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Sunday, January 10, 2010 - Northeast & Northwest Regional Service
Communion -- Tim Kirk
John 1:1-17; 29, 35-39
Jesus was the lamb of God
Is 53 -- oppressed, led like a lamb
Exodus - Israelites told to sacrifice a lamb
Act 17:26
told story of Shane Dubay, born in Nigeria, moved to Indianapolis, he wanted to know who Jesus was
Ron Drabot -- study the book of Revelations the next 6-10 weeks
Revelation = Apocalypse in Greek
Apocalyptic = symbolic, dramatic & catastrophic description of events
written for brothers and sisters to learn from
Tim LaHayes movies and books; the book "The Late, Great Planet Earth" were written to look like Revelations is happening today
it is all symbolic writing, you can make the symbols stand for anything you wanted to make them stand for
Revelations was written for the first century church
Rev 8:1 -- there was silence for a half hour -- God has a sense of humor -- there must be no middle-school or teen girls or preachers in heaven - couldn't be silent for 30 minutes
Revelations describes the beast, the harlot, Babylon
the enemies of God
Theme: It is the victory of Jesus Christ over the dragon; God and his people winning
Background: in the 1st Century, there were emperors in the Roman Empire
Dates |
Name |
31bc -14 ad |
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14-37 |
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37-41 |
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41-54 |
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54-68 |
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68-69 |
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69 |
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69 |
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69-79 |
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79-81 |
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81-96 |
Nero brought persecution on the Christians - he burned the city of Rome so he could rebuild it with new architecture, he blamed the Christians
he tortured the Christians, imprisoned them, tied them to stakes and set them on fire
Domitian is the beast in Revelation
Revelations is about the Roman empire and it's emperors
We go through tribulations still, like the recession, but the great tribulation was the first century church
They hated Jews, they hated the poor - both which made up the Christians in the 1st century
They accused them of being wild fanatics, too excited about their religion
They said they would tolerate the Christians if they would address Emperor Domitian as Lord and view him as God and sprinkle incense on an alter
The Christians wouldn't do it, Jesus is the only Lord
People today say Jesus is Lord, but their lives don't reflect it
The first Christian martyr was Polycarp, he was arrested at the age of 86. He was escorted to the local proconsul, Statius Quadratus, who interrogated him in front of a crowd of curious onlookers. Polycarp seemed unfazed by the interrogation; he carried on a witty dialogue with Quadratus until Quadratus lost his temper and threatened Polycarp: he'd be thrown to wild beasts, he'd be burned at the stake, and so on. Polycarp just told Quadratus that while the proconsul's fire lasts but a little while, the fires of judgment ("reserved for the ungodly," he slyly added) cannot be quenched.
You think you have it tough to share about Jesus now, a little ridicule. But the first century disciples, they were tortured and persecuted. The Romans separated families, killed the children in front of the parents; Roman soldiers would rape the wives in front of the husbands and tell them to proclaim the emperor as Lord
What does it take for you and I to quit? to compromise? They made up lies about them, said they were cannibals - eating Jesus flesh and drinking his blood. They called them homosexuals because of hugging and holy kisses. They spread lies to keep people away. The Christians were getting discouraged. They had great relationships and they would betray you. They can't watch their own family suffer, but would let you suffer. Or they would walk away.
Why was Revelations written in symbols? imagine preaching "the Roman empire will be defeated"
instead of the beast, that Jesus will reign
Trouble would come for sure
404 verses written in Revelations -- 250-500 references to the old testament
if you knew your Old Testament (Jews), they would know what those symbols meant
if you knew your Bible, you would understand
The Bible says no one knows the end times, even Jesus, but people still predict the end of the world
100 years ago, scholars did not believe in the futuristic writings of revelations, now they do
Outline:
Rev 1 -3 Main characters: 1) Jesus 2) the apostle John 3) the church
Rev 4-7 who is worthy to open the seals? Jesus Christ
Rev 8-11 the beast and judgment on the beast
Rev 12-22 more details on the judgment of the beast and the church's ultimate victory
Rev 1 -- the revelation of Jesus Christ
vs. 3 first century Christians reading this, the time was near
vs. 1 must soon take place
dei -- must, moral necessity, very important
entikque -- soon, means in a hurry, right away, speedily
2000 years later is not right away
Rev 22:10 the time is near
Daniel is also a book of apocalyptic writing
Daniel 8 prophesies things in 2nd century BC, written in 5th century BC approx 550 BC
Dan 8:26 told to seal the prophecy because in the distant future (300-400 years)
in Revelations - don't seal because it is soon, this time, right away
study on that --
how encouraging would it be for me and you undergoing persecution to hear a prophecy for 2000 years from now
What does that do for me?
Pre-millennial view -- what the futuristics believe is that Jesus is going to come back
pamphlets given out - you better be ready for the rapture
they believe Jesus will have a 1000 year reign on earth
7 years before, Christians will be zapped up
the 1st 3.5 years - religious and political leader from the middle east rebuilds the temple, reinstates sacrifices, then will turn on them
after 3.5 years, he demands to be worshipped
Jesus will crush the anti-Christ and start a 1000 year reign
But there's only one second coming of Jesus
1 Thess 4 -- rapture, 2nd coming
Let the word define itself, otherwise people will interpret these symbols the way they want to
vs. 4 John exiled on the island of Patmos, like Alcatraz, a work camp prison, he wasn't killed like the other apostles
He was beaten in the morning, put in chains, slept on a dirt floor, forced to work all day with a soldier over him, beating him to work harder
John needed some encouragement
Asia is this verse is the western part of Turkey now
Vs. 5 Jesus is the eternal king, it doesn't matter who might be ruling now
futurists believe we are not in the kingdom of God now, but that the kingdom will be set up when Jesus returns
Dt 2 - the kingdom was prophesied to begin during the Roman empire
Col 1:12-13 in the kingdom now
futurists believe Jesus failed the first time he was here
But Jesus said "repent, the kingdom of God is at hand"
Mark 9:1 "some of you will not taste death before the kingdom comes"
We would have 2000 plus year old people walking around now
Judas didn't get to see the kingdom come, he died first
vs. 7 Jesus coming in the clouds, we think of the 2nd coming
Dt 33:26
Is 19: 1+
God came to judge his people
Is 13:9-13 Babylon
Is 34:1-12 Edom
God came to judge
Mt 24; Lk 21; Mk 13
the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70
in Rev - judgment is on Rome
he brings one nation to judge another
vs. 15 bronze was the strongest metal -- God is strength
water is life
Rev 1:16 & Heb 4 double edged sword
we need to get a personal dream and vision
kingdom dream / personal dream
some of us are lukewarm but the Charlotte church is not lukewarm (told some stories of people studying now)
We need prayer, unity and love
we need to care enough