Revelation Session 1

Late in the 1st century the Apostle John penned a book that has fascinated countless millions of people for 2000 years. This is the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, the last book in the New Testament. And of all the books in the Bible it is possibly the most studied – and the most misunderstood, and the most feared for within its pages we are introduced to a man who is the satanic embodiment, the satanic incarnation of Evil. This man is called the Antichrist or the Beast. It is his mark, the Mark of the Beast, that many people, Christians and non-Christians alike, fixate upon and Hollywood has sensationalized in numerous movies and TV shows.

Churches have split over the interpretation of Revelation. Does it teach a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, a Mid-Tribulation Rapture, a Post-Tribulation Rapture? Is the Millennial (1000) year reign of Jesus Christ literally a 1000 years or is it just a figure of speech? Who are the 144000? Who are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Who are the Two Witnesses? Does Revelation tell the story of national Israel or is it the story of the Church – the Israel of God? And on and on and on.

We’re going to go through this book and I will answer those questions and more. That is I will answer those questions the best I can and tell you why I believe what I believe. Can you disagree with me and still be a “good” Christian? Of course. Churches may split over the Book of Revelation, but brothers and sisters in Christ never should.

The First Sin

The book of 3 John is a letter written to a church about 85 to 95 AD. It is only 15 verses long, but in those 15 verses the word “truth” or ‘true” is used 7 times. When a word is used that many times in such a short space it emphasizes the importance of that word to the writer and to the ones written to. Obviously, John thought truth was something this church needed to be reminded of. Why? Part of the reason is because there was a man in this church who had a problem with truth. He opposed the authority and teaching of John himself by slandering him. Also, he wouldn’t allow Christian missionaries that came to the church to preach the truth. This man’s name was Diotrephes and he was guilty of a very serious sin, but a very common sin, a sin that’s alive and well in the world today and even in some churches. What is this sin? It’s the First Sin. Listen along and discover just what this sin is.