Participants: Chris Holland
Series Code: IIWC
Program Code: IIWC201335
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00:11 >>Announcer: It has stood the test of time.
00:15 God's book, The Bible 00:18 Still relevant in today's complex world 00:24 It Is Written 00:26 Sharing messages of hope around the world! 00:39 >>Chris: I would like to begin today by asking a question. Have you ever 00:42 fried something before? Now, I am not talking about shallow pan frying 00:45 or a little saute oil in a pan. I am talking about deep frying. In my younger 00:52 years, I worked a many restuarants and even worked at McDonald's and 00:57 have done my fair share of deep-frying . Once, while working at another 01:01 restaurant that I was managing I was walking to the front, from the back 01:06 room and unbeknownst to me a worker was cleaning the fryer. He had placed the 01:13 hot oil in a #400 pan - you see you have to clean the oil while it is hot - 01:18 and that #400 pan was sitting on top of a 5 gallon bucket. As I came 01:24 around the corner, I did not see this fixture and knocked the pan off of the 01:31 bucket and onto my feet. I began to feel the heat of the oil penetrating my 01:39 shoe. The worker began throwing scoops of ice onto my feet, while I 01:45 hurriedly tried to get them off of my feet Thankfully, I did not burn 01:49 myself and only began to feel the power of the heat. 335 degrees - 123 01:59 degrees hotter than boiling water. However, did you know that oil will 02:06 boil? It's true. Olive - 375 F (191 C) Sesame - 420 F (216 C) Peanut - 440 F 02:17 (227 C) Corn - 475 F (246 C) Soybean - 495 F (257 C) Safflower - 510 F (266 02:28 C) In fact when heating an oil to these temperatures they reach their flash 02:34 point before boiling, this is when the oil begins to vaporize into the air and 02:41 becomes combustible and can be made to ignite momentarily in air. Even 02:45 more interesting is the fact that as oil reaches its boiling point, in many 02:51 cases it will reach its "fire point." This is the point where the oil will 02:57 ignite and the fire and flame are sustained. And although this is all a 03:08 little hard to grasp . what it means to have temperatures of this 03:10 magnitude. 03:13 The apostle John found himself facing conditions which at their outset 03:15 looked to be very grave. In the first century A.D. the practice of Emperor 03:19 worship was very common for Roman emperors to demand. A study of history 03:25 reveals that this was the case with the emperor of Rome at the time of the 03:30 writing of the book of Revelation. His name was Domitian and he demanded 03:36 worship. Many Christians died in their defiance of the emperor's command to 03:44 worship him - and those deaths were often executed in very gruesome and 03:48 heinous ways. There is not an eyewitness account of the event I am about to 03:54 describe, just simply a written record in Tertullian's book of 04:01 history. 04:04 Let's go back in time to the first century AD. All the other apostles of 04:10 Jesus had died except for the apostle John. I imagine in my own mind 04:15 that the apostle John was leading people to Christ, assisting the church to 04:20 grow by leaps and bounds, when a knock came on the door and then the door was 04:27 thrown open by the Roman soldiers. I can picture as they dragged John from his 04:32 Ephesus home to prison where he was condemned as a heretic unless he 04:38 submitted to sprinkling some salt on the altar in honor of emperor Domitian. 04:47 Of course he refused to blaspheme his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As 04:52 he waited in that lonely cell, I can only imagine the things that ran 04:58 through his mind. He was alone, all of the original apostles had been martyred 05:04 or died. Any feelings of loneliness I'm sure were short-lived as his faith 05:10 was strong. Then the guard came. The emperor may have been there in the crowds, 05:18 I don't know, but I imagine he came to see his kingdom finally rid itself 05:26 of the remnant of Christ's original 12. The crowds are cheering as John is 05:33 led to his fate - a huge black caldron. The wood was all around it, the 05:40 fire had been stoked as hot as it could. Inside the caldron was oil and it 05:47 was boiling. We don't know for sure, but I imagine that there was fire 05:56 spitting across the surface of the oil as its temperatures exceeded 400 06:00 degrees farenheit. He was led up onto some platform and given a last 06:07 opportunity to change his mind - but it would not be. Then in one fail swoop 06:15 he was cast into the pot of boiling oil and as the crowds cheered something 06:21 happened. The cheering began to quiet to a still silence as everyone gasped 06:30 in amazement. John just stood in the oil with it not affecting him. I don't 06:43 know, but I can imagine that it was just like the scene with Shadrach, 06:49 Meschach, and Abednego in the book of Daniel. One like the Son of Man 06:55 standing in his midst. Unscathed, not burnt - nothing. I can only 07:05 imagine that the fury of the emperor waxed hot. Who knows how they got John 07:15 out - he probably had to get himself out - he would have been to hot to touch. 07:23 As he exited that caldron, there is no doubt that all people knew that they 07:28 weren't dealing with just any man here. And so, knowing that they probably 07:35 wouldn't be able to kill him, he was banished, banished to the rock 07:40 mining island of Patmos. He would be condemned to die there as a physical 07:47 laborer, mining rock. Condemned as a criminal to die. 07:55 It is on that lonely island of Patmos that we will journey for the 07:59 coming weeks. Because it was while on that island, the apostle John was given 08:06 a vision and as the Bible says in Revelation 1:1-2, 08:39 Did you hear those words? The revelation of Jesus Christ. The word 08:44 Revelation is the Greek word, apokalupsis, which means the unveiling. When 08:53 you veil something it means that you are concealing something or 08:56 disguising it. To unveil means to disclose or reveal, to draw back the 09:02 curtain. To all my friends in the Christian world, who claim that Revelation 09:07 is a sealed book which cannot be understood, even the title disagrees with 09:13 that claim. This book is to be understood, it is an unveiling. But it is not 09:22 just any unveiling. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, given by God the 09:28 Father, passed on to Jesus, then given to an angel and then given to 09:34 John. 09:40 It serves then to ask, what is it that has been revealed? Right here in 09:46 verse one - what must shortly take place. Many of us already know this, 09:54 but the book of Revelation is a revealing, it reveals what soon must take place. 10:03 And so often we get so lost in all the talk of the churches, beasts, 10:07 trumpets, the seals, the thunders, and the plagues that we lose the whole 10:12 point of the book of Revelation and that is the revealing of what must 10:19 take place soon in the second coming of Christ Throughout the whole book 10:27 of Revelation the immenence of Christ's return is the theme. The 10:31 dominant theme of the book is that Jesus Christ wins and Satan loses. We must 10:38 never lose our focus when studying or reading about such matters. This book 10:44 clarifies the imminence of Christ's return and calls for people to prepare to 10:52 meet Him - we must never lose sight of this. And if there be any question, 10:57 John wants to further clarify the matter by stating in verse two, 11:10 Let us remember as we study this book that it is the word of God and the 11:16 testimony of Jesus. That is to say, these are God's words we are reading and 11:22 these words which we read and study are the testimony of Jesus as well 11:30 as about Jesus. 11:36 And then as we turn to continue to verse three, we get to heart of the 11:40 message today and preparation for our series the next six weeks, 12:00 There you heard it, Blessed. The word blessed is a word that literally 12:05 means joyful or happy. It is the same word used over and over again by Jesus in 12:12 the sermon on the mount.the beatitudes In fact Revelation 1:3 is the 12:20 first of seven blessings pronounced in the book of Revelation. These 12:28 blessings, which I will call the beatittudes of Revelation. The first of 12:35 seven beatitudes. In the book of Matthew in the sermon on the mount, Jesus 12:41 pronounced eight blessings or beatitudes and now here in the book of Revelation 12:46 he pronounces seven - fitting isn't it? Fits with the theme of seven 12:54 throughout Revelation, seven candlesticks, seven spirits, seven stars, 13:01 seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven 13:07 plagues. Seven blessings, or beatitudes. That number seven signifying 13:16 perfection or completeness. It leads me to conclude that if we are 13:22 to heed the counsel of these seven beatitudes of Revelation, then we might 13:28 find ourselves perfectly blessed. Again, Revelation 1:3, the first of the 13:36 seven beatitudes of Revelation 13:51 Three blessings are addressed in this passage, let's look at each of 13:57 them: First blessed is he who reads. We need to understand the historical 14:03 context here. John wrote the book of revelation as a letter. This letter 14:09 would have been sent to the churches. All those churches listed in 14:13 chapters two and three.: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, 14:19 Philadelphia, and Laodicea. When the letter arrived someone appointed 14:24 by the church would then read that letter publicly Undoubtedly this person 14:31 would be blessed personally by their public reading of the book of 14:35 Revelation. However, beyond that, Jesus would also anticipate a time for 14:40 believers to read this book. Just in reading it, there would be a joy, 14:45 happiness, a blessing that would be received. But more than reading, there 14:52 is a second blessing.Blessed are those who hear This word, hear, 15:00 in the Greek, is the the word akuow - literally it means intent listening. 15:09 This is not a mere casual backround type of noise, but rather an intent 15:14 opening of the mind. It means to listen with comprehension. The message 15:20 given John, by Jesus is that there will be joy and happiness for those that 15:26 read and listen with comprehension, the book of Revelation. But there is 15:34 one more blessing to keep in mind. And that is the third blessing of this 15:39 first beatitude of Revelation. Blessed are those who keep those 15:46 things which are written in it. What does it mean "to keep" The 15:52 Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and other Early Christian 15:56 Literature helps us understand the depth of this word. It is defined 16:01 as guarding, to retain custody of, the preserve, to observe, to obey and to 16:08 pay close attention to. 16:14 Not only is there a reading, not only a listening with 16:18 comprehension and understanding, but then a doing. Observing, obeying, 16:26 guarding and preserving. Friends it is not enough to read or hear, but we 16:33 need to act upon what we learn The verb, in the original, implies that 16:38 this obedience or observing is continual or habitual. James had these 16:45 words to say. In James 1:23-24, 17:08 There needs to be action in the Christian life. If we read, listen and say 17:15 one thing, but do another, we are hypocritical. As the text says it is like 17:23 looking in a mirror and then forgetting what you look like. The book of 17:27 Revelation is a call to God's people to be people of integrity. People who 17:34 speak and act the same way. That is a blessing. A blessing to the individual 17:43 and a blessing to the community around them. Why is it a blessing? The text 17:50 ends, .For the time is near The coming of Jesus Christ is near, and 17:59 blessing of someone who reads, hears and does is that they will be ready 18:10 for the return of Jesus. Friends, we don't have time to play games with 18:16 God. We must read, we must listen, but studying and understanding it. Then 18:28 most importantly, we must do and it. 18:38 The book of Revelation is the unveiling of the beautiful plan of 18:43 salvation of Jesus. The book of Revelation unveils the beautiful character of 18:49 Jesus. The book of Revelation unveils the end of the story, that God 18:55 wins and Satan loses. We need to read, listen and obey the Words of this 19:04 book. My favorite Christian author writes these words in the book 19:11 Education. 20:02 Friends, the first beatitude of Revelation, the first blessing of 20:06 Revelation is to be someone who reads, listens and practices what this 20:12 book says. Will you be such a person? Will you make a commitment to Jesus 20:20 today to be someone who reads, listens and obeys? If you're willing, He 20:26 promises you will be blessed. Friends, it is only by His grace, only by 20:31 His grace that we can do it. So let us by his grace be a people who read, 20:41 listen and do. 20:51 Time measured out my days 20:58 Life carried me along 21:05 In my soul I yearned to follow God 21:11 But knew I'd never be so strong 21:17 I looked hard at this world 21:23 To learn how heaven could be gained 21:30 Just to end where I began 21:34 Where human effort is all in vain 21:44 Were it not for grace, 21:50 I can tell you where I'd be: 21:57 Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 22:04 With my salvation up to me 22:10 And I know how that would go, 22:17 The battles I would face 22:23 Forever running, but losing the race 22:31 Were it not for grace 22:40 So here is all my praise 22:48 Expressed with all my heart 22:55 Offered to a Friend who took my place 23:02 And ran a course I could not start 23:08 And when He saw in full 23:13 Just how much His love would cost, 23:21 He still went the final mile between me and heaven 23:28 So I would not be lost 23:35 Were it not for grace, 23:42 I can tell you where I'd be: 23:48 Wandering down some pointless road to nowhere 23:55 With my salvation up to me 24:01 And I know how that would go, 24:09 The battles I would face 24:15 Forever running but losing the race 24:22 Were it not for grace 24:29 Forever running but losing the race 24:36 Were it not for grace 24:54 >>Chris: Let's pray. Oh Heavenly Father, we are so grateful that there are 24:58 these seven beatitudes of revelation. This first beatitude calls us to be a 25:05 people who reads, who listen, and who act upon what we have read and 25:13 listened to. We know that we can't do it on our own power. We know we can't do 25:17 it by our own strength. And so we ask that by your grace, you would give us 25:22 the strength. By your mercy, you would give us the strength to move 25:27 forward, to read, to listen, and act upon the words of this book of 25:34 Revelation. We want to receive the blessing you have in store for us, and 25:38 so in faith we move forward and commit ourselves to do it. We 25:41 thank you, Lord, that you sent this message. In Jesus' name, amen. 26:02 The book of Revelation is a book that many people make very complicated. But 26:06 the overarching message is very simple. Jesus wins, Satan loses, and those who 26:14 read, listen, and act upon His Word will be on the side of Jesus and will win 26:21 with Him. Today we want to offer to you a special set of Bible study lessons 26:27 called "Focus on Prophecy." Through the "Focus on Prophecy 26:32 lessons", you will be able to read, study, and understand the book of 26:36 Revelation. Here's the information that you need to receive those free 26:42 lessons. 27:33 Friends, there is a blessing in hearing and understanding God's Word. 27:39 There is joy and happiness in reading His Word and acting upon it. Sometimes 27:46 the book of Revelation can be challenging to understand. And at It Is 27:50 Written Canada we're committed to helping you understand the book of 27:53 Revelation and the entire Bible. I want to encourage you to go to our website, 27:57 itiswrittencanada.ca, and there you can find a number of resources to 28:02 help you in your understanding of the Scriptures and to walk 28:06 with Jesus. I'll also invite you to go to our Youtube channel, 28:11 youtube.com/iiwcanada and there you can find archives of our program. I 28:18 thank you so much for watching the program. I would ask that you join us 28:23 next week. Until then, remember, it is written: "Man shall not live by 28:28 bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God." 28:36 $$$$ |
Revised 2020-02-13