090708: Revelation 1-3

Revelation 1-3

Hour 22 of The Bible in 24 Hours: http://www.thestreamtv1.com/welcome_032.htm
By Dr. Chuck Missler

Quick Review
Old Testament
- Christ in prophecy: “Behold! He comes!”
Gospels
- Christ in history: “Behold! He dies!”
Acts
- Christ in the church: “Behold! He lives!”
Epistles
- Christ in experience: “Behold! He saves!”
Apocalypse
- Christ in coming glory: “Behold! He Reigns!”

Meaning of Revelation
- “THE” Unveiling
- The only book that has the audacity to say, “Read me, I’m special.”
- 404 verses that contain over 800 allusions from the Old Testament
- Contains the climax of God’s plan for Man.

The “Divine Outline” of Revelation (Revelation 1:19)
- “the things which thou hast seen” = The Vision of Christ (ch. 1)
- “the things which are” = The Seven Churches (ch. 2, 3)
- “the things which shall be hereafter” = which follows AFTER the Churches (ch. 4-22); hereafter = “meta tauta” in Greek = after these things

There is a ton of information found within Revelation 2-3

The Seven Churches: Why these 7?
- All these Churches, it is mentioned: “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churchES.”
- Levels of Application
à local
à Admonitory (note the plural of churchES, meaning the message is meant to be shared by ALL churches)
à homiletic (personal)\
à prophetic, i.e. these letters lay out the 7 periods of church history
- Each letter has its own theme, its own message; there are 7 elements shared by these letters:
1. Name of the Church
2. Title of Christ Chosen
3. Commendation
4. Concern
5. Exhortation
6. Promise to the Overcomer
7. “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churchES.” (in the 1st 3 letters, it is written as a post script, i.e. following the promise to the overcomer)
- Prophetic Profile
Group A: Promise is a post-script; could mean they were terminated before the promise gets fulfilled
Ephesus à The Apostolic Church; The Sower and 4 Soils; Ephesus
Smyrna à The Persecuted Church; The Tares and the Wheat; Philippians
Pergamum à The Married Church (when the Church married the world); The Mustard Seed; Corinthians

Group B: Promise is within the letters; could mean they endured to the end; contains explicit references to His Second Coming
Thyatira à The Medieval Church; will go into the Tribulation; The Woman & the Leaven; Galatians
Sardis à Denominational Church; The Treasure in the Field; Romans
Philadelphia à Missionary Church; will be delivered from the Tribulation; The Pearl of Great Price (the Pearl = removed from the Rapture; think about how a pearl is made); Thessalonians
Laodicea à The Apostate Church; The Dragnet; Colossians

The Apocalypse
- Catastrophic End: crisis o present age
- Sepctacular reappearance of the King of Kings in His global empire
- Internment of Satan in the Abousso
- Millennial earth-reign of Christ
- Final insurrection and the abolition of sin
- New Heaven, New Earth, New Jerusalem

10 Days of Persecution
54-58 Nero
96-96 Domitian (John exiled)
104-117 Trajan
161-180 Marcus Aurelius
200-211 Septimus Severus
235-237 Maximinus
249-251 Decius
257-260 Valerian
270-275 Aurelian
303-313 Diocletian

“You see, if you are born twice, then you only die once. But if you are born only once, then you will die twice. I’ll let you chew on this one.”