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Voddie Baucham - An Introduction To John's Revelation · Voddie Baucham Sermons

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  Speaker 1: A couple of very interesting surveys that I've been made
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  Speaker 1: aware of. One was a survey of the book in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible that members of churches would most like to
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  Speaker 1: have taught. Another was a survey of the books in
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  Speaker 1: the Bible that preachers least desire to teach. And the
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  Speaker 1: same book was at the top of both lists. It's
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  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation. Revelation is the book that people
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  Speaker 1: want to hear taught. And it's the book that preachers
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  Speaker 1: don't want to teach. And it's the book that we
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  Speaker 1: embark on beginning today. Now, if you don't learn anything
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  Speaker 1: else from our journey through the book of Revelation, I
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  Speaker 1: want you to learn this. The title of the book
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  Speaker 1: has no S on the end of it. Amen, somebody.
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  Speaker 1: If you don't learn anything else today, learn that it
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  Speaker 1: is revelation, not revelations. It's just one revelation. Amen? Here's
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  Speaker 1: a trick if you have trouble with putting the S
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  Speaker 1: on the end of the book. And I will undoubtedly
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  Speaker 1: do that now that I've told you not to. Here's
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  Speaker 1: a trick if you want to make yourself aware of that.
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  Speaker 1: Put The on the front of it. So if you
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  Speaker 1: say the revelation, you're less likely to put an S
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  Speaker 1: on the end of it. Or put John's revelation. It's
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  Speaker 1: hard to say John's revelations, okay? So just John's revelation
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  Speaker 1: or the revelation, and you'll be in good territory. Revelation
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  Speaker 1: is the last book in the Bible. If you have
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  Speaker 1: your Bibles with you, open to that book. We read
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  Speaker 1: from it for our call to worship this morning. And
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  Speaker 1: as we begin this journey, here are some encouraging words
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  Speaker 1: from Verne Porthris. He writes, can you understand the book
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation? Yes, you can. You can summarize its message
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  Speaker 1: in one sentence. God rules history and will bring it
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  Speaker 1: to its consummation in Christ. Read it with this main
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  Speaker 1: point in mind and you will understand. You will not
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  Speaker 1: necessarily understand every detail, neither do I. But it is
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  Speaker 1: not necessary to understand every detail in order to profit spiritually.
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  Speaker 1: That last point is crucial. It is not necessary to
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  Speaker 1: understand every detail in the book of Revelation in order
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  Speaker 1: to profit spiritually from the book. In fact, we find
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  Speaker 1: here in the prologue that it is of great benefit
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  Speaker 1: just to hear it read. Amen? Amen. I would encourage you,
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  Speaker 1: by the way, as we begin this journey, to read
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  Speaker 1: this book aloud in your family worship time. To read
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  Speaker 1: through it in chunks. In one sitting, if you're able
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  Speaker 1: to do that, it will benefit you greatly. It was
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  Speaker 1: made to be read aloud, and it is different when
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  Speaker 1: you hear it read aloud. It is meant to be
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  Speaker 1: read as a whole. When you read it as a whole,
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  Speaker 1: there are patterns that you see in the book that
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  Speaker 1: you don't if you take a sort of atomistic approach
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  Speaker 1: to the letter. What I want us to do today
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  Speaker 1: is to get a feel for the flow of the
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  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. My job this morning is to give
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  Speaker 1: you an introduction and overview of this letter. But before
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  Speaker 1: I do that, let's read chapter one. the revelation of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his
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  Speaker 1: servant the things that must soon take place. He made
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  Speaker 1: it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
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  Speaker 1: who bore witness to the word of God and to
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  Speaker 1: the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
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  Speaker 1: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of
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  Speaker 1: this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who
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  Speaker 1: keep what is written in it. For the time is near. John,
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  Speaker 1: to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to
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  Speaker 1: you and peace from him who is and who was
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  Speaker 1: and who is to come. And from the seven spirits
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  Speaker 1: who are before his throne. And from Jesus Christ, the
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  Speaker 1: faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler
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  Speaker 1: of kings on earth. to him who loves us and
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  Speaker 1: has freed us from our sins by his blood and
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  Speaker 1: made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father,
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  Speaker 1: to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold,
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  Speaker 1: he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will
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  Speaker 1: see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes
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  Speaker 1: of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen.
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  Speaker 1: I am the Alpha and the Omega. Amen. says the
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  Speaker 1: Lord God, who is and who was and who is
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  Speaker 1: to come, the Almighty. I, John, your brother and partner
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  Speaker 1: in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance
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  Speaker 1: that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos
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  Speaker 1: on account of the word of God and the testimony
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day,
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  Speaker 1: and I heard behind me a loud voice like a
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  Speaker 1: trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and
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  Speaker 1: send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna,
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  Speaker 1: and to Pergamum, to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice
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  Speaker 1: that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw
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  Speaker 1: seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands,
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  Speaker 1: one like a son of man, clothed with a long
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  Speaker 1: robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs
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  Speaker 1: of his head were white like white wool, like snow.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet
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  Speaker 1: like burnished bronze refined in a furnace. And his voice
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  Speaker 1: like the roar of many waters. In his right hand
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  Speaker 1: he held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp
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  Speaker 1: two-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in
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  Speaker 1: full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his
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  Speaker 1: feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand
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  Speaker 1: on me saying, fear not, I am the first and
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  Speaker 1: the last, the living one. I died and behold, I
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  Speaker 1: am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and Hades.
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  Speaker 1: Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are,
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  Speaker 1: those that are to take place after this. As for
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  Speaker 1: the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in
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  Speaker 1: my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven
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  Speaker 1: stars are the seven angels of the seven churches and
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  Speaker 1: the seven lampstands are the seven churches. I believe it's
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  Speaker 1: the most beautiful book in the New Testament. By far,
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  Speaker 1: by a long shot, the most beautiful letter in the
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  Speaker 1: new testament and unfortunately we don't read it we don't
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  Speaker 1: study it we don't teach it we don't even open
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  Speaker 1: it and unfortunately in most instances we don't preach it
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  Speaker 1: kim riddlebarger says in many ways revelation is the most
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  Speaker 1: practical book of the entire new testament since it is
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  Speaker 1: specifically written to Christians who live in the post-apostolic age.
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  Speaker 1: This means that the symbols and visions we find here
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  Speaker 1: are meant for us. Therefore, we must make every effort
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  Speaker 1: to interpret them correctly and apply them to our present context.
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  Speaker 1: There are several attitudes toward the book of Revelation. One
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  Speaker 1: attitude toward the book is feared. We're just absolutely afraid
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  Speaker 1: of this book. We're afraid of what it means. We're
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  Speaker 1: afraid of what it alludes to. We're afraid of not
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  Speaker 1: being able to understand it. We're afraid of the language.
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  Speaker 1: We're afraid of the symbols. We're afraid of the creatures.
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  Speaker 1: We're afraid of the judgments. We're simply afraid. That's the
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  Speaker 1: wrong attitude. This is, after all, the Word of God. Amen? Amen.
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  Speaker 1: Another attitude is to marginalize the book. Martin Luther himself
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  Speaker 1: dismissed it as, this is a quote from Luther, unedifying
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  Speaker 1: for the ordinary believer. Unedifying for the ordinary believer. And
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  Speaker 1: so we marginalize the book of Revelation. Now, some of
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  Speaker 1: this has to do with different approaches to the book,
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  Speaker 1: and we'll talk about that. But For now, just know
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  Speaker 1: that for some, it's marginalized. For many, it's marginalized. Remember
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  Speaker 1: what I said. When you survey people who listen to preachers,
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  Speaker 1: it's the number one book that they want preachers to
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  Speaker 1: preach from. When you survey preachers, it's the number one
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  Speaker 1: book on the list of books that they don't want
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  Speaker 1: to preach from. That in and of itself is marginalizing
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  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation. And then there are those who sensationalize.
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  Speaker 1: the book. And all of a sudden, the book becomes,
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  Speaker 1: instead of a picture book, which I agree with Porthris
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  Speaker 1: that it is a picture book, not a puzzle book.
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  Speaker 1: And so we sensationalize it by treating it like a
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  Speaker 1: puzzle book. and we go and try to find the
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  Speaker 1: pieces of the puzzle, and we treat it as though
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  Speaker 1: it is so mysterious, and that the interpretation thereof has
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  Speaker 1: to be so precise that in fact that sensationalism leads
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  Speaker 1: us away from the main purpose of the book. Why
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  Speaker 1: is it difficult? It's difficult for a number of reasons. First,
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  Speaker 1: It's difficult because of the type of literature. Apocalyptic literature. Ironically,
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  Speaker 1: it's the only place really in the New Testament that
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  Speaker 1: we find apocalyptic literature. Which leads to our difficulty in
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  Speaker 1: dealing with apocalyptic literature. Why? Because we don't like the
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament. And we generally don't read the Old Testament.
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  Speaker 1: And there are many who have a theological aversion to
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament. After all, we're not under law, we're
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  Speaker 1: under grace, we're in the new covenant, not the old.
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  Speaker 1: So why do we need the Old Testament? And if
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  Speaker 1: we do not have a redemptive historic approach to the Bible,
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  Speaker 1: we do not see the Old Testament as Christian literature,
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  Speaker 1: why would we go to the Old Testament as opposed
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  Speaker 1: to just staying in the new? We avoid it. Even
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  Speaker 1: the best of us, we avoid it. Well, what does
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  Speaker 1: that have to do with the book of Revelation? Well,
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  Speaker 1: by one count, the 404 verses in Revelation divulge some
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  Speaker 1: 500 allusions to, you guessed it, the Old Testament. John
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  Speaker 1: alludes to nearly every book in the Old Testament canon.
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  Speaker 1: Most of the references are from Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: By the way, if we're going to preach the Old Testament... Generally,
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  Speaker 1: what we're going to do is we're going to preach
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  Speaker 1: Old Testament narrative or the Old Testament stories, right? Well,
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  Speaker 1: if we preach mainly Old Testament narrative and Old Testament stories,
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  Speaker 1: just doing character studies, guess what we're not preaching? Psalms, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel.
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  Speaker 1: And those are the books most referred to in the
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  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. So if you're not spending time in
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament, and you're especially not spending time in
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament prophets, then you are going to miss
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  Speaker 1: much of what John is giving here as he gives
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  Speaker 1: us basically a commentary on Old Testament prophecy. More of
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  Speaker 1: the Old Testament is referenced in Revelation than any other
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  Speaker 1: New Testament book. More than half of the references come
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  Speaker 1: from Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. More than half of
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  Speaker 1: the references in the book of Revelation. Over 500 of
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  Speaker 1: them in the 404 verses. More than half of them
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  Speaker 1: come from Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Daniel contains the
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  Speaker 1: most in proportion to its length. Daniel contains the most
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  Speaker 1: references in proportion to its length. And most of the
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  Speaker 1: references from Daniel come from Daniel chapter 7. Now, see,
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  Speaker 1: you guys thought we were just making stuff up by
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  Speaker 1: preaching through the first six chapters of Daniel and then
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  Speaker 1: coming here to the first five chapters of Revelation and
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  Speaker 1: then going and doing Daniel 7 through the end before
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  Speaker 1: we come back and start tackling more of Revelation. That
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  Speaker 1: is strategic. We think about this stuff. Amen. It's very important.
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  Speaker 1: In terms of actual numbers of references, Isaiah... ranks first.
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  Speaker 1: So again, that makes it difficult for us. We have
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  Speaker 1: an aversion to the Old Testament, especially to the prophets
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  Speaker 1: and to the Psalms. Again, we'll read the Psalms, but
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  Speaker 1: I'm talking about teaching through. When's the last time you
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  Speaker 1: heard about anybody teaching through the Psalms? Just the sheer
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  Speaker 1: volume of the Psalms makes that a difficult undertaking. So
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  Speaker 1: the types of literature that we're least likely to be
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  Speaker 1: familiar with are the types of literature that are referenced
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  Speaker 1: in the book of Revelation. Symbols make it difficult. Colors.
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  Speaker 1: We saw colors just here. If you look at what
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  Speaker 1: we read here in the first chapter, go with me
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  Speaker 1: down to verse 13, for example. And in the midst
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  Speaker 1: of the lampstands, by the way, what color are the lampstands? Gold. Gold.
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  Speaker 1: one like the son of man, clothed with a long
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  Speaker 1: robe with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs
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  Speaker 1: of his head were white, white like wool, like snow.
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  Speaker 1: His eyes were like fire, like a flame of fire.
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  Speaker 1: His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.
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  Speaker 1: So we see color just here. All we did was
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  Speaker 1: read through the first chapter and we see gold and
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  Speaker 1: we see white and we see the color of fire.
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  Speaker 1: We see the color of burnished bronze. What do these
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  Speaker 1: things mean? You have to understand these things in order
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  Speaker 1: to understand the book of Revelation. Animals, dragons and beasts
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  Speaker 1: and horses. Oh my. What do these things mean? Makes
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  Speaker 1: it difficult. Lampstands. What is it with these lampstands? It
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  Speaker 1: tells us, here's an example. Let me give you an example.
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  Speaker 1: We're even here where we're told what it means. We're
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  Speaker 1: still not told completely what it means. Let me give
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  Speaker 1: you an example. Go down to verse 20. As for
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  Speaker 1: the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in
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  Speaker 1: my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars...
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  Speaker 1: are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven
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  Speaker 1: lampstands are the seven churches. That's great. We know that
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  Speaker 1: the lampstands refers to the churches, but we still don't
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  Speaker 1: know why lampstands. Right? We've got to understand that as well.
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  Speaker 1: So this is also a good time for an interpretive key.
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  Speaker 1: When you see these symbols, look for places where John
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  Speaker 1: tells you what things mean. That's always helpful. If he
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  Speaker 1: doesn't tell you what they mean, nine times out of ten,
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  Speaker 1: you go back to the Old Testament to find out
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  Speaker 1: what they mean. And here, we'd have to go back,
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  Speaker 1: I believe, to Zechariah to understand that terminology. But we'll
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  Speaker 1: get to that. Lamb stands. Spirits. We read about seven spirits.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to find out later that that reference to
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  Speaker 1: seven spirits is a reference to the Spirit of God,
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  Speaker 1: to the Holy Spirit. Seven spirits? Why is that a
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  Speaker 1: reference to the Spirit? Okay, we'll get there. But that's
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  Speaker 1: part of what makes it difficult. Numbers. In addition to symbols,
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  Speaker 1: there are numbers that make this book difficult. And there
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  Speaker 1: are numbers that are repeated throughout the book. And they
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  Speaker 1: are very important. Sometimes we see the actual number. Like here,
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  Speaker 1: we see the number seven. The number seven appears twice
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  Speaker 1: in verse four, appears in verse 11, in verse 12,
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  Speaker 1: appears again in verse 16, and then in verse 20,
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  Speaker 1: it appears one, two, three, four, five, six times. The
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  Speaker 1: number seven is rather important And you get that number
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  Speaker 1: here at the beginning of the book. But there are
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  Speaker 1: seven churches, seven spirits, seven golden lampstands, seven stars, seven seals,
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  Speaker 1: seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders,
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  Speaker 1: seven crowns, seven heads, seven plagues, seven bulls, seven hills,
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  Speaker 1: seven kings, 7,000 killed because of the earthquake, seven beatitudes.
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  Speaker 1: Seven is a number of completeness. And it is, I
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  Speaker 1: would argue, the second most important number in the book
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation. That number seven. And the idea of completeness
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  Speaker 1: is important. This is about complete judgment. This is about
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  Speaker 1: complete victory. This is about complete glory. This is about
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  Speaker 1: complete praise. So that number is important. What number is
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  Speaker 1: more important than seven? The number three, which is a
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  Speaker 1: reference to the triune God. Now, you might say we
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  Speaker 1: didn't see the number three as we read through chapter one.
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  Speaker 1: But by my calculation, we saw it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,
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  Speaker 1: 12 dimes. By the way, that's another important number, 12,
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  Speaker 1: but we'll get to that in a moment. And you say, well,
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  Speaker 1: wait a minute. I didn't see that number three anywhere. Okay.
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  Speaker 1: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to
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  Speaker 1: show to his servants, the thing which must take place,
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  Speaker 1: which he made known and which John bore witness to.
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  Speaker 1: There's three. By the way, we then see blessed is
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  Speaker 1: the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy
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  Speaker 1: blessed are those who hear and blessed are those who
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  Speaker 1: keep what is written then we come down to verse
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  Speaker 1: 4 John to the seven churches who are in Asia
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  Speaker 1: Minor grace to you from whom One, him who is
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  Speaker 1: and who was and who is to come. So you
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  Speaker 1: have a three on the first person of the Trinity.
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  Speaker 1: Second person of the Trinity is referenced here by the
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  Speaker 1: seven spirits. And then Jesus Christ, who's he? The faithful witness,
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  Speaker 1: the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the
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  Speaker 1: kingdoms of the earth. Again and again and again and
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  Speaker 1: again and again. He references this, number three. It is
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  Speaker 1: a reference to the triune God. That number is important,
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  Speaker 1: and we find it throughout the letter. By the way,
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  Speaker 1: we also see three referencing the dragon, the beast, and
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  Speaker 1: the false prophet, who are a counterfeit of the triune God.
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  Speaker 1: Another number that is important is the number four. The
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  Speaker 1: number four represents the earth or God's creation. The four corners,
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  Speaker 1: the four winds, four angels, four living creatures. In chapter five,
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  Speaker 1: go to chapter five with me for a moment and
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  Speaker 1: look first at verse nine. And they sang a new
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  Speaker 1: song saying, so chapter 5, there is praise of God
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  Speaker 1: in heaven. And there's a new song being sang. Worthy
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  Speaker 1: are you to take the scroll and to open the seals.
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  Speaker 1: For you were slain and by your blood you ransomed
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  Speaker 1: the people for God. What people? From every tribe and
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  Speaker 1: language and people and nations. That is the election of
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  Speaker 1: God's complete people on the earth. Look at verse 13.
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  Speaker 1: Do you notice where these creatures are? Heaven. Earth. Under
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  Speaker 1: the earth and in the sea. Blessing, honor, glory, power.
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  Speaker 1: It's an important number. Sword, famine, disease, beast in 6.8.
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  Speaker 1: Peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, earthquake in 8.5
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  Speaker 1: and in 16.18. Murders, witchcrafts, fornication and thefts in 9.21. Peoples, nations, languages,
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  Speaker 1: kings in 10.11. Harps, musicians, flutes and trumpets. 18, 22.
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  Speaker 1: So we have the number three, the number four, and
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  Speaker 1: the number seven. There's another number that is incredibly important
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  Speaker 1: in this book, and that is the number 12. Another
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  Speaker 1: number of completeness, the complete people of God, the 12 tribes,
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  Speaker 1: the 12 apostles, the 24 elders, which is 12 and 12.
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  Speaker 1: The stars above the woman's head. The New Jerusalem has
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  Speaker 1: 12 foundations on which are the names of the 12 apostles.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: The tree of life at the end of the letter,
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: which is a restoration of the tree of life at
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the beginning of the Bible, bears how many different kinds
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: of fruits? 12. The number 144,000. What is meant by
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: that number 144,000? Is it a literal number? Absolutely not.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: No way in the world. What is it? 12 times
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: 12 times a thousand. Now you and I who live
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: in this land have become jaded by numbers because we
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: talk about like trillions, trillions of dollars in debt and
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: stuff like that. Write the number trillion. Can you write
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: that number? Most people can't even write the number trillion.
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: You can't even think the number trillion in your head.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: You're just not wired to think about numbers that big.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: But think for a moment that you don't live in
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: a culture that throws around monopoly money kind of numbers.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: A thousand is a huge number. So when you talk
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: about 12 times 12, times a thousand. What we know
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: 12 is a number of the completeness of the people
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: of God. 12 times 12. The complete completeness of the
• 25:03
  Speaker 1: people of God times a thousand. A massive number of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: the complete people of God. That's what's being said by
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: the number 144,000. There are several approaches to this book.
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: One approach is the preterist approach. It literally means that
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: which has gone past. According to this view, everything recorded
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: in the book of Revelation was fulfilled in the first
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: century at the time John wrote the book. It's done.
• 25:45
  Speaker 1: All of it. It's complete. Which is why preterists, and
• 25:49
  Speaker 1: preterism is growing, has grown in popularity in the last
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: few decades. That is why for preterists, it is very
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: important that you date the book of Revelation under the
• 25:59
  Speaker 1: persecution of Nero and not under the persecution of Domitian. Traditionally,
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: the book is dated under the persecution of Domitian, the
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: last part of the decade of the 90s in the
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: first century. But if you're a preterist and everything ends,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: especially in AD 70 with the destruction of the temple,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: then you've got to date this book early. Problem, of course,
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: is that it makes it irrelevant to the rest of
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: us throughout time. There is the historicist approach. The historicist approach.
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: The apocalypse, according to the continuous historical approach, presents a
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: concise outline of the church's development from the day of
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Pentecost to the consummation. So the preterist says it's all done,
• 26:52
  Speaker 1: it all took place, It's finished already. The historicist says
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: that basically what you have in the seven letters to
• 27:01
  Speaker 1: the seven churches is symbolically a letter to the church
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: in each of its seven sort of dispensations, if you will,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: throughout history. And then the rest of the book has
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: to be interpreted in light of that. So the question
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: that the historicist would ask is, where do you think
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: we are now in the book of Revelation? Some of
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: you may have been asked that question before. Where do
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: you think we are now? And what chapter do you
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: think we're seeing fulfilled right now as we move forward
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: toward the culmination? There is a futurist approach, which is
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: perhaps the most common approach. The futurist approach is that
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: most of the book, beginning in chapter 4, verse 1,
• 27:52
  Speaker 1: belongs to the future world. Proponents stress the prophecies in
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: the book that they say will be fulfilled just before, during,
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: and after Jesus' return to the earth. Which is why,
• 28:03
  Speaker 1: by the way, in most places that preach the book
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: of Revelation, all they preach is the first three chapters.
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: And you get through the letters to the churches, and
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: then you're pretty much done. The futurist approach says that
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: from chapter 4, verse 1 on, all happens in the future.
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: Now there's a dispensational futurist approach, which is the most
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: common approach. And that's the approach that says that basically
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: after these letters to the churches, we're not talking to
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: churches anymore because the church is raptured. The church is gone.
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: And now these are the things from chapter 4 verse
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: 1 on that are happening after the church has been raptured.
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: The futurist approach. Several difficulties, of course, with the futurist approach.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: not the least of which is that it makes everything
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: after chapter 3 irrelevant to all but one generation of believers.
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: Then there is the idealist approach, which interprets Revelation as
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: a book of principles that contrast the victorious Christ and
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: his people with the defeated Satan and his underlings. The
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: apocalypse is not a history of events that have occurred
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: in the past or prophecy of events that will happen
• 29:17
  Speaker 1: in the future necessarily. It is a book that fills
• 29:20
  Speaker 1: God's people with comfort and motivation to endure to the end.
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: Idealists stress the principles in the book so that its
• 29:30
  Speaker 1: message is applicable to Christians of all generations. Key question
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: there is, why should we have hope? The preterist, key
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: question there is, when did it happen? Most argue in
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: AD 70. The historicist, the important question there is, where
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: are we now in the process of this being unfolded?
• 29:53
  Speaker 1: For the futurist, the question is, how close are we
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: to chapter 4? For the idealist, the question is, how
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: do we have hope? How do we have hope? That's
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: what this book is about. How do we have hope?
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: There is also a fourth or fifth way, an eclectic
• 30:16
  Speaker 1: or modified idealist approach, which is the idealist approach that
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: has the understanding that the book does give us a
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: prophecy of what happens at the end of the age.
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: The approach that we will take to this book is
• 30:34
  Speaker 1: the idealist approach. Then there, of course, is the eschatological
• 30:41
  Speaker 1: question and the question of eschatological positions. And in many instances,
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: quite frankly, people don't want to tackle the book of
• 30:47
  Speaker 1: Revelation because we don't want to deal with eschatology. We
• 30:53
  Speaker 1: don't want to divide people over eschatology because after all,
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: eschatology is unimportant. So they say. Folks, eschatology is extremely important.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: It determines how you read the Bible. It determines how
• 31:10
  Speaker 1: you live your life. It determines how you view the future.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: It determines how you view the present. It's extremely important.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: There are two basic approaches to eschatology as it relates
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: to the book of Revelation. One approach says... That when
• 31:32
  Speaker 1: you get to chapter 19, you have the coming of Christ,
• 31:36
  Speaker 1: and in chapter 20, you have a millennium. And it
• 31:40
  Speaker 1: is in chronological order. Jesus comes, and then you have
• 31:44
  Speaker 1: a millennium. That would be a premillennial eschatology. Jesus comes,
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: and then you have a millennium. Now, you have classic
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: premillennialism and dispensational premillennialism. In dispensational premillennialism, the key there
• 32:05
  Speaker 1: is the rapture of the church before you have all
• 32:09
  Speaker 1: of these things unfolding. Then there are those who argue
• 32:15
  Speaker 1: that because of recapitulation, and by that I mean what
• 32:19
  Speaker 1: happens in the book of Revelation, is that the same
• 32:22
  Speaker 1: story is told again and again and again from different
• 32:26
  Speaker 1: perspectives and vantage points. There was a movie not long ago.
• 32:31
  Speaker 1: The movie was about one event that took place. There
• 32:34
  Speaker 1: was an assassination attempt or something like that that took place.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: But what happened is the story was retold several times
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: from the perspective of different characters. And so you get
• 32:47
  Speaker 1: one perspective of a person who was there on the
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: stage guarding the person where the assassination attempt happened. And
• 32:53
  Speaker 1: then you have one from the perspective of a person
• 32:55
  Speaker 1: who was in the audience and saw it happen. And
• 32:58
  Speaker 1: then you have one from the perspective of an individual
• 33:01
  Speaker 1: who was involved in the crime. And then you have one.
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: And every time you went through, you learned a little
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: something more about the story. That's what's happening in Revelations.
• 33:15
  Speaker 1: Again and again and again we see God's people under
• 33:19
  Speaker 1: duress and Christ, the victorious king, coming to deal with
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: and do away with sin, to vindicate his name, to
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: save his people, and to establish and consummate his everlasting kingdom.
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: There are amillennialists and postmillennialists who view this the same
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: way and see that what we have is a recapitulation
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: between 19 and 20. Listen to this from Verne Poythress.
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: Revelation is clear. Why do so many people have trouble
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: with it? And why is it so controversial? We have
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: trouble because we approach it from the wrong end. Suppose
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: I start by asking, What do the bear's feet in
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: Revelation 13 too stand for? If I start with a
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: detail and ignore the big picture, I am asking for trouble.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: God is at the center of Revelation. See that especially
• 34:23
  Speaker 1: in chapters 4 and 5. We must start with him
• 34:26
  Speaker 1: and with the contrast between him and his satanic opponents.
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: If instead we try right away to puzzle out details,
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: it is as if we tried to use a knife
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: by grasping it by the blade instead of the handle.
• 34:43
  Speaker 1: We are starting at the wrong end. Revelation is a
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: picture book, not a puzzle book. Don't try to puzzle
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: it out. Don't become preoccupied by isolated details. Rather, become
• 34:53
  Speaker 1: engrossed in the story. Praise the Lord, cheer for the saints,
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: detest the beast, and long for final victory. That's what
• 35:04
  Speaker 1: this book is about. Don't have to understand all of
• 35:08
  Speaker 1: the details. John is not trying to give you a
• 35:11
  Speaker 1: puzzle book wherein you have to take the newspaper and
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: the globe and the history book and a bunch of
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: other stuff to try to figure out what this thing means.
• 35:22
  Speaker 1: When he's talking about locusts, you don't have to go
• 35:25
  Speaker 1: and find Apache helicopters. Amen. It's the old saying, when
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: you hear hooves, think horses, not zebras. Amen. Some of
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: y'all will get that on the way home. What do
• 35:42
  Speaker 1: you mean you think horses, not zebras? Well, when you
• 35:44
  Speaker 1: hear hooves, most likely it's horses. It'd be rare if
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: you heard hooves and there's a bunch of zebras. You'd
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: have to have more information to assume that it was zebras. Amen?
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: When we look at the book of Revelation, when you
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: hear hooves, think horses, not zebras. He's not trying to
• 36:04
  Speaker 1: trick you, folks. That's not what the book of Revelation
• 36:07
  Speaker 1: is about. It is about encouraging God's people in the
• 36:12
  Speaker 1: midst of oppression and distress and despair and saying God
• 36:18
  Speaker 1: will vindicate his name and his people. He will deal
• 36:24
  Speaker 1: with sin. He will make all things right. His kingdom
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: will be consummated and the end will come. That's what
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: the letter's about. Keep that in mind and we'll be okay.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: What does that part of the thing mean? I'm really
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: not sure. But Jesus is coming and we win. Amen.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: Let me give you an outline of the book. I'm
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: indebted to Derek Thomas for this. Chapters 1 through 3.
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: In chapters 1 through 3, we get an introduction, letters
• 36:56
  Speaker 1: to seven churches. By the way, there are more than
• 36:58
  Speaker 1: seven churches in Asia Minor at this point. but the
• 37:05
  Speaker 1: letters are only to seven churches. For example, we know
• 37:08
  Speaker 1: that Herapolis and Colossae are there. We don't get letters
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: to them. Why? Because of the number seven. That's what's important.
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: By the way, these seven churches are in the form
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: of a circle. Whilst the recipients of these letters were
• 37:27
  Speaker 1: real churches at the time John wrote, the number seven
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: probably means, however, that we are meant to take these
• 37:34
  Speaker 1: letters as coming from the Savior to the church in
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: every age. They are letters from the senior pastor of
• 37:41
  Speaker 1: the church. Amen? After that, we turn the quarter, and
• 37:47
  Speaker 1: we get to chapters 4 and 5. That's the second section,
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: and it's not like what we find in chapters 1
• 37:53
  Speaker 1: through 3. What we find in chapters 1 through 3
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: is very different. It's very much like an ordinary epistle.
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: But we get to chapter 4 and we're in heaven
• 38:02
  Speaker 1: before the throne and things look way different. These chapters
• 38:07
  Speaker 1: picture the throne of God and the scroll which only
• 38:11
  Speaker 1: the lion lamb is able to open. It affirms the
• 38:15
  Speaker 1: sovereignty of Christ which is the theme of the book.
• 38:19
  Speaker 1: Then we go chapters 6 through 7. Here we get
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: the seven seals. Judgment. Consequences of opening the book by
• 38:31
  Speaker 1: the Lion Lamb. Each seal represents issues and circumstances common
• 38:36
  Speaker 1: to every age. That's important. Each seal represents issues and
• 38:40
  Speaker 1: circumstances common to every age. No details of particular wars
• 38:45
  Speaker 1: or rulers are intended. Let me say that again. No
• 38:48
  Speaker 1: details of particular wars or rulers are intended. One more time.
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: No details of particular wars or rulers are intended. It's symbolic.
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: It's timeless. Chapters 8 through 11. Here we unfold the
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: sounding of the trumpets, the last of which announces the
• 39:12
  Speaker 1: coming of the kingdom of God and Christ, the last judgment,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: the opening of the temple of God. These parallel the
• 39:20
  Speaker 1: judgments announced in the seven seals. Chapters 12 through 14.
• 39:26
  Speaker 1: Very different. The scene changes almost completely. Does not flow
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: out of the previous sections. You don't see an obvious
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: continuity between chapter 11 and chapter 12. He's telling the
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: story again from an entirely different vantage point. We see
• 39:47
  Speaker 1: the male child, the Christ, pursued by a dragon, the devil.
• 39:51
  Speaker 1: It's a narrative, a great antithesis between the city of
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: God and the city of this world. The devil enlists
• 39:58
  Speaker 1: the help of two beasts. In this conflict, however, the
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: elect are saved and the city of Babylon falls. God's
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: enemies are overcome. Amen? Chapters 15 to 16. Seven angels
• 40:16
  Speaker 1: now appear with seven bulls, containing judgment, plagues, the last
• 40:23
  Speaker 1: great earthquake, and Babylon is destroyed. But Babylon's already been
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: destroyed earlier in chapter 14, right? Yep, now we're telling
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: it again. Are you beginning to see that pattern? Chapter
• 40:37
  Speaker 1: 17 through 19, the destruction of Babylon, the beast, and
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: the false prophet. And then chapters 20 through 22, God's
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: dealing with the dragon and the final judgment in the
• 40:49
  Speaker 1: lake of burning sulfur, the final city of God, the
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: new heavens, new earth, new Jerusalem in which eternal fellowship
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: with God is to be enjoyed. That's the outline of
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: this book. What do we take from this book? Thought
• 41:08
  Speaker 1: it only fitting that I give you seven things. One,
• 41:17
  Speaker 1: the glory of the triune God. The book of Revelation
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: is about the glory of the triune God, the glory
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I just find it
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: providential that God allowed me to be embroiled in a
• 41:37
  Speaker 1: controversy surrounding whether or not The Trinity is important earlier
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: this year. And now here we are in the book
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: of Revelation where I am more sure than I have
• 41:48
  Speaker 1: ever been before in my life that this is a
• 41:54
  Speaker 1: cardinal doctrine. The cardinal doctrine. God has revealed himself as
• 41:59
  Speaker 1: the triune God of the universe who has eternally existed
• 42:02
  Speaker 1: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit and who glorifies himself
• 42:07
  Speaker 1: as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And in this book,
• 42:10
  Speaker 1: we see again and again and again the glory of
• 42:14
  Speaker 1: the triune God. That's important here. Secondly, the relevance and
• 42:20
  Speaker 1: reliability of the whole Bible. The relevance and reliability of
• 42:24
  Speaker 1: the whole Bible. I think it's a travesty that we
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: stay away from the book of Revelation. I've been scared
• 42:30
  Speaker 1: of the book of Revelation. There it is. I've been
• 42:36
  Speaker 1: scared of the book of Revelation because for the most part,
• 42:39
  Speaker 1: my training has always been from a dispensational, premillennial, futurist
• 42:45
  Speaker 1: approach to the book of Revelation. I can't teach it
• 42:48
  Speaker 1: that way because I don't see it. The idealist approach Absolutely. Absolutely.
• 43:02
  Speaker 1: We see the Old Testament in the New. We see
• 43:07
  Speaker 1: the continuity between the covenants, between the testaments, and the discontinuity. Thirdly,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: we see the sovereignty of God. We see the sovereignty
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: of God If you don't get anything else out of
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation, see the sovereignty of God. How
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: does God give us a book about the way the
• 43:35
  Speaker 1: world ends as we know it? He does that because
• 43:40
  Speaker 1: he's the sovereign God of the universe. That's how. He
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: is able to say again and again and again, my
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: people will be oppressed and I will deliver them. How
• 43:53
  Speaker 1: can he say that? Because he is the sovereign God
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: of the universe. He can say that this is how
• 43:58
  Speaker 1: history works itself out. And again and again and again
• 44:01
  Speaker 1: we see it. But ultimately know this. No matter how
• 44:05
  Speaker 1: many times you see it, no matter how many ways
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: you see it, that's not the way things end. I
• 44:12
  Speaker 1: am sovereign. I will be vindicated. My people will be vindicated.
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: And my kingdom will be consummated forever. We see the
• 44:22
  Speaker 1: reality of suffering. We see the reality of suffering. You know,
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: one of the reasons people don't like the book of
• 44:29
  Speaker 1: Revelation is because of the pictures of death and blood
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: and violence. It's real stuff. Streets filled with blood. It's there.
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: Sin is real. Suffering is real. Martyrdom is throughout this letter.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: Martyrdom is real. People die for the cause of Christ.
• 45:02
  Speaker 1: Our adversary is real. His war against the church is real.
• 45:07
  Speaker 1: His hatred of God and the people of God is real.
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: And we do not get raptured out of here so
• 45:19
  Speaker 1: that we don't get to taste it. I believe for
• 45:22
  Speaker 1: most people that just makes sense. That just makes sense.
• 45:27
  Speaker 1: If God's going to rapture the church out of here
• 45:29
  Speaker 1: so that we don't taste tribulation, didn't he kind of
• 45:33
  Speaker 1: forget John and the boys? Amen, somebody. What about our
• 45:40
  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters in China right now? Can we really
• 45:44
  Speaker 1: say to them with a straight face, don't worry, before
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: it gets really bad, he's going to rapture us out.
• 45:48
  Speaker 1: For real? No. Do you know how we have to
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: live right now? No, suffering is real. And it's real
• 45:59
  Speaker 1: for the people of God. And in fact, in many instances,
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: the people of God suffer worse than others do because
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: they're the people of God. But we also see the
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: inevitability and severity of God's judgment. The inevitability of and
• 46:19
  Speaker 1: severity of God's judgment. Folks, my favorite picture of Jesus
• 46:27
  Speaker 1: is in this book right here. Revelation chapter 11. You
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: can have the sissified Jesus with the hair like a
• 46:40
  Speaker 1: shampoo model, hands that never worked in his daddy's carpenter shop,
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: features that look almost like a girl, a European girl
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: who was never a Jew a day in her life,
• 46:59
  Speaker 1: meek and wimpy with a lamb across his shoulders. You
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: can have that guy. Revelation chapter 19, beginning at verse 11.
• 47:08
  Speaker 1: Then I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse.
• 47:11
  Speaker 1: The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True,
• 47:14
  Speaker 1: and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: are like a flame of fire. Sound familiar? And on
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: his head are many diadems. And he has a name
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed
• 47:27
  Speaker 1: in a robe dipped in blood. And the name by
• 47:30
  Speaker 1: which he is called is the Word of God. And
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: the armies of heaven arrayed in fine linen, white and pure,
• 47:36
  Speaker 1: were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes
• 47:40
  Speaker 1: a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations.
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  Speaker 1: And he will rule them with a rod of iron.
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  Speaker 1: He will tread the winepress of the fury of the
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  Speaker 1: wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on
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  Speaker 1: his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings
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  Speaker 1: and Lord of Lords. That's Jesus. He will punish the wicked.
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  Speaker 1: And that includes you, unless you repent. Sixth, The certainty
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  Speaker 1: of Christ's return. We see the certainty of Christ's return.
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  Speaker 1: Christ will return. We just read about it. He's coming.
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  Speaker 1: Christ will return. This is important in light of the
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  Speaker 1: reality of suffering, is it not? Christ will return. Even
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  Speaker 1: if he doesn't, even if he doesn't, there's a word
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  Speaker 1: here of martyrs who are crying out, how long? They
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  Speaker 1: will be vindicated. Christ will return. Do you believe that, saints? Finally,
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  Speaker 1: the consummation of redemptive history. The consummation of redemptive history.
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  Speaker 1: I love how in Revelation chapter 22, we go back
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  Speaker 1: to Genesis chapter 2. It is a beautiful picture. In
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  Speaker 1: Genesis chapter 3, we have the fall. In Genesis chapter
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  Speaker 1: 3 and verse 15, God gives us... a promise, the gospel.
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  Speaker 1: I will put enmity between you and the woman and
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  Speaker 1: between your offspring and her offspring. He will bruise his heel,
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  Speaker 1: but he will crush your head. That's chapter 3 of Genesis.
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  Speaker 1: Chapter two, everything's perfect. Chapter three, there's a fall and
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  Speaker 1: God declares war. In the book of Revelation, we see
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  Speaker 1: the war. We see the seed of the woman there
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  Speaker 1: in chapter 12, which the dragon wants to devour, but
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  Speaker 1: he cannot. And then we see the serpent crushed and
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  Speaker 1: done away with. And we go back to a place
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  Speaker 1: where there is a tree and the garden and the rivers.
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  Speaker 1: It's the consummation of all of history. It's the restoration
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  Speaker 1: of all things. Listen to this from Kim Riddle Barger.
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  Speaker 1: The book of Revelation clearly reminds us that God is
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  Speaker 1: sovereign over all human history and that he will do
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  Speaker 1: as he said he will do, turn human sin and
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  Speaker 1: suffering into good. Thus, the redemptive story takes us from
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: creation to the fall to redemption to a new creation.
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  Speaker 1: God not only will save his people, he will save
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  Speaker 1: all of creation. How dare we not read this book?
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  Speaker 1: How dare we not preach this book? This book makes
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  Speaker 1: much of the triune God. It makes much of the Father,
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  Speaker 1: makes much of the Son, makes much of the Spirit.
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  Speaker 1: This book gives much hope to the church. and especially
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  Speaker 1: to those who suffer. This book makes much of sin
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  Speaker 1: and of the justice and judgment of God that will
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: come against sin. This book makes much of the consummation
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  Speaker 1: of all things at the end of the age. We
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  Speaker 1: are living and waiting for For a city whose builder
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: and maker is God. And in this book, we get
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  Speaker 1: to see the city. Symbolically, yes. But how else could
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  Speaker 1: we understand, take in, or even appreciate such a thing?
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  Speaker 1: This is our journey over the next several months. We
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  Speaker 1: will walk through these first five chapters together. And I
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  Speaker 1: can promise you this. I can promise you this. When
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  Speaker 1: we have preached through the first five chapters of the
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  Speaker 1: book of Revelation, your attitude will not be, I don't understand.
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  Speaker 1: Your attitude will be, do we have to leave? Do
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  Speaker 1: we have to leave? And many of the sermons are
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  Speaker 1: going to sound similar, making much of Christ. Worship the lamb.
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  Speaker 1: Bow before the lamb. Every tribe and kindred and tongue
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  Speaker 1: and nation. Make much of him. Worship him. Who is worthy?
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  Speaker 1: He is worthy. There's none other who's worthy. Boy, after
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  Speaker 1: several months of that, you're not going to want to
• 52:46
  Speaker 1: go anywhere. But it's okay. It's okay. Because after several
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  Speaker 1: months of that, we're going to go back to Daniel.
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  Speaker 1: Start in chapter 11. And Daniel is going to give
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  Speaker 1: us an interpretive key so that we can understand this
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  Speaker 1: book even better and make even more. Finally, a word
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  Speaker 1: to those who are in a bad position to go
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  Speaker 1: through this journey. If you are here and you have
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  Speaker 1: not come to God through repentance of your sin and faith,
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  Speaker 1: And what he has done through the person and work
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  Speaker 1: of Jesus Christ. This will not be a pleasant journey
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  Speaker 1: for you. First of all, we will make much of
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  Speaker 1: the God whom you do not know. Secondly, we will
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: show you a dreadful picture of what lies ahead for you.
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  Speaker 1: Lest you turn from your sin and kiss the son
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  Speaker 1: and worship him. And grant to him the worship that
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  Speaker 1: he is due. If you are not among those who
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  Speaker 1: have bowed the knee to Christ, there is a very
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  Speaker 1: disturbing picture of what lies ahead for you. And my
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  Speaker 1: admonition to you is as it will be throughout this letter. Repent.
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  Speaker 1: Turn from your sin. Turn to Christ. Embrace him. Believe
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  Speaker 1: in him. Worship him. Trust him alone. Finally, I'm not
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  Speaker 1: going to just say if, but the fact of the
• 54:38
  Speaker 1: matter is we know many people, all of us know
• 54:43
  Speaker 1: many people who don't know God and think they do
• 54:47
  Speaker 1: or who don't know God and know they don't. And
• 54:52
  Speaker 1: here's what's very interesting. There are a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: who won't come to church, but they love to be there.
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  Speaker 1: If you teach them through revelation. Bring them. Early and often.
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  Speaker 1: Bring them. This is an incredibly evangelistic book. Do you
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  Speaker 1: know people who are suffering? Bring them. Bring them. This
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: is a letter For those who suffer. Do you know
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  Speaker 1: people who have a hard time finding hope? Bring them.
• 55:43
  Speaker 1: This is the book. For those who have a hard
• 55:47
  Speaker 1: time finding hope. In fact, just come. Bring everybody you know.
• 55:59
  Speaker 1: Because we all need this. And there's no better place
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  Speaker 1: to find it. There's a reason this is the last
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  Speaker 1: book in the Bible. Because quite frankly, folks, it doesn't
• 56:12
  Speaker 1: get any better than this.