This is Living Waters of Grace, the teaching ministry of Clark
Wofford, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel of Westmoreland,
County of Greensburg, PA. Now here's Pastor Clark as he
continues teaching through God's Word.
We believe that most of the prophecy that we read in
Revelation has yet to be fulfilled and it awaits future
fulfillment. We look at everything from
chapter 4 to the end of the book as a very short period before
the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. The main point though, when we
study this book is to realize that the Book of Revelation was
written to be understood, not to confuse people.
There is much light that can be given to you as you study this
book. My great grandmother loved
puzzles. Despite her dementia.
She could knock out a puzzle quicker than most and attempted
many puzzles, some big, some small, and all with varying
success. Without the box, however, it
becomes much more difficult. Similarly, the Book of
Revelation becomes difficult to comprehend without an
understanding of the bigger picture.
In today's message, Pastor Clark helps us start to assemble the
pieces of John's visions that he has recorded in this final book
of the Bible. Now here's Pastor Clark in the
Book of Revelation chapter one with today's edition of Living
Waters of Grace. The Book of Revelation.
A lot of different views and different parts of the body of
Christ. Confusion for some people.
Some people getting arguments and debates about what this book
means or what it's all about. I'm not going to do that.
I'm not interested in arguing about the Bible, you know, I
just want to follow the Lord. Just have a simple walk with the
Lord and love him and do what he tells me to do and not argue
about things that people seem to get uptight about.
So we want to approach the book from a very practical point of
view, a very simple point of view, and at the same time do
justice to the theology and the history and the teachings of
this book by the person of the Holy Spirit.
So I'm going to give you some background information today,
and I hope it won't prove boring to you, but I think it's
important to have a infrastructure of basis, a
foundation of understanding the book and what it is conveying.
The word revelation comes from the Greek word called the
Apocalypse and that is the unveiling and the uncovering of
what has not yet been seen or revealed up until the time that
this book has been given by the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's called the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Now the Apostle John wrote this book as he was spoken to by the
Angel of God and at times Jesus Christ directly.
And as a result of that we have some similarities that we can
draw upon from some of his style of writing.
He's the one that wrote the Gospel of John.
He also wrote the three epistles.
Of course, John the Apostle, the beloved one of Jesus Christ, He
had a tremendous relationship with the Lord.
And so this book, as it says in first one, the revelation of
Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants things
which must shortly take place, things will eventually soon take
place. There's four approaches or views
historically of how to interpret this Book of Revelation being
predictive prophecy. The first reference that I want
to share is called the historic approach.
And the historic approach was sort of the Protestant view of a
lot of people down through the ages, from the time that John
wrote this book till the fulfillment of the second coming
of Christ at the end of time. The people that take the
historic approach look at the fulfillment of the truths and
revelation as a process of progress going from the time of
Christ's ascension to the time that he returns.
And this has been unfolding over the last 2000 years.
That's an approach. Another view is the preterist
view and the preterist believe there's two types of preterist,
the full preterist and the partial preterist.
The full preterist would actually say that everything in
Revelation has already been fulfilled.
That's crazy. But they believe the second
coming of Christ occurred after the destruction of Jerusalem in
AD 70 and that we're living in a Kingdom age now.
And I don't know about you, but if this is a Kingdom age, I'm
going to have to like look for a different savior because this
ain't working, right? So for me, that's absurd.
You know, I've met people to have that view and it's
heretical. I remember Paul declaring about
those in the time that he was living that proclaimed that the
Lord had come and that the people had missed the rapture.
And I mean this. And he said that these people
come to overthrow the faith of the week and they're not
biblical people. Also, we have the view of
partial preterist and partial preterist.
See the final chapters of the Book of Revelation yet to be
revealed. So they're obviously not in the
same camp as full preterist. They are looking forward to the
second coming of Christ. I think like the Bible answer,
man Hank, he's one of those guys that are considering himself as
a partial preterist. I don't know when people call
themselves a Bible answer man, and they claim that they're
speaking for everyone that believes the Bible, think it's
shaky. I think he has some valuable
things to say, but there's some things that he says that I don't
think you're rooted in sound biblical exegesis.
And then there's a spiritual approach.
And this is the group of people that look at everything in
Revelation is symbolism or allegory.
They see it as a drama depicting transcendent spiritual
realities. They see these historical events
throughout the ages rather than time specific fulfillments.
And they believe that revelation can be a part of any age.
So those are three of the major views.
Our view is a futuristic approach and nowadays people
that you listen to on the radio that you might like or respect,
like of course, Chuck Smith, Calvary Chapel, John MacArthur,
Charles Stanley, Chuck Swindoll, guys that you hear on the radio
that are still sound, David, Jeremiah that are very similar
in their approach and teaching the word that we are here all
are futuristic exegetical Bible teachers.
And so we believe that most of the prophecy that we read in
Revelation has yet to be fulfilled and it awaits future
fulfillment. We look at everything from
chapter 4 to the end of the book as a very short period before
the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ. The main point, though, when we
study this book is to realize that the Book of Revelation was
written to be understood, not to confuse people.
There's much light that can be given to you as you study this
book, as we study it in the light of other prophetical books
like Daniel, Ezekiel, Joel, and others.
So when you're studying this book, we encourage that, as John
promised, there's a special blessing for those who read this
book and hear the book and do what it says.
So that's the most important thing.
Now, when we look at futuristic events, they are, to be honest
with you, somewhat obscure. When you read certain things,
you sort of in your own mind, think, well, how will this come
the past and how will this actually work out?
And you have some questions, which is good.
And if you have questions as opposed to thinking you know it
all, that's a good thing because you want to approach this book
with humility, understanding that there's still some things
that need to come to pass. And you'll definitely know them
after they come to pass. But before they come to pass,
sometimes you know, you're looking through a glass starkly.
You just don't know for sure yet.
But the bottom line we one thing we do know for sure is that
Christ is coming back again. He promised he would come back
again. So to gain a correct
understanding of this book, first of all you have to
recognize that this book was written as an epistle to a
certain group of churches at the time that the apostle John was
living. It was very, very important, the
things that he was addressing because they were given to him
by Jesus Christ. And the churches at that time
were in disarray just like they are today.
You could take those seven churches of Revelation and
compare them to churches in our time and you could say, well,
what kind of church is Calvary Chapel, you know, and you would
be able to hopefully look at that list and line us up with
hopefully the Church of Philadelphia that still has a
little faith and is persevering. Hopefully you wouldn't say,
well, recoveries like Laodicea, that would be a real horrible
thing to be in a church like that prior to the return of the
Lord. But in the last days, it talks
about many falling away from the faith as we've studied in Jude
and the epistles of John, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of demons, people who are believing things today that
they wouldn't have believed 20 years ago.
And so I believe that we are moving more toward the days of
Laodicea. Matter of fact, it says when the
Son of Man comes, he says, well, I even find faith on the earth.
And this the great falling away is the tragic thing where people
will no longer value the truths of the word of God.
They'll no longer find a need to worship God.
They'll have many other things that are capturing their
attention and they'll begin to slip away from what is really,
really important. But this book addresses the
specific needs and interests and issues at the time that it was
written, what these people were actually going through.
But it also needs to be understood how it's applied to
the circumstances and the days that we're also living.
And if you look at the book that way, then you're able to more
objectively transfer certain truths to our own times with our
own specific needs and issues. So Revelation is a book of
prophecy that's designed to encourage you, to warn you, and
to comfort you. Now, if you're a believer today
and you're walking with the Lord, and as the old hymn says,
it's well with my soul, you can be totally engulfed in
everything this book's teaching because you're anticipating and
looking forward to the return of the Lord.
If you're backslidden or you're not following the Lord or you
don't know Christ yet, this book can be a horror for you because
it will begin to expose you to some very, very serious things
that await those who are without Christ.
And if it's what brings you to Christ and gets you saved,
that's a good thing. You know, God doesn't use
illustrations to destroy you. He writes these things that you
might be saved. So chapter 2 and three, as we
will eventually look at that will give us a history of the
testimony, as I said, of the seven churches of Asia Minor.
But as I said, this message of revelation is given to comfort
the persecuted people at the time that they were living.
The persecution on the face of the earth during the days of the
apostles was unbelievable. The Roman Empire was evil.
All it wanted to do was destroy and martyr the Christians.
And so John is writing this book not only to educate them about
what's going to eventually happen, to comfort those who are
persecuted, afflicted in their righteous walks, and also called
a repentance to those who are straying.
So chapters 4 through 22 will give you a predictive analysis
of the events that will be occurring after these things are
established. Now, the Book of Revelation is
apocalyptic literature. As you see this, you might say,
man, what in the world is that? It looks like some guy's on an
LSD trip or something. You know, it's just very, very
bizarre, the symbolism and the metaphors that are used in that
kind of stuff. It's like other than this world,
but as we study it, we're going to see that even though it's
apocalyptic and it's expanse, it's very, very practical and
many things can be actually seen as literal.
Apocalyptic literature during the time of John was very
popular. There was other books that were
written that weren't considered part of the Canon or the Bible
that we have today. And so they talked and they use
this kind of writing back then and it reveals certain mysteries
about heaven and earth, about man and God, about angels and
demons and the life of the world today and the world to come.
So all these things are part of what you're going to be getting
exposed to in this book. It's a very, very important
book, especially for these days that we're living.
The book was written in the times of intense persecution
somewhere around 96 AD, where you had different Antiochus
Epiphanes, you had Cyrus, you had Nero and had Dormition.
These different world rulers at the time were Roman empires and
they were ungodly. And so their whole focus was to
destroy this new group of people called Christians.
John talks in verse 9. He says I'm your brother and
companion in this tribulation and Kingdom and patience of
Jesus Christ. So he's in the situation himself
as well of understanding the times that they're living in,
great suffering at that time and also great suffering that's
lying ahead for those who will still be on the earth after the
rapture, martyrdom, recurring theme throughout this book, the
number of people who have died for their faith since the
inception of the gospel. Is this unbelievable?
We're fortunate enough to live in a country where at this point
in time, we're not being hung on crosses or burning oil.
Now, what's interesting here, these seven churches were in
what today is considered modern Turkey.
Now, if anybody knows anything about Turkey today, it's
primarily an Islamic country. 90% of the population in Turkey
is Islam. There's only a few Orthodox
Christians left there in that country.
And that country initially was one of the Seas of the early
church. Constantinople, one of the
largest churches built in our history, was built in that
particular country. And now it's this, a museum.
But as we look in this book, the vision of John is imagery that
you just in your own mind, outside of looking at Movies
Now, going to the theater, we're all familiar with monsters and
Dragons and that kind of stuff. But he uses all these pictures
in this book to convey deeper thoughts.
And there's also a lot of numbers that are given in the
book, names depicting the conflict between good and evil.
Now, symbolism in the sense of me just making it up as I go
along, I think it means this. I think it means that I'm not
going to do that to you. I'm going to give you some
history from other books of the Bible that will help connect
some of the symbolism and make it more literal.
But you just can't arbitrarily take what's in this book and try
to make everything literal because not everything is
revealed yet. We're still waiting for some of
these things to develop in the future.
And there's an old term in seminaries and Bible college
called hermeneutics. And hermeneutics is a study of
how to interpret Scripture. And it says when the plain sense
of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.
But take every word at its literal meaning unless studied
in the light of related passages, something else is
indicated otherwise. And so when we look at this,
we're going to look at it in regards to the related passages,
But as we think about some of the things that John was going
to be writing about, a lot of these symbols that he's speaking
about really relate to personal and national entities at that
time that they were living and what would eventually develop in
the future. Many of these leaders are
portrayed as animals. We see the symbolism of the Lamb
and it refers to our Savior, Jesus Christ, the Lamb who was
slain before the foundation of the earth.
The dragon is referred, Satan himself and the beast, the
demonic spirits and the mutant locusts, all these things that
we'll read in time. He also discusses cities and
they're depicted as harlots and a bride.
And we look at Babylon and Sodom and Egypt and Jerusalem, and in
the context of those kind of things also at that time, as he
looks at the symbols that he's been given, they represent
political upheaval that will eventually occur and also terms
of cosmic disruptions. We read in Matthew about the sun
and moon, and also in Revelation being darkened, the stars
falling, every island, the mountain disappearing.
Also the number 7 is used throughout this book.
And #7 refers to completeness and perfection in the Scriptures
and throughout the Scripture, Deuteronomy, Psalms, and
Proverbs, this number is used many, many times.
In the Book of Revelation, this number is used to refer to the
seven churches, the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven
bowls, the seven thunders, and the seven beatitudes.
There are beatitudes in the Book of Revelation and the first one
we read the day about. Those who read this book are
blessed. Those who hear the words of the
prophecy are blessed, and those who keep those things which are
written in it for the time is near.
That's the first beatitudes of the seven in the Book of
Revelation. There's also fractions and
numbers given like 1/3 multiples of 12, like the 24 elders before
the throne and 144,000 witnesses during the time of the
tribulation, the thousand year reign. 10 days, one hour, a
little while he uses all these times.
As we look at this book, Revelation, it is completely
different pretty much than any other book in the Scriptures.
Matter of fact, there was a lot of controversy in the early
church as to whether it should be part of the Canon.
Now, the apostles, obviously they're the forerunners of the
church, and what they were given is what we have today in our
Scriptures. But there was a lot of confusion
back then because of the inability to even begin to
comprehend in the slightest way what this book was saying at
that time. But it is truly inspired by God
as a prophecy. It identifies very clearly to us
the name of its true author. It actually predicts the future,
and it's an epistle in the apocalyptic mode that predicts
events of the future under the inspiration of God, the Holy
Spirit. Now, the reign of this emperor,
the mission, he was a very, very terrible, mean ruler.
He wanted to persecute the whole region.
Nero just had the ability to affect Rome at the time.
But as the church grew, this man who was in charge, the emperor
at the time, had the ability to deal with the whole area and try
to destroy everybody that lived at that time.
We study in history that Nicodemus was one of those who
were martyred during this time of this reign of this evil
emperor. Also Timothy.
Timothy was out in the streets speaking against the ungodly
role this leader and the things that were happening and the
people came upon him and clubbed him and physically beat him in a
couple days after his beating he he died.
It's taught that John the Apostle was boiled in oil before
he was sent an eggs out to this Isle of Patmos.
And so he, as he said in verse 9, I'm your brother and
companion in the Tribulation. He was experiencing the horror.
And so as we look at these churches, they were all at
different levels in their spiritual foundation as to how
they were following Jesus Christ.
As we study the book, you'll see there's a lot of allusion to
other parts of the Bible, but there's not one quote from
another book clearly defined in the Book of Revelation.
There's imagery from hundreds of Old Testament passages though it
gives a symbol of 2 olive trees referring to the two witnesses
in Chapter 11 at Echo Zechariah 43. 11 through 14 referring to
Zerubbabel and Joshua. There's hundreds of allusions to
familiar images in the Old Testament from the book of
Isaiah alone. 79 times alluded references Daniel 53 times
Ezekiel 48 Psalms 43 times Exodus 27 times Jeremiah 22
Zechariah 15 Amos 9 Joel 8. The Old Testament was the
foundation of what the apostles taught from.
They didn't have everything like you and I have now, so
everything they drew upon was the Old Testament scriptures.
It also gives us the insights of the matrix that are set up in
the book. Like for example it gives the
illustration of the Babylonian exile and Exodus and also
comparing it to the life of Jesus.
We see an evil power in the book of Exodus persecuting God's
people, Pharaoh in Egypt, but we see an evil power persecuting
God's people in the Book of Revelation, the Antichrist.
We see plagues of darkness and hail and locusts and boils and
frogs and water and turn into blood in the book of Exodus.
We also see this revealed in the Book of Revelation.
It talks about being delivered by the blood of the lamb in the
Old Testament. In the book of Exodus, when the
blood was put on the doorposts and the Angel of God spoke to
the children of Israel saying when God sees the blood, he will
pass over that house that the blood is applied to and they
will not lose the life of the first born.
But we also see in Revelation that we are delivered by the
blood of Jesus Christ. Talks about the dragon,
referring to the dragon in the Angel, the demonic forces of the
devil in the Book of Revelation. Also in Ezekiel 29 three talks
about the crossing of the Red Sea where they sang the song of
Moses and the Redeem will sing in the Book of Revelation The
song of Moses and the Lamb. In Revelation 15 it also
discusses the Tabernacle and all its furnishings.
In the book of Hebrews it discusses that the earthly
Tabernacle is a model of the heavenly counterpart.
A matter of fact, when you want to learn about worship, and I
think we all have a lot more to learn about worship.
Even though we worship the Lord here in spirit and truth and we
lift our hearts up to God, we're only we've got a glimpse, a
minor glimpse of what it's going to be like to worship and the
Kingdom of heaven. But if you really want to see
pure, divine, holy, God centered, God ordained worship,
you read the worship in the Book of Revelation.
John describes the atmosphere golden lampstands that are
present in chapter 1 verse 12, hidden man associated with the
ark of the covenant in chapter 2 verse 17, the altar of incense
chapter 8 verse 3 through 5, the holy of holies in Chapter 11
verse one and 15 verse 8, and the Ark of the covenant in
Chapter 11 verse 19. We think about the birth of
Christ and the death and the burial and the resurrection and
his victory over Satan. A reference frequently in this
book because it's all about Christ.
His birth and ascension is depicted in chapter 12, verse 5.
What's fascinating is when they talk about the two witnesses
that will be on the earth during the time of the Tribulation,
proclaiming the Kingdom of God and the coming of Christ.
They mirror Christ's earthly ministry almost identically.
Their ministry lasted 3 1/2 years.
Christ's earthly ministry after the baptism was 3 1/2 years.
Revelation 11 and Three speaks of these two witnesses.
We believe they are Elijah and Enoch.
Some people believe Elijah and Moses, but Elijah and Enoch,
those two were the ones that never tasted physical death.
This has been Living Waters of Grace with Pastor Clark.
We're going through the challenging and also intriguing
Book of Revelation. Whether you're a fan of reading
ahead in books of fiction, there's such a benefit to
reading ahead in the Bible to read about how it all ends.
But in an interesting turn of events, the Book of Revelation
is not really the end, but rather the beginning.
It's the end of life as we know it here on earth.
But there's so much to look forward to for what comes after
all the judgement of the earth and those who reject God.
There's a lot to work through, and it can be heartbreaking to
read through the intense judgements and wrath that will
come on those who hate God with all their might.
The thing is, God has given chance upon chance to these
people. They don't want it.
So the outcome is that there are judgments and consequences for
those who've rejected the good news and the gift of salvation
that's offered through Jesus's death and resurrection.
Are you one who has heard about these things but doesn't really
want it because you want to live life on your terms?
Trust me, living for Jesus is so much better.
That doesn't mean it will be easy.
As you listen and read through Revelation with us, you'll come
to a stark realization that you don't want to be on earth when
the apocalypse happens. So check out Calvary Chapel
online.com to learn how to come to a saving grace through faith
that will allow you to be with Jesus for eternity.
We'd also love to meet you in person at Calvary Chapel
Westmoreland. Come join us at 400 E Pittsburgh
St., Ste. 6B in Greensburg, PA 15601.
This has been living Waters of Grace.