Skip to content How to Study the Book of Revelation | Revelation Part 1 | Rev Paul Jeyachandran Apr 10 · 50 min ...more
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Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
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Understanding the Book of Revelation 0:00 Shall we give the Lord a clap offering church? Hallelujah. It is always a joy and a privilege to bring God's word into your homes. This morning, we're gonna study from the book of Revelation. We're0:12 gonna start this new series. I'm not sure how long it will go. But today, I wanna talk about the overview of the book of Revelation. I wanna give you a title, how to study this book, the book of0:24 Revelation. It is 22 chapters and we have a lot to cover. So let's begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly father, we thank you so much for this day. Even as we open the pages of0:35 scripture, we ask that the holy spirit will be our teacher. Give us listening ears and a heart that is willing to obey and be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit has to say to the churches. So this morning,0:47 give us that grace, mighty God. We give you all the glory, praise, and honor. In Jesus name, and the people of God said, amen and amen. How to study the book of Revelation.1:00 Today we're going to touch on an overview of this book of Revelation. Now you and I know that it has 22 chapters. It was written during the reign1:11 of Domitian, the emperor of Rome. And John the apostle, who had spent time with Jesus, walked with him and loved him and even earned the1:23 title where he named himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, wrote this during his exile in the island of Patmos. But today, my1:34 overview is to give you a grasp of how to study this book. See, many times when people study this book, it's because of a fascination to know what the end times1:45 holds. Sometimes people avoid this book because of fear. They don't want to know how everything ends. But I want you to grasp it because this is a unique book. It's a special book.1:57 Indeed, the Lord Jesus said that he who reads this book has a blessing, and he who keeps this book, the words in this book also receives a blessing. Read this verse with me.2:09 Revelation chapter 1 and verse 3. The Bible says, blessed is the 1 who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. Hallelujah. And blessed are those who hear and who keep2:21 what is written in it for the time is near. Look at Revelation chapter 22 and verse 7. The Bible says, behold, I'm coming soon. Blessed is the 1 who keeps the2:33 words of the prophecy in this book. In other words, I want you to pay attention to this. Jesus says, I'm coming again soon. The language of this book is the time is near. And2:45 then he goes on to say that he who reads this book is blessed. You've got to read aloud. Not only that, he who hears the reading of this word also is blessed and he who keeps it will certainly be2:57 blessed. So I want you to catch this, that this is a special book, 22 chapters, and I want you to read this throughout this season as we explore it section by section. Hallelujah.3:09 From my personal in my personal journey, this book has been an instrument that brought me to salvation. I was around 8 years old when3:21 I heard for the first time someone explaining the book of Revelation. And during that season I was gripped with this sense of the awe of the Almighty God, and3:33 as a result I gave my life to Christ at the age of 8. And I remember very clearly, I was so fascinated by this book, I was reading this book over and over again after I was born again.3:45 And when I was in primary school in year 5, I was sharing with my classmates the overview of this book and telling them to get ready because you will be fried 1 day.3:58 Many of them cried. I got into trouble, but by the grace of God, I'm here to share with you what I believe the Lord is saying to us through this book in this4:10 season for us. I want you to pay attention to the writing. This is an apocalyptic book, so it has a very specific way of writing, isn't it? That's why many times people look at it as4:21 a puzzle book because it has a lot of symbols and numbers. But I want you to listen to me. It is not a puzzle book, it is a picture book. God gave us a picture of what the4:33 future would look like, what the coming of the Lord will be like, what spending eternity will be like in heaven and in the new earth when it when it begins. I want you to listen to me. This is an exciting book,4:45 but don't get carried away by the symbols. Don't keep asking whether the symbols are literal or is it symbolic, whether the numbers are literal or symbolic. We will study it as we go through this. Yeah?4:57 But I want you to catch this, that it's a picture book giving us a state of what the future would look like. So how do we journey through this book of revelation? I want to5:09 summarize my entire overview into 3 imperatives. So let me frame our study through these 3 imperatives. What are they? Imperative number 1,5:21 wake up. We got to realize the urgency of the times. See 1 of the things that we need to be gripped with is the Bible says the time is near.5:33 So that's the first 1. Wake up. Go with me to Revelation chapter 22 and verse 10. The Bible says, Do not seal up the words of the5:45 prophecy of the book for the end time, for the time is near. Listen to me carefully. We are living in the last leg of the last days.5:57 This is not the time for us to be distracted. This is not the time for us to be careless. This is definitely not the time for us to choose convenience. This is the time for us to be6:08 quickened and awakened and alert. Why? Because the word of God says, for the time is near. And the Lord says to his apostle, do not seal up6:20 the book because the time is at hand. Why is it so specific, do not seal up the book? Because there is another apocalyptic writing in the Old Testament, the book of Daniel.6:33 Now Daniel and Zechariah, these are also apocalyptic books, but when you read the writings of Daniel, in Daniel chapter 12 and verse 4, the Bible says this, But you,6:45 Daniel, shut up the words, seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall increase. Listen to me carefully. Daniel was6:56 told to seal up the words of the prophecy. Why? Because the time hasn't come. See, in the biblical history, timing is very7:08 important. The Bible says that vision always is for an appointed time. So you and I, we need to understand during the time of Daniel, the Lord says, seal up the words. Why? Because the time7:20 is not yet. But during the time of John, when he received this revelation, the Lord says, now do not seal the words. Why? Because the time is near.7:32 See, you and I, we need to understand this. Many times when we hear the word the time is near, in fact, when people hear this that Jesus is coming again soon, that Jesus is coming again soon, and the7:43 church has been proclaiming this for the past 2000 years. And every generation believes that the time has come, that he's going to come immediately. But I want you7:55 to listen to me careful. Many times because of this, we become so inoculated by this that we lose that sense of urgency. When you hear this word, the time is8:07 near, it is not about the hour and the day or the year that it is near. I want you to capture it is a sense of urgency. That means this is the season that you8:19 need to be alert, you need to be active, you need to be proactive in taking steps to get ready. There is a sense of urgency and that sense of urgency was throughout the church history. Every8:31 generation had to have that sense of urgency. Why? Because our time on earth is short, but our life with Christ is eternal and to spend eternity with him, this is just a8:43 short interval here. So you and I need to have that sense of urgency. Secondly, that time is near also speaks about the heart's longing. See, if you think that he's not coming again8:55 for a long time, what would happen is our heart would be withdrawn from him. There is no eager waiting for him. Like, for example, I remember growing up in a household where my dad would9:06 leave in the morning at 8, and when the clock strikes 6, he would walk back home. And every time, as it's nearing that 6 o'clock in the evening, I would9:18 always have this anticipation that eagerly waiting for him to walk through the doors. Now, I want you to listen to me carefully. That is exactly what it is. It's the heart longing, a child longing for the father to walk9:30 in through the doors, a lover waiting at the airport for the girlfriend or the boyfriend to walk through the doors. It's that sense of longing. That's exactly what the Bible9:42 says. So you and I, we need to understand when the Bible says the time is near, it means that you get your heart ready. Let your heart have that kind of urgency and a sense of longing to can't wait to9:54 see my Savior, my Lord, my King. Hallelujah. You and I examine our hearts. That's why this book is important for us to study because this book always speaks about10:05 wake up because we got to realize that urgency of the times. Another thing I want to point out is this. Whenever you study prophecy, prophecy is like10:17 this. The Lord takes time to reveal a prophetic word, but then it takes time. It is for an appointed time. But as you near the appointed time, things will start10:29 to happen a lot faster. There will be an acceleration of things. Let me explain. In the Old Testament there was a man by the name of Methuselah. When he was born,10:41 the word of the Lord came that when he dies, judgment will come upon the earth. Now Methuselah, the word, the name itself means when he dies, judgment10:53 will come. But God was so patient that God was so loving and giving time for the people to repent. You know what God did? Gave Methuselah long life.11:05 How many years? 969 years. During the time of Methuselah, his great grandson was born, Noah. And Noah was about11:16 480 years. And God says to Noah, I want you to prepare an ark because I want I want to flood the whole world and and and pass judgment upon it and and destroy the the11:28 world. Listen. This is what happens. 480 years old Noah starts building an ark, and he built after receiving this word, he built for 120 years.11:40 Nothing seemed to happen. At the end of 120 years, the Bible says God appeared to him and said, in 7 days there will be a flood on the earth, rain will start to pour, so get ready. I want11:52 you to see the urgency. 480 years, nothing happened. 120 years, he was working slowly and working hard, but then 7 days everything is going to shift.12:05 That's how it is. As you approach the appointed time, things accelerate. So even today in the world, you see things accelerating. This is why when people were studying the end times or people who were studying12:16 the apocalyptic books usually have a sense of, okay, in 19 seventies, they said Jesus is coming again in 19 98 or 19 88, Or in the nineties, they would say, Oh, Jesus is12:28 coming again before the 2 thousands. And they had this sense, but can I humbly say this? It's because they watch all the happenings that are happening.12:41 But you think about what happened in the eighties and the nineties and even in the 2 thousands and you think about what just happened in year 20 20, you can see how fast things are moving, The advancement in technology,12:53 the advancement in nuclear science, the advancement in military technology, the advancement in how you can be it's a lot of things. I don't want to go into it, but I want you to realize the time13:04 is near. Hallelujah. So how do we position ourselves? To recognize that time is near, what do we need to do? You know, in Jesus' teachings, Jesus taught us13:17 about the coming of the Lord, the days of the coming of the Lord, right? And these are what you call apocalyptic chapters, and some of the apocalyptic chapters in the Bible is Matthew chapter 24 and13:28 25, and then Mark chapter 13, and then Luke chapter 21. Now when you read this carefully, you will recognize this, that in Matthew chapter 25, as13:40 he's explaining how we need to live as people of God during the end times, Jesus gives us 3 specific parables. Now you and I know the 3 parables. Listen to this. The first 1 is the parable13:52 of the 10 virgins. 5 of them were ready and they were alert. The other 5 was distracted and they were sleeping. Now listen to me carefully. The moral of that parable14:04 was be alert. Be on guard. Secondly, the Bible says the parable of the talents. Remember 1 guy got 5 talents, the other got 2, and another 1 had 1. And14:16 all these servants received the talents and the master went away for a long time and then when he came back, he asked them the million dollar question, what did you do with what I have given you in the time I had given14:27 you? So listen to me carefully. What is the moral of that parable? It is be accountable because your life is a stewardship. Thirdly, he talks about the parable of the sheep and the goats. He says,14:39 you know, the the sheep did what the king wanted them to do. In other words, when he was he they they did what they did to the least of the brethren, they did it to the king. So the question was that the14:51 goats did not do what God had wanted them to do, but the sheep did. So in other words, the moral of that story is be active, be proactive in doing what God has called you to do.15:03 So this is the season. So when the Bible calls us to wake up, it is to realize that the urgency of the times and to be alert and to be accountable and to become15:14 active in doing the will of God, walking in the ways of God, and building our life upon the solid Word of God. Hallelujah. Because that is what this15:26 book, I pray, will do for us. As we study through this book, I want you to put that lens on, and I want you to see how Christ is calling us to wake up as a church and be on God.15:38 Hallelujah. How do we journey through the book of Revelation? The first imperative was wake up, but let's look at the second imperative. The second15:50 imperative is look up. We got to rediscover the centrality of the king, the centrality of king Jesus. You know, many times when16:01 people study the book of Revelation, it is usually because they are curious to find out who the Antichrist will be. And if you go around asking people, who do you think it is? Everyone will have an16:13 opinion. I think this is how it is, or this is who it is. Or in every generation, people always pointed to somebody in a political situation and say this person might be. Listen to16:25 me carefully. When we study the book of Revelation, it is not so that we can find who the antichrist is. When we study the book of Revelation, it is not even to figure out what 6 66 is all16:37 about. So why do we study? It is not so much in this season so that you will understand whether to accept the vaccination or not, whether the vaccination is the mark of the16:49 beast, because these are the trending topics right now when you think about the end times. But why do you study this book? I tell you why we need to study this book, because we need to see the big picture17:01 of what God is revealing to his church. And you know what God is revealing to his church? He's revealing to us the king Jesus and his kingdom. Hallelujah. That's17:12 why we need to rediscover the centrality of king Jesus in our lives. See, 1 of the things is we fall in love with Jesus, and we fall in love with him. We become a follower of17:24 Christ. We want to learn from him. We want to love him. We want to serve him. We want to become more and more like him. But as the as your as a new believer comes to faith in Christ, as they17:36 grow in maturity, they sometimes just just come into that place where they are stale in their walk. Their heart is not longing for Christ. But my prayers, as you read read this book and as you17:48 study this book together, that our hearts will be so filled with love for Jesus. Because it is Jesus who is the central theme and focus of this book. Look at18:00 Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1. The book begins by this word, the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place.18:12 Hallelujah. The revelation of Jesus Christ. The word revelation there is the word apocalypse. In other words, that's the English word to unveil, to reveal. In other words, Christ is revealed in all18:24 his glory and beauty and majesty in this. See, when you read the Gospels, you receive a portrait of Christ. Christ is seen as the prophet who came, the Messiah18:36 who came to die for us on the cross. When you read the epistles, you receive a portrait of Christ as the priest who is interceding for us, who is our high priest, who represents us in the18:48 presence of the father. But when you read the book of Revelation, you see Christ crowned as king. He's the 1 who has is worthy to open the scroll and the scroll is the19:00 written plan of God, the redemptive plan of God for this world. I want you to listen to me carefully. This is important for us to understand. The full picture of who Christ is is revealed19:12 in the pages of the book of Revelation. That's why I do believe that the way you look at this book, that there should that Christ is the key to unlock this book. Hallelujah.19:25 Now the question always is, what is the best way to outline this book? What is the best way to outline? I want to give you a few ways to outline this book because it's 22 chapters, and as a bible19:37 teacher, I always give people lenses through which they can see the book for themselves because we always believe that you need to be a self feeder in the word of God. Yes? So here, the19:49 22 chapters can be divided in 3 different ways. Let me give you some of the popular outlines and then I'll give you my personal outline. The first 1 is 3 sections based20:01 on Revelation verse 1 and chapter 1 and verse 19. Look at this. The 3 sections based on this in this 1 verse. Read that verse together with me. Write therefore the things that20:13 you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. So Revelation chapter 1 and verse 19 says there are 3 things. The Lord Jesus, through his20:24 angel, says to John, write the things that you have seen. That's the first chapter. The things that you have seen. He has been taken up into heaven and he sees a glorious vision and things20:36 that you have seen, write it down, first chapter. And then things that are those that are, in other words, chapter 2 and chapter 3, things that are there already present. In other20:48 words, during the time of John, there were 7 churches in Asia and this letter was written to the 7 churches in Asia. That's what you read in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 4 that John wrote to the 7 churches21:00 in Asia. This is an episode. As a pastor, he writes to the 7 churches. Now listen, so those that are that you have seen, that's the first chapter. Chapter 2 and chapter 3 is those things that21:11 are currently present and then the third 1, those things that are to take place after this. In other words, from chapter 4 all the way to the end, chapter 22, it is the revelation21:23 of the future. So 1 is about the past, 1 is the present, 1 is the future. So you can divide the the chapters like this and read it, and with that understanding, you will be able to outline this book of21:34 Revelation. The second popular way that most Bible scholars divide this book or outline this book is like this, 4 sections based on in the spirit. There are21:46 4 times in this book, in Revelation chapter 1 and verse 10, chapter 4 and verse 2, chapter 17 and verse 3, and chapter 21 and verse 10, John21:58 writes, I was caught up in the spirit. I was taken in the spirit. He was in the spirit in heaven. And I want you to listen to me. And so when he was he when he was caught up in the spirit, you can22:10 actually look at those 4 big chunks of the vision that he got, the glorious vision, and out of that you can study. But let me give you the thing that we are going to study in these coming weeks.22:22 The section 3 is this, 5 sections based on Jesus the king. If I truly believe that Jesus is the key to unlock this book, that it is all about a22:33 revelation of Jesus Christ, then Jesus is the key that will unlock this book. So there are 5 things that God points us towards Jesus in this. What are that? Number 1, it's the reminders of the22:45 king. Chapters 1 to chapter 3 is the reminders of the king. What Jesus the king is reminding, lovingly reminding his church. This is where you'll find22:57 in chapter 2 and chapter 3 the letters that were written to the 7 churches. Remember the 7 churches? I'm sure when you have read the book of Revelation, would have come through the 7 churches. These 723:09 churches are historical churches that existed during the time of John in what you would call today Turkey. Yes. And these 7 churches23:21 were were going through some of them were going through persecution and and and Jesus writing to them, he's giving them a love letter. So when you read chapters 1 to23:33 3, you see the reminders of the king. But these 7 churches are also kind of representative as well because in every generation these 7 churches do exist. And that's why23:45 1 of the reasons why I started to study this book and I wanted to teach this book after a very long time is because during this season, I asked myself this question, what is the Lord saying to the churches?23:57 What is the Lord saying not only to the churches, what is the Lord saying about our church? What is the Lord saying about my ministry? And as a result, I was gripped with it and I wanted to study this. That's the first24:09 section, reminders of the king. Look at the second 1. The second 1 is the redemption of the king. What's the redemption of the king? Chapter 4 and chapter 5, they talk about the redemption. Why?24:21 Because it is a revelation of Jesus in heaven. You you would see in chapter 4 the throne room of God and the 1 who is seated on the throne. And then the and the question is24:33 asked, who is worthy to open the seal? Because the 1 who is seated on the throne has a seal which has which has a has a scroll and it has 7 seals, and who is open to take that24:45 scroll and open the seals? And you know what? John says when he looked around, he couldn't find anybody and he started to weep, and the Lord says, No. The24:56 lamb of God that was slain is worthy to open the scroll, to open the seal, and as a result, there was worship in heaven. So chapter 4 and chapter 5 is exciting because25:08 it showcases what happens in heaven, how the elders are bowing down to the throne, and how they are worshiping the Lord. And and then they sing this beautiful song, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.25:20 Worthy because for you have created all things and you have redeemed mankind, people from every nation, tongue, and tribe. I want you to read these 2 chapters with excitement because that's the worship. What will we be25:31 doing in heaven? We will be worshiping the Lord Jesus and that is seen in the redemption of the king. The third section is the rise of the king. The rise of the king is from25:43 chapter 6 when the first there are 7 seals and 7 trumpets and 7 bowls of judgment. So in these 3 sevens, the 7 seals, the 7 trumpets,25:55 and the 7 bowls, you will see the rise of the king, how he rises up to take his take the take the earth, take the kingdom of this world, and to establish the kingdom of26:07 God on earth. And that is the rise of the king. You know, want you to read this exciting chapter. Don't get caught up in who's the beast and all that. We will explain it as we go along in this26:19 series. But I want you to catch this. In Revelation chapter 11, there is a beautiful verse that says, The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our God. Hallelujah. Now26:31 that is the beautiful picture of how the king rises up to take his rightful place and take his inheritance. You know, that's what the Bible says in Psalm chapter 2 and verse 8, isn't it? Ask for me the26:43 nations and I will give it to you as an inheritance. That is exactly the fulfillment there you will find in the rise of the king, how he pours out the judgment upon the world, upon the ungodly, upon the wicked, upon the26:54 ones who reject him, but then how he takes up his rightful place and how he reclaims the world. Hallelujah. And the kingdom of God is established. The fourth27:06 section is the return of the king, which which is what you find in chapter 19. Chapter 19 is beautiful because it talks about the marriage supper of the lamb, how the bride the27:18 the bride of the lamb is getting ready and how how how the marriage supper of the lamb and whoever is invited. And then the Bible says that Jesus comes back in glory. He comes back in the27:29 clouds and he is establishing his throne here on earth. I want you to listen to me. This is an exciting season. The Bible, the whole book of Revelation is written so that we will get ready for27:41 the coming of the Lord. In fact, in chapter 1 verse 7 onwards, says, behold, he is coming in the clouds and behold, I'm coming again soon in chapter 22. So listen to me carefully. Jesus is coming again27:53 and this whole book you will see the return of the king and what will happen to the world when he comes back. Hallelujah. It's an exciting part. Finally, from chapters 20 to28:05 chapter 22, it is the reign of the king. This is where it talks about the millennial rule, the thousand year rule. Now is the thousand years literal or is the thousand years28:17 symbolic? We will explain as we go along. But I do believe with all my heart there will be a that God, the Lord Jesus, the king, he will be crowned as king over the the28:28 earth and over all the rulers of the world, and together with the saints, he will rule. Hallelujah. Praise God. Praise God. What an exciting opportunity for us to study this book and28:40 to get ready and have a picture of what is coming in this world. That's why you and I, we need to understand that this book will help us to see the beauty of Jesus Christ, the28:52 majesty of Jesus Christ, the greatness of our great God. Hallelujah. And I pray that this book will cause you to fall in love with Jesus all over again. Praise God. Now ask ourselves this question,29:04 how do we journey through the book of Revelation? Firstly, I told you, the first imperative is wake up. We have to realize, we've got to realize the urgency of the times.29:16 Secondly, look up. We we got to rediscover the centrality of the king. Now let me highlight the third 1. Shape up. We've got to respond to the29:28 call of the kingdom. So what is the call of the kingdom? What is it that Jesus is calling his church to do in this season? He says shape up. I want29:39 you to listen to 1 of the scriptures that repeats itself in chapter 2 and chapter 3. It's repeated 7 times, 1 for each church that Jesus was speaking to.29:52 And I want you to listen to this in Revelation chapter 3 and verse 22. Read that verse together with me. Come on. 3, 2, 1. Let's read it together. He who has an ear, let him hear what the30:03 spirit says to the churches. Hallelujah. He who has hear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches. Why? Because the Holy Spirit is calling30:15 us. See, this book of Revelation was given by the father. The Bible says it was the father, the God, who gave it to Jesus and Jesus if you read30:27 chapter 1 with me later in the next sermon that we explore, in chapter 1, you will discover that God gave the revelation to Jesus and Jesus gives it through the Holy Spirit to an angel and the angel then gives it to John30:39 and then John writes it to the 7 churches and it's for not only for the 7 churches that existed historically during the time of John, but it is also for us today. That's why30:51 what the Spirit has to say to the churches, and especially for us in this last leg of the last days, what is the church what is the Holy Spirit saying to us? Listen to it carefully. This is the this is what he's saying.31:03 Now when I'm reading this, I'm gonna give you just a quick, overview of chapter 2 and chapter 3 because that's the love letters to the 7 churches. And I wanna just give you a brief overview, but31:15 in the overview, I wanna give you some lenses to see these 2 chapters because we will be studying them in detail, but I want you to catch, the big picture, the broad strokes of how it is explained.31:27 Let me give you 4 lenses. 1, I want you to notice the pattern here. When you read chapter 2 and chapter 3, there's a pattern there. The first 1 is there will be commendation. In other words, Jesus will31:39 always begin his address by saying, I know. I know. In other words, I know what you have done. I know what you are like. That's why I want you to recognize this. When you31:51 highlight every time he says, I know, because that's a commendation. He actually commends them, and he actually says, I know your fear. I know your failures, and he's commending them. I know your good works. I know your32:02 orthodox. I know your right in your doctrine. Jesus is commending them. Secondly, it's a charge. I have this against you. That word will that phrase will be repeated. It's it's32:14 repeated for almost all the churches except 2. There's only 2 churches that did not receive any charge or condemnation. It is the church of Smyrna and the church of Philadelphia.32:26 The reason these 2 churches is Smyrna was going through persecution, and whenever you're going through persecution, you always are holy. You seek holiness. You want to be right with God. So they were not messing up.32:38 And and and Philadelphia is another church that was filled with love of God, who was faithful to the Lord. So listen to me. So there was no charge for these 2, but the rest, all God, I have this against you. Pay32:48 attention to that. The third 1 is the counsel. What's the counsel? He always gives them an exhortation. The exhortation is usually repent. Return back to me. Repent. Be steadfast. Fear33:00 not. Hold fast to these things. Strengthen what remains. These are some of the phrases you'll find in chapter 2 and chapter 3. And finally, it is the challenge. Every church has this challenge.33:12 What is the challenge? Challenge is to him who overcomes, to him that conquers. I want you to circle that word conqueror, conquerors. Because that word overcome, to him33:24 that overcomes, then Jesus gives them a promise. So there are 7 promises for people who overcome in the last days. Listen to me. Why is this so important,33:36 Pastor? The reason why I take time to give you these things is because I want you to recognize what the Holy Spirit is saying to the churches. Now, it is already a lot of information33:47 today. Do you know I'm only halfway through what I actually wanted to say, but I recognize I want to just give you enough to start and whet your appetite33:59 so that you will start studying this book together, but then we will unpack it as we go along. So I want you to recognize this. What is the Lord saying to the churches? That is my key question as I'm studying34:11 this book. You know, 1 of the things that I discovered is the Lord is lovingly waiting for the church to repent and return to him. That is what he's asking us to34:23 do. Look at what he says in chapter 2 and verse 5. He says, Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come34:35 to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. The call of God to the church of Jesus Christ in these last days is this,34:46 repent. But you may say, but pastor, we are already blood bought saints. Can I humbly say this? This book, as I'm reading it, it produces 2 things. 1, it34:58 produces a sense of hope. Christ is coming again, and he will correct all the wrongs. The judge justice of God will happen. The judgment of God will happen upon the wicked and the35:10 and the and and the worldly. That gives me hope. But at the same time, it also it it also creates that sense of awe that I need to walk in holiness. See, you and35:22 I, we we sometimes take this for granted. We think, yes, we are saved, but can I humbly say this? This is why in in in my teachings I usually say, you know, we we35:34 commonly use this we use this word Jesus saves and are you saved? We ask, do you are you saved? But can I humbly say this? In English language, we don't use that word saved. Do you know why? Because the English35:45 language, the word saved means I saved some money for the rainy day. I saved this piece of cake to eat later. It's like I'm saving means I'm just putting that aside.35:58 But can I humbly say this? The salvation experience is a saving experience, but it's much more than just being saved so that you are kept safe for the future. What it means is you're delivered. You know the36:10 the new New Testament language is to be delivered. Paul writes to the Galatians and he says, God has given us grace to be delivered from this present evil age. To the Colossians, he says, you36:22 have been delivered from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of his beloved son. So I want you to listen to me carefully. It's 1 thing to be saved and you think that, yes, I'm saved because I went to a crusade.36:33 I mouthed these few words and I said this sinner's prayer. I should be saved. Can I humbly say this? Unless and until you are delivered. Delivered. What does that mean? It means there's a36:45 radical shift in your orientation. There's a radical sense of change in your attitude, affections, and in your actions to make king Jesus your Lord. That means you not36:57 only love him, you serve him. You want to become more and more like him. You are continually mastered by him. This is key, church. Hallelujah. That's why he keeps calling the church to repent.37:09 Because as 1 theologian said, I look for the church. I found it in the world. I look for the world and I found it in the church. Today, the church is so37:21 worldly. There is no difference between a believer and a Gentile. Listen to me carefully. There is so much. We are we are so alike. That's why we haven't been able to37:33 stand out and be distinct. That's why in this series, I hope that you recognize that this is a need, not the need for us to be choosing convenience. In this season of pandemic, everyone is going back to that place37:44 of just being lethargic, being apathetic, being choosing convenience. Can I humbly say this? This is not the time for you to slack off. Repent and come back, says the Lord. This is the key.37:56 Chapter 3 and verse 3, look at what he says. Remember then what you have heard and received, what you have received and heard. Keep it. Actively keep it and repent. If you will not wake up,38:08 I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Jesus says, I will come against you. In the previous verse, he says, I will remove your lampstand. You know how serious these38:20 things are. See, that's why you and I, we have a picture of Christ. He's so loving as a savior because we read the gospels. He's he's such a good high priest, chief high priest for us, interceding for38:32 us. But in this book, he's revealed as the judge, as the king of kings who demands allegiance and who wants holiness in our lives. So38:43 listen carefully. He says, repent because otherwise I will come against you. You know, church, I want you to pay attention to what I'm saying here38:55 because the Bible is very clear that we are living in the last leg of the last days. And Jesus gives us a call to say, come walk in repentance. Look at how he finishes in chapter 3 and verse39:07 20. He says, behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the doors, I will come in to him and eat with him and he with me. You know to who he is saying39:19 this? He's saying to the church, Behold, I'm standing at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come to him,Show more In this video 0:00 Understanding the Book of Revelation
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Paul Jeyachandran
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