Revelation
1.4 – 3.14
Introduction
The
purpose of the writing of the Book of Revelation is “to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”
This is often construed as meaning to comfort them in the persecution they are
about to face. It should rather be interpreted as meaning that they are to be warned of the consequences
of their obedience or disobedience in light of the fall of Jerusalem, the
nation Israel, and the death and dispersion of the people. If God did not
spare Jerusalem, Israel, and their people when they broke the Covenant, refused
His grace, and chose death instead of life, then God will not spare the members
of the Church who fall into this same tragic condition. Likewise, God will
always have a faithful people who will be rewarded and blessed.
Romans
11:21: “For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.” Second Peter 2:1 also warns
the Church of false prophets, false teachers, and heretics. Second Peter
chapter 2 is a catalog of those whom God did not spare: the angels, the old
world of Noah, Sodom and Gomorrah. The kinds of people doomed for this
destruction are listed as: “Them that
walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government.” They
are presumptuous, selfwilled, disrespectful, as natural brute beasts, rioters,
deceivers, adulterers, covetous, vainglorious, and hypocritical. Even so, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished.” The danger is real for Christians:
For if after
they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord
and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the
latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known
it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened according
to the true proverb, “The dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow
that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2 Peter 2:20-22
The
Book of Revelation serves this same purpose of warning to the universal Church,
of the consequences of rebellion and disobedience while at the same time
offering the blessings to those who walk in obedience in faith and good works.
Understanding these messages to the seven
churches is vital to the understanding of the rest of the Book of Revelation. This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context, available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, OK. Also available online at www.Amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com
Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.
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