Have you
ever studied for yourself what the word of God has to say about the
Revelation so that when you listen to others, you know that you know
whether they are teaching you what is right or not? As you get into the
Revelation and God gets into your life, it will be awesome. But you may be
saying ''I am afraid to study Revelation.'' You don't need to be
afraid bc this book is not meant to make you afraid but on the contrary
to take away the fear.
If you
are afraid, prophecy and the book of Revelation specifically is not
designed to make you afraid to but is designed to bring you to the FEAR
OF THE LORD.
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Ps 111:10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good
understanding have all those who do [His commandments]; His praise endures
forever. |
Note:
There is a difference in being afraid and ''the fear of the Lord.'' To
fear God means to have a REVERENTIAL TRUST of God, an AWESOME RESPECT for
God. When you get into His word, what happens is that you begin to see Who
God really is and this causes you (or should cause you) to trust Him and
to respect Him (to fear Him). WISDOM is how to take truth and apply
it to one's life.
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Job
28:28
"And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is
wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"
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So that
when you get into God's Word and begin to get a respect and trust of God,
that is WISDOM. But then to take what you have learned and to
depart from evil, that is UNDERSTANDING. In Revelation we see how God
judges evil (the dreadful Day of the Lord) and this is one reason we fear
this book. How far away is this DAY.
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Mt 24:37
"For the coming of the Son of
Man will be just like the days of Noah. 38 "For as in those
days which were before the flood they were eating and drinking, they were
marrying and giving in marriage,
until the day that
Noah entered the ark, 39 and they did not understand
until the flood came
and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. |
The point:
The Day of the Lord could come suddenly, swiftly and when it comes
God will judge evil. So we need to be prepared. What is evil? The world
does not know what evil truly is and does not have a concept of what is
right & wrong bc ABSOLUTES are gone. The world will be caught unaware.
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Ps 34:7
The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues
them. |
If
you
fear the Lord and have a wisdom about what is going on bc you have
submitted yourself to His Word to KNOW GOD, in turn ACTING on that wisdom
and depart from evil, you can rest in God's promise that the angel of the
Lord is encamping round about you. In the OT when He sends judgment, He
protects and delivers the righteous bc He knows who are His.
Remember
RIGHTEOUSNESS comes from knowing what God says about life and departing
from evil. The person who responds in this manner is the one who has a
healthy FEAR of the Lord. As you study TRUTH in Revelation you will not be
caught unaware bc you will understand what is going on and you will be
able to evaluate the signs of the times (Sept, 1993: massive flooding,
serious drought, the worst earthquake in Japan's history). We are living
in awesome days. God creates the floods, hailstorms, wind and yet USA
Today quoted a Christian leader saying God doesn't bring about adverse
weather conditions. But he is wrong. God is in control and when you are in
the midst of fearful circumstances/feelings what you do is stand on what
you know to be true about God.
Second common reason for not studying Revelation: I'll never be able to
understand it!
This is
true if you are not willing to discipline yourself to study diligently.
The time is short and many are not prepared for the day ahead and whatever
it takes we have to get prepared. Many who have finished Revelation
testify that it has absolutely changed their relationship to God.
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Deut
29:29
"The secret
things belong to the Lord our God, but
the things revealed
belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of
this law. |
What
belongs to God? The SECRET THINGS. What belongs to us? The THINGS REVEALED
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Ps 25:14
The
secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He
will make them know His covenant.
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All that
we are about to study in Revelation has to do with God's covenant
(with Israel, to the church--the new covenant, the everlasting covenant).
Remembering WHAT HAS BEEN REVEALED belongs to us...
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Rev 1:1
The Revelation (apokalupsis=unveiling) of Jesus Christ, (not
of the person--that's in the gospels/epistles) which God gave Him to
show to His bond-servants, (the church: those that belong to Him, who
fear Him, who bow the knee to Him as Creator, putting away pride and
independent living, putting away sin, coming to Him to be clean, to be
forgiven, to belong to His family, to be part of the everlasting kingdom
of God) the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and
communicated [it] by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who bore
witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to
all that he saw. 3 Blessed
is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the
things which are written in it; for the time is near.
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SHORTLY=
en tachei: Does not mean will happen in a ''short time'' but
that when it begins to happen, the events will come swiftly. God's wants
us to know those things that are going to take place suddenly and shortly.
So the Revelation is not ABOUT Jesus but it's from JESUS to show us the
things which must shortly take place (en tachei). And if Revelation is a
REVEALING and the THINGS REVEALED belong to us, God clearly wants us to
know these things and He will make it known (in fact He has spelled it all
out in this book). GOD ==> JESUS CHRIST ==> ANGEL ==> JOHN ==> HIS
BOND-SERVANTS
The early
church's watchword was MARANATHA (the Lord is coming or Lord
come) Kay added ''en tachei''.
Can we understand Revelation?
Surely we
can or why else would God promise a blessing for something we can't
understand? The problem is that many are not willing to persevere until
they do understand. So many allow the things of this world to get in the
way of studying God's word. Hang in there. It's only 11 weeks. It will be
worth it. (Ed: It’s a good way to spend your summer vacation if you have
one!)
Ps 147:11
The Lord favors those who fear Him,
those who wait for His lovingkindness.
Revelation will show us the JUDGMENT OF GOD but this Psalm promises
that God will bless those who wait for His lovingkindness. Right now it
doesn't look that way. But know this: this present evil age will come to
an end. So many times we get in the midst of a trial and because we can't
see the other side (which is always
victory for the child of
God) we run away or we give up in that trial. Don’t give up because the
Lord favors those who fear Him and who trust Him.
FEAR
comes from the subject matter covered in the segment of the book that we
are going to study. In Revelation 6 the book (literally a ''scroll'') in
the hands of Jesus Christ has 7 seals. When Jesus Christ breaks those
seals the JUDGMENT OF GOD begins to be poured out on the face of the
earth.
Rev 6:1
And I saw when the Lamb broke one of the seven seals, and I heard one
of the four living creatures saying as with a voice of thunder, "Come." 2
And I looked, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow;
and a crown was given to him; and he went out conquering, and to conquer.
(This is not Jesus Christ. It does appear to be situation in which the
conquering occurs without actual war...possibly a ''manipulation'' of some
sort)
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Breaking of Second Seal
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War |
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Breaking of Third Seal |
Famine |
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Breaking of Fourth Seal |
Death & Hades |
Rev 6:9
And when He broke the fifth seal,
I saw underneath the altar the souls of those who had been slain because
of the word of God, and because of the testimony which they
had maintained;
So what
you see here is martyrdom bc their Christianity, bc they have
embraced Jesus Christ, bc they have said the Bible is the Word of God and
they would not compromise, even if it cost their lives. They were willing
to die for what they believed.
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Rev 6:10
and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, "How long, O Lord,
holy and
true, wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on
those who dwell on the earth?" |
They call
Him ''Holy & True''. They feared the Lord and thus were willing to
die for Him. They embrace His Word and said it is ABSOLUTE TRUTH and is
worth LIVING for and is worth DYING for and is not to be compromised even
if it cost their lives. These are obviously men and women who have feared
the Lord and they are crying out not ''unjust'' but ''holy & true''. They
are able to WAIT on the Lord bc they know His lovingkindness is on the
way.
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Rev 6:12:
Breaking of the Sixth Seal: Cataclysmic changes and men who dwell on earth
cry out:
Rev 6:16
and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, "Fall on us and hide
us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of
the Lamb; 17 for the great day
of their wrath has come; and who is able to stand? "
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Before
the seals are ever broken, God lets us know certain things: That when the
scroll is broken and brings forth judgment on the earth, you can know that
the scroll is not on earth but is in heaven. It is not in the hands of man
but in the hands of God! If you fear God, and have a proper understanding
of Who God is, then no matter what happens around you, you will be able to
stand strong bc the people who know their God will be strong and will
do exploits. (Dan 11:32b) You will ''...be steadfast, immovable,
always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in
vain in the Lord.'' (1 Cor 15:58).
When the
storm comes, you will walk in the eye of the storm. Kay tells story of a
friend's husband who died of cancer and how knowing the names of God kept
her friend focused on God. God also used the ''tragedy'' to draw her
husband closer to God so that as he fell asleep for the last time he did
so as his wife was reading
Phil 1:21 ''For me to live is Christ and to
die is gain.''
That's
what this study is about. It's to cause you to LIVE FOR CHRIST and to
cause you to know that to DIE IS GAIN. God wants us to know that the
SCROLL is in the hands of God not man, and is Heaven not on earth. It is
God's possession not men's. Whatever comes, if you know that it is God,
you can hold fast.
God is eternal, holy, worthy, Creator
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Rev 4:8
And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full
of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy,
holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is
and who is to come. (ETERNAL) ...10 the twenty-four elders will
fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne,
saying, 11 "Worthy
art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for
Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they existed, and
were created." |
From this
point on all that follows concerning the awesome movements of God on the
face of the earth BEGINS HERE in Rev 4 with a clear explanation of WHO
GOD IS.
What
follows is not what COULD
take place, but what will SURELY COME TO PASS. That's why you need to
study Revelation. These events have not happened (if one takes them
literally) but they are going to happen because
God said so!
What you are about to learn is not to satisfy your CURIOSITY regarding the
FUTURE
but it is to show:
1)
God is in control:
you will clearly see this truth all through the Revelation and the
cross-reference passages. You will also learn what WILL CERTAINLY TAKE
PLACE en tachei.
2).
MAN WILL NOT PREVAIL nor will NATIONS PREVAIL.
Man thinks he is going to prevail! (Cp. Psalm 2)
3).
The ENEMY, SATAN, WILL NOT PREVAIL:
Kay describes a threatening phone
call she received, but how she did not fear because she knows that God is
on His throne and He never leaves His throne. The fear of man brings a
snare, but he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted. (Pr29:25)
Kay fears God.
4). SIN & EVIL will not prevail.
5). DEATH WILL NOT PREVAIL:
this is the hope of the child of God.
He Who was, He Who is and Who is to come.
Revelation will bring
you peace and rest and calm and security in
the eye of the storm.
what
will be the sign of jesus’ coming?
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Mt 24:3
(not the same question as Luke 21) And as He (Jesus) was sitting
on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, "Tell
us, when will these things be,
(destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem) and
what will be the sign of Your
coming, and of
the end of the age?" 4 And Jesus answered and said to
them, "See to it that no one
misleads you.'' |
Kay gives example of Bennie Hinn's ''Word of faith'' gospel in
which he says all you have to do is confess it and it will come to pass.
Christianity Today article gave details of Hank Hanegraff (Bible
Answer Man, CRI and author of Christianity in Crisis) and James
Robison going to Bennie Hinn showing him where he was teaching incorrect
doctrine. Hinn seemingly responded to their admonitions. The point is that
Hinn's followers WERE MISLED BECAUSE THEY DID NOT KNOW THE WORD OF
GOD. They did not know the whole
counsel (Acts 20:27) of the Word of God.
We
MUST know the Word of God! That is why Jesus answers them by
warning them not to let anyone MISLEAD them. He wants us to
understand this important warning and the only way is by digging into
God's Word for one’s self. This study may bring some frustration but it's
worth it. None of know how long we have left on this earth. Our time is
short until we meet Jesus face to face.
How can you know when
someone is misleading you? When you know God's PLUMBLINE for
yourself, as Henry Blackaby (Experiencing God) emphasized at a
meeting Kay went to in the summer.
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Rev 4:1
After these things I looked, and behold, a door [standing] open in
heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like [the sound] of a
trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after these things."
This parallels Jesus in
Rev
1:19 "Write therefore the
things which you have seen, and the things which are and the things which
shall take place after these things.
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The
things you have seen: John's vision of the glorified Christ
The
things which are: The Letters to the Seven Churches: At the end of each
letter Jesus reiterates:
''He that has an ear let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the
churches.'' and
''He that
OVERCOMES...''
and then Jesus gives a PROMISE.
Jesus knows that not everyone in the church is a child of God. He knows
that everyone who PROFESSES to believe in Jesus Christ does not
POSSESS Jesus Christ. He knows that the reality of your relationship
with God is shown in our relationship with the world and in what we
overcome.
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1Jn 5:4
For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has
overcome the world--
our
faith.
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Where is FAITH from?
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Ro10:17 ''So faith [comes] from hearing, and hearing by the word
of Christ.'' |
So he that has an ear let him HEAR. What you have is the
Word of Christ.
The
things which shall take place
after these things
Jesus is
saying to the Church:
''I want
you to know with an absolute certainty the things which are going to take
place en tachei, shortly, swiftly, suddenly. I want you to be
prepared. I do not want you to be misled because I love you with a perfect
love (perfect love casts out fear -1Jo4:18). I want you to know that you
can understand because I have written it down through My bond-servant
John. I have given it to you and I will tell you what it means.''
He will tell us if we will remain at His feet and
Hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches.
