A Brief Introduction

Transcription

1 A Brief Introduction Human beings have an insatiable desire to know the future. Where are we going? What s round the corner? At its best, the human heart yearns for a golden age, a better world, some kind of paradise on earth. At its worst, people may be drawn into occult practices to discover their future, or enticed by utopian dreams that have spawned communist Gulags and doomsday cults. Unsurprisingly, the Bible has a great deal to say about the future. Challengingly, its future focus is simultaneously a demand to live differently in the present. However, when turning to any page of the Bible, it is vital to recognise the precise type of literature before us. Is it poetry or prose? Is it narrative or parable? Is it history or prophecy, etc? This especially applies when we turn to the Book of Revelation, or the Apocalypse, to use its Greek and sometimes familiar name. So, what is apocalyptic? Well, without your needing to enroll at Moorlands College (!), let it be briefly said it was a literary form that developed particularly when people were under extreme pressure, a sort of Tract for Hard Times. It flourished as an art form particularly between the second century BC and well into the New Testament period. Of course, there are apocalyptic features in the prophets, for example, Isaiah and Ezekiel 38-48, and chunks of Daniel especially. There are other apocalyptic passages in our New Testaments (for example, try Mark 13). However, Revelation is the fullest apocalyptic book in our Bibles, although it also contains both prophecies and epistles too! Without some knowledge of this apocalyptic background and its characteristics, we may spiritualise the literal and literalise the spiritual, and potentially 1

2 make nonsense of the Book (many have done so!). For example, try understanding Pilgrim s Progress as an historical biography of John Bunyan, or Star Wars as scientific fact! The modest aim, over these five mornings, will be to grasp at least the big story, with some detours into detail here and there along the way. Below, I have suggested a few helps in getting to grips with this magnificent book that closes off God s written revelation to the Church and the world. Welcome to this series of five studies in a book that simultaneously outlines the future and calls for radical commitment to the living God today. Welcome to Tomorrow s World Today! Dr. Steve Brady Bible Readings Monday 25 July The King and His Kingdom (1): Present and Secure THE LORD, HIS CHURCH, HIS THRONE REVELATION BEHOLD THE LORD Chapter A triple Blessing 1: A greeting and Doxology 1:4-8 Starting Out 1.3 An Amazing Lord Such Sympathy - Sovereignty - Security 1:9-20 Phil Moore, Straight to the Heart of Revelation, 60 Bite-Sized Insights Monarch John Richardson, Revelation Unwrapped, St Matthias Press Michael Wilcock, I saw Heaven Opened, Bible Speaks Today Series, IVP Steve Wilmhurst, The Final Word, Evangelical Press Going Further Craig Keener, Revelation, The NIV Application Commentary Series, Zondervan Robert Mounce, The Book of Revelation, New International Commentary, Eerdmans Aiming Higher Greg Beale, The Book of Revelation, [on the Greek Text!], Paternoster Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly [Good background], Casca 2. BEHOLD THE CHURCH Chapters 2 & What is Controversial 2.2 What is Clear 2.3 What is Challenging Somebody s knocking at your door 3. BEHOLD THE THRONE Chapters 4 & The Authority of the Throne 3.2 The Glory of God 3.3 The Security of the Redeemed 3.4 The Ministry of Angels 3.5 The Mystery of Existence 3.6 The Centrality of Worship 3.7 The Necessity of the Lamb 2 3

3 Tuesday 26 July The King and His Kingdom (2): Stirred but not Shaken SEVEN SEALS OPENED & SEVEN TRUMPETS SOUNDED REVELATION 6 11 Wednesday 27 July The King and His Kingdom (3): Mimicked but never Superseded BATTLE READY? REVELATION THE SEALS OF SUFFERING (SEALS 1-4) Chapter 6: FIERCE MAY BE THE CONFLICT Chapter The woman, the dragon and the child 12: THE SECURE REALM (SEAL 5) Chapter 6:9-11 The martyrs identity and locality 1.2 Heaven s counter-attack 12: Satanic opposition intensified 12: THE SHATTERED UNIVERSE (SEAL 6) Chapter 6: The parallel passage Matthew The parallel principle 4. THE SAVED COMMUNITY (INTERLUDE) Chapter The 144,000 7: The Great Multitude 7: STRONG MAY BE THE FOE Chapter 13 There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. C.S. LEWIS S FAMOUS DICTUM 2.1 Satanic perversion 2.2 Ungodly persecution 2.3 Divine preservation 5. THE SILENCE OF HEAVEN (SEAL 7) Chapter 8: BUT THE KING S OWN ARMY Chapter Division 14: THE SHATTERING TRUMPETS OF WARNING Chapters 8 & Pictures of Devastation (Trumpets 1-4) 6.2 Portraits of Destruction & Defiance (Trumpets 5-6) 3.2 Decision 14: Devotion 14: THE SAVING SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD Chapters 10 & The Angel with the Little Book NONE CAN OVERTHROW Chapter 15 They think it s all over! Bishop Joseph Butler and the Invincible Church 7.2 The Temple Measuring and the Two Witnesses 11: The Seventh Trumpet 11:15-19 Fierce may be the conflict, strong may be the foe, But the King s own army none can overthrow. FRANCES RIDLEY HAVERGAL ( ) 4 5

4 Thursday 28 July The King and His Kingdom (4): Opposed but Triumphant BOWLS, A SCARLET WOMAN, A CITY, & A HALELUJAH CHORUS REVELATION Friday 29 July The King and His Kingdom (5): Glorious and without End TOMORROW S WORLD REVELATION BOWLS OF WRATH Chapter Justice is Coming 1. THE MILLENNIAL KINGDOM Chapter Four facts that are demonstrable 1.2 Judgment is Coming: Armageddon The Mother of all Battles? 1.2 Five areas that are debatable 1.3 One truth that is declarable 1.3 Jesus is Coming 2. THE ETERNAL KINGDOM Chapters 21 & 22:6 2.1 A New World s Symphony 2. COUNTERFEIT RELIGION Chapters 17 & The Ugly Sister & Cinderella A New City s Harmony 2.3 A New Depth of Intimacy 2.2 A Tale of Two Cities: Babylon & Jerusalem THE HERE AND NOW KINGDOM Chapter 22: A Reliable Record 3. THE TRIUMPHANT GOD Chapter The Sovereign Purposes of God The Bible s Story Line 19: A Returning Lord 3.3 A Responsive Church 3.2 The Spotless Purity of the Redeemed 19: The Supreme Power of Christ His Names 19:11-16 Jo believed in a better world and she fought for it everyday of her life with an energy, and a zest for life that would exhaust most people. BRENDAN COX, ON THE DEATH OF HIS WIFE, JO COX, MP FOR BATLEY AND SPEN, 16 JUNE The Supper Parties to Attend and Avoid 19:9,10,17-21 All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story, which no-one on earth has read; which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before. C S LEWIS, THE LAST BATTLE 6 7

5 Seven Parallel Sections? The End