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You have some very key moments when blessing is promised to God's people in the book of Revelation.
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This vision of the future should have motivated John's readers to be faithful to God, so that they'd obtain these wonderful blessings. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4). They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. For instance, Revelation 20:4 speaks of the blessing of reigning with Christ.Īnd listen to how Revelation 21:3-4 describes the final blessings believers will receive:Īnd I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. It taught them to read the visions with an eye toward the blessings Jesus will give his faithful followers when he returns. This encouragement was important because it oriented John's original audience to the visions that followed. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life (Revelation 2:9-10).įar from promising protection from all suffering, John said the church in Smyrna was "about to suffer." But at the same time, he assured them that if they remained faithful to Christ, Jesus would give them "the crown of life." Their suffering and possible death would only be temporary, but their blessings would last forever. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution for ten days. I know your afflictions and your poverty - yet you are rich! … Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Listen to the encouragement John relayed to the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:9-10: We'll explore both these types of messages, beginning with offers of blessing. And second, he conveyed threats of curses against all who were disloyal. First, John delivered offers of blessings for everyone that was loyal to Jesus. In line with his role as God's prophet, John's purpose was expressed in two complementary messages from Jesus to the churches of Asia Minor. Revelation guaranteed that Jesus was already in control of their glorious future, and that he would reward all his faithful followers. So, John wrote to assure the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and the rest of the world that Christ knew their suffering and would see them through it. But we can still summarize his central purposes in this way: John wrote the book of Revelation to encourage suffering Christians to remain faithful until Jesus returns.Īs we indicated in our first lesson in this series, John's persecuted readers were experiencing numerous temptations to compromise their faith.
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John's purpose for writing Revelation was almost as complex as the book itself, so we can't explore all its details in this lesson. Let's begin by looking at John's purpose. And finally we'll survey some common strategies for its modern application. Next, we'll explore the details of the book of Revelation itself. We'll begin our exploration of the structure and content of Revelation by looking briefly at John's purpose for writing.
THOM HARRISON VISIONS OF GLORY SERIES
This is the second lesson in our series on The Book of Revelation, and we have titled it "Structure and Content." In this lesson, we'll explore John's book by considering its literary composition and how its various parts fit together. And its message is most clear when we read the book as a whole, and see the big picture it's drawing for us.
THOM HARRISON VISIONS OF GLORY FULL
It's full of tiny prophecies that draw much of their meaning from the other prophecies around them.
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And the book of Revelation is a little like a tapestry. The beauty of the strands came to life when they were incorporated into the tapestry. My friend was captivated by the way these thin strands of fabric could be woven with thousands of similar strands to make the complex patterns of the tapestries. They had rooms full of people weaving carpets together. A friend of mine once told me about his visit to a tapestry shop outside of Cairo, Egypt.