them in bed with you into the great tribulation. Philadelphia has explicitly promised that it would not. It would be delivered from the time of trial. So it would seem that Philadelphia is consistent in that sense, that it's raptured out. What happens to Sardis and Laodicea is problematic. It's suspected, obviously it depends on individual issues, as they all do actually. Something else that's kind of interesting, in Revelation 2 and 3 we have seven letters penned by Jesus Christ. In Matthew 13 we have seven parables given to the disciples and the Lord says these are things hidden from the foundation of the world, which means they're not in the Old Testament, which means they're about the church. It's interesting how these seven parables map against the seven letters. Let's just take a couple to make the point because our time is short. The third letter to Pergamos is comparable to the mustard seed. Mustard seeds, if you've been in Israel, you need the little bushes that grow about two, three feet high that are yellow all over the fields in the spring. Those are mustard plants. Little tiny seed grows to plant about three feet high. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like... A mustard seed that grows into a tree that is so big that the birds of the air lodge in its branches. Have you seen a bird lodged in branches in a three foot high thing? No. And furthermore, the birds in the parables in the sower are the devil's ministers. If you're looking for the ministers of Satan, don't overlook the pulpits. That apparently is what's happening in Pergamos. Thyatira. In the one case it was the woman Jezebel in the letters. In Matthew 13 it's the woman in the leaven. And you need to understand the Jewishness of this. The leaven was the fellowship offering. The woman put leaven in the fellowship offering, which if you're Jewish you'd gasp in horror. Leaven is always a type of sin. So again there's a parallelism, if you will, between Jezebel's false doctrine and the woman and the leaven in the parables there. Let's skip to Philadelphia. The parallel one there is the pearl of great price. Jesus talks about the pearl of great price. Very strange idiom for Jesus to use because He was Jewish. An oyster is not kosher. What is he talking about here? The pearl. What a beautiful analogy. The pearl is the only jewel that is a response to irritation, that grows by accretion, and is removed from its place of growth to become an item of adornment. Talk about the church being raptured. Man, there you go. Anyway, you can go all through these, but some are a little technical. They give you the flavor. Let's go one step further. Jesus wrote seven letters to seven churches. So did Paul. He wrote to Ephesus. That one's easy. They parallel pretty well. He wrote a letter to Smyrna. Paul wrote to Philippians. Joy through suffering, remember? Pergamos. Is there a church that Paul wrote to that was worldly? Sure, to be a Corinthian was a way of calling a person a fornicator. And of course, Thyatira, religious externalism, the call out of that being Galatians. Sardis, the denomination, the word of God to be your support. We have the definitive statement of the gospel. Philadelphia, Thessalonians, parallel to that, the rapture and all of that. And Laodicea and Colossians were suburbs of one another. They were explicitly instructed to exchange letters. Interesting how the... I'll let you play with that. Remember we had it outlined, the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, the things which shall be hereafter. Vision of Christ was chapter 1, the things you have seen. The things which are, the seven churches we've just gone through. Then we get to the third section, the things which shall be hereafter. The word hereafter in the Greek is metatauta, means after these things. We've been through chapters 2 and 3. When you get to chapter 4... The first word is metatauta, after these things in the Greek. Chapter 4, when we get there, we'll open up, after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said, come up hither and I'll show you things which must be metatauta. There's that term again. So from here on is the third section of the book. Now, boy there's so much here. Well, we'll deal with that when we get to the next session. But anyway, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Wait a minute, I thought these lamps were on the earth. Not anymore. Come up hither. I believe this is a milestone of the rapture. Paul, excuse me, John is treated to a glimpse ahead of what it'll be like at the rapture. That's really what we're seeing here. And the first voice I heard was a trumpet talking with me. The trumpet of God. And when you get to chapter 5, there's a very pivotal passage in the entire scripture. John is up there in heaven and he says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a scroll written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Written within and on the backside. You didn't usually read right on the backside of a scroll. It was the rough side. But if it was a title deed, the rules by which it could be opened were written there. This implies it's a title deed. That occurs in Jeremiah and elsewhere. John says, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals thereof. Word goes out, huh? Notice the strange verse 3. And no man in heaven. No man. It had to be a man. Why? It had to be a kinsman of Adam to be eligible to open this book. No man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look thereon. Now you and I don't understand what's going on, but John did because he says what in the next verse? I sobbed convulsively. I wept much, he said, because no man was found. ...worthy to open and to read the scroll, and neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look thereon. So John understood this is tragic, this is scary. Because no man, it took a man and no man was worthy to do this. So he's panicked. One of the elders said to me, Hey, weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood the Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. Who is this guy? A lamb? Yes, but what is his title? The Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is what Matthew spends his gospel establishing. The Root of David. Yes, He was the Lamb that had been slain. The Lamb as it had been slain. Not a Lamb, the Lamb as it had been slain. The entire universe pivots on this historical event. The book of Leviticus lays down the specifications. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not a tragedy, it was an achievement. And because of that achievement, there is a man eligible to take this title deed. That was God's plan from the beginning. And Satan's attempt to thwart that plan included trying to contaminate the human race to prevent a man being eligible to do this. So we have the apocalypse, which will, the catastrophic end crisis is going to be in the next session. The spectacular reappearance of the King of Kings in his global empire will be the center point. The internment of Satan in the Abuso, we'll talk about that. And the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. It's astonishing how few churches embrace this biblical view. And then of course the final insurrection when Satan is finally released and the final, fortunately, the abolition of sin. And we'll see a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem that concludes it. So let's stand for a closing word of prayer. Exciting passages of an exciting book. It's frustrating to try to summarize it so briefly and yet there's a value in having the whole thing in view so I submit that to you. But I do encourage you to undertake, when you can, a verse by verse exposition of the book of Revelation. If you do it properly it will take you into every other book of the Bible. It's a very, very... it's something you don't do in an hour or two. It's a lifetime pursuit. But I encourage you in that direction because it will be a continual blessing. Let's bow our hearts. Father, we just rejoice in getting a glimpse of the final chapters. We thank you that you've gone to such extremes that we might live. We thank you that there is a man right now, today, sitting on the throne. We thank you that he is worthy to open the seals and look thereon. We thank you that we are the beneficiaries of these extremes that you've gone to, that we don't deserve, but are we grateful for. Father, we would just pray that you take our lives without any reservation. Illuminate that path before us. Let us know precisely what you'd have of each of us in the days that remain, that we might be more pleasing in your sight, that we might be more fruitful stewards of these opportunities. That we might grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, in whose name we commit ourselves this night. Amen.

We went through the 13 epistles that are ascribed to Paul. We went through the 8 epistles that are the so-called Jewish Christian epistles. But now we come to that book which among all the other books ties it all together. Everything that started in Genesis is wrapped up in the book of Revelation.

In fact one of the most astonishing discoveries that I hope you are in the process of making as we do these things is to recognize, discover the unity. ...of the entire package. 66 books penned by 40 guys over virtually 2,000 years, and yet it's integrated in its design. There are aspects throughout the book that anticipate what needs to be there in order for Revelation to make sense.

And so here we go. It's interesting that the Old Testament, of course, Christ appears in prophecy. In the Gospels, Christ appears in history.

In the book of Acts, Christ appears in the church. And of course in the epistles we see Christ in actual experience. And then of course in the apocalypse we're going to see Christ coming in glory. So in a sense the Old Testament said, behold he comes.

The gospels say, behold he dies. Acts says, behold he lives. Epistles, behold he saves. And we're going to see, behold he reigns.

Christ is actually going to reign in this book. Anyone that wants to deny that has huge problems with Revelation. That's why many pastors try to avoid the book because it confronts some issues they're not prepared to deal with. I want you to first to notice the name of the book. It's a singular, not plural.

You often, for some reason, you always see people say revelations. Whenever you hear that S, when you see it as a plural, you know immediately they have never taken a study of the book. All they know is somehow a collection of visions, so that's why they think it's plural.

No, it's singular. It is the unveiling. The word revelation in the Apocalypse means the unveiling.

And it is the consummation of all things. It's the only book in the Bible that has the audacity to say, read me, I'm special. No other book in the Bible has the chutzpah, if I can use the Jewish term, to say, read me, I'm better than the other guys.

Lots of places in the Bible it says, search the scriptures, study the word of God, all those broad, the phrase always, embrace the whole thing. This is the only book that says, hey, read me and you are entitled to a very special blessing. So if you're really in the mood for a blessing, no matter how down you are, no matter what you're doing, if you need just... you're just one of those days you need a blessing, stop, read the book of Revelation.

Doesn't take long. It's not a big deal. And watch what happens.

Now one of the reasons the book is such a mystery to so many is because they haven't done their homework. Most Christians don't know their Old Testament. The book of Revelation consists of 404 verses that include allusions to over 800 items from the Old Testament.

In other words, two to one. It's two to one. For every verse in Revelation there's in effect two allusions to the Old Testament.

So if the book seems strange to our ears it's because we haven't spent time in the Old Testament. The more you know your Old Testament the more comfortable this book reads. And it is of course the climax of God's plan for man.

And that's exciting for lots of reasons. Let's just take, let's take a look at what it is. Let's read just the first sentence.

The revelation, singular, of Jesus Christ. What is it revealing? Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.

Whoops, wait a minute. Time out. God gave this to whom? Jesus. If this sounds a little strange, look who the addressee is.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him. There was a time in Mark 13, verse 32, no man knows the name of the hour, not the angels of heaven, not the son, but the father only. Strange verse. At least at that time, at that moment, the Father knew when Jesus was coming back, He was the only one that did. Whoa, we're on dangerous ground here.

You mean there's things the Father knew the Son didn't? I thought they all knew all things. Yeah, I guess so, but that's part of the mystery. It could be that He didn't then, He knows now. I don't know that.

You know, I'm not going to quibble with those things, but I just highlight it for your own consideration. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him, why? To show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. That word shortly is actually antaktsai in the Greek.

It's the word from which we get the word tachometer. Shortly or quickly in the sense of speedily. It doesn't mean it's going to happen the day after tomorrow. It means when these things start happening, they're going to follow tightly. That's really what the Greek implies.

The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it, rendered it into signs. Information signers would say he rendered into semims, signs, idioms, whatever.

He sent and signified it by his own. his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw."That he saw. Not that he thought or dreamed up. These were things that he wrote down that what he saw. So we're going to see visions. We're going to see many idioms, strange ones perhaps, but these are things that were visual. And they're not necessarily just three-dimensional, but we'll move on. Verse 3 is the verse you want to claim tonight. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Praise God. I'm reading and you're listening, so we're both in good shape. That doesn't mean everything I say is correct. You've got to check that out. But it does mean that if we do this with sincerity and commitment, that a blessing is in store. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy. Not history, prophecy. And it continues, John, now it reads like a memo, corporate memo. John is the, to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come. And from the seven spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. Whoo! So John is going to put up in front of this document a cover letter. And he's addressing this cover letter to seven churches. We're going to get into those seven churches when we get to the next chapter. But this is sort of a front end cover note, if you will. John to the seven churches which are in Asia. The word Asia there doesn't mean Asia as you and I think of it. It's the Roman province of Asia, which today is that region that we generally associate with Turkey. If you will. The Roman province of Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from him. Now we have a strange set of addresses. Him which is, which was, and which is to come. Who is that? God the Father. And from the seven spirits which are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Okay, with this first guy, him which is, which was, and which is to come, could mean any of several things. Yehovah, if you will, or Yahweh, or... Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh, however you want to say it, or God the Father, that's a possibility. And then we have Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Great. But we have this strange phrase between these two. The seven spirits which are before his throne. If you're a New Testament reader, that sounds strange to your ears. If you know your Old Testament, who is it talking about? The Holy Spirit. So you have the Trinity here. Grace be to you and peace from Him which is and which was and which is to come. I'll call that the Father. From the seven spirits which are before His throne. I'll explain that in the next slide. And from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth. I want you to notice here in Jesus Christ there's three labels. Faithful witness, first begotten of the dead, prince of the kings of the earth. You'll discover that In chapter 1, there are 24 titles of Jesus Christ, and they're all used as identities somewhere else in the book. So if you're a computer programmer, this is like the data division. These are the data definitions. So if Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, if later on I'm talking about the faithful witness, you don't know what I'm talking about. You see, it's linkages that are being set up here. This is, the book of Revelation is obviously written by a computer programmer. In Isaiah chapter 11 verse 2, there's a passage that wouldn't be familiar to your ears unless you had studied Isaiah 11. But there he speaks of the spirit of Yehovah or Yad-Heh-Vav-Heh. shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. This is the sevenfold spirit of the term that you and I would call the Holy Spirit. He's a he. It's a person. And that's what really is in view. So we really have here a salutation by John that comes from the Trinity in a form that you're probably not familiar with. But let's move on. See we have actually seven spirits listed here. This is the sevenfold spirit of what you and I would lump together as the Holy Spirit. And he continues, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and hath made us kings and priests, unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Whew. John can sure pen it. But I want you to notice an interesting phrase here. He hath made us what? Kings and priests, that is very non-Levitical. The only people that are kings and priests was Melchizedek, Jesus Christ, and who else? You and me, if we're in the church, because of this verse right here. We're going to encounter 24 elders. It's going to be, it's important to understand who the 24 elders are. We'll get to there, deal with that when we get there. In chapter 1, we're not going to go through the whole thing verse by verse. That'll take some time. We'll do that. separately. But the vision of chapter 1 has seven key features. The hair on his head, his eyes, his hair on his head is the same as the one in Daniel 7. His eyes, which show up in Hebrews chapter 1 and 4, is like a flame of fire. 1 Corinthians, also in Malachi. His feet, which is a symbol of the walk, are brass, which speaks of judgment. Remember the brazen serpent in Numbers 21? His voice is as of many waters. Ezekiel uses that phrase several times in chapter 1 and chapter 43. Daniel uses that phrase in chapter 10. These are idioms that speak of Jesus Christ, but from the Old Testament labeling, if you will. And there's seven feet. His right hand are seven stars, yet he's also in the middle. He has seven stars in his hand, yet he's in the midst of the lampstands. So there's a strange double meaning here. He's in the midst and yet we're in his hand. See we are in his hand in one sense and yet he's also in the midst of us. Sounds contradictory and geometrically it would be, but idiomatically it's not. You with me? Out of his mouth comes a two-edged sword. Hebrews does that, Ephesians, Isaiah 49, so forth. He judges the unbeliever in John 12 by his mouth. The earth is smitten in Isaiah 11. by his mouth. The Antichrist is consumed in 2 Thessalonians by his mouth. And his countenance is as the sun, as Matthew 17 at the Transfiguration demonstrates. So there are these seven features of Jesus Christ as he shows up in chapter 1. This is John seeing the vision of Christ and this is his recording of that vision using mostly idioms from the Old Testament. Then we get to verse 19. The book of Revelation is very generous to us because it gives us the outline of the book. Most books, when you sit down to study them, you have to figure out what the outline is. That's your first step to try to understand the book. Revelation gives it for you in verse 19. John is told, write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be metatauta, hereafter, or after these things. These are three categories. The vision of Christ in chapter 1 are the things which, John, you have seen at this point. Right? Right? The things which are. What exists at that moment. These seven churches that are going to be so prominent in the next two chapters. And then the things which shall be hereafter, or metatauta is the Greek term. Which follows after the churches. Chapter 4 verse 1 starts out with the words metatauta, after these things. So verse 19 breaks the book down into three parts. Chapter 1, which you've just seen. Chapters 2 and 3 that we're going to deal with shortly. And then the rest of the book from chapter 4 on, we'll deal with that in our next session. We're going to focus now on chapters 2 and 3, which are among the most fascinating in the book. They're usually overlooked by many people skimming through the book. They're probably in many...I've studied the book for 50 years. The most fascinating part of the book, in many respects, is chapters 2 and 3. There's more stuff hidden there that people miss. Anyway, continue chapter 1 for a moment. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand are the seven golden lampstands. Okay, Jesus himself, the book all the way through, for the most part, identifies the idioms for you. These lampstands, translated candlesticks in the old King James, but fine. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, colon. The seven stars are the messengers or angels of the seven churches. The seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven... churches. Are we together? I want you to notice that these lampstands in chapter 2 and 3... He's among them. They're on the earth. Chapter 4 you'll discover they're in heaven. Notice those things as we go. Okay, the seventh churches. These are the things that are. The first question is why these seven? As you go through this list of seven, they're strange names. Ephesus is familiar to us, but Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Why those seven churches? Why those seven? Why did Jesus write those? What happened to the church at Jerusalem? What about the church at Antioch that was the headquarters for the Gentile outreach? What about Iconium, Lystra, Derbe? All these churches you read about next, they're not here. Why these seven? You need to figure that out. Furthermore, something else that's interesting, each of the seven letters has a phrase in it. There's one phrase that's in common to all seven letters. Each letter has this peculiar little code word. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. It may surprise you that these seven letters have at least four levels of meaning. Four levels of meaning. Levels of application. First of all, they really were local churches. This strange phrase that we see in the seven letters occurs, by the way, seven times elsewhere in the New Testament. An interesting exercise to track down every other place that that occurs. Seven times, not by accident. But let's not go too far afield, I'll never make it here. But they really were real churches. Sir William Ramsey, with great effort over many years, researched these seven churches and discovered they really were churches. They really had these kinds of problems. So there is a practical, immediate, local... reason for the letter. Good. Okay. There are actual churches. But there's another level, admonitory. You notice what this says, he that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He doesn't say listen to the church, listen to the letter that applies to your church. He expects anybody that has, you know, to, to, this is for all the churches are to read all the letters. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches. If you're in Philadelphia you want to know what the Spirit said to Laodicea, etc. You follow me? So there's, it's admonitory. There's advice here for churches in their leadership. We're together? Okay. He that hath an ear. How many of you in the room have an earlobe? Can I see a show of hands? Okay. If your hand is up, it's written to you. It's personal. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So this is also... It applies, it applied locally historically. It applied as admonition to churches in general. It also applies to you personally to understand the dilemma and the solution, each of these seven letters. Well that's all pretty straight forward stuff. Let me show you the surprise. This also, these letters, lay out a history of the church. This is the most amazing part of these letters and if they were in any other order, this wouldn't happen. In the order they're in, once you understand the letters, it's astonishing because they lay out seven periods of church history with some surprising precision. Each letter has seven design elements. When you study these seven things, each one has a name of a church, and you'll discover the name of the church turns out to be significant to its message. Each church has a specific message, a specific theme, if you will. The name of the church turns out to be significant to its message. out to be relevant to that. The title that Jesus Christ uses of himself is different for each letter and it's appropriate to the mission of that particular church or the issues that face that church. Then there's a commendation. Hey guys, here's your report card. Here's what you got in the AM. Then there's some areas of concern and there's exhortation. It's like a report card. Let me tell you something that's really interesting about the seven letters in advance. Every church is surprised. The churches that thought they were doing great were doing terribly. The churches that thought they were doing terribly were doing great. You know, that's sobering. People like to organize church, you know, by watching the first century. I wouldn't do that. First century is all screwed up. Everybody there is surprised. If you want to design church governance, go to the Scripture. Go to the book of Acts. Go to this, go to these seven letters and so forth. Anyway, there's seven things. I said there's the name of the church, title of Christ, accommodation, a concern, and exhortation. And then there's a promise to the overcomer. There's a specific little prize for the overcomer. And the seventh element is this weird little phrase. It's almost like it's the close of the letter. It's sort of like a closing passage. Except it's not always closing. There's something very, that most people miss that I want to show you. And I think that's the key. I think it's very significant. So these are seven elements. And we hear the churches. We have Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. Each one... name means something and then we'll go through. And we'll just... let's just go through them here. Then each one has a title of Christ and so forth. Let's take the first one, the letter to Ephesus. Under the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand and walketh in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. The name Ephesus... means darling, darling. It's a term of courtship. These things saith he, Jesus Christ, that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven gold and lampstands. He gives them a commendation. I know thy works. Oh, that's wonderful to hear, Lord. I know thy works. and thy labor and thy patience and how thou canst not bear them which are evil and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles and are not and hast found them liars and hast borne and hast patience and for my name's sake hast labored and hast not fainted who we, that's A plus in that category. Done good, guys. You may recall in Acts chapter 20 when Paul gave his farewell address to the Ephesian elders. He warned them that there was going to be wolves coming among you that's going to not spare the flock. He warned about false teachers and so forth. Apparently, Paul's advice was heeded. They apparently were terrific. They did not allow false doctrine. They tried them, which they, the apostles, did not, and found them liars. They did a good job with doctrine. They were shrewd. sharp. They were orthodox. They were also patient. They labored, persevered. Terrific. Well done guys. Whoops, nevertheless. You're before your boss. Your boss says, man, you've really done great. You did this, this, this, this. You're feeling pretty good. Your thumb goes under your suspenders or whatever. Then your boss says, nevertheless, ooh, I mean that's deflating. Inkslip in his right hand. I mean you just see it coming, right? Nevertheless. Heavy word right here. Jesus is saying to them, after all this good stuff, he says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast, what? Left thy first love. Heavy stuff. They were so busy on the business of the king, they had no time for the king. Are you so busy in ministry, helping the poor, doing all this stuff, that you don't have time for personal devotions? Miss the real point. So he goes on, remember therefore, from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works or else I will come unto thee quickly and will remove thy lampstand out of its place except thou repent. Where is Ephesus? Where is their lampstand today? It's a great place to visit because there are elaborate ruins. One of the best of the seven churches to visit, it's really worth doing. It's incredible. But it's ruins. The lampstand isn't there anymore. Anyway, it says, but this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. This is a point of a lot of different scholars of different... Who are the Nicolaitans? There are at least two theories. Some books suggest that... there was a first century sect called the Nicolaitans that abused the liberty in Christ. Found after, it's speculative out of a guy by the name of Nicholas who was one of the seven that was chosen to administer to the church. the poor in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 6. And some feel that he founded a sect and that's really what somehow was involving. That may be true. Some people hold that view. I don't. I suspect something different. I think it's an untranslated word. word. The word negeo means to conquer, overcome, or rule. And the word laity, laos, means laity or people. The word, the Nicolaitans, the term implies conquering or ruling over the people. I believe what was emerging here that Jesus did not like was the whole concept of the clergy ruling over the laity. Jesus gave us our org chart when he dealt with the washing of the feet, you may recall. In John 13, Jesus told us how we should be organized. Let he that's the chief among you be the servant of all. See, I think the Nicolaitans were those that were using their clergy. Their clerical stature to... or position to rule over the laity. And I don't think that was God's plan. I don't see any of that in the Scripture. And having some senior elders do teaching, that's fine. But it doesn't say they rule over the people. You've got deacons to help and there's a whole different concept suggested. I think the formalism that we see in some denominations I think is Nicolaitanism. That's just my personal view. Anyway, then we come to this then because he didn't have to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. And then we have the promise of the overcomer, to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Okay, so there's this unique promise of the overcomer. I want you to notice that this he that hath an ear phrase, which closes the letter, we have the promise of the overcomer as a postscript, like a PS. Follow me? The first three letters have that design. The last four are different. I'll come to that when we get there, but just I want you to notice it here as we go through here. Heed that aphaneer, let them hear what the Spirit says to churches. And then as a postscript, we have the promise to the overcomer. Each promise to the overcomer is unique in each letter. Let's go to the next letter, the letter to Smyrna. The word Smyrna is a synonym for myrrh. Myrrh is an embalming ointment. The word myrrh suggests death. When the Magi visited Bethlehem, they brought three gifts. There weren't three Magi, there were more than that, but there were three gifts. Gold. Frankincense and myrrh. Good. In the millennium, Isaiah tells us, they're going to bring the Lord gifts. They're going to bring Him gold and frankincense. No myrrh. No more myrrh. Why? Because the Bagi were prophesying His death. The millennium, His death is once and for all behind Him. Interesting. I want you to notice these things because it demonstrates the integrity of design of the Scripture. But in any case, the church in Smyrna speaks of death. Interesting letter for a number of reasons. Let's go on. These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Notice the very title Jesus chooses of himself is the one that would be the most encouraging to those that were facing death and persecution. These things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. It's interesting that I think the Smyrna listeners were surprised. They're doing better than they thought they were. You say, you thought, I know your works in tribulation and poverty. I know that. But then he tells them, a little footnote, but you are rich. Really? Yeah. And I know the blasphemy of them that say they are Jews and are not, but are of the synagogue of Satan. I am very concerned when I hear people feel that the church replaces Israel. Because they're saying they're Jews and are not. If that's what Jesus is talking about, boy, I don't want to trade places with them. Let's move on. Then there's an exhortation. I want you to notice something's missing. Did you notice there was no concern? There's a commendation, and there is an exhortation, some encouragement. But there's no commendation. This is one of two letters that has nothing bad said about it. But Jesus goes on and says, fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried. And ye shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says of the churches. And then we again have a postscript. He that overcometh shall not be heard of the second death. You see, if you're born twice, you die once. If you're only born once, you die twice. I'll let you chew on that one. But I want you to notice that the promise to overcome is a postscript. How interesting. Strange stuff. That's ten days. It's interesting that the persecutions of the church, scholars have suggested that it came in ten specific waves. Nero, Domitian, who was, that's where John was exiled. And... Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Nero is the one that had Peter beheaded. Excuse me, Paul beheaded and Peter crucified upside down. And this 10 days cover about 250 years actually. Trajan had Ignatius burned at the stake. Marcus Aurelius had Polycarp martyred, bishop of Smyrna. And Severus had... Irenaeus, one of the early church fathers, killed. Maximus killed Ursula and Hippolytus. Diocletian was the worst of all of them. But ten days, interestingly enough. Let's go on to the next one. The letter to Pergamos. The word Pergamos, you know what bigamy means? That's two marriages, double marriage, right? Polygamy is multiple marriages, right? Pergamos is a mixed marriage or unfavorable marriage. Like a perversion or whatever. Under the angel of the church in Pergamos write, These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges. Jesus is talking about his weaponry here. What's the sharp sword with two edges? What is it? The word of God. You betcha. The remedy for this church is the word of God. Jesus goes on. I know thy works and where thou dwellest, even where Satan's seat is. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days where Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain among you where Satan dwelleth. May not sound like it, but that's the good news. Let's get to the bad news. But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Now to get these letters you have to know your Old Testament. Who on earth was... what was the doctrine of Balaam? What was all that about? Balaam was a prophet that was hired by Balak, the enemy of Israel. How do I beat these people? And Balaam knew that the only way this king could defeat Israel is for Israel to be out of favor with God. So Balaam counsels Balak to get his good looking gals along the fringe of the camp and get these guys into fornication. with these pagan gals. And if you do that, Balak, God's head will turn against Israel and you'll win. So Balak is giving, Balaam is giving Balak the doctrine that will put a stumbling block before Israel. And so Jesus... Jesus is making an analogy here between that and the situation in Pergamos where they're mixing idolatry. They're faithful on the one hand and yet they're mixing idolatry with their worship. They're marrying the world rather than being a witness to the world. That's where the Pergamos aspect. So to eat things sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. In other words, to compromise with the world. And it goes on, so hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Previously it was the deeds of the Nicolaitans God hated. Now they've become the doctrine. Do you see the evolution of it going there? Okay. So here's the excitation, repent. Or else I will come unto thee quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Oh, oh. Well, of course, the doctrine of Balaam is the spiritual unchastity, marriage with the world. We also find the way of Balaam mentioned in 2 Peter. That's where Balaam was a hireling. Making a market for his gift. There's a doctrine of the way and the error. These are three similar things and yet technically slightly different. The error of Balaam, which is mentioned in Jude 11, is sacrificing eternal riches for temporal gain. So all three involve the same thing. They're slightly different aspects of the same actions in a sense. When we get to the he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. Churches, and again we have a postscript. To him that overcometh I will give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth, saving he that receiveth it. So there ends the letter to Pergamos. Let's take the Thyatira. Thyatira was formally named Semiramis. And Semiramis of course was the consort of Nimrod, the first dictator of the world back in Genesis 10 and 11. Under the angel of the church at Thyatira write, these things saith the Son of God. Strange term. I mean, he's used other titles. Why so specific? We're going to find the key player here is a gal by the name of Jezebel who calls herself the queen of heaven. He's saying, these things saith the son of God in contrast to the queen of heaven. Follow it so far. These things saith the son of God who hath eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet like fine brass. Eyes flaming and feet like brass implies judgment coming. So this is a hostile letter. Probably the most hostile of the bunch. I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and patience, and thy works, and the last to me more than the first. That's the good part. But here's the concern. Notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which called herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication, and eat things sacrificed unto idols. I gave her spent to repay of her fornication, and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. So what on earth is Jezebel all about? He's using that term as a label. I don't know that the gal that was causing the trouble in the church, her name was Jezebel. He's calling her a Jezebel in effect. She may have been named Jezebel or he may be just drawing your awareness to the scriptural Jezebel to understand what was she all about. You with me? Let's find out a little bit about Queen Jezebel. For this you would turn into 1 Kings 21. She did a lot of things. First of all, King Ahab. ...had everything he wanted. He's a king. He runs the place. But there was a little guy by the name of Naboth that had a little vineyard. And he loved that vineyard. And Ahab wanted the vineyard and Naboth didn't want to sell it. And King Ahab had a fit. He went into a pout. And Jezebel says, hey, let me handle it for you. What does Jezebel do? Well she arranges an inquisition. She got some false accuser to accuse Naboth of some improprieties and had him put to death and took his lands in the name of the king and said, hey, Ahab, here's my gift to you. So false witnesses, condemned, executed. And Naboth's vineyard was seized for the king. Does this sound familiar? Regarding history, where you contrive inquisitions to gain lands and wealth for the church, that's the parallel here. And I want you to notice God promised Jezebel that she would be cast into the tribulation. I'll come back to that a little later. Jesus continues, I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He that searcheth the range of the hearts, and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, Wow, as they speak, I will put upon you no other burden, but that which ye have already hold fast till I come. Then he has a promise to the overcomer. He that overcometh and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. See, they apparently wanted power over the nations before. That wasn't appropriate then, but if they hang in there, he'll give it to them later. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers, even as I received of my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says unto the churches. You notice now the promise of the overcomer is put in the body of the letter, not a postscript. Follow me? See the difference? First time we've seen that. Let's go to Sardis. The angel of the church of Sardis writes, These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. You know, you look at the title, you can just infer by now that the title gives you a clue as to what the remedy is. Whatever Sardis'problem is, it's apparently the Holy Spirit that is the repair. Jesus says, I know thy works. Whoops. Where's the commendation? Usually the commendation comes first, right? There's no commendation in this letter. Ooh, this hurts. Many Protestant commentators make a big thing trying to tie Thyatira to the Roman Catholic Church. That's easy to do, by the way. If that's true, then Sardis is the Reformation. Sardis has nothing good said about it. Ooh, careful. He says, I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead. Ooh. The word name echoes all through this letter. Name, name, name. That's a synonym for the denomination. His exhortation, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain that they are ready to die. For I have not found thy works complete or perfect before God. Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shall not watch, I will come on thee as a thief. Really? Apparently if you are watching you won't be as a thief. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Is the denominational church asleep today prophetically? How strange. The exhortation continues. Thou hast a few names, even in Tartus, which have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with me in white, for they are worthy. Who is they? The few names. Not everyone. Then the promise of the overcomer. He that overcometh the same shall be clothed in white raiment, and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels. And then the closing salutation. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Ask any church and they'll tell you they're part of Philadelphia, of course, because it's the one that has nothing bad said about it. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia, and Philadelphia by the way means brotherly love, as you probably know that. These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth. This is the missionary church. When God opens a door, the door is open. Like it is in Asia right now. Boy, exciting. I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are not. There they are again. They say they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. Man, that's pretty neat. Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. No concerns, by the way. This is the commendation still going. But this verse, verse 10, is a key eschatological verse. What is Jesus saying to the church of Philadelphia? Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour or time of the temptation or tribulation or testing. Not from... I won't keep you from the testing. I'll keep you from the time of the testing. See the difference? It's one thing to be protected through the... It's quite another to be protected from the time of. See the difference? I will keep thee from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. One of the things you'll discover if you study the book of Revelation, there are two groups of people, those that are saved and the earth dwellers. All the way through the book of Revelation those that dwell on the earth are the losers. They're lost. So you don't catch it unless you read the whole book. You'll see that phrase again and again and again, them that dwell upon the earth. They don't just live on the earth. They don't happen to be physically on the earth. They dwell upon the earth. That's the concept. You and I are not earth dwellers. We may be here, but our allegiance is elsewhere. We're passing through. We're pilgrims. Here they're talking about the earth dwellers. This time, I'll keep you from the time of tribulation, which shall come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. That's not us. For two reasons. If we don't dwell on the earth, then certainly we will be, that's what he's saying, we'll be raptured. It's a great passage. Behold, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. You may not be able to lose your salvation, but you certainly lose your rewards. Be careful about that. Then the promise to the overcomer, him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out. I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is in the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write upon him my new name. And then he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says in the churches. There again the promise to the overcomer is in the body of the letter. Then we get to the last one. Laodicea. Laodicea means people. Laodicea means rule. This is where the people rule. Really? I thought Christ is supposed to rule the church. No, these churches do market research to make sure they're user friendly. These are churches that the people rule. Not the Word of God. Let's see what Christ says about the letter to Laodicea. Unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things sayeth the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. That doesn't mean he was created. That means he was at the beginning in the creation. We know that from Colossians. Don't miss it. Don't let that... It's an interesting phrase, by the way. That title of Christ is used in only two letters. It's used in this and it's also used in Colossians. I'll come back to that later. Jesus goes on, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Yuck! Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. A friend of mine pointed out to me, you know, a lot of us are familiar with what we call the name it and claim it gospel. The people on television that raise money, you know, if you're sick it's because you don't have enough faith. And if you're in Christ then you should be rich and wealthy and it's the wealth, it's the wealth faith. You know, we call it the name it and claim it, the blab and grab it guys. Had a friend of mine say, you know, they're scriptural. I says, what? He rattled off some of the leaders of that figure. Yeah, they're all scriptural. What do you mean? He says, sure. Because they say they're rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. That's what they're saying, right? They have need of nothing. You can tell by the Rolex watches and the limousines that, you know, have need of nothing. He knows not that he's wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked as far as Christ is concerned. These are the Laodiceans. His exhortation. Notice, by the way, there's no commendation here. Just concerns and exhortation. I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, and thou that thou mayest be rich, and white raiment that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eyesalve that thou mayest see."He's using that idiomatically of course. You want riches and garments and ability to see, invest in me, not these worldly things.

That's what he's really saying. He's using them idiomatically. As many as I love I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous therefore and repent.

Now we get into verse 20. This is one of the most beautiful verses in Scripture as you normally hear it. How many of you have heard this verse? Behold, Jesus says, I stand at the door and knock.

If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. Isn't that beautiful? That's a fabulous verse.

It's used by evangelists all over the world. when used as a single verse. That's legitimate, no problem. However, if you put this in the context of this letter, it's a scathing indictment. Why do I say that?

Let's take a look at the church at Laodicea. Where is Jesus Christ? Outside knocking to get in. And His invitation is not to the church.

It's to an individual. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. It's individual.

An invitation coming from outside the church to the individual. That's an indictment of Laodicea. You see what I'm saying? He goes on then, promises to overcome.

To him that overcometh I will grant to sit with me on my throne even as I also overcame and am sat down with my Father in his throne. That's where Jesus is today. The day will come when the Father will say to the Son, go get him.

That's where he is today. And then he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says in the churches. Those are seven letters. Now you notice.

I'm going to read this one. That each one of these letters, typically a name, a title of Christ that was used, commendation, concerns, and exhortation. It's interesting that two letters had no, nothing good said about them. Sardis didn't, and Laodicea didn't.

Those two letters are devoid of anything good. No A on their report cards. So if the Protestant commentators like to make mincemeat of Thyatira, they better take a good look at Sardis.

It's worse off in a sense. And there are two letters that had no concerns. Smyrna, hey you're doing fine you guys, just hang in there. And Philadelphia are the two star witnesses here.

Isn't that great? But something else is interesting, that he that hath an ear... in the first three letters, the promise to the overcomer is a postscript. In the last four letters, the promise to the overcomer is in the body of the letter. There's another distinct of the last four letters I'll show you.

Let's go ahead another way. If we take these seven letters, Ephesus, Myrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphus, Ephesus is descriptive of the apostolic church. Strict on doctrine but forgot their first love. Smyrna is the persecuted church, suffering death, willingly being burnt alive for the sake of the gospel. And Pergamos is when the church marries the world, or the world marries the church.

They were called to be separate, a testimony to the church, not to the world, not to be part of it. So in Pergamos the church marries the world. And that of course leads to what I'll call for lack of a better term, the medieval church. Inheriting the state church that then pursues temporal power. And then we have the reformation which leads to what we might call collectively the denominational churches.

And they of course, then we have the Missionary Church and we have the Apostate Church. That's forgotten what the name of the game is. That's pretty exciting.

Okay. What's interesting is this first three are a group and the promises to the overcomer are postscripted. That suggests to me that they have a historical termination. These last four, the promises are in the body of the letter, which causes me to suggest that they endure to the end, historically.

There's another thing that the last four letters have, the first three don't. Each one of the last four letters has an explicit reference to the second coming of Christ. It's alluded to in the letter. And it's conspicuous by omission in the first three.

But there's more to that. Thyatira is explicitly promised to go into the tribulation. Jezebel, I'll cast you and all them in bed with you into the great tribulation.

Philadelphia has explicitly promised that it would not. It would be delivered from the time of trial. So it would seem that Philadelphia is consistent in that sense, that it's raptured out. What happens to Sardis and Laodicea is problematic.

It's suspected, obviously it depends on individual issues, as they all do actually. Something else that's kind of interesting, in Revelation 2 and 3 we have seven letters penned by Jesus Christ. In Matthew 13 we have seven parables given to the disciples and the Lord says these are things hidden from the foundation of the world, which means they're not in the Old Testament, which means they're about the church. It's interesting how these seven parables map against the seven letters.

Let's just take a couple to make the point because our time is short. The third letter to Pergamos is comparable to the mustard seed. Mustard seeds, if you've been in Israel, you need the little bushes that grow about two, three feet high that are yellow all over the fields in the spring. Those are mustard plants.

Little tiny seed grows to plant about three feet high. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like... A mustard seed that grows into a tree that is so big that the birds of the air lodge in its branches.

Have you seen a bird lodged in branches in a three foot high thing? No. And furthermore, the birds in the parables in the sower are the devil's ministers. If you're looking for the ministers of Satan, don't overlook the pulpits.

That apparently is what's happening in Pergamos. Thyatira. In the one case it was the woman Jezebel in the letters.

In Matthew 13 it's the woman in the leaven. And you need to understand the Jewishness of this. The leaven was the fellowship offering.

The woman put leaven in the fellowship offering, which if you're Jewish you'd gasp in horror. Leaven is always a type of sin. So again there's a parallelism, if you will, between Jezebel's false doctrine and the woman and the leaven in the parables there. Let's skip to Philadelphia. The parallel one there is the pearl of great price.

Jesus talks about the pearl of great price. Very strange idiom for Jesus to use because He was Jewish. An oyster is not kosher.

What is he talking about here? The pearl. What a beautiful analogy. The pearl is the only jewel that is a response to irritation, that grows by accretion, and is removed from its place of growth to become an item of adornment. Talk about the church being raptured.

Man, there you go. Anyway, you can go all through these, but some are a little technical. They give you the flavor. Let's go one step further. Jesus wrote seven letters to seven churches.

So did Paul. He wrote to Ephesus. That one's easy.

They parallel pretty well. He wrote a letter to Smyrna. Paul wrote to Philippians. Joy through suffering, remember?

Pergamos. Is there a church that Paul wrote to that was worldly? Sure, to be a Corinthian was a way of calling a person a fornicator.

And of course, Thyatira, religious externalism, the call out of that being Galatians. Sardis, the denomination, the word of God to be your support. We have the definitive statement of the gospel.

Philadelphia, Thessalonians, parallel to that, the rapture and all of that. And Laodicea and Colossians were suburbs of one another. They were explicitly instructed to exchange letters. Interesting how the... I'll let you play with that.

Remember we had it outlined, the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, the things which shall be hereafter. Vision of Christ was chapter 1, the things you have seen. The things which are, the seven churches we've just gone through. Then we get to the third section, the things which shall be hereafter. The word hereafter in the Greek is metatauta, means after these things.

We've been through chapters 2 and 3. When you get to chapter 4... The first word is metatauta, after these things in the Greek. Chapter 4, when we get there, we'll open up, after this I looked and behold a door was opened in heaven and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me which said, come up hither and I'll show you things which must be metatauta.

There's that term again. So from here on is the third section of the book. Now, boy there's so much here.

Well, we'll deal with that when we get to the next session. But anyway, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne. Wait a minute, I thought these lamps were on the earth.

Not anymore. Come up hither. I believe this is a milestone of the rapture.

Paul, excuse me, John is treated to a glimpse ahead of what it'll be like at the rapture. That's really what we're seeing here. And the first voice I heard was a trumpet talking with me. The trumpet of God.

And when you get to chapter 5, there's a very pivotal passage in the entire scripture. John is up there in heaven and he says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a scroll written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. Written within and on the backside.

You didn't usually read right on the backside of a scroll. It was the rough side. But if it was a title deed, the rules by which it could be opened were written there.

This implies it's a title deed. That occurs in Jeremiah and elsewhere. John says, I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals thereof. Word goes out, huh?

Notice the strange verse 3. And no man in heaven. No man. It had to be a man. Why? It had to be a kinsman of Adam to be eligible to open this book.

No man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look thereon. Now you and I don't understand what's going on, but John did because he says what in the next verse? I sobbed convulsively.

I wept much, he said, because no man was found. ...worthy to open and to read the scroll, and neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look thereon. So John understood this is tragic, this is scary.

Because no man, it took a man and no man was worthy to do this. So he's panicked. One of the elders said to me, Hey, weep not.

Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood the Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. Who is this guy?

A lamb? Yes, but what is his title? The Lion of the tribe of Judah. This is what Matthew spends his gospel establishing.

The Root of David. Yes, He was the Lamb that had been slain. The Lamb as it had been slain. Not a Lamb, the Lamb as it had been slain. The entire universe pivots on this historical event.

The book of Leviticus lays down the specifications. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not a tragedy, it was an achievement. And because of that achievement, there is a man eligible to take this title deed.

That was God's plan from the beginning. And Satan's attempt to thwart that plan included trying to contaminate the human race to prevent a man being eligible to do this. So we have the apocalypse, which will, the catastrophic end crisis is going to be in the next session. The spectacular reappearance of the King of Kings in his global empire will be the center point.

The internment of Satan in the Abuso, we'll talk about that. And the millennial reign of Christ on the earth. It's astonishing how few churches embrace this biblical view. And then of course the final insurrection when Satan is finally released and the final, fortunately, the abolition of sin. And we'll see a new heaven and a new earth and a new Jerusalem that concludes it.

So let's stand for a closing word of prayer. Exciting passages of an exciting book. It's frustrating to try to summarize it so briefly and yet there's a value in having the whole thing in view so I submit that to you.

But I do encourage you to undertake, when you can, a verse by verse exposition of the book of Revelation. If you do it properly it will take you into every other book of the Bible. It's a very, very...

it's something you don't do in an hour or two. It's a lifetime pursuit. But I encourage you in that direction because it will be a continual blessing.

Let's bow our hearts. Father, we just rejoice in getting a glimpse of the final chapters. We thank you that you've gone to such extremes that we might live. We thank you that there is a man right now, today, sitting on the throne. We thank you that he is worthy to open the seals and look thereon.

We thank you that we are the beneficiaries of these extremes that you've gone to, that we don't deserve, but are we grateful for. Father, we would just pray that you take our lives without any reservation. Illuminate that path before us. Let us know precisely what you'd have of each of us in the days that remain, that we might be more pleasing in your sight, that we might be more fruitful stewards of these opportunities.

That we might grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, in whose name we commit ourselves this night. Amen.

Transcript for:Insights from Revelation Chapters 1-3

Transcript for:
Insights from Revelation Chapters 1-3