 All right, recording is on. Good morning, everybody, to the course, BC 308 on Revelation and Daniel. Good morning. Thank you for connecting. I'm sure the others will join us soon. Let's pray and get started. Could somebody please unmute your mic and pray with the class and then we will get started. Anybody, please? Dave, if your mic is, okay. David, just pray with us. Okay, Master. Heavenly Father, we thank You, Lord God. We thank You that You're so wonderful, Lord. And we thank You especially for today, Lord Jesus, that He overhead, you know, passes towards You. I pray that the Spirit, with the noise of our pastor, as he speaks, as he releases his word, Lord Jesus, let ease of this word touches one of us and give us the correct perspective towards You, the world and towards You, Lord Jesus, that He's one of us to build it and build it for Your kingdom of God. We thank You, Jesus. And those who are here to join Lord God, we ask Your favor to help them so early for classes. And so that He also can know that, write down the Lord Jesus. We thank You in the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we are in the book of Revelation. We just got this started last week. So we are still in Revelation chapter one. So if we could all turn there and our Bibles and, you know, we'll go through this verse by verse chapter by chapter through the book of Revelation and, you know, try to understand what the Lord has given to us through John, the beloved apostle. So we stopped last week at Revelation chapter one, verse 10. And so we're going to pick up from there. So John, he tells us, you know, this was the Lord's day. So obviously it was a Sunday and he was caught up in the spirit. So the Holy Spirit has taken him up, giving him this revelation of what is about to come. And it seems like, it seems like that John is up in the spirit in, you know, in the spirit he's seeing or he's going to see all of these things, which he's recorded for us. Yet at the same time, he's recording it on the earth, that means he's writing it down. Because, I mean, that's kind of the way I'm imagining it because for him to, you know, to write all this down at a later point may have been a challenge to remember everything or maybe God would have reminded him, I'm not sure. But the other possibility is that in the spirit he is going to see all of these things, always was going to reveal these things. And yet at the same time, physically, he's there on the island of Patmos and he's recording these things for us. He's writing it down as he is seeing these things in the spiritual world or in the spiritual vision. So we were talking about verse 10, the last Revelation chapter one, verse 10 last week, how in the spirit he was able to hear the sound. He was able to discern that this is a loud sound, that there's a volume also in the spirit. And so we are saying that, you know, somehow in the spirit or in the spirit there are all of these senses and perceptions that are taking place. It's teaching us, it's revealing to us something about how the spiritual world or what the spiritual world would look like. So let's pick up now in verse 11. And then so, yeah, could somebody read verse 11 please? Revelation one verse 11. Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And then we see what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches, which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Progamos, to Tha'athai, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laude here. So the voice to the here, which obviously is the voice of the Lord Jesus as we will see in the coming verses, is instructing John, you write what you're seeing. So that means he's seeing things in the spirit, he's writing it down. And then it's very specifically pointing out seven churches that he's supposed to send this to. So the Lord is going to speak to these seven churches. Now these seven churches are the places that I mentioned here where these seven churches were, were literal places. So these were seven literal churches present at that time. And John must have had some sort of a spiritual leadership oversight or influence in the seven churches and him being the last living apostle of Jesus Christ at that time. So let's pick up now, let's go verse 12 and 2 verse 19, verses 12 to 19. Can somebody read that passage for us, please? Then I turn to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned as a seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands one last son of man, with a garment down to the feet and heard it about the chest with a golden band. His head and they were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes like a film of fire. His feet were like fine brass as it refined in a furnace and his voice has a sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven starts out of his mouth when the sword to edge it stood and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him I felt at his feet as dead but he laid his right hand on me saying to me do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive for evermore. And I have the keys of Hades and of death writing the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. Thank you. So John has heard this voice. Now remember he's in the spirit or he's in the spiritual realm and he turns to see the voice that spoke to me. There's also the sense of direction. So he's turning around. It's like a voice that's coming from the back. So he turns around and he looks to see who's this one speaking. And then he sees seven golden lampstands. The first thing that catches is I are seven golden lampstands. Now keep in mind this is a prophetic message that's being given to John. And so in this message the lampstands represent something. So this is a vision that he's having. So the vision, the important thing, the vision is the message that's getting across through the images. So don't think that okay in heaven there are lampstands, physical lampstands but this is a message the Lord is giving through this scene, through this picture of the sequence of scenes or events that the Lord is communicating to John. And he's seeing seven lampstands. See like when you and I see a vision or we have a dream, we see pictures, we see things happening and through that the Lord communicates to us. Very much some lamp. He's seeing seven lampstands and he sees this lampstands represent something. A very interesting is the lampstand as we will see later on represents the seven churches. He will give us the meaning there in verse 20, you'll read that. We'll pick up on the meaning. But anyway, so he sees the seven lampstands and then he sees one like the son of man. A very interesting, the son of man. The son of man is a phrase that we have seen earlier in the book of Daniel, Daniel chapter 7. But when Daniel has a vision into heaven he sees the ancient of days that's God the Father and he sees the son of man coming and to the son of man, the nation so that everything was in the authority of the nations, the kingdom was handed over. And the Lord Jesus used that phrase the son of man for himself while he, during this earthly ministry. So in the Jewish mind they understood hey, this Jesus, this carpenter's son is using a phrase that's very sacred because it's representing part of the God head. But he was using it for himself. And here again, in John's writing he sees I'll see one like the son of man and then he begins to describe what I want to point out here is that this is a very human form like that he describes, right? He describes hand, feet, eyes, the mouth, hair, like also it's a human like. So does God have a form? Of course he does. It is like, like as John describes it's very human like meaning these characters, this, you know, hand, eyes, so on and so forth. And he's seeing one like the son of man. It is also interesting that what he sees in the son of man there's certain things that he describes are very intentional for he sees, he's clothed with a garment down to the feet where it's the teen chest with a golden band. So that means there is a golden band that goes around his chest. Now gold represents divinity. Something very pure and usually in the scriptures gold represents divinity. What is divine as absolute perfection? Then we see hair white like wool just symbolizing wisdom. So usually when you say somebody with white hair it's talking about, you know, their wisdom. He talks about eyes like verse 14 eyes like a flame of fire. So the eyes fire could represent, you know, both the sense of refining, purifying and also light coming forth. You know, eyes that are omniscient can see and know everything. Light is pervasive, it just floods everywhere. His feet like brass. Brass in the Bible represents judgment talking about how he has conquered all these enemies. Feet like brass. And his voice like the sound of many waters meaning his voice is so powerful. So when you stand before, you know, a sound of many waters either you can either picture a massive waterfall or the waves of the sea rolling in many waters. Abundant waters. It's symbolizing power, greatness. And in his right hand he has seven stars. I mean, this is the picture he's saying, seven stars, right? He will tell us what those seven stars are and out of his mouth goes a two-edged sword. So the two-edged sword, as we would see many times especially in these first few chapters he repeats out of his mouth goes to a two-edged sword. Then in Revelation 19 he says a two-edged sword, which is the word of God. That means it's symbolizing to us that his words are powerful. His words are his weapon that could use the word kill or destroy his enemies. And we see that in Revelation 19 out of his mouth goes a two-edged sword which destroys his enemies. And his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength and it's just brilliant, radiant, powerful. So he's using these pictures to describe it. And there is definitely some intentionality behind it. It's not just by random or by accident. His hair is white like wool. He's got a golden band around his chest or he's got feet like brass. There's intentionality in it. And God is communicating something to us even through those little details now that have been that are revealed to John. And verse 17, John, you know, he says, when I saw him I felt that his feet as dead. Now, John is here physically on the island of Patmos. He's trying to write on his writing. In the spirit, he's having this vision. So it's most likely that in the spirit he's flat. He's prostrate before the Son of Man. And he's recording these things. You know, I layer his feet as dead. Now, it could be, I don't know if this whole thing was also affecting him in the physical and very often it does. We know in Daniel's case, physically he couldn't do anything. So whether him lying at his feet as dead was his experience in the spiritual realm while he was writing here or physically here and also, he would have just fallen flat on his face, possible. In Daniel's case, that was the case. He was physically flat. So he says, and then the Lord laid his hand on me and strengthened me, raised me up. You know, and he's saying, look, this is who I am. He introduces himself. And it's clearly Jesus Christ. So I'm the first and the last. I was alive. I was dead. I'm alive forevermore. And I've had the keys of Hades and death. I have conquered hell and death, the grave. So Jesus said, I've conquered him. You know, he went down to Hades. He conquered Hades. He took paradise with him and he ascended into heaven. And he's conquered hell and the grave. He's a triumphant king. And then in verse 19 is the instruction. I want you to write these things down. What you have seen, that means just what we read right now, what you have seen, write it down. And the things which are, that is chapters two and three, and things which will take place, that is chapter four on. So we, as I mentioned last week, we break the, or we divide the book of Revelation, according to verse 19, things that are, things you have seen, that is chapter one, things that are chapters two and three, and things that are two come, which is chapter four onwards. Now in verse 20, the reason I didn't read verse 20 yet is, now the Lord Himself gives an explanation about the candlesticks, the seven candlesticks, and the seven stars that John is seeing in his vision. So the Lord Himself is explaining. And you know, usually when we have dreams and we have visions, the Lord gives us the meaning. You know, you see some things in your vision and you see some things in your dream and there will be these images and so on. And you will receive meaning. Okay, this is what that represents. This is what that represents. So in this case, the Lord Himself is telling John, you know the seven candlesticks that you are seeing? This is what it represents. And he saw seven stars in my hand. This is what it represents. So the Lord is giving John the interpretation or the meaning of those images, as prophetic images. So let's read verse 20, please. Could somebody read it? Revelation 1 verse 20. So it says here, the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. So he says, this is a mystery. The word mystery is simply an unveiling. So he says, this is the unveiling. This is the meaning of the seven stars in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands. That's what it means. What does it mean? The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. One of the Lord is giving John the meaning. The seven stars, he says, represent the angel of the seven churches. That means one star for every church. They're representing the angel of each church. Now, like we said, when we began last class, the word angel is the Greek word angelos, which just means messenger. Now, he's talking about a messenger of each church that he's holding in his hand. Now, we have only one of two options. The word messenger could represent an angel or it could represent a human messenger. Now, we can infer right away from what is going to be spoken in chapters two and three that here the angel represents the human messenger, not the angelic being. Why? Because he is giving instruction to the human messenger to do something about what is going on in that particular church. So obviously angels are not in charge of local churches, but human leaders, spiritual leaders, are in charge, are responsible for what is happening in the local church. And the Lord is going to be speaking to each one of them, giving them instruction, telling them what they need to do about their local church. So, very clearly, in this case, in Revelation 1 verse 20, the angel or the messenger of the church represents the human messenger. So, each star represents the person, the human person, who is responsible for that local church. And then he says the seven lampstands represent the seven churches. That means each church is represented by a lampstand. Now, think about some things with me. At that time, there were hundreds of churches, not just seven. There were hundreds of spiritual leaders who were taking care of all the churches. You know, they're talking about 8095, so the Gospel had been preached all across that region. And so there were hundreds of churches. But he's saying there are only seven lampstands and seven stars. So does that mean he has, he doesn't hold the other stars in his hand? Or does he mean that the other churches are not represented by lampstands in his presence? No. So, what we can say is, this is just a representation. That means the clear message is that every spiritual leader of all the churches are in his hand. He protects them, he holds them, but he also holds them accountable. And the message is that the Lord is overseeing every lampstand. That means every local church. Every local church. He's overseeing. He's watching over every local church. So if you translate that to today, our day and time, what we can say is the leader, the spiritual leader of every local church is in the hands of the Lord. He's a star. He's represented by the star in the hands of the Lord. The Lord is protecting them, but he's also holding them responsible. And every church, every local church is in his presence. He's overseeing. He's watching over every local church. That's what we can say. And it's very interesting that this picture of a lampstand is used to represent a local church. So now the lampstand in the Bible, you find it way back in the Old Testament as part of the tabernacle. You know, so it was a lamp that had seven limbs and at the top of the seven limbs were the receptacles that held oil in it and the wick was lighted and there was fire. And the lampstand was placed in the tabernacle, in the middle compartment, the holy place, where there was the table of showbread and there was the incense, the altar of incense. The altar of incense had to be kept burning incense, which in sense, of course, typifies the prayers of the prayers of God's people, the sacrifice of praise and worship. The bread, of course, represents the word of God. And in that place, because there was no other source of light, because you're inside, you're in the middle compartment, it's cut off, no light coming in. It's inside the tent. So the candlestick was the only thing that provided the light for the priest when he came in to the middle compartment, the holy place, to replace the bread and to trim and to refurnish or refurbish the incense to keep that burning so that the lampstand was the only source of light over there. And this lampstand is then used as an image now in the New Testament of the local church, which is very interesting. And there is, like we said, it's intentional that God would pick something like this to represent the local church, meaning, what can we say? The lampstand is what gives light with what the local church is, what should bring illumination into the lives of people and enable them to partake of the word of God and to partake in incense, in worship, in prayer and so on. So the lampstand is a light. And Jesus did tell us, He said, you are the salt of the earth, you are the light of the world. So it's very interesting, just the lampstand being used to represent the local church. So now we go into chapter 2, where the Lord is giving a message to the angel, to the human messenger of each church. It's like He's doing an assessment and He's giving feedback. He's telling you, this is what I'm seeing in your church. This is what's going on in your church, and this is what you need to do. So He's telling the human messenger, meaning, He's holding the human messenger responsible for what is happening in that particular church. So the first church He speaks to, in Revelation chapter 2 verses 1 through 7, is the church in Ephesians. Now, like we said earlier, this is the seaport. It's a town right on the coast. And it's like the mother church, because in the early missionary days, the apostle Paul came on two visits. And when he came in Acts 19, he spent three years or more in Ephesians and he had trained leaders here. And from there, other churches were also planted. So this is, right at this point, leaders have changed and history tells us, not to forget the name of the bishop here, but it might have been Bishop Paul Incarp, a well-known bishop of the early days, who's in charge. After Paul, Timothy was put in charge. And he's off the scene now. Somebody else is in charge. And the Lord is giving feedback to this person. So Revelation 2, 1, 2, 7, somebody can read it. To the angels of the church of Ephesians. Right. This thing says, he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lamestons. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tasted those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars. And you have preserved and have patience and have labored for my name's sake and have not become worried. Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Niko which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give to it from the tree of life which is in the midst of the Parades of God. Thank you. Thank you. All right. So the first message is to the church in Ephesians. Now, again, I just want to repeat something we've already said earlier. These were seven churches that existed at that time. So that's one reason why I don't believe, I don't subscribe to personally to taking these seven churches as representing seven church ages or seven periods of the church age and breaking it down like that. I don't subscribe to, there are some people who do that that's their choice because he's speaking to seven literal churches that were there in those days. But there definitely is a lot of learning we can take away from what the Lord speaks to each one of those seven churches. So every message applies, is relevant to us. It's a learning for us. So now, if you want to summarize what the Lord is speaking, Revelation 2.1, just we see something very interesting. He's holding the seven stars in his hand. That means he's holding the leaders of these seven churches in his hand. And notice he says he's walking in the midst of the seven golden lamps. That means the Lord is moving among his churches. He is seeing, he's observing, he's assessing what's going on. Now, he's doing the same thing today. So all over the world there are thousands of churches, probably hundreds of thousands of churches. We don't know all over the world. And the Lord is moving among the churches. He's observing. His eyes are like fire, testing, examining and penetrating into what is happening in every church. And as I read this thing over and over again, it's just a God. I want to be faithful. I want to be right in your eyes. What are you saying about the local church you've given me responsibility over? And so it's a real awesome responsibility to think that you are there, responsible local church, and the Lord above says, look, I got you in my right hand, but I'm also seeing what's going on there. So the church, and it feels just, we find that this was a very diligent church. So I just pick four Ds, four D words to describe the church in official, a very diligent church. He's there working, very fervent, serving the Lord. They're also a very discerning church because they test people who come to them and say, look, I'm an apostle and they test them and they discern, they find out these false apostles and they're very discerning, you know. Thirdly, they're a very determined church because they have not become very, for the name of the Lord. So they have pushed, this is verse three, they've persevered, they're depressing, they're very determined. But sad in the process of being very diligent and very discerning and being very determined and just being so involved with all of that, somehow they have departed. So that's the fourth D. They have departed from their first love. It's not that they have forsaken their first love, but they have departed. That means the position God wanted them to be at, they are not at. He wanted, he desires for all of us to be first and foremost positioned before him, focused on him. But they've slowly shifted away from that position. I mean, they haven't forsaken the Lord completely. No, they're actually serving the Lord. They're very diligent in their service. They're very discerning about who they, you know, allowed to come in and minister and so on and so forth. And they're also very determined in their commitment to the Lord. So they haven't forsaken the Lord, but they have departed, slightly gone off. Meaning their heart is not where it should be in loving God. So how we just love the Lord with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, all our strength, but we've gone away from it. So now maybe, and I'm saying maybe because it doesn't tell us here, but maybe their love and their affections and are, you know, in other things, maybe the works they're doing, the ministry they're doing. So he says you have left your first love. And so verse five, it's very serious. He says, remember from there you have fallen. So you're supposed to be here before me, but you've fallen. I mean, you've gone down. It's a downgrade or a degrade. You've fallen from that place, right? And so now what you need to do to get back, you need to repent, you need to say, God, I'm sorry, repentance is a change in your thinking and a return, a change in your thinking and a return to the Lord. So you need to change your thinking. That means begin to say, you know, I need to focus on God. I need to focus on him. The work is important, discerning or all that's important, but I need to focus on the Lord. So you need to repent and you need to do the first works, do the first works, which would be the works of, you know, I mean, the works that focus on the Lord, listening to him, worshiping him, praying. Those are the first works. So do the first works, which are an expression of your first love. So what are the first works? The first works are an expression of your first love, because that's what he's, that's the problem. You've departed from your first love, you've left your first love. So get back to your first love. So therefore the first works will be works that express your first love, your love towards God. And he says, if you don't do that, I will remove your candlestick from my presence. That means you will be a church that no longer has a place in my presence. Now that's a very solemn warning. And it's also a very sad place to be. That means the church may continue operationally, physically, here on earth, but spiritually it has no connection with the head of the church, because it is no longer engaging in first love and first works. So that's something we should focus on. Make sure that we as leaders maintain our first love and first works while we go about our ministry. And also make sure that the people in the church, as much as they are involved in daily life, and as much as they're involved in daily ministry, I mean the ministries, which is good. He's not saying don't do that. But as much as we go to all this, we need to keep our first love and first works in place. And as the Lord, you are my first love. And I do my first works, which is to listen to you and pray, worship you. So as the messenger, as leaders, that's what we should be doing. And then he commenced them also in verse 6. He says, you hate verse 6. You hate the deeds of the Nicoletians, which I also hate. Now, you know, when I looked up different commentaries, it seems to me that it's not very clear who this particular group was, the Nicoletians. And so there are, you know, different ideas on who the Nicoletians could be. So obviously there's some sort of a group, possibly a cult or a sect of people whom the Lord did not approve of, because he says, I hate their deeds. And their name comes up again later on in another church as well. So one interpretation or one part who the Nicoletians were is derived from the name itself, Nicoletians. The word Nicol means conquer or rule over, leitians, meaning the leity. So one interpretation, one explanation by the Nicoletians was this was a particular group of people where the leaders were so much in control, they suppressed and ruled over the leity. If that's true, and I don't know if it's true, but if that is true, then that's a clear indication that the Lord does not like that. He does not like leadership that suppresses, dominates the leity. Another thought about the Nicoletians was that this was a group that was involved in immorality, a lot of immorality and so on. Again, we don't know on what basis that is made, but that's one thought. And there's a third idea that this could have been a group of people who were followers of a man named Nicholas. That's what they call Nicoletians. Again, there's not much information on that. So we're not very sure what this particular sect was. Maybe it was a certain small sect that operated in a few places, and so there isn't much information about them. But just in case the first idea is true, that is this was a group where the leaders of a spiritual sect that dominated the people, then that's a strict warning that God doesn't like that. So we can't say too much in certain about the Nicoletians. Other than the Lord is commending the Ephesian believers saying, look, you discerned them, you found out what was wrong with them, and you kept them out. You didn't let that idea and that group, that sect of people infiltrate and spoil the church. Unlike the church in Pergamus, which we will be reading a little later, the church in Pergamus sadly permitted the Nicoletians to infiltrate their church, and therefore the Lord was really upset because they began to subscribe to the doctrine and the practices of the Nicoletians will read about that in Revelation 2.15, and he was really, he had to rebuke the church in Pergamus. But unlike the church in Pergamus, the church in Ephesians kept these people out. We did not let them come in and bring their doctrine teaching into the church. They were a very discerning church, the church in Ephesians, so he commenced them for it. And lastly, in verse 7, what we will see is that to each one of the seven churches, the Lord promises a reward for the overcomer. And what is interesting is each one of these rewards that are promised to the overcomer is a future reward. It's not something that would take place right then and there. It's a future reward. He says to him who overcomes in verse 7, you will eat the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. So he's talking about being able to partake of the tree of life in the paradise of God. So it's something that's in the future, right? And therefore it seems to imply that this promise to the overcomer is not just for those believers at that time, but it's for all believers of all time because the reward to the overcomer is way out in the future. So we could read each one of those seven rewards to the overcomer. I mean, the seven statements made to the overcomer and say that's also for us today. It's not just for that particular local church. It's for us today that if we as overcomers, I mean, live the overcoming life, this is the reward he has promised us. And the first one is the leader of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. The tree of life in Revelation 22, we see that it represents the healing of the nations and just this longevity, health and wholeness, or you could say immortality, immortal life for the people. That means you're going to partake of wholesome, immortal life in the paradise of God. And again, very interesting. When Jesus was crucified, he told the thief, today you will be with me in paradise. Where did he go? He descended into the lower parts of the earth. So at that time, Paradise or otherwise Abraham, otherwise known as Abraham's bosom, was down in the lower parts of the earth, a separate compartment in hell where the Old Testament saints were preserved. But after Christ's death and resurrection, paradise was taken up into heaven. And that's when Revelation 2 and verse 7, he says, paradise is up in heaven. You will partake of the tree of life in the midst of the paradise of God. Revelation 2 verse 7. Will there be so far any questions? Okay. So we're going to take a break now. We will go for a 10 minute break and we will connect back to 10. Okay. Thank you.