Tribulation to Triumph
Revelation 7:9-15
Bartimaeus was a family man. He had grown up in Pergamum, married his high school sweetheart, and they were raising their family just blocks from where he had grown up. Bartimaeus was an iron-worker, a man’s man, and all of the men in the Iron Workers Guild had a great respect for him. The Iron [...]
Sealed and Secure
Revelation 7:1-8
This is our sixteenth study in the book of Revelation and I hope that you are being encouraged as each week we take another step in seeking to understand God’s Word. I want us to remember the words of Dr. Bruce Waltke when he said that “Revelation has at least three applications: for those living [...]
Who Can Stand?
Revelation 6:1-17
Vernon Howell was born in 1959 in Houston, Texas. He was born to a 15 year old single mom and never knew his father. Vernon’s grandparents took care of him while he was growing up, but the kids at school mocked and made fun of him. You know Vernon as David Koresh, the leader of [...]
The Worship of The Little Lamb
Revelation 5:7-14
Worship. We are a nation of worshippers who live in a world full of worshippers. The Miriam-Webster Dictionary defines “worship” as “worthiness, respect, reverence paid to a divine being, an act of expressing such reverence, or extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem.” When you heard me mention the word [...]
The Worthiness of The Little Lamb
Revelation 5:1-7
Throughout human history the questions have been raised over and over again, “Is there any meaning to life? Why am I here? Does anybody care?” The questions have been framed in various ways. The questions have been asked by philosophers, plumbers, politicians, and preachers—people from every walk of life. There are different schools of thought [...]
The Reality Behind Our Anxiety
Revelation 4
It has been a few weeks since we last studied the Revelation of our Lord and Savior. As we get back into our study today let me lay a foundation for chapter 4 by reviewing what we discovered in chapters 2-3. In these two powerful chapters of Revelation we visited seven churches in Asia Minor. [...]
Lukewarm in Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-22
Recently I talked to a man I will call Mr. Luke Warm, for he was neither hot nor cold. He told me that he’s a Christian, but that he hardly ever attends church. He said, “I am under a great deal of stress and tension where I work so I go fishing on weekends for [...]
Jesus Sees Beyond Appearance
Revelation 3:1-6
This morning we are making another stop on our tour of the seven churches of Revelation. We’ve visited Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, and this week we will stop off in Sardis for another lesson from our Lord. The original city of Sardis was located about 35 miles southeast of Thyatira. The city sat on a [...]
The Tolerance of Thyatira
Revelation 2:18-29
Today we are arriving at the next stop on our tour of the churches addressed by our Lord and Savior in Revelation 2-3. Our last visit took us to Pergamum, but today we will nestle down in the flatlands of Thyatira and pray that we will have ears to hear what the Savior is saying [...]
The Curse of Least Resistance
Revelation 2:12-17
Toby was the new kid at school. He’d moved to town during the summer after his dad had taken a new job in another state. Being a sophomore in high school is tough enough without any extra baggage, but when you are the new kid in school and you don’t know anybody…well, times can be [...]
The Suffering Saints and the Savior
Revelation 2:8-11
This morning we will turn our attention to Jesus’ second letter—the letter to the church in Smyrna. Out of the seven letters that we will study only two of them, this letter to the church in Smyrna and the letter to the church in Philadelphia, hold no critique of the congregations. What’s interesting about these [...]
Have You Forsaken Your First Love?
Revelation 2:1-7
Oh, how I remember when faith was young and the passion for my Savior ran hot like molten lava down a mountainside affecting every area of my life. I remember sitting in my dorm room in college and reading the most exciting book I had ever read before. I couldn’t get enough. I wanted to [...]
When The Well Runs Dry
Revelation 2:1-6
More than twenty years ago a young man entered college. It wasn’t just any college—it was one of the most sterling examples of Christian education in the nation. Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois. The young man was deeply in love with God and he wanted his life to matter for the Kingdom of God. He [...]
The Voice, the Vision, and the Victory!
Revelation 1:9-20
Throughout history there have been times of incredible pressure placed upon the Church, God’s people. Persecution, pressure, and perilous times have been created by tyrants and enemies of God who sought to silence the work of God in the lives of His people. What do you do if you are living under the oppressive hand [...]
God’s King
Revelation 1:1-8
It had the feel of New York and yet there was nothing new about Ephesus. The city was founded 1200 years before the birth of Jesus. By the time the Apostle Paul made his way to Ephesus on his missionary journey, Ephesus was the fourth largest city in the world with a population of 250,000 [...]
The Unveiling
Introduction to the Revelation of Jesus Christ
The time has come! Let the unveiling begin! I wish it were that easy. I wish that we could open the book of Revelation this morning and over the next thirty minutes lay out, in a systematic fashion, all of the answers that prognosticators, end-times prophets, earnest seekers, and soothsayers have sought throughout the centuries. [...]
When The Well Runs Dry
Revelation 2:1-6
More than twenty years ago a young man entered college. It wasn’t just any college – it was one of the most sterling examples of Christian education in the nation, Wheaton College in Chicago, Illinois. The young man was deeply in love with God and he wanted his life to matter for the Kingdom of [...]