1 00:00:00,640 --> 00:00:03,680 If you grew up in the church, then perhaps you were like me in 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:10,080 that you have vivid memories of a variety of experiences that 3 00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:13,360 you had in Christian meetings and events. 4 00:00:14,280 --> 00:00:19,320 Some of those memories are good, some bad, some you're probably 5 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,240 still trying to figure out what category to place them in. 6 00:00:23,880 --> 00:00:27,120 Out of the hundreds of services that I sat through as a child, 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:33,120 for some reason I have this strong recollection sitting 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:37,960 there in the main Sunday service, distracted during the 9 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,800 pastor's sermon. Hopefully that's not a common 10 00:00:40,800 --> 00:00:46,440 experience for you, but I don't recollect my wandering mind 11 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:51,120 necessarily, but what I did in my restlessness. 12 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:55,320 You see, we had Pew Bibles available every time you came to 13 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:59,400 church. And so in trying to occupy my 14 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,160 mind with something sanctifying, I guess I grabbed one of those 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,760 Pew Bibles. And I began to comb through it, 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:10,440 trying to find something interesting to read. 17 00:01:12,320 --> 00:01:14,920 And I realized that there isn't much time in the service. 18 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:16,400 So let me just go to the end of the book. 19 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:22,840 And what I stumbled upon is one of the most enthralling portions 20 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,840 in all of Scripture, the Book of Revelation. 21 00:01:28,760 --> 00:01:34,400 And it didn't take me very long to be smitten by what my eyes 22 00:01:35,080 --> 00:01:39,320 saw. Future catastrophes, 23 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:44,760 Unprecedented casualties like the world has never known. 24 00:01:46,440 --> 00:01:51,480 The description of beasts and other strange creatures, This 25 00:01:51,680 --> 00:01:56,240 tyrannical concept of the mark of the beast, the Great White 26 00:01:56,240 --> 00:02:02,960 Throne, judgement, paranormal activity, and this description 27 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,640 of the new heaven and the new earth, among other things. 28 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,000 I can tell you with confidence that my brief exposure even as a 29 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,200 child to this book has such an impact on me clearly even to 30 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,560 this point in my life. And I don't think my experience 31 00:02:20,560 --> 00:02:23,600 with this book, then, is a unique one. 32 00:02:24,720 --> 00:02:29,440 What the Book of Revelation has to convey has captivated 33 00:02:29,440 --> 00:02:35,760 millions throughout the ages. It attracts curious minds, It 34 00:02:35,760 --> 00:02:40,840 has stumped critical thinkers. And it still has the ability to 35 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:45,120 fascinate even the casual reader, often times to the point 36 00:02:45,120 --> 00:02:51,240 of dread. And I, I think it's safe to say 37 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:55,920 that for Christians especially, this book is more intimidating 38 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:01,840 than anything, mainly because of its cryptic and enigmatic style, 39 00:03:03,120 --> 00:03:06,160 this rich symbolism and these mysterious references. 40 00:03:06,480 --> 00:03:08,640 Believers really don't know what to do with it. 41 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,960 Even in teaching settings, you have many people who will go 42 00:03:13,960 --> 00:03:19,760 through the book, maybe up to chapter 3, maybe entertain some 43 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,520 content in chapter 4 and five, but nothing beyond that. 44 00:03:24,280 --> 00:03:28,280 If anything beyond that, maybe a brief description read from 45 00:03:28,280 --> 00:03:33,920 chapter 21 about heaven. So throughout the ages, 46 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,400 throughout the centuries, due to frustration or fear, the Book of 47 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,720 Revelation has developed an unfortunate reputation. 48 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:49,040 Here's my heart on the matter. I don't want this church to be 49 00:03:49,040 --> 00:03:56,560 content remaining intimidated or ignorant regarding its message 50 00:03:57,840 --> 00:04:02,000 because the Book of Revelation is God's Word, and it's a book 51 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:06,680 that tells us right at its introduction that if you humbly 52 00:04:06,680 --> 00:04:11,200 interact and apply it, you will be blessed. 53 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:16,640 I want us to be blessed. So that is why, beginning today, 54 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:19,000 we are starting a series in the Book of Revelation. 55 00:04:25,080 --> 00:04:28,840 And before we open this door and step into the 1st chapter, I 56 00:04:28,840 --> 00:04:32,280 want to take the time to present an overview of this book. 57 00:04:32,360 --> 00:04:34,800 If you don't take notes, you're going to be a note taker in this 58 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:39,560 series. I think I want to establish a 59 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,080 proper foundation so that we can develop our understanding 60 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:47,360 rightly. And so we're not going in any 61 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:51,120 particular order today. We're all going to climb and 62 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:54,480 have a bird's eye view of the general landscape of this book. 63 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,480 Next week we will land and then we will begin our verse by verse 64 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:04,560 journey through this incredible book called the Book of the 65 00:05:04,560 --> 00:05:10,200 Revelation of Jesus Christ. Here's our aim today. 66 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,440 We are going to answer one question. 67 00:05:13,880 --> 00:05:17,160 You're going to leave here with one main answer. 68 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,440 There are different answers under this one main answer, but 69 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,440 here is what we are going to explore. 70 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:30,000 What is the Book of Revelation? It's three things. 71 00:05:31,480 --> 00:05:37,080 The Book of Revelation is three things, and the first thing is 72 00:05:37,080 --> 00:05:40,800 that it is a letter. Open Revelation chapter 1, 73 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:46,080 beginning in verse 4. I say that because the apostle 74 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,680 John, who is the author of this book, informs us almost 75 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:52,280 immediately who his immediate audience was. 76 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,920 And the way he begins is how many other letters open in the 77 00:05:54,920 --> 00:05:57,840 New Testament. Revelation One verse 4. 78 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:00,600 John to the seven churches that are in Asia. 79 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:04,560 Pause. Asia Minor, modern day Turkey. 80 00:06:05,720 --> 00:06:07,800 John to the seven churches that are in Asia. 81 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:12,480 Grace to you, and peace from him who is and who was and who is to 82 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:16,280 come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and 83 00:06:16,280 --> 00:06:19,840 from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first born of the 84 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,520 dead and the ruler of kings on earth. 85 00:06:25,480 --> 00:06:29,360 People make the mistake in thinking that the only thing the 86 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:32,400 seven churches that John addresses received were the 87 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:36,080 short postcards that you find in chapter 2 and 3. 88 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,680 In actuality, the entire Book of Revelation was given to the 89 00:06:41,680 --> 00:06:46,560 seven churches. And for what purpose? 90 00:06:47,640 --> 00:06:49,000 You know what I admire about John? 91 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:50,840 And by the way, this is John the Apostle. 92 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:52,720 He doesn't need to explain who he is. 93 00:06:52,720 --> 00:06:54,280 He expects these churches to know. 94 00:06:54,280 --> 00:06:59,320 Oh, it's that John, the same John wrote the Gospel of John, 95 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:02,360 the same John who wrote the first, second and third epistles 96 00:07:03,080 --> 00:07:07,880 with his name on it. And I admire John's writing 97 00:07:07,880 --> 00:07:13,120 style because in his major pieces of literature he gives 98 00:07:13,120 --> 00:07:17,280 his spirit inspired goal, the intent, the purpose of why he 99 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:21,000 wrote what he wrote. So many of you know John chapter 100 00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,000 20, verse 31 in his Gospel account, but these are written 101 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:29,560 so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of 102 00:07:29,560 --> 00:07:34,200 God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. 103 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:38,800 So John wrote the Gospel of John according to his own words so 104 00:07:38,800 --> 00:07:43,480 that those who would read it would believe and be saved. 105 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:49,800 That's why many people advise curious spiritual seekers, truth 106 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,360 seekers, to read the book of John of all books, because they 107 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,880 know that this is the intent of its content, that you may 108 00:07:56,960 --> 00:08:01,080 believe and be saved. What about John's first letter, 109 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:03,680 First John? Does he tell us what that's for? 110 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:09,400 Yes, in first John 513 he says these things have been written 111 00:08:09,400 --> 00:08:13,640 to you who believe. For what purpose? 112 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,840 For you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you 113 00:08:17,840 --> 00:08:20,280 may know that you have eternal life. 114 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:25,000 So now John gives his first epistle to those who have 115 00:08:25,000 --> 00:08:30,480 already believed so that they would be sure and secure in 116 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:33,799 their salvation. The Gospel John of John is for 117 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:36,799 those to be saved. The first epistle of John is for 118 00:08:36,799 --> 00:08:39,559 the saved to be certain that they are saved. 119 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:43,720 What about revelation? Does John give us any clue what 120 00:08:43,720 --> 00:08:45,880 this book is about? I believe so. 121 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:49,360 It's in the words of Jesus. In the 22nd chapter and the 122 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:54,720 seventh verse, Jesus says, behold, I am coming soon. 123 00:08:55,560 --> 00:09:01,680 Blessed is he who keeps the words of this prophecy, prophecy 124 00:09:01,680 --> 00:09:06,840 of this book. So if the Gospel of John was for 125 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:09,640 readers to be saved first, John was for the saved to know that 126 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:11,320 they're saved. I believe the Book of Revelation 127 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:15,280 was written for the people of God to be encouraged and 128 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,440 prepared for the Savior's return. 129 00:09:19,760 --> 00:09:21,920 If one of the reasons why you're not attracted to the Book of 130 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:24,000 Revelation is because you don't think it has practical 131 00:09:24,000 --> 00:09:25,600 relevance, I say this in kindness. 132 00:09:25,840 --> 00:09:29,200 You are mistaken, greatly mistaken. 133 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:32,680 There are things that we are to keep in this book. 134 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,240 There are challenges, there are comforts. 135 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:41,440 There are principles. There are obvious pieces of 136 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:44,400 wisdom. And I'm aware that many have 137 00:09:44,400 --> 00:09:46,960 made revelation about creating charts. 138 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:48,600 I can guarantee you there's there's not going to be any 139 00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:51,240 giant charts behind me. I'm not going to be pointing at 140 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,640 anything with a stick. And there are others who have 141 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:58,720 the Book of Revelation in one hand and the recent newspaper in 142 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:02,280 the other, and they're trying to show how recent events are 143 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,040 fulfilling the most specific aspects of the Book of 144 00:10:05,040 --> 00:10:06,280 Revelation. We're not going to go there 145 00:10:06,280 --> 00:10:09,280 either. We are going to approach the 146 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,760 Book of Revelation in the way it was intended to be received. 147 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:16,360 That you would be conformed and that you would be greatly 148 00:10:16,360 --> 00:10:19,920 consecrated to the cause and person of Christ so that He can 149 00:10:19,920 --> 00:10:21,760 find you and I the way He desires. 150 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:26,160 And John understood that. That's the power of 151 00:10:26,160 --> 00:10:29,800 understanding the truths of the last days, the study of the end 152 00:10:29,800 --> 00:10:32,160 times. I mean, we can go to so many 153 00:10:32,160 --> 00:10:34,640 places in Revelation, but let me take you to his first epistle. 154 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:38,240 So turn with me to 1st John and look at chapter 3, beginning in 155 00:10:38,240 --> 00:10:42,360 verse 2. First John 3, verse 2. 156 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:46,040 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not 157 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,280 yet appeared. But we know that when He 158 00:10:48,280 --> 00:10:54,680 appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He 159 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:56,680 is. What is He describing? 160 00:10:56,680 --> 00:11:01,360 The return of Christ, The consummation of the age, us 161 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:03,600 being reunited with Him face to face. 162 00:11:04,200 --> 00:11:05,720 Now look what He says in verse 3. 163 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:09,760 And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is 164 00:11:09,760 --> 00:11:12,720 pure. What hope is he speaking about 165 00:11:12,720 --> 00:11:14,320 here? The hope of his return. 166 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:18,840 And notice what he underlines here, that the hope of his 167 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:23,400 return, the understanding of our uniting with Him at the end of 168 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:29,240 all things, purifies us. Not then, now, today, it 169 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:33,080 purifies you. I can guarantee you if we 170 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:37,320 approach the Book of Revelation rightly, every time we go 171 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:40,240 through a part of it, we will be more pure than when we started. 172 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:44,280 This is what John has in mind. That's a consensus in the Bible 173 00:11:44,560 --> 00:11:48,040 that understanding the things of the last days will have present 174 00:11:48,040 --> 00:11:53,600 day glorious implications. And confirming that this is a 175 00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:58,520 letter also helps us know why it was written the way it was 176 00:11:58,520 --> 00:12:00,160 written. I'm speaking about Revelation 177 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:04,000 because some erroneously think that Revelation is just this 178 00:12:04,000 --> 00:12:10,000 giant puzzle that's reserved for brilliant minds to put together. 179 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:12,960 And so it's kind of overwhelming, right? 180 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:15,840 It seems so mysterious, but I can guarantee you something. 181 00:12:15,840 --> 00:12:20,960 It becomes less mysterious when you realize that the symbols and 182 00:12:20,960 --> 00:12:24,960 the images and the visions are not new necessarily. 183 00:12:25,280 --> 00:12:29,520 They're actually repeated from other parts of the Bible, parts 184 00:12:29,520 --> 00:12:32,200 of the Bible that Christians tend to overlook. 185 00:12:34,240 --> 00:12:38,880 In fact, some have done internal investigation on this, and it's 186 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:42,600 a general understanding that out of the 404 verses in the Book of 187 00:12:42,600 --> 00:12:51,000 Revelation, there are at least 278 references connected to the 188 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,280 Old Testament. Not quotations, but references. 189 00:12:55,520 --> 00:12:57,880 And if we go with that number, though it's disputed, right, 190 00:12:59,320 --> 00:13:05,160 then you can say that 68.8% of the Book of Revelation is 191 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:07,000 saturated with Old Testament references. 192 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:12,920 Almost 70% of the Book of Revelation echoes from the 193 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:15,960 Hebrew Scriptures. Do you see why it's you can't 194 00:13:15,960 --> 00:13:19,960 ignore the Old Testament and just start in Revelation and 195 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:21,920 expect to get some kind of understanding. 196 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,920 And that doesn't even include the hundreds of allusions that 197 00:13:27,920 --> 00:13:30,920 are made interwoven from beginning to end of this book. 198 00:13:33,160 --> 00:13:36,880 I believe one of the main reasons people experience 199 00:13:36,880 --> 00:13:39,560 irritation with the Book of Revelation is because they are 200 00:13:39,560 --> 00:13:40,840 unfamiliar with the Old Testament. 201 00:13:41,560 --> 00:13:44,360 And I believe much of the misinterpretation of the Book of 202 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:46,920 Revelation stems from the same neglect. 203 00:13:48,880 --> 00:13:50,240 Here's what I'm trying to explain. 204 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:55,000 One of the most important key interpretive things that you 205 00:13:55,000 --> 00:14:00,240 must do to understanding this book is to be familiar with the 206 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:03,560 Old Testament. The modern day Christian may be 207 00:14:03,560 --> 00:14:06,840 very troubled and trying to make sense of this, but you know who 208 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:10,400 would have had greater ease? The seven churches that John 209 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,840 originally wrote to, assuming that they were biblically 210 00:14:13,840 --> 00:14:16,880 informed. So I can just imagine that as 211 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,320 this book came into their possession, they would have 212 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:25,240 said, Oh yes, that's in Daniel, brother. 213 00:14:25,240 --> 00:14:27,000 So and so. Didn't we learn this from the 214 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:32,160 writings of Zechariah? Isn't that almost a copy paste 215 00:14:32,160 --> 00:14:38,680 from the scrolls of Isaiah? Unfortunately, because again, so 216 00:14:38,680 --> 00:14:42,880 many rarely visit those neighborhoods in their Bibles, 217 00:14:44,200 --> 00:14:46,920 they are overcome by discouragement with the Book of 218 00:14:46,920 --> 00:14:48,920 Revelation. And you know what stirred me? 219 00:14:49,840 --> 00:14:53,000 What I learned about the early church? 220 00:14:53,000 --> 00:14:57,720 External evidence about Christians who were eager to 221 00:14:57,720 --> 00:14:59,000 understand the Book of Revelation. 222 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:04,040 And the one source that especially struck me was from 223 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,640 one of the early church fathers, Irenaeus. 224 00:15:08,760 --> 00:15:13,600 Irenaeus was born in 130 AD. He was a disciple of a man named 225 00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:17,120 Polycarp. Polycarp, according to history, 226 00:15:17,160 --> 00:15:20,120 was a leader in the Church of Smyrna. 227 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:22,200 Is that name sound familiar? It should. 228 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:24,560 It's in the Book of Revelation. It's one of the churches that 229 00:15:24,560 --> 00:15:26,920 are addressed. Polycarp was a Bishop in that 230 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,120 church. And here's the best part. 231 00:15:29,960 --> 00:15:33,240 Polycarp was personally tutored by John the Apostle. 232 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:42,160 So Irenaeus, who is discipled by disciple of John in book five of 233 00:15:42,160 --> 00:15:46,560 his collection of writings called Against Heresies, says 234 00:15:46,560 --> 00:15:50,320 something that has helped many modern scholars today to make 235 00:15:50,320 --> 00:15:52,280 sense of the background of the Book of Revelation. 236 00:15:52,280 --> 00:15:55,960 Let me quote it to you. Quote Aaron A says here. 237 00:15:55,960 --> 00:15:59,920 Quote We will not, however, incur the risk of pronouncing 238 00:15:59,920 --> 00:16:04,680 positively as to the name of Antichrist, for it were 239 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,640 necessary that his name should be distinctly revealed in this 240 00:16:07,640 --> 00:16:10,000 present time. It would have been announced by 241 00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,840 him who beheld apocalyptic vision. 242 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:13,480 Pause. Here's what he's saying. 243 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:16,760 Hey, let's not try to figure out who the Antichrist is, because 244 00:16:16,760 --> 00:16:18,880 if John really wanted us to know, he would have told us. 245 00:16:19,680 --> 00:16:23,560 But it's the last part that is so intriguing, he goes on to 246 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:27,920 say, For that was seen what was seen, that apocalyptic vision 247 00:16:28,120 --> 00:16:34,040 for that was seen no very long time since, but almost in our 248 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,360 day towards the end of Domitian's reign. 249 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:45,000 Domitian was a Roman emperor who reigned between 81 and 96 AD. 250 00:16:45,000 --> 00:16:51,680 And what we see here from Irenais is that the original 251 00:16:51,680 --> 00:16:55,760 compilation of the Book of Revelation was made near the end 252 00:16:55,760 --> 00:16:59,600 of Domitian's reign. So that's why most say that the 253 00:16:59,600 --> 00:17:03,440 Book of Revelation was put together originally in 95 or 96 254 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:08,119 AD. Now, some dispute that. 255 00:17:08,359 --> 00:17:11,480 Some want to actually advocate for an earlier date during 256 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:15,119 Nero's time. And so they say that people are 257 00:17:15,119 --> 00:17:17,520 misunderstanding Iranians words here. 258 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:21,440 And maybe Erinace didn't even understand the timeline of 259 00:17:21,440 --> 00:17:23,960 Domitian's reign. We're not here to figure that 260 00:17:23,960 --> 00:17:26,119 out. All I want to remind you is that 261 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:29,200 the Book of Revelation was in the possession of the early 262 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,360 church in the 1st century. I don't know about you. 263 00:17:32,360 --> 00:17:34,920 That fascinates me. It's amazing. 264 00:17:35,680 --> 00:17:38,080 And back then they were discussing what's this about, 265 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:40,040 Who's this about, When is this going to happen? 266 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:41,560 They were having those conversations. 267 00:17:43,040 --> 00:17:45,560 I can say more about that, but I want to move on. 268 00:17:47,960 --> 00:17:51,320 It also humors me that with a book that most consider to be 269 00:17:51,320 --> 00:17:55,560 very confusing, you have one of the clearest outlines of most 270 00:17:55,560 --> 00:17:59,600 books in the Bible. John actually provides us an 271 00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:00,920 outline of the Book of Revelation. 272 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:02,560 It's in Revelation one, verse 19. 273 00:18:02,560 --> 00:18:07,240 Let's look at it together. He was told by the Lord Jesus 274 00:18:07,360 --> 00:18:12,720 right there for the things that you have seen, those that are 275 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:16,400 and those that are to take place after this. 276 00:18:16,920 --> 00:18:20,000 So the command of Jesus here highlights 3 parts in which John 277 00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:24,360 was to organize his account. We have here the past that you 278 00:18:24,360 --> 00:18:28,120 have seen and the past refers to the incredibly detailed vision 279 00:18:28,120 --> 00:18:31,440 that he has of the glorified Christ in chapter 1 that you 280 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,480 have seen, chapter 1 me and then from the past. 281 00:18:36,480 --> 00:18:42,040 Now we go to the present, those that are and the present deals 282 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,400 with the condition of the churches that he was addressing, 283 00:18:45,640 --> 00:18:48,800 namely in Chapter 2 and in chapter 3. 284 00:18:49,680 --> 00:18:53,920 And finally, the last section, those that are to take place 285 00:18:53,920 --> 00:19:00,160 after this, the future and the future is spelled out for us 286 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:04,080 from chapter 4 to chapter 22, which is a majority of this 287 00:19:04,080 --> 00:19:08,480 book, which is a great segue to the second purpose of 288 00:19:08,480 --> 00:19:09,800 Revelation. I told you that we were 289 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,280 answering the question, what is the Book of Revelation? 290 00:19:12,280 --> 00:19:16,720 Well, one, it's a letter #2 it is a prophecy. 291 00:19:17,680 --> 00:19:21,120 It is a prophecy. Go to verse 3 of Revelation One. 292 00:19:21,880 --> 00:19:24,960 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this 293 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,560 prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is 294 00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,600 written in it. For the time is near. 295 00:19:32,600 --> 00:19:35,800 Highlight the last part for the time is near. 296 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,200 It's confirmed back in verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, 297 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:43,240 which God gave to show His servants the things that must 298 00:19:43,360 --> 00:19:50,160 soon take place. The nature of this prophecy is 299 00:19:50,160 --> 00:19:54,320 predictive. That may seem obvious to most of 300 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:56,960 us even have a basic understanding of Revelation, but 301 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:00,640 I'm here to tell you that there are other faithful Christians 302 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:06,920 who view this book differently. In fact, there are 4 common ways 303 00:20:07,800 --> 00:20:11,880 that people approach the Book of Revelation, and though I can't 304 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,480 get into detail with each of them, I just want to give you a 305 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:18,920 general glance of how other brothers and sisters in Christ. 306 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,120 Would interpret this book so that you can just be aware and 307 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:27,360 be equipped and there might even be some people here who hold to 308 00:20:27,360 --> 00:20:29,840 one of these views. And some of these views are more 309 00:20:29,840 --> 00:20:32,800 popular than others. And I don't want you to get so 310 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,520 caught up in trying to memorize the titles of these views. 311 00:20:37,000 --> 00:20:40,000 I want you to just at least have a general concept of them. 312 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:44,120 Here are the four common ways people approach the Book of 313 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:48,280 Revelation. The first approach is the 314 00:20:49,200 --> 00:20:53,440 historic approach, and the historic aligns historical 315 00:20:53,440 --> 00:20:56,160 events with that which is described in Revelation, in 316 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:58,440 essence, from the beginning of Revelation to the end of the 317 00:20:58,440 --> 00:21:01,160 Book of Revelation, of this general timeline of the 318 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:04,480 development of the church. And so it's really about 319 00:21:04,880 --> 00:21:07,280 different stages of the church throughout history from its 320 00:21:07,280 --> 00:21:10,120 inception until the return of Jesus Christ. 321 00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:14,680 And they try to look at this timeline and see where specific 322 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,480 predictions were fulfilled in history. 323 00:21:18,720 --> 00:21:22,360 And so you have proponents, again, in the past who will look 324 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,760 at things like the fall of the Roman Empire and say, oh, this 325 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:28,720 is where Revelation predicted the fall or the invasion of 326 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,280 Islam in certain regions. Oh, this is where Revelation 327 00:21:32,280 --> 00:21:36,640 spoke about that. And this view was especially 328 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,680 popular during the Reformation. Why? 329 00:21:41,480 --> 00:21:45,040 Because you had so many of the believers there who viewed the 330 00:21:45,040 --> 00:21:50,640 beast system in the Book of Revelation as the papacy, the 331 00:21:50,640 --> 00:21:55,160 Roman Catholic Church. And so that was at its peak, I 332 00:21:55,160 --> 00:22:00,680 believe, this view. But predictably, it declined in 333 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:02,880 its popularity over the decades. Why? 334 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,200 Because there wasn't a general consensus among these people. 335 00:22:07,760 --> 00:22:11,680 They couldn't agree. And so this is probably the 336 00:22:11,680 --> 00:22:14,200 least popular today. You're not going to find much 337 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,440 people who hold to this particular interpretation. 338 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:24,080 But we have also, secondly, the preterist approach, Preterist 339 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,400 approach. Preterism is from the Latin word 340 00:22:27,400 --> 00:22:30,840 what is past. And so for the preterist, as the 341 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:33,400 name suggests, it is the belief that most of the Book of 342 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:34,840 Revelation has already been fulfilled. 343 00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,960 Which parts exactly? From chapter 1 to chapter 20 344 00:22:38,960 --> 00:22:45,320 generally, to which you may ask, when did they believe those 345 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:50,400 events were fulfilled? Answer the destruction of the 346 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:57,960 temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD. And there are two main reasons 347 00:22:57,960 --> 00:22:59,720 why people espouse this interpretation. 348 00:22:59,720 --> 00:23:02,480 The first is what Jesus said shortly after he predicted the 349 00:23:02,480 --> 00:23:06,720 fall of Jerusalem in Mark 13. We studied the book of Mark and 350 00:23:06,720 --> 00:23:09,400 hopefully you remember that after Jesus prophesied the 351 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,120 destruction of the temple, he also followed it up with a 352 00:23:13,120 --> 00:23:16,720 description, a brief one of the tumultuous events that will 353 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:19,520 follow that will describe the end of the age. 354 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:24,320 Wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes and famines, the 355 00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:28,600 growth of false teachers plaguing the earth, the 356 00:23:28,600 --> 00:23:35,680 abomination of desolation, celestial signs, Christ coming 357 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:42,160 in great power and glory. Now, for most people, that seems 358 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:45,320 to be something Jesus is describing about the future, the 359 00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:48,000 events that will immediately precede his return. 360 00:23:48,840 --> 00:23:51,320 And what's amazing is what Jesus explains in the Gospels, the 361 00:23:51,320 --> 00:23:55,400 Olivet Discourse, right? It's just the synopsis of what 362 00:23:55,400 --> 00:23:57,760 Revelation talks about. Revelation just expands on 363 00:23:57,760 --> 00:23:59,960 Jesus's predictions of the last days. 364 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:04,560 But there's a particular verse in Jesus's teachings that 365 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,600 preterist really hold on to that challenge, the understanding 366 00:24:07,600 --> 00:24:09,320 that this is something yet to come. 367 00:24:09,760 --> 00:24:11,400 It's in Mark 13. Let me remind you. 368 00:24:11,880 --> 00:24:18,560 And look here in verse 30, Jesus said as he was concluding this 369 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:23,320 teaching, truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass 370 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:26,480 away until all these things take place. 371 00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:32,560 Here's the argument How can the catalogue of catastrophes that 372 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:35,120 Christ describes be future if he said that they would happen 373 00:24:35,120 --> 00:24:39,480 within his generation? And because the destruction of 374 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,680 the temple did take place within this time frame, preterists 375 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:46,200 would also reconsider how these other predictions should be 376 00:24:46,200 --> 00:24:50,120 interpreted. So here's what they will say. 377 00:24:51,080 --> 00:24:55,040 The description of the cosmic chaos, the global meltdown, the 378 00:24:55,040 --> 00:25:00,760 universal alteration is just symbolic language illustrating 379 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:05,400 what took place in Jerusalem in 70 AD. 380 00:25:05,400 --> 00:25:07,520 And they bring that kind of a lens into the Book of 381 00:25:07,520 --> 00:25:10,040 Revelation. So when you come to Revelation 382 00:25:10,040 --> 00:25:12,600 and you read of events impacting the world, it's not really the 383 00:25:12,600 --> 00:25:17,160 world, it's Israel. When it talks about nations, 384 00:25:17,160 --> 00:25:20,320 it's not really talking about nations, it's talking about the 385 00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:24,480 nation of the Jews. When you see mentions of tribes, 386 00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:26,800 the tribes of the earth, it's not really the tribes of the 387 00:25:26,800 --> 00:25:28,400 earth, it's the tribes of Israel. 388 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:33,160 So for the preterists, all these prophecies center around what 389 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,440 happened in 70 AD, and the apocalyptic language is just 390 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:41,960 hyperbole to define the seriousness and the significance 391 00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,800 of the judgment that fell upon them then. 392 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:50,200 And that bleeds into a lot, including this may shock you for 393 00:25:50,200 --> 00:25:53,200 some preterists, what they find in Revelation 1911. 394 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:57,680 You know this passage very well, but let me read it anyway. 395 00:25:58,360 --> 00:26:01,600 Revelation 1911. Then I saw heaven open, and 396 00:26:01,600 --> 00:26:05,080 behold, a White Horse. The one sitting on it is called 397 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:08,400 faithful and true. And in righteousness he judges 398 00:26:08,400 --> 00:26:10,720 and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of 399 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:14,320 fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name 400 00:26:14,320 --> 00:26:16,120 written that no one knows but himself. 401 00:26:16,360 --> 00:26:19,640 He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which 402 00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:23,160 he is called is the Word of God. And the armies of heaven, 403 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:26,520 arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on 404 00:26:26,520 --> 00:26:29,280 white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp 405 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:33,320 sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule 406 00:26:33,320 --> 00:26:36,240 them with a rod of iron, and he will tread the winepress of the 407 00:26:36,240 --> 00:26:38,160 fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. 408 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:40,880 On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of 409 00:26:40,880 --> 00:26:45,520 Kings and Lord of Lords, the Preterist. 410 00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:52,200 Some would come to this text and say this happened at 70 AD in a 411 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:54,920 phantom way, in an invisible way. 412 00:26:55,320 --> 00:27:00,200 Jesus came in vengeance and he poured out God's wrath upon 413 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,960 those who rejected him. So this is quite interesting 414 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:07,720 because some might respond, wait a minute. 415 00:27:07,720 --> 00:27:10,720 So do Preterist deny the physical bodily return of the 416 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,400 Lord Jesus Christ? And how does preterism explain 417 00:27:14,400 --> 00:27:18,160 the transition from this age into the next age? 418 00:27:19,120 --> 00:27:22,720 And I want to let you know that most preterists do believe in 419 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:26,240 the bodily return of Jesus Christ, but in a different way 420 00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:29,200 than you might. And if we're not careful, this 421 00:27:29,200 --> 00:27:32,120 can easily become an elaborate explanation of these viewpoints. 422 00:27:32,120 --> 00:27:35,360 So I'm going to be brief here. But here's how they would 423 00:27:35,360 --> 00:27:37,920 understand the return of Jesus, since the pinnacle of God's 424 00:27:37,920 --> 00:27:40,200 judgement was known back in 70 AD. 425 00:27:40,880 --> 00:27:44,720 What we can expect as the church with the Great Commission is 426 00:27:44,720 --> 00:27:46,440 that the world is only going to get better and better and 427 00:27:46,440 --> 00:27:50,080 better. Not worse, worse and worse, but 428 00:27:50,080 --> 00:27:53,680 more improved. And so for preterist, they don't 429 00:27:53,680 --> 00:27:57,480 just believe that most people at one point will become 430 00:27:57,560 --> 00:28:01,320 Christians, but that even institutions and nations and 431 00:28:01,320 --> 00:28:04,880 laws will be conformed to the law of God and the gospel. 432 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,520 And so it's really a complete takeover and the Millennium 433 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,520 reign is something that we as the church build. 434 00:28:13,640 --> 00:28:18,120 And once we reach the golden age of the gospel and nations have 435 00:28:18,120 --> 00:28:22,480 been discipled, then Christ will physically return, will rule and 436 00:28:22,480 --> 00:28:25,040 reign forever and in a sense congratulate a successful 437 00:28:25,040 --> 00:28:30,000 church. That is what preterism holds to. 438 00:28:30,000 --> 00:28:33,040 And this is just again one of two main reasons why they have 439 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:35,760 this view. The second explanation, it's 440 00:28:35,760 --> 00:28:38,360 because how John speaks of his events himself. 441 00:28:38,560 --> 00:28:40,120 Let's go back to Revelation chapter one. 442 00:28:40,120 --> 00:28:45,960 Look at verse one again, The revelation of Jesus Christ, 443 00:28:45,960 --> 00:28:48,280 which God gave him to show to his servants the things that 444 00:28:48,280 --> 00:28:53,080 must soon take place. He made it known by sending his 445 00:28:53,080 --> 00:28:55,760 Angel to his servant John. Look at verse 3. 446 00:28:56,080 --> 00:28:58,360 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the the words of this 447 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,760 prophecy and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is 448 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:03,320 written in it for the time is near. 449 00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:05,000 OK, that's the beginning of the book. 450 00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:06,120 Now you go to the end of the book. 451 00:29:06,560 --> 00:29:10,480 Look at chapter 22 verse 10. John was told and he said to me, 452 00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,760 do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book for the 453 00:29:14,760 --> 00:29:21,160 time is near. If John said soon that it must 454 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:26,560 mean soon. 2000 plus years does not sound like the time is near. 455 00:29:28,720 --> 00:29:31,440 So the preterist would believe that these things John spoke of 456 00:29:31,440 --> 00:29:35,400 must have happened soon after he completed this letter. 457 00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,840 Remember I told you how Irenaeus was a clue for people to believe 458 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:45,240 that the Book of Revelation was written in what, 95 AD? 459 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:49,280 Most preterist would challenge that and they would say no, no, 460 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:52,560 I had to be in the 60s when Nero was reigning and persecuting. 461 00:29:53,840 --> 00:29:56,800 Why? Because if John wrote this after 462 00:29:56,800 --> 00:30:01,640 70 AD, then how is this prediction about the fall of 463 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:06,000 Jerusalem in 70 AD had to have happened before 70 AD? 464 00:30:06,000 --> 00:30:10,240 So that's why you have some who will challenge Irenaeus as a 465 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,720 source for dating this book. That's all I'll say about 466 00:30:13,720 --> 00:30:16,440 preterism for now. And then these viewpoints, we're 467 00:30:16,440 --> 00:30:18,720 going to maybe touch on them as we go through this book. 468 00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:22,320 But let me add one more thing. Everything that I just described 469 00:30:22,320 --> 00:30:25,760 to you, I hope this doesn't confuse you. 470 00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:30,520 Everything that I just described about preterism is what? 471 00:30:31,560 --> 00:30:35,680 Partial preterist belief? You have a fringe of preterism 472 00:30:36,080 --> 00:30:39,000 called full preterist. What do they believe? 473 00:30:39,840 --> 00:30:41,800 Everything in Revelation has been fulfilled. 474 00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:47,240 Everything. The eternal age, the return of 475 00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:53,200 Christ, our resurrection heaven, everything. 476 00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,680 That's dangerous. That's false teaching in my 477 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,800 books. But even partial parts like no, 478 00:31:00,800 --> 00:31:03,800 no, no, we're not those guys. Just to make you aware. 479 00:31:04,280 --> 00:31:07,120 They're out there. I've had somebody, when I was 480 00:31:07,280 --> 00:31:09,280 walking in the faith early on, challenge me as a full 481 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:12,360 preterist. I had a lot of questions. 482 00:31:14,000 --> 00:31:16,080 Let's go to the third approach. Remember, there's four 483 00:31:16,080 --> 00:31:17,360 approaches to interpreting the book. 484 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,480 Let's go to the third. We dealt with the historical 485 00:31:20,480 --> 00:31:22,400 view. We dealt with the preterist 486 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:24,720 view. Now, which is probably the most 487 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:29,640 familiar to us, the futurist approach, the futurist approach, 488 00:31:30,160 --> 00:31:34,560 the futurist interpretation views Revelation in the exact 489 00:31:34,560 --> 00:31:38,920 opposite way of the preterist. If the preterist believes that a 490 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,920 majority of the Book of Revelation has not has been 491 00:31:40,920 --> 00:31:44,000 fulfilled, rather the future says most of it has not yet been 492 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:48,040 fulfilled. And these events are still to 493 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:52,600 come to be realized near the end of the world, at the end of the 494 00:31:52,600 --> 00:31:57,160 world, in a future period called the Tribulation, which will 495 00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:00,040 immediately precede the Second coming, the establishment of 496 00:32:00,080 --> 00:32:02,520 Jesus, earthly reign and the eternal age. 497 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:04,680 That's what the futurist holds to. 498 00:32:04,680 --> 00:32:07,000 And this is the most important thing about those who are 499 00:32:07,720 --> 00:32:10,400 futurist. Don't you love labels, Futurist? 500 00:32:12,280 --> 00:32:17,480 Futurists argue that a consistently literal and plain 501 00:32:17,480 --> 00:32:21,680 interpretation of the Book of Revelation is necessary in order 502 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,080 to understand it. So futurists will say, look, you 503 00:32:25,080 --> 00:32:27,880 have to honor the rules of grammar, and you got to stay 504 00:32:27,880 --> 00:32:30,520 consistent with the historical framework, and you have to 505 00:32:30,520 --> 00:32:33,800 consider the context in order to determine your conclusions. 506 00:32:34,520 --> 00:32:36,960 So futurists will try to take the Book of Revelation as 507 00:32:36,960 --> 00:32:41,520 literally as possible, but they do not deny figurative or 508 00:32:41,520 --> 00:32:45,240 symbolic imagery. What they are reluctant to do, 509 00:32:45,240 --> 00:32:49,920 though, is to stretch metaphors or spiritualize passages. 510 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:56,440 Any other view apart from the futurist finds great liberty in 511 00:32:56,480 --> 00:33:00,400 allegorizing the Book of Revelation, making it sound or 512 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:02,840 be something that doesn't seem to be the case. 513 00:33:02,840 --> 00:33:04,920 And it's literal. Understanding The futures, 514 00:33:04,920 --> 00:33:07,320 though, it's like, no, no, no, we got to honor this as plainly 515 00:33:07,320 --> 00:33:09,560 as possible, as clearly as possible. 516 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:11,960 And that's what they do. And that's why they arrive to 517 00:33:11,960 --> 00:33:13,320 the conclusions that they arrive to. 518 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:18,600 And though, again, I do not like labels, if there was one that I 519 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:21,920 did favor, it's this one. And that's how we're going to be 520 00:33:21,920 --> 00:33:23,880 approaching the Book of Revelation from a futurist 521 00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:26,480 approach. Why? 522 00:33:27,120 --> 00:33:31,760 Because John was told to write about the future, and the events 523 00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:35,000 that he describes have not yet happened. 524 00:33:35,560 --> 00:33:38,760 Unless you analyze it allegorically, then it could 525 00:33:38,760 --> 00:33:42,280 really mean anything. But if you take it literally, if 526 00:33:42,280 --> 00:33:45,880 you take it plainly, then you have to be honest and say, yeah, 527 00:33:45,880 --> 00:33:48,880 there isn't any time in history where we see these kind of 528 00:33:48,880 --> 00:33:51,720 events taking place. There might be similarities, 529 00:33:51,720 --> 00:33:53,920 there might be some overlap, but as you're going to discover, the 530 00:33:53,920 --> 00:33:59,440 intensity and a universal impact is unprecedented. 531 00:34:01,040 --> 00:34:05,040 Let me give you some examples. Go to Revelation 8, verse 8. 532 00:34:05,720 --> 00:34:08,639 This is under the series of the trumpet judgments. 533 00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:11,639 We'll explore that. I don't know when, but we will 534 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,679 in Revelation 8, verse 8. Notice what happens after one of 535 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:21,120 these trumpets are blasted. The second Angel blew his 536 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:25,360 trumpet and something like a great mountain burning with fire 537 00:34:25,639 --> 00:34:29,920 was thrown into the sea, and a third of the sea became blood. 538 00:34:30,520 --> 00:34:34,080 1/3 of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the 539 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:39,120 ships were destroyed. A future to say we're talking 540 00:34:39,120 --> 00:34:42,560 about a real thing, an object from the heavens that crashed 541 00:34:42,560 --> 00:34:46,840 into the water and it actually killed animals and it actually 542 00:34:46,880 --> 00:34:51,199 destroyed infrastructure. Anything beyond the futurist 543 00:34:51,199 --> 00:34:54,800 would allegorize this passage. They would spiritualize it. 544 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:56,719 OK, let's look at another example. 545 00:34:56,719 --> 00:34:58,440 Look at Chapter 9. We're still under the trumpet 546 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:00,400 judgments. And look at verse 18 of 547 00:35:00,400 --> 00:35:07,520 Revelation 9. By these 3 plagues, 1/3 of 548 00:35:07,520 --> 00:35:13,760 mankind was killed. That's a lot of people by the 549 00:35:13,760 --> 00:35:17,080 fire and smoke and sulfur coming out of their mouths. 550 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:21,840 So again, a futures would say 1/3 of mankind means 1/3 of 551 00:35:21,840 --> 00:35:26,760 mankind. Other approaches would say no. 552 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:30,920 This might actually mean it's just really a symbolic picture 553 00:35:31,160 --> 00:35:35,760 of how throughout history God has judged nations and he's 554 00:35:35,760 --> 00:35:38,960 allowed for devastations and great loss. 555 00:35:38,960 --> 00:35:42,320 And if anything, this also shows God's grace because it's only a 556 00:35:42,320 --> 00:35:44,680 third and not the complete picture. 557 00:35:46,920 --> 00:35:51,360 Which brings me now to the final approach to the Book of 558 00:35:51,360 --> 00:35:57,960 Revelation, the idealist approach, the idealist approach. 559 00:35:57,960 --> 00:36:00,440 The idealist approach differs from the first 3 and that it 560 00:36:00,440 --> 00:36:04,560 refuses to identify any particular historical events. 561 00:36:05,840 --> 00:36:07,920 It doesn't look for institutions, it doesn't look 562 00:36:07,920 --> 00:36:10,680 for people with the visions of this book in mind. 563 00:36:10,680 --> 00:36:16,040 It doesn't do any of that. Revelation to the idealist, is a 564 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:19,960 symbolic representation. It's a poetic parable. 565 00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:24,760 It's a figurative drama that depicts the ongoing struggle 566 00:36:25,040 --> 00:36:28,160 between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the darkness in 567 00:36:28,160 --> 00:36:32,120 good and evil, between the church and everything that 568 00:36:32,120 --> 00:36:33,720 opposes the church and the gospel. 569 00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,840 That's the idealist approach. And so it's not a timeline of 570 00:36:37,840 --> 00:36:40,200 anything. It doesn't deal with history 571 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:42,080 past. It doesn't deal with the future 572 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:45,080 to come. It's just really a collection of 573 00:36:45,080 --> 00:36:48,360 windows that we get to look through to give us 574 00:36:48,360 --> 00:36:51,480 encouragement, to know that in the end the church and Christ 575 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:54,760 will be victorious. And in some of these windows 576 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:56,440 you're going to get moral lessons. 577 00:36:56,960 --> 00:36:59,960 And really the final window is how Christ will come back, rule 578 00:36:59,960 --> 00:37:02,360 and reign forever. We will be successful, we will 579 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:05,600 win. So they're not looking for 580 00:37:05,600 --> 00:37:10,280 anything, they're just seeing this as a book to bless the 581 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,360 believers that were originally written to who were enduring 582 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:16,240 persecution. And we get to benefit from that 583 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:22,200 as well-being the church. So it's all symbolic. 584 00:37:23,160 --> 00:37:27,240 It's to communicate the victory of Christ in a more robust and 585 00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:30,480 enriching way. It's one thing to say Satan will 586 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,480 be defeated, evil will cease, but when you include imagery 587 00:37:34,480 --> 00:37:38,840 like Dragons and swords and the lake of fire and explosions and 588 00:37:38,840 --> 00:37:41,600 all these things, it just kind of hypes you up a little bit 589 00:37:41,600 --> 00:37:44,080 more. It does something to you more 590 00:37:44,080 --> 00:37:46,600 emotionally. It excites you on a different 591 00:37:46,600 --> 00:37:49,720 level. That is how the idealist views 592 00:37:49,720 --> 00:37:52,480 the Book of Revelation. So they'll teach this. 593 00:37:52,480 --> 00:37:55,680 And you know, I was interested actually knowing in advance that 594 00:37:55,680 --> 00:37:57,520 at some point we were going to touch on this book. 595 00:37:57,520 --> 00:38:01,600 I thought, you know, I'm going to listen to brothers in Christ 596 00:38:01,600 --> 00:38:03,840 who are idealist and how they teach through the Book of 597 00:38:03,840 --> 00:38:06,240 Revelation. So I've been listening to series 598 00:38:06,240 --> 00:38:08,600 in the Book of Revelation from those who believe this. 599 00:38:08,600 --> 00:38:11,920 And I want to give you just an example of how they might look 600 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:14,560 at some of the details, right? Some will just overlook the 601 00:38:14,560 --> 00:38:16,480 details altogether. They'll just look at the whole, 602 00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:18,120 they'll kind of look at the main idea. 603 00:38:18,240 --> 00:38:19,760 This is about suffering in the world. 604 00:38:19,880 --> 00:38:21,560 This is about God's call to repentance. 605 00:38:21,680 --> 00:38:23,280 This is a picture of God's wrath. 606 00:38:24,080 --> 00:38:28,240 But one of them actually went a little bit deeper and it really 607 00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:30,160 interested me. So if you go to Revelation, I 608 00:38:30,160 --> 00:38:42,780 want you to see what I heard in chapter 6 in verse 5, this is 609 00:38:42,780 --> 00:38:47,300 when the seals were opened, the scrolls were open, the initial 610 00:38:47,300 --> 00:38:50,020 set of judgments. And look what we read here in 611 00:38:50,020 --> 00:38:54,460 the third seal, verse 5. When he opened the third seal, I 612 00:38:54,460 --> 00:38:58,660 heard the third living creature say come, and I looked and 613 00:38:58,660 --> 00:39:02,320 behold, the Black Horse and it's rider had a pair of scales in 614 00:39:02,320 --> 00:39:04,640 his hand. And I heard what seemed to be a 615 00:39:04,640 --> 00:39:08,000 voice in the midst of the four living creature saying a quart 616 00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:11,320 of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a 617 00:39:11,320 --> 00:39:14,640 denarius and do not harm the oil and wine. 618 00:39:16,080 --> 00:39:18,280 So if you look at this from a literal standpoint, what do you 619 00:39:18,280 --> 00:39:21,360 have here that there's going to be a judgement released upon the 620 00:39:21,360 --> 00:39:25,720 earth that's going to affect the global economy and certain goods 621 00:39:25,720 --> 00:39:28,480 will be impacted, while certain other goods will actually be 622 00:39:28,480 --> 00:39:31,200 intact. So again, you're seeing this as 623 00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:36,040 a plain depiction of something, prediction of something. 624 00:39:36,720 --> 00:39:38,200 The idealist wouldn't see it that way. 625 00:39:38,200 --> 00:39:42,080 Again, nothing in Revelation has any connection to any point of 626 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,960 history. And So what I heard was, no, no, 627 00:39:45,200 --> 00:39:49,280 this is describing a spirit that has been on the earth from the 628 00:39:49,280 --> 00:39:52,280 beginning, has been released. And what the spirit does, it 629 00:39:52,280 --> 00:39:57,160 convinces people to pursue things that they don't need 630 00:39:58,000 --> 00:40:00,600 while neglecting the things that they do need. 631 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,040 So what do you need? Wheat, barley. 632 00:40:04,280 --> 00:40:06,760 That's for your sustenance, that's for your survival. 633 00:40:07,080 --> 00:40:09,720 Oil and wine, that's more luxury. 634 00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:14,520 And what the Spirit does is convinces people you need these 635 00:40:14,520 --> 00:40:17,480 things that don't really matter while you are starving. 636 00:40:17,480 --> 00:40:19,920 The things that do matter, namely the truth, a relationship 637 00:40:19,920 --> 00:40:24,920 with Christ, the gospel. I don't want to offend anybody, 638 00:40:24,920 --> 00:40:29,200 but that's a stretch. And it's like, where where's the 639 00:40:29,200 --> 00:40:32,440 limitation on this? You can make anything, say 640 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,640 anything then. And that's why I think it can be 641 00:40:35,640 --> 00:40:38,640 dangerous. So you just heard briefly the 642 00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:42,560 four common approaches to interpreting the Book of 643 00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:44,600 Revelation. And I want to encourage 644 00:40:44,600 --> 00:40:46,200 everybody here. Let me say this at this point, 645 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:48,920 you may hold to one of those views. 646 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:50,840 You may not hold to the futurist approach. 647 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:53,240 And I get it. The futurist approach has not 648 00:40:53,680 --> 00:40:55,720 developed the greatest reputation either has its own 649 00:40:55,720 --> 00:40:57,000 weaknesses. And I think one of the 650 00:40:57,000 --> 00:40:59,640 weaknesses of those who believe that all these things, most of 651 00:40:59,640 --> 00:41:01,760 these things are still to come is that it has inspired 652 00:41:01,760 --> 00:41:05,120 sensationalism. People want to make everything 653 00:41:05,120 --> 00:41:08,600 seem like it's in the Book of Revelation and they they missed 654 00:41:08,600 --> 00:41:10,760 the point, which I'm going to get to as we close in a moment 655 00:41:10,760 --> 00:41:13,880 here. But for every person here, I 656 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:16,560 want to let you know that it's going to be, by the grace of 657 00:41:16,560 --> 00:41:19,840 God, my duty to try to make the Book of Revelation as 658 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:21,960 understandable and as clear as possible. 659 00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,720 I'm not here to impress you with anything, with any lingo. 660 00:41:25,720 --> 00:41:27,400 I can't even pronounce some of these words. 661 00:41:27,480 --> 00:41:31,200 I myself can't. So I'm, I don't impress myself. 662 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:36,040 I just want people to leave here with a greater relief. 663 00:41:36,960 --> 00:41:39,760 That book is amazing. Wow. 664 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,760 Can I ask something of you as we go through this book? 665 00:41:45,480 --> 00:41:47,480 I'm sure we're going to talk about it in fellowship. 666 00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:50,120 I'm sure you're going to take some of these points and relay 667 00:41:50,120 --> 00:41:52,360 it to others, maybe message others, call others. 668 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:54,280 Depends how much this means to you. 669 00:41:54,880 --> 00:41:59,320 Can we journey through this in humility please? 670 00:42:00,720 --> 00:42:03,600 The church has disagreed on some of these details, some of the 671 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:06,040 timing of these events since the beginning. 672 00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,160 And we want to be a church that can say on these non essential 673 00:42:10,160 --> 00:42:12,720 matters. We all agree Christ is coming 674 00:42:12,720 --> 00:42:14,600 back. He's going to rule and reign. 675 00:42:14,680 --> 00:42:15,920 We're going to be with him forever. 676 00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,640 We can have healthy, encouraging discussions about things that we 677 00:42:20,640 --> 00:42:23,760 can debate over, but we should still be able to come here, look 678 00:42:23,760 --> 00:42:26,280 at one another in the same Pew, lift our hands and our hearts, 679 00:42:26,280 --> 00:42:29,080 and sing to the same Jesus. That's what we're doing here. 680 00:42:29,360 --> 00:42:32,360 So I don't want us to go downstairs, and I don't want to 681 00:42:32,360 --> 00:42:35,000 hear debates where people are throwing food at each other 682 00:42:36,000 --> 00:42:38,200 because so many people have worked hard for that food. 683 00:42:38,200 --> 00:42:40,240 And that's not the goal of the Book of Revelation being 684 00:42:40,240 --> 00:42:42,920 studied. If you're going to have debate, 685 00:42:42,920 --> 00:42:47,120 let it be in humility, let it be in joy, let it be in love. 686 00:42:48,200 --> 00:42:50,040 We're still answering the question, what is the Book of 687 00:42:50,040 --> 00:42:52,920 Revelation? It is a letter, It is a 688 00:42:52,920 --> 00:42:56,200 prophecy. And lastly, it is a revelation. 689 00:42:57,280 --> 00:42:59,160 Let's go to Revelation one verse one again. 690 00:43:06,770 --> 00:43:11,370 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to 691 00:43:11,370 --> 00:43:13,810 his servants the things that must soon take place. 692 00:43:14,170 --> 00:43:17,290 He made it known by sending his Angel to his servant John. 693 00:43:19,490 --> 00:43:23,560 If you didn't learn anything today, at least leave with this. 694 00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:29,040 This is the Book of Revelation, not Revelations. 695 00:43:31,920 --> 00:43:33,680 There's no S at the end of Revelation. 696 00:43:34,120 --> 00:43:39,240 It's just the Book of Revelation 1 Revelation and it's the first 697 00:43:39,240 --> 00:43:42,720 words of John where the title is derived from. 698 00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:47,640 And in the original Greek the word is apocalypses. 699 00:43:47,640 --> 00:43:50,960 Does that sound familiar? It's where we get the word 700 00:43:50,960 --> 00:43:53,280 apocalypse from. Now, when you hear the word 701 00:43:53,280 --> 00:43:57,840 apocalypse, what comes to mind? Nuclear wars, right? 702 00:43:57,880 --> 00:44:02,800 The Earth melting, mountains plunging into the sea, people 703 00:44:02,800 --> 00:44:06,200 losing their lives. Catastrophe, horrors. 704 00:44:06,680 --> 00:44:08,160 That's not what apocalypse means. 705 00:44:10,120 --> 00:44:16,920 Apocalypse simply means to uncover, to unveil, to reveal 706 00:44:17,760 --> 00:44:23,680 the revelation, the revealing of Jesus Christ. 707 00:44:25,000 --> 00:44:28,480 It's to make something that was once unknown known, something 708 00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:33,120 that was hidden, now seen. And the object of this 709 00:44:33,120 --> 00:44:36,400 revelation is Christ. It's as though John is saying 710 00:44:36,480 --> 00:44:40,400 you're going to see something, you're going to see a side of 711 00:44:40,400 --> 00:44:44,040 Jesus of Nazareth that you didn't see in the Gospels and 712 00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,840 that you couldn't picture in his apostles letters. 713 00:44:49,360 --> 00:44:53,600 We're going to remove something concerning Christ that you've 714 00:44:53,600 --> 00:44:58,320 never seen before. I will admit this. 715 00:44:58,320 --> 00:45:01,840 When I was young, Revelation intrigued me. 716 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:04,360 Remember when I told you that I was looking at it in the Pew? 717 00:45:05,000 --> 00:45:09,120 I was terrified, but I was curious at the same time. 718 00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:10,880 I mean, the pastor preaching must have thought this young 719 00:45:10,880 --> 00:45:12,920 child, he's a prodigy, he's reading the Bible while I'm 720 00:45:12,920 --> 00:45:14,280 preaching, following me. No, no, no. 721 00:45:14,280 --> 00:45:16,920 I was just trying to understand what I was looking at. 722 00:45:16,920 --> 00:45:22,680 Nothing related to the sermon, to my shame, but I'll say this, 723 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:26,360 even after that moment, being familiar with some of the truths 724 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:30,680 of Revelation, I've always been intrigued early on because I 725 00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:35,600 said something about the future and it seemed like these codes 726 00:45:36,000 --> 00:45:39,560 that if you prayed hard enough and read up on history enough, 727 00:45:39,560 --> 00:45:41,080 you can kind of crack some of them. 728 00:45:42,760 --> 00:45:47,200 But after I got saved especially and especially after I got 729 00:45:47,480 --> 00:45:50,840 mature in the Lord and still maturing in the Lord, the thing 730 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:53,520 that captivates me the most about the Book of Revelation is 731 00:45:53,520 --> 00:45:59,240 Jesus is Christ. That's what excites me about 732 00:45:59,240 --> 00:46:00,880 Revelation more than anything else. 733 00:46:02,000 --> 00:46:07,200 This book is about Jesus in Revelation One. 734 00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:13,520 He's the living one who has conquered death forever. 735 00:46:14,160 --> 00:46:18,160 In Revelation 2 and three. He's a purifier of his church in 736 00:46:18,160 --> 00:46:20,400 Revelation four and five. He's the theme of Heaven's 737 00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:24,440 worship. In Revelation 6 to 18, he is the 738 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:30,720 perfect righteous judge that patiently calls sinners to 739 00:46:30,720 --> 00:46:33,640 repent. In Revelation 19, He is the 740 00:46:33,640 --> 00:46:38,440 coming King who will Vanquish and defeat Satan. 741 00:46:38,680 --> 00:46:44,000 Sin forever In Revelation 20 he is the promised seed of David 742 00:46:44,160 --> 00:46:48,320 who would declare to the universe that he kept his word 743 00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:50,520 by ruling and reigning on the earth. 744 00:46:51,280 --> 00:46:54,800 In Revelation 21 and 22, he is the bridegroom who has come to 745 00:46:54,800 --> 00:46:57,760 rescue his church and to dwell with us forever. 746 00:46:58,240 --> 00:47:04,360 The book is about Jesus, and the issue is if you approach this 747 00:47:04,360 --> 00:47:08,080 text so focus on small details of the visions and try to match 748 00:47:08,080 --> 00:47:11,480 current news headlines with the book's predictions, and you miss 749 00:47:11,480 --> 00:47:16,840 Christ in the process, you miss the purpose of the book you did. 750 00:47:20,000 --> 00:47:24,640 If you care about knowing more about Jesus, you will care about 751 00:47:24,640 --> 00:47:29,560 the Book of Revelation. So here's a summary of what the 752 00:47:29,560 --> 00:47:32,800 Book of Revelation is. The Book of Revelation is a 753 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:37,520 prophetic letter that depicts the current and coming glory of 754 00:47:37,520 --> 00:47:41,120 Jesus Christ and the descriptions of the awesome 755 00:47:41,120 --> 00:47:45,240 implications of it. The Book of Revelation is a 756 00:47:45,240 --> 00:47:48,760 prophetic letter that depicts the current and coming glory of 757 00:47:48,760 --> 00:47:53,400 Jesus Christ and the awesome implications that come with it. 758 00:47:54,080 --> 00:47:56,760 Are you ready? Let's pray. 759 00:48:05,600 --> 00:48:10,600 Lord, we thank you that you've allowed us as a church to come 760 00:48:10,600 --> 00:48:15,360 to this point in our growing knowledge of who you are. 761 00:48:16,920 --> 00:48:21,680 And we do pray, Lord, that our hearts would be humbled, that we 762 00:48:21,680 --> 00:48:24,720 would approach this with gratitude and love. 763 00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:28,640 That if the fruit of this study would be anything, yes, the 764 00:48:28,640 --> 00:48:30,960 knowledge of you, greater worship for you. 765 00:48:31,480 --> 00:48:33,800 But Lord, would it also bring us closer together? 766 00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:38,240 Would it inspire Christlikeness? Well, we do pray that you 767 00:48:38,240 --> 00:48:40,360 protect us as we study this truth. 768 00:48:40,720 --> 00:48:43,840 That you keep us from dangers, That Lord, you would keep our 769 00:48:43,840 --> 00:48:46,720 hearts pure, You would keep our hearts hungry. 770 00:48:47,000 --> 00:48:50,720 And that, Lord, we would be able to end the study should you 771 00:48:50,720 --> 00:48:54,760 tarry being more in love with Christ. 772 00:48:56,200 --> 00:49:02,440 We asked Lord that for any disagreements, Christ like us 773 00:49:02,440 --> 00:49:04,360 will still be seen in our conversations. 774 00:49:05,400 --> 00:49:07,760 It would be felt in our dialogue. 775 00:49:09,880 --> 00:49:14,880 And Lord, lastly, help us see your Son Jesus Christ from 776 00:49:14,880 --> 00:49:18,480 chapter 1 to chapter 22. Help us, Lord, as we go through 777 00:49:18,480 --> 00:49:21,920 this, not get sidetracked, not get swept up by anything else 778 00:49:23,000 --> 00:49:24,920 with whatever portion of this book we cover. 779 00:49:24,920 --> 00:49:27,640 We pray that Christ would be on our minds. 780 00:49:28,560 --> 00:49:32,520 And so, Lord, we just as a church, ask for you to be our 781 00:49:32,520 --> 00:49:34,920 guide. And Lord, we sing to you now 782 00:49:35,640 --> 00:49:36,880 because we've tasted your goodness. 783 00:49:36,880 --> 00:49:40,720 Even in this brief overview of this glorious text, we thank 784 00:49:40,720 --> 00:49:44,440 you. We worship you in Jesus name, 785 00:49:44,920 --> 00:49:46,800 Amen. Let's stand and worship the Lord 786 00:49:46,800 --> 00:49:47,480 together, shall we?