Category Archives: Revelation

05/02/2021 | “Sense of Urgency” | Revelation 9:1-21

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It is easy to read Revelation with satisfaction as the enemies of Christ receive justice from God’s hand.  But does the justice of God awaken our sorrow for the lost?   All mankind deserves God’s justice and will, indeed, receive it unless they find grace in Christ.  Does the horror of this thought ignite a sense of urgency?   Those you love, those you serve, those who serve you, who are not sealed through faith in Christ, will fall under these horrific judgements.   They will seek for death and not find it.  And when it comes, it will not be relief or release, but intensification of pain.    But the Lord Jesus has the keys to Death and Hades.  And he gives these gospel keys to his church.  

Do you have a sense of urgency regarding the lost?   Jesus came to seek and to save the lost.   As his people, is that not our purpose as well?   God has given us this word for comfort, but also to make us uncomfortable with the condition of the lost.  Join us this week as we examine Revelation 9 and reflect on our own sense of urgency.

“Sense of Urgency,” Revelation 9:1-21

04/25/2021 | “Acts of God” | Revelation 8

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There are things in our lives that just happen, and then there are acts of God.   Those are the things that confront us with the deep existential questions and keep us up at night.   Does God exist?  What kind of God is he?  What does he demand or expect of me?   Is he pleased or displeased with me?   Can I know the answers to any of these questions?  If so, how?

In Revelation 8, Jesus opens the final seal and reveals the contents of the scroll.   The judgements found there move from common experiences of men to remarkable acts of God.  They provoke deeper questions than, “how do I survive.”   Yet even in the dramatic judgements of Revelation 8, we see the grace of God shining through the terror of the first four trumpets.    Join us this week as we examine Revelation 8 and consider God’s gracious warning to us through his undeniable acts of judgement.

“Acts of God,” Revelation 8:1-13

04/18/2021 | “Unbreakable” | Revelation 7

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Revelation 6 is a disquieting read.   The world and everything in it is coming apart at the seams.   Conquest, wanton bloodshed, famine and social injustice, death, intolerance and persecution, and cosmic disintegration are all on the docket.   The worlds groans under the weight of the Fall.  In a dramatic scene, men flee from the wrath of the Lamb.  They would rather be crushed in caves than face God’s justice.   In hopelessness they cry out, “who can stand?” 

Though uttered in despair, this question is not without an answer.   The narrative of God’s unfolding judgement is paused by a remarkable picture of God’s grace.    Revelation 7 offers an interlude in the unfolding apocalypse.  And gives us a complementary vision of grace.  In wrath the Lord remembers mercy.   Those who have the seal of the Living God, they will stand.   Join us as we examine Revelation 7 and see how Jesus transforms the broken into the unbreakable. Listen to “Unbreakable,” from Revelation 7.

“Unbreakable,” Revelation 7

04/11/2021 | “Getting Noticed” | Revelation 6

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In Revelation 5, this Worthy One comes forward to take a scroll from the hand of God.  This scroll is the book of God’s eternal decrees – the unfolding of redemptive history.   As Jesus opens the sealed book in Revelation 6, a series of visions remind us that any apparent delays in God’s fulfillment of His redemptive plan for this world are just that – appearances.   God is at work.   Everything is unfolding just as He intended.   The unjust are getting justice.   The people of God have not been forsaken.   And God is winding down the old heavens and earth to make way for the new.   God sees.  He cares.  He acts.   And this is comfort when everything we see seems to say otherwise.

Join us this week as we examine Revelation 6 and find comfort in the reminder that, “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”

“Getting Noticed,” Revelation 6

03/28/2021 | “On Being Lukewarm” | Revelation 3:14-22

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The message to the Church in Laodicea in Revelation 3 is familiar.   “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.”

They were lukewarm, going through the motions, not getting too excited about Jesus, God, or the Bible.   No fanatics here.   No controversies either.  Nothing but moderation.   And their lukewarmness made Jesus sick to his stomach.   Sickened by their contentment with a “form of godliness” but with no pursuit of its power.

Are you content with your relationship to Christ?   Is just enough, good enough for you?   Are you hot?  Or cold?  Or lukewarm?   The Lord speaks a hard word.   He is “The Amen.”   He is the faithful and genuine witness.  He has a hard but faithful word for a soft and unfaithful church.   Will we hear it?  Or will we bow up or turn a deaf ear?   Join us this week as we consider Revelation 3:14-21 and consider the diagnosis and the remedy for lukewarm Christianity.

“On Being Lukewarm,” Revelation 3:14-22

03/21/2021 | “The Open Door” | Revelation 3:7-13

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The message to the Church in Philadelphia in Revelation 3 is remarkable.   Christ has no word of condemnation, only commendation for this church.   His message to them is filled with the imagery of the open door.  He is the Lord who holds the keys.  He is the one who opens doors which no one can close and closes those which no man can open.   Philadelphia was founded as a gateway city — not to defend the Greek cities to the west, but to evangelize peoples of the east with Greek life and culture.   And now the Lord has a more important gospel for the Philadelphian Christians to carry.    

Doors in the Bible often represent new opportunities for ministry, but they also represent the path from life to death and from loneliness into community.   All these things are part of Christ’s call come to and through the door he has opened.  Join us this week as we examine the message to the Church in Philadelphia from Revelation 3:7-12 and consider the call to follow Christ through the open door.   

“The Open Door,” Revelation 3:7-13

03/14/2021 | “Staying Awake” | Revelation 3:1-6

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How careful are we to be on guard in our spiritual life?   In Gethsemane, Jesus’ disciples could not stay awake.   How crushing it must have been to hear Jesus’ lament. ‘And he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. And he said to Peter, “So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”’ 

What about you?  Are you spiritually asleep?  Has the relative safety and comfort of being a Christian in our culture caused you to leave your life unguarded?  How easily does the enemy of your soul exploit the unguarded areas of your thoughts, your words, your actions, your loves, and your ambitions?   Jesus commanded to the Church is Sardis is to “stay awake,” remain watchful.   Are you struggling to stay awake in your spiritual life?   Join us this week as we examine Revelation 3:1-6 and consider the call to “wake up.”   

“Staying Awake,” Revelation 3:1-6

03/07/2021 | “The Third Mark” | Revelation 2:12-29

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The churches in Pergamum and Thyatira are highly praised.   At first glance they appeared solid and impregnable.   But as is often the case, the greatest threat to a church is not from the outside, but from within.   False teachers were promoting compromise with the gods of culture and commerce.   “Go along to get along” was their theme.   And the churches tolerated it.   Disguised as ‘seeker sensitivity’ and ‘cultural awareness,’ this false teaching continued unchallenged.   And the false teachers continued undisciplined.    

Failure to discipline is deadly.  Deadly to a church and deadly to its members.   We might think it more loving to avoid it.   But discipline is a mark of real love.  Jesus takes discipline seriously.   Do we?  Join us this week as we examine Revelation 2:12-29 and consider why the Church struggles to practice discipline but why we must.    

“The Third Mark,” Revelation 2:12-29

02/28/2021 | “Under Pressure” | Revelation 2:8-11

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Persecution comes in all different shapes, sizes, and intensities.  We do not get to pick out our cross.  We are only instructed to pick it up and carry it.   Paul wrote to Timothy, “all who live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  (2 Timothy 3:12)   Perhaps that is not what you signed up for when you gave your life to Christ.  But there it is.   We may seek compromise to avoid it — relief rather than peace.   But consider the words of Ralph Erskine.  “Some may bless themselves they were never assaulted by the devil and yet they are but sleeping, as it were, in the devil’s cradle and he is rocking them.”

What is your response to persecution?  To the intense pressure that comes with taking up a cross and following Christ?   Where will you seek rest?  In the promises of the Faithful one or the devil’s cradle?  Join us this week as we continue our survey Revelation as we examine the message to the Church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:8-11 and its encouragement to persevere in the face of extreme pressure.

“Under Pressure,” Revelation 2:8-11

02/21/2021 | “Falling Out of Love” | Revelation 2:1-7

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How do we measure our health as a church?  By growth in numbers?  By increased giving?  By broader ministry reach into our community?  By powerful, theologically rich teaching?   Or by proven, solid leadership?   All these things are important.   But without love – growing love for Christ and for one another, all these excellent attributes are, in the words of Paul, “a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”  Has the church abandoned its first love to pursue self-love?   Have you abandoned love for Christ and for one another in order to love and serve yourself?  

Join us this week as we continue our survey Revelation as we examine the first of the “Letters to the Seven Churches” in Revelation 2:1-7 and consider Jesus’ serious warning of the danger of abandoning the love we had at first.

“Do You Love Me?” Revelation 2:1-7