The Book of Revelation: Chapters 1-3

What things had the Apostle John seen and recorded for the churches of Revelation? Find out with hosts Tim Moore, Nathan Jones, and Dave Bowen on the television program, Christ in Prophecy!

Air Date: March 23, 2024

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Pastor Robert J. Morgan

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Transcript

Revelation 1

Tim Moore: Welcome back to Christ in Prophecy and our series on the Book of Revelation. We began last week with a conversation with Pastor Robert Morgan. His book, “The Final 50 Events in World History” set the stage for our study of Revelation. Pastor Morgan offered a helpful approach to studying Revelation, he suggested beginning with a chronological approach, but also emphasized accepting Revelation in a straightforward, literal sense.

Nathan Jones: We’ve often encouraged people to approach Bible prophecy in general and Revelation in particular with this principle in mind: If the plain sense makes sense, don’t look for any other sense lest you end up with nonsense. Well, there’s a lot of nonsense floating out there in the web and books touting fanciful interpretations of God’s prophetic Word. And sadly, many people are drawn to these sensational and speculative interpretations of Bible prophecy. Even more distressing, some false teachers like to claim secret knowledge or special insight that allows them to determine the day and time of the Rapture and Jesus’s return. We will never engage in such irresponsible conjecture.

Dave Bowen: Really that is why I was drawn to Lamb & Lion Ministries in the first place. We do not chase after the sensational, and we do not engage in wild speculation. Instead, we encourage the straightforward reading of God’s Word and point people to the Author and subject of its prophecies, Jesus Christ. You know the fellow servant John encountered in his visions of heaven affirmed that very point. The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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Tim Moore: You know, that is a verse we frequently cite to remind ourselves and you, our viewers, that Bible prophecy is not a playground for fanatics or an esoteric realm that has no value for the average Christian. It is offered to affirm the validity of Scripture, the Gospel plan of salvation, and the person of Jesus Christ. And it is given to us so that in the world we will have hope, regardless of our present circumstances. In the language of Revelation, we can be overcomers. But I am probably getting ahead of myself. So, fellows, let’s review the table of contents for Revelation. What would that be?

Dave Bowen: Well, in John chapter 1, verse 19, it says write, therefore what you have seen, what is now what will take place later. So, what is now. What’s going to take place later. Future, present.

Tim Moore: Okay, so the things which have you have seen, the Lord is telling John probably what is already been seen in chapter 1. The things which are which we’re going to get to today is chapters 2 and 3, the Church Age as we know it. And the things which will take place after these things we’ll get to in weeks to come.

Dave Bowen: Chapter 4 and on

Tim Moore: Revelation 1:19 gives us a nice little outline that lets us know how the Bible is going to unfold through the Book of Revelation.

Dave Bowen: Right.

Tim Moore: Fantastic. Well, so let’s talk about that, in chapter 1 John tells us that he had seen some incredible visions. I mean, I say incredible, but they are credible because he records them. I trust and believe that they are accurate and true. But where was John? What is the setting for what he is going to describe there in chapter 1 or at least where he was?

Nathan Jones: Well, imagine you’re the apostle John. You’re the last of the apostles. All of them have been murdered. You are now in your mid-nineties. Diocletian the terrible emperor of Rome tried to boil you alive and failed. Having failed that, he sent you to this little prison island called Patmos, making a 90 some year old man do hard labor. He’s missing the church in Ephesus, which he was the bishop of. And he’s wondering, where is the Lord? Where are His promises? And he’s there, and all of a sudden he gets the Lord himself, Jesus Christ, in all His glory, like John saw on the Mount of Transfiguration come up to him and give him all these assurance words that, yes, He’s in charge, He’s in power, and I’m going to tell you how this is going to end. And it must have brought so much incredible hope to John, who probably was so despondent at that point. And it’s meant to give us hope as well.

Tim Moore: You know I like what you say about give him hope, because John records in verse nine that “I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation.” Now, just a minute I thought we hadn’t gotten to the tribulation. I think what John is identifying is that he has had trouble in his life. He’s experiencing it personally there on the Island of Patmos. And we know that many of you have experienced little “t” tribulation in your life. Our world is filled with trouble. Jesus told us that would be the case, but we’re not yet to the capital “T” Tribulation, are we, Dave?

Dave Bowen: No, that becomes that is the halfway point. That’s the second part. But can you imagine being on the island? Just try to put yourself in John’s shoes. This is the first time he sees Jesus in six decades. It’s been 60 years about since, he was with the Lord for three years, he was there with Him, and now he hasn’t seen Him. And he sees Him again as heaven opens up. And the words he hears is “This must take place soon.” What must take place soon?

Nathan Jones: And what’s interesting, too, is people attribute the book of Revelation to John. But you read in the first verse the Revelation of Jesus Christ. So, when we talk about the Book of Revelation, the title is The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It’s not the Revelation of Saint John the Divine. It’s not the Revelations, plural, which every Bible Drill student fails because they say Revelations, plural. It’s the Revelation that Jesus gets from the Father, gives to His angels, and then John witnesses. So, John’s the scribe, not the one who’s giving the prophecy.

Tim Moore: So, let’s define the word revelation, which is a fancy word and we’re all familiar with it really means the unveiling, the revealing of what God wants us to understand. We go back to Deuteronomy 29:29, “The things revealed to us belong to us and our sons forever, the things that are secret they belong to God.” But He has chosen to unveil, to reveal some aspects. And we’re clearly able to identify who John is looking at because he describes the one he sees as one like a Son of Man. Why does he use that language to describe Jesus Christ?

Dave Bowen: Well, before we get there, verse 4 and 5, the revelation is from He who is, and was, and is to come. So even in the naming of Jesus, we see the content of the book being put together.

Nathan Jones: I would argue, actually you see the Trinity here because in verse 4.

Dave Bowen: Yes, I would agree.

Nathan Jones: He says, “The One who is, and who is and was to come,” that’s the Father. The Seven Spirits before the throne, another name for the Holy Spirit, the sevenfold spirit of the work. And from Jesus Christ. So, the Holy Spirit, the Father, the Son, all parts of the Trinity right here in the Book of Revelation.

Tim Moore: So, who is the Son of Man? Why does he use this phraseology here? And we’re going to see this repeated throughout the Book of Revelation that John uses phrases from where? Where does he get that?

Dave Bowen: That’s the gospel it’s one of Jesus favorite way of calling Himself, naming Himself I’m the Son of Man.

Tim Moore: But where did Jesus get that from? Jesus didn’t just come out of thin air. In other words, that was a citation of Old Testament prophecy.

Dave Bowen: In Daniel.

Tim Moore: In Daniel looking forward to the Son of Man.

Nathan Jones: And that was interesting because when I was growing up and I’d read it, and Jesus said, the Son of Man says, and the Son of Man, I’m like what is He talking about? If you go back to Daniel, the Son of Man was a messianic designation for the Son of God. So, when Jesus was going around saying the Son of Man says, the people should have gone wait, He’s claiming to be the Messiah.

Dave Bowen: Yes, absolutely. It can be confusing because of that. Is He a man, is He God? And the answer is yes, He’s both. Well, how can he be both? Well, he has to be man, because he has to be able to die. He has to die for our sins, He must be God to forgive our sins. So, He has to be both. And that’s where you get that title coming together, it’s very clear to understand who He is and why He came.

Tim Moore: Well, the whole passage in the middle of chapter 1 or toward the end, as he begins to describe seeing this man who looked like a Son of Man, verse 13, clothed in a robe, reaching to his feet, girded with across his chest with a golden sash. That takes us back to Daniel chapter 7, describing the vision of the man that the Daniel saw. His head and His hair were white with like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze and had been made to glow in a furnace. And his voice was like the sound of many waters. All of these are prophetic reflections of visions that were recorded in the Old Testament by prophets, and John is going to use that terminology throughout his scripture. But chapter 1 makes it very clear that John, having been isolated on the Island of Patmos, is given a vision by Jesus Christ, revealing what Jesus, what the Father wants us to understand. And so, when we go back to our outline in chapter 1, verse 19 the things which you have seen, that pertains to all that is recorded in chapter 1. But right away the scene shifts, or at least the outline shifts to the things which are. So now where do we turn our attention even in this episode of our review of Revelation?

Revelation 2-3

Dave Bowen: We go to chapter 2 and 3 of the churches.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, which is the second part in the outline. It’s the things which are now. So he’s talking about that, we’ve got to remember that the Book of Revelation that God is sending John to write what he’s seen and what he’s being told to seven churches, which would be in western Turkey today, it was called Asia Minor at the time. It started in John’s own hometown or new hometown of Ephesus.

Dave Bowen: Right.

Nathan Jones: And it’s interesting geographically that as you go to the seven churches, it makes a circle like around a clock, because the letters back then would be sent and delivered, the church would read it, then the runner would run to the next town and read that. And so, it made a circuit around.

Tim Moore: You know, some people have tried to delve into understanding why these seven churches? Clearly there are other churches in this day and age. There was a church in Jerusalem, there were churches elsewhere. So why these seven churches? And what really stands out about these seven?

Nathan Jones: Well, what I love about these seven is that that Jesus addresses seven different churches. And like all of us, you have your good things you’re doing right, you have some things you need to work on, there’s some good in guidance, there’s some warnings, sometimes there’s a little discipline, there’s some promises. So, you can go through each of these different letters to each of these different churches and follows pretty much the same format that it goes through.

Tim Moore: Okay. So what would be that format, Dave? We know that each church is going to be called out by name, and that Jesus is going to be described with a different trait or characteristic, and really pointing us to Him as the author or the dictator of these letters that John is merely recording. Then we get praise and encouragement in most cases. But there’s one church that doesn’t even receive any praise or any commendation.

Dave Bowen: Right, the church is lukewarm with that, correct. There are two churches that don’t get any kind of rebuke. There’s one church that is not going to be praised. That’s kind of the format of it.

Tim Moore: Yeah so, Laodicea doesn’t get any praise, and Smyrna and Philadelphia don’t get any criticism.

Nathan Jones: And it’s interesting that Jesus introduces them right off the bat for each one He gives a little bit more about Himself. He declares Himself like, I’m the Alpha and Omega, or I’m He who was and is and is to come. And so He gives a little bit of that. And then He goes right into the praise. He starts with the praise, not the criticism that comes third. He gives a warning for those who are messing up, hey, this is what you need to fix, right. He gives a request this is what you need to do to become an overcomer. Then He ends up with what is the promise to be an overcomer. And then just to clarify, an overcomer is one who is saved, who stays in the faith.

Tim Moore: Okay, so where can we demonstrate that, interpreting Scripture with Scripture? Where is the definition of an overcomer?

Dave Bowen: That’s in 1 John 5:5.

Tim Moore: Which says?

Dave Bowen: Let’s go to that.

Tim Moore: All right, let’s do that.

Dave Bowen: So, 1 John 5:5 same author, John the Apostle says, “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.” So an overcomer is the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Tim Moore: So who is it that overcomes the world? Who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. John asks the question, answers the question, and really is using that definition to then define who gets these various promises of Revelation. So, I’m going to come back to some of the eras, but let’s just dive into the promises. We’ve talked about the fact that each church, most of them, get some commendation or praise, a word of encouragement. Most of them get a word of criticism. All of them get a word of warning, and then a specific task to accomplish. And then promises to those who overcome within those churches.

Dave Bowen: Before we dive into that, can I ask the question?

Tim Moore: Sure.

Dave Bowen: When you look at this now, it says that Jesus is walking among the churches. Get that picture, He’s still walking among the churches. So if He’s still walking, if we had a health check up on our churches, would we fail or would we pass?

Tim Moore: Oh, boy.

Dave Bowen: Church in general. And I want to go even deeper with that because as we go into the promises and what He said to each church, the church is not a building, it’s the people.

Tim Moore: Yes.

Dave Bowen: So it can apply to us individually as well. We can look at this and say, well, that lukewarm church and I don’t want to go to a lukewarm church, I don’t want anything to do with that. Are we lukewarm ourselves?

Tim Moore: That’s a great point. So, before we go to the promises, because that’s really the icing on the cake or that’s what we look forward to. Let’s talk very briefly. Ephesus, we could almost say the criticism given that it was becoming, or excuse me, that it was a representation of the apostolic era. The apostles had planted this church and they were organizing and focusing on doctrine.

Nathan Jones: And that’s because in our time period, we can look back over the last 2,000 years of church history and say there’s certain characteristics that defined certain eras. So not only were these literal churches that were literally in Asia Minor, not only can they reference our churches today and all the different pluses and minus we have, but you’re right that the fact that we can look back and that Jesus was laying out 2,000 years of church history.

Tim Moore: He was.

Nathan Jones: And each of these churches represented a different time period, to me always blows my mind.

Tim Moore: So, Ephesus being again, that early church that is focused on doctrine, trying to establish a solid foundation. But then we turn to the second church, Smyrna, which is the persecuted church, and clearly from John and on many of the early churches, were persecuted under the Roman Empire until the empire converted to Christianity. And there were many martyrs that came out of that period, and yet the blood of the martyrs made the church grow even faster. And so, God was blessing the church in spite of his persecution.

Nathan Jones: And you can even go down to the years. I mean, if you look at Ephesus, the apostolic period was in 30-95 AD. Smyrna the persecuted church, and John was living through that, 95 through 312 A.D. Pergamon, the next one, they merged the state and religion Constantine did, and you ended up with the state church, if I say that correctly, and that’s 312 to 590 A.D.

Tim Moore: You know, and it’s always a corrupting influence for the church to get in bed with the state and allow the state to really imply all sorts of expectations and redefine doctrines, and that’s what happened in that period, clearly.

Dave Bowen: And when you say a period, you know, a church has a period, you are using dates there. Do you believe that these churches were in all periods or do you believe that each period is self contained?

Tim Moore: Oh, yeah, we do believe it’s in all periods. But we think that there’s a reflection even in history, that you can see this becoming a predominant theme for that period of time. So, after Pergamon from the apostate period of 312 to maybe 590, in Thyatira the Lord calls them out for their dark and pagan practices. They’re already adhering to Babylonian occultism. And we see that sadly in the church that would become known as the Catholic Church, bringing in a lot of occultic practices under the papacy, and that lasted virtually from 590 all the way to the Reformation in 1517 and thereafter. And these are approximate dates, but we’re just kind of giving a sense of the periods of time.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, by the time the Middle Ages was over and we’re entering the Reformation, the church was dead, and that’s what Sardis is called their faith is dead. And we can look to 1517 to 1750 where the church pretty much had become so bizarre, they’d taken Babylonian practices and gave them apostles names, and they were basically worshiping false gods underneath Christian names.

Tim Moore: And amongst the Catholics, they weren’t even allowed to own a Bible. They weren’t allowed to read the Word of God, only the priest under the authority of the pope could interpret, so they were only the ones that were allowed to have a Bible. That’s just foreign to me.

Nathan Jones: But out of death comes life, you get the Church of Philadelphia, it’s the only one that really gets a lot of praise, there’s no condemnation too. It was alive and vibrant about 1750 to 1900-1920 when the great missionary journeys were going out there. But then we get to the last church, right, which is our church age, and that’s the saddest one, right.

Dave Bowen: Laodicea.

Nathan Jones: It’s watered down. They’re apathetic. They think they’re rich spiritually, but they’re really poor. They’re a mile wide, an inch deep. And you just look at the state of the church today, it is Laodicea.

Dave Bowen: Do you think the transition from Philadelphia to Laodicea caused that? Because in that time frame the 1750 to 1900s is the First and Second Great Awakening. And the First Great Awakening, people understood what was the cost was to follow Jesus. But the Second Great Awakening was more emotional. You had you had to come to Christ so you wouldn’t go to Hell. And it became much more emotional. And that led us, I think, into becoming lukewarm.

Tim Moore: It is certainly a good reason that we can understand in hindsight. I think it’s interesting talking about Philadelphia being the church that’s alive and vibrant and the missionary zeal. So even great men like John and Charles Wesley, who had a vision for sharing the Word. I mean, they had Methodist circuit riders that went all over the United States while we were still in a colonial period and thereafter into the 1800s. And you could find Methodist churches in little towns all over the frontier. But then something happened, and now the very Methodist denomination that was so fervent about missions seems to have lost its way and is embracing this spirit of worldliness and in getting in bed with the modern age.

Dave Bowen: So, you wonder, how do you become lukewarm? I think you lose the foundation of faith, too, because the hymns, the songs, they had theology behind them. The prayers they were focused on Christ. You get into the lukewarmness the music does not have the theology behind it. The prayer becomes selfish. I mean, you see all these foundational aspects of the faith get watered down and you go from a great church of Philadelphia to the Laodicea church which is being spit out.

Nathan Jones: But no matter how bad these churches were, or how good these churches were, if you go back to chapter 1, verse 20, and because John sees Jesus holding these seven stars and like all the symbols in the Bible, the Bible gives you the answer to what the symbols are. And it tells you right here, “the mystery of the seven stars, what you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” So even though the churches have wandered, one’s dead, but it’s still in Jesus’ hands. The angels, which some interpret as pastors, I think there are actual angels, guardian angels over the churches, are still in the Lord’s hands. He still cares about them. So even though the church is lukewarm now, we are still the church.

Tim Moore: So you asked a question a few moments ago, Dave, about do we just think these are eras? No, we think that’s a means of interpreting and understanding how the reality, the principles that are outlined in these letters apply throughout history. So clearly, I think Jesus meant for these letters to go to those seven churches and those geographic locations, but the principles apply to churches throughout the Church Age.

Dave Bowen: Yes, I agree with that.

Tim Moore: There are churches today that harken to a church of Sardis or a church of Laodicea or a Church of Philadelphia. There are parts of the world that are under great persecution, and they would identify with one of these churches. But there is an element to where the age can almost be aligned with the description of these various churches. But I want to bring it even closer, at the end of every letter, the Lord says something akin to this, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” So, I think there’s a message for each of us personally. Not just is my church like the church in Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea and all the rest? Where do I stand? Am I lukewarm in my faith? Have I manifest a reputation for life, but really my faith is dead? Or am I so self-confident but worldly, apathetic and apostate that I really personally am closer to the Church of Laodicea? I think we need to personalize that some introspection of what would the Lord say to me?

Dave Bowen: Well, you brought up he who has ears let him hear. And one fascinating thing about Revelation is in order to understand this book, you’ve got to understand the rest of the book. You’ve got to understand the whole Old Testament and the rest of the book. If you hear, if you understand that you go back to Moses and being up on Mount Sinai, oh, no I’m sorry Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, he took all of Israel up there. He read the law to them Deuteronomy 28, and said, He who has ears let him hear. He said, “I lay before you life and death, blessings and cursings, choose life.” Joshua is the same thing. So when you hear the words, he who has ears let him hear, you go back to Moses and Joshua saying, this is God’s Word, if you obey it, you’ll be blessed.

Tim Moore: And you have a choice. Just like you have a choice, we can either accept Christ and He is our Blessed Hope or you can reject Christ and He is our Holy Terror. People say, “Well, I’ve never rejected Christ.” My response is, “Well, have you ever accepted Him? Have you put faith in Jesus Christ? Because John 3:36, says this is an either or proposition, “He who believes in the Son has eternal life, but he who does not obey the Son.” How do we obey the Son? By believing Him. Trusting Him. The person who has not believed in Him, trusted Him will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him. So let’s turn this back to a very hopeful note.

Dave Bowen: Sure.

Tim Moore: Those who have put their trust in Jesus Christ and who have ears to hear, and ask Spirit lead me to truth even about myself, so that I am not going to trend toward one of these churches that only gets condemnation or criticism. I want to be the church that gets commendation, but I also want to grasp all the promises given to overcomers.

Nathan Jones: And will we behave like that, when we reach out to the Lord, this is a Revelation 3:20 “Behold, I (Christ) stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to Him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Jesus is there waiting for us to respond to Him. He’s not distant. He’s not far. He doesn’t ignore us. He’s right there, we just have to reach out.

Tim Moore: We sure do.

Nathan Jones: He’s reaching.

Tim Moore: I think there’s two elements even to that passage you read, Nathan I think the Lord would knock on the door of the heart of every man, woman and child. But I think in this context of Laodicea, it’s sad to realize that Jesus is outside the door of that church asking to get back in, because they think they’re good but really Jesus is not even inside.

Nathan Jones: So that’s one of the problems. There’s quite a number of promises made to the churches. Maybe we can list them?

Tim Moore: Yes. So what are some of the promises?

Dave Bowen: Well to the overcomer you eat from the Tree of Life, the Scriptures tells us, you’re not hurt by the second death. The second death being spiritual death, spiritual separation. Right. You receive some hidden manna. You have a white stone with your new name. You’re going to get a new name. Yeah. You’re going to be speaking Hebrew.

Tim Moore: I’m already Saba, so that’s good

Dave Bowen: You are given authority over nations. You’re clothed in white garments. Your name is not erased from the Book of Life, but your name is in the Book of Life, if you’re an overcomer, which is so—

Tim Moore: So, we’re guaranteed we will live forever, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ. So we are secure forever. We have eternal security.

Dave Bowen: Amen.

Tim Moore: In our salvation.

Dave Bowen: As an overcomer, a believer in Jesus Christ.

Tim Moore: Amen.

Nathan Jones: And I like what it says an overcomer means that you abide in Christ, that is an overcomer. It’s not a works based salvation where He’s asking you to do this, that and the other thing or that you have to come in faith. He’s knocking on the door. The Holy Spirit is calling you. You respond and then you abide in Him and you never have to worry about eternal security.

Tim Moore: That sounds too easy, Nathan.

Nathan Jones: It does sound too easy, that’s why so many people shy away from it, well, there’s got to be more that I have to do.

Tim Moore: I think it almost sounds like really good news that I don’t have to work myself to death for the rest of my life to receive life, I just have to accept the finished work of Christ. That is good news. That’s the Gospel.

Nathan Jones: That is the Gospel. That’s Christ wants us to get saved. And really, the whole book of Revelation is a love letter to the churches, to the individuals.

Tim Moore: Alright, we cut Dave off because there’s a few more, Dave I want to get the rest.

Nathan Jones: Yeah, I’m sorry we got excited there.

Tim Moore: We’ve got to get to the rest of them.

Dave Bowen: Well, God’s name is written on you. The name of Jesus, His new name will be written on you. You have permission, you have permission to sit with Jesus on His throne. It’s overwhelming to even think about being an overcomer, on the blessings that you receive that He just pours out upon you.

Tim Moore: You skipped one that I’m going to reiterate because it’s so beautiful. Jesus will confess the name of the overcomer before His Father and the angels. Right now, you know, we’ve talked a lot lately in recent months and even recent weeks as we studied Daniel, about Satan, who is our accuser always trying to whisper in our ears.

Dave Bowen: The loser.

Tim Moore: There you go. And also accusing us before the Father.

Dave Bowen: Yes.

Tim Moore: I always envision Satan coming before the throne of God to speak accusations against me, against the two of you, and Jesus basically says, “Hold on just a minute, Father, they’re Mine. I know them and they belong to us.” David is an overcomer because he’s put faith in Me.

Dave Bowen: Yes.

Tim Moore: And Lord says, “Get thee away, Satan, I don’t need to hear your accusations. They have no validity regarding My child, Dave Bowen.” And so to me, that’s great assurance that I don’t have anybody else whose testimony is worth anything. But if Jesus is confessing my name before the Father, what other, what a glorious Savior, and what else do I need?

Dave Bowen: I don’t know how you can hear that and not be humbled. Because I know how undeserving I am of that to have Him confess my name, you know, how could He confess my name because I know my flaws, I know my weaknesses.

Nathan Jones: But it’s not us, that’s the amazing thing, it’s the work that the Holy Spirit did in us, the work of Jesus salvation on the cross. The only thing we did was respond to it in repentance and faith reach out to Jesus Christ. To be confessed before the Lord is saying, Father, look what the Holy Spirit and I have done through this servant.

Tim Moore: And you know what in chapter 3, verse 21, Jesus identifies with us in this regard. He declares His solidarity with those who have overcome. He says, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Boy, Jesus lumps us in with Him.

Conclusion

Tim Moore: We could spend seven weeks unwrapping these seven letters alone, but our purpose today is to offer you an overview of the message Jesus revealed to these seven churches and, by extension, to us still today.

Nathan Jones: Our episode about the seven churches of Revelation is available on our website and YouTube channel. It delves into each letter in great detail. We want to stress that Jesus’ revelation regarding the things which are still applies today, because we’re still living in the midst of the Church Age. If you are in a church or a nation that harkens to one of the churches described in chapter 2 and 3, we would encourage you to become an overcomer.

Dave Bowen: The most important way to be an overcomer is to place your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as your Savior. Believe that He is the Son of God and has the sole authority and power to rescue you from the wrath to come. By believing in Jesus Christ you are guaranteed the promises to overcomers that we discussed earlier today, and you can join the great number of people, Christians who are longing for Jesus to come again.

Tim Moore: The Church Age has lasted almost 2,000 years. Some have grown impatient and even scoff at Jesus’ promise to come for us and to come quickly. But even His apparent delay is a demonstration of His great patience and grace and His desire that none would perish but would come to repentance.

Nathan Jones: So if you do not yet know Jesus as Lord, do not delay another day or even an hour. Confess your sin, call out to Jesus for salvation today. He has said that the one who comes to Him, He will certainly not cast out.

Dave Bowen: Revelation has so much hope to offer those who belong to Christ. So, Tim, where do we go from here?

Tim Moore: All right, that’s a great question. Next week, we will begin our journey through the rest of Revelation, unpacking all the visions John saw regarding the Tribulation and the end times. You won’t want to miss Christ in Prophecy in the weeks to come. For now, we encourage you to heed the repeated words of Jesus Himself, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We pray that the Spirit has spoken to you today. Godspeed.

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