 Welcome back to our second lecture for BC 308 course on Revelation and Daniel. We have just started Revelation and we are in chapter 1. We're just reading through it little by little. So we just read Revelation chapter 1 verses 4 through 8 and what we are seeing. In verses 4 and 5, Revelation 1, 4 and 5 is the Godhead and each person of the Godhead is introduced in a certain way. Obviously it's not everything who they are but some things. God the Father, him who is, who was, who is to come, God the Spirit, seven spirits who are before his throne. We said here we cannot take number seven literally, it's figurative, representing completeness and perfection. So the Holy Spirit is a complete perfect Holy Spirit who is in the throne room. And then the eternal Word, he's introduced to us verse 5. He is Jesus Christ, the faithful witness that has reference to his life on earth on the earth. When the eternal Word walked on the earth, he was the faithful witness. That means he never compromised on who and what he spoke. He said only, I only speak what my Father speaks. I only do what I see my Father do, faithful witness. And he is the first born from the dead. First person to be raised from the dead, never to die again. Now we know other people were raised from the dead but they all died. They went back, they didn't live eternally after, I mean they died. But Jesus is the first born from the dead. Now we have to be a little careful about that term first born because it has been misused in the sense when it is first born, it should not be used to say the first person to be born again. There have been sermons preached that way. Jesus is the first born again man and all of that. No, no, no, no, no, no. Jesus never needed to be born again. He was always God, right? We need to be born again because we were in darkness, we are now brought to light. We did not have the life of God, we need the life of God. So we need human beings, we need to be born again. Jesus is God, deity who became man, he bore our sin. He became sin in that sense but he was God. And when he was raised from the dead, understand when it says first born from the dead in the sense that he was raised up from the dead, the first person to be raised up from the dead. He died representing us as a man, raised from the dead, not in the sense of him being born again or receiving eternal life, not in that sense, but is raised up, never to die again, paving the way for the rest of us to become sons and daughters of God. So we are sons and daughters who are adopted into God's family. The Lord Jesus was always part of the Godhead. He was not adopted in any sense. He was part of the Godhead. He walked on the earth as the son of God in submission to the Father. He was raised from the dead to live eternally, never to die again. So first born must not be misinterpreted as the first born again, man. No, no, no, don't do that. First born is just referring to the fact that he was the first person to be raised from the dead, never to die again, paving the way for the rest of us to be raised from the dead. Okay. Jafina, your question. Yeah, you can hear me. I also heard an interpretation like first born where it means like, he was the first person to be born out of the spirit, like by the Holy Spirit. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. Would that be a right interpretation in any sense? I just wanted to hear it. And it says first born, they say that he's the first one to be born out of the spirit because he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. That's what I believed until now. So I just wanted to know if that's right. Okay. So I would say we have to be a little careful with that. When the angel came and said to Mary, so Mary said, you know, how am I going to have a baby? Then Gabriel said, the power of the highest, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. The power of the highest will overshadow you. And that which is conceived in you, the Holy One will be the Son of God. So in what sense did Jesus be born by the Holy Spirit in the sense that it was the Holy Spirit who worked in Mary's womb, a physical body, who gave a physical body to this baby, the baby, Jesus. But this does not mean, it does not mean that Jesus was created at that time. Because who was this? This was the eternal Word taking on human form, human physical form. It's the eternal Word. So this Jesus always was there. And it does not mean that he was born of the Spirit in the same way that we are born of the Spirit. Two different things. He was born of the Spirit in the sense that the Holy Spirit was the womb of Mary to supernaturally conceive a baby and give that form to the eternal Word who was born there. He was not born of the Spirit in the same way we are born of the Spirit. When we are born again, or we are born of the Spirit, our Spirit is dead. It does not have the life and the nature of God. In fact, it has a sinful nature. Jesus never had a sinful nature. When we are born again, the nature of the devil is taken out of us. The sinful nature is taken out of us. And we are given the life and the nature of God. Now that never happened to Jesus because he never had a sinful nature. So when somebody is preaching and saying Jesus was born of the Spirit, understand it carefully that it only means the physical form was created by the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. But the Jesus we are talking to was eternal. He was God who became man. He left his powers of deity of omnipresence and omnipotence in heaven. He left the glory of the deity. He came as a man. He entered into that physical baby that was being formed in Mary's womb. That physical baby was supernatural by the power of the Holy Spirit. He came into that. But he was not born of the Spirit in the sense that we are born of the Spirit because we move from death to life, which was not the true. It was not true about Jesus. So I see John's comment. So where ever the term first born is used about Jesus, all that we just said right now applies, meaning it should be understood as him being the first person to be raised from the dead or the God who became a man who is lead. So we are referred to as his brethren. So in that sense we are born again, not he. He is the one who gives us this life. So where ever the term first born is used in reference to Jesus, it must be very clear. Everything I just said applies. He is not a born again man. He is God who became man, who rose from the dead to live eternally. We are the ones who are born again. So be careful because in the charismatic church, that Jesus being the born again man teaching came out, I think in the, I don't know, must be in the 80s or 90s or something. There was that whole teaching going on. It spread all over the world. But it's not right. This is God talking about God who became a man who was raised from the dead. And so that left a lot of confusion. So we should be careful. All right. So continuing on in verse 5, from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth. So the faithful witness talking about his earthly life, the first born from the dead, talking about his resurrection and who he is from there, and the ruler over the kings of the earth, who he is going to be. Right. So he is right now, king of kings, a lot of Lord seated and thrown about, but he is going to come and rule on the earth over all the kings and the kingdoms of the earth. Literally, right. And then he continues talking about this eternal word, this Jesus. It says he was five continuing. He loved, he has loved us. He's washed us from our sins and his own blood. He's made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory, dominion forever and ever. And then verse 7, Behold, he is coming with clouds and every eye will see him. Even they who pierced him and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him, even so, amen. So the book is beginning with the reference to the grand finale, which is in Revelation 19, when he comes as king, as Lord, and John says he comes riding on a white horse. So the book is beginning with that in mind, saying that's the grand finale that we are going to journey towards. And very interesting, this is actually a quote from Zechariah. So if you come with me, just keep your hand revelation, one will cross reference. So we go to Zechariah 12 and verse 10. Zechariah 12, verse 10. Zechariah's prophesy says, And I will pour on the house of David and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication. Then they will look on me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son and grieve for him as one who grieves for a firstborn. So very interesting because what this verse is telling us is, there is going to be a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Jewish people just before the Lord returns. Just notice it says, I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication. I will pour on them out the Holy Spirit. So when people say, Will the Holy Spirit be operating on the earth during the tribulation? Yeah, look at this here is one more reference. Just before the Lord returns, there is going to be a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the nation of Israel, on the Jewish people. God said, I will pour on the house of David on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication, the grace and prayer. Then, so after that outpouring, then they will see the one whom they have pierced. Just like what he said here, Revelation 1.7, behold, he's coming with clouds and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him, the Jewish people, they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn. So that phrase, they will look on me whom they have pierced. Zechariah 12.10 is referenced here in Revelation 1.7. They will see the one whom they have pierced. So you can imagine what's happening with the Jewish people. They're going to experience an outpouring of the Holy Spirit during the tribulation. They're going to have this awareness that, you know, we rejected the Messiah and this is the Messiah we're going to see. And they're going to see him come, the one whom they have pierced. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him, even so, amen. So the news, you know, the Lord's coming, the people, nations of the earth, the tribes of the earth, not just the Jewish people, the tribes of the people all across the earth, you know, those who have rejected Jesus, they are going to mourn. They have rejected him. It's too late now. So the Book of Revelation begins with that grand finale in mind. Verse 8, again, continuing more about this Jesus. He says, I am the Alpha and the Omega. The beginning and the end says the Lord. Who is, who was and who is to come the Almighty. Now, very interesting. The same phrase was used about God the Father. You know, in verse 4. From him who is, who was, is to come. The same phrase is being used for the eternal word Jesus Christ. I am Alpha, Omega. The beginning, the end. Who is, who was, who is to come the Almighty. Somebody said, Jesus never said he is God. Well, right here. Look, look, look, look, look, Revelation 1.8. Jesus is speaking. He is saying about himself. I am Alpha, Omega, beginning. And the one who is, who was, who is to come the Almighty. Did Jesus say he is God? Right here, one of the references. He called himself the Almighty. Who is the Almighty God? So keep in mind this thing. Keep this, keep this thought in mind. The Bible talks about the triune God, the Godhead. Every person of the Godhead is fully God. Many times in our minds we think, or we imply, we say it in those words, but we think Jesus is one third God. Holy Spirit is one third God. But no, no, no, no, no, no. Jesus is fully God. The Holy Spirit is fully God. God, the Father is fully God. All the God the Father is, and the Holy Spirit is, is fully expressed through the Son or the eternal Word. So every person of the Godhead fully embodies, fully expresses the Godhead. No person of the Godhead is partially God. No, no, no. Fully God. So God in three persons, every person of the Godhead is fully God. So that's why Jesus is saying, I'm Alpha, Omega, beginning, ending, who is, who was, or is to come the Almighty. Fully God. The other thing to keep in mind when he says I'm Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, what he's really telling us is that he is dwelling outside of time and God is in the eternal now. For God there is no past, present and future, because outside of time there is no past, present and future. There's only one eternal now. And outside of time, he's at the beginning and the ending at that same instant. So when he says I'm Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, we have a beginning and the ending, the Earth. But for God he is at the beginning and at the ending at the same moment. He's in the eternal now. That's why he's God. He's omnipresent in time and space. That means he's present everywhere in space. He's also present everywhere in time. At the beginning and at the ending, the ending for us is yet to come. He's already at the ending. He already sees the ending. It's already there for him. He's in the eternal now. So he's the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end. We are yet to go to the end, but he's already there at the end. He's at the ending because he's outside of time. He's the Almighty. So Jesus has introduced himself. Now John is seeing this Jesus. Let's read, please, the rest of chapter 1 verses 9 to 20 till the end. Maybe we can read 3 verses each. Revelation chapter 1 verses 9 to 20. John is seeing Jesus. Please, verses each, please. Hi John. Both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see right in the book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia to Ephesians, to Semenna, to Paragamos, to Thira, to Sergius, to Temetaphia and to Laodicea. Verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the son of man clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow and his eyes like a flame of fire. He had in his right hand seven stars sorry, his feet were like fine brass as if refined in a furnace and his voice as a sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength and when I saw him I fell 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. Verse 18. I am he who lives and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore a man and I have the keys of Hades and of death write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands and the seven stars the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. Amen. Thank you. So let's look at these verses. Verse 9. So now John is introducing himself so he has introduced God the Father, God the Spirit the eternal word, the Lord Jesus then now it's okay, I John. So I said John, now John is writing I'm your brother and I'm your companion in tribulation so John is saying hey I'm also going through all of this persecution, tribulation I'm part of the kingdom patience of Jesus Christ this endurance that we are demonstrating for the sake of Jesus Christ and he tells where he is I was on the island of Patmos because he was he was banished there for the sake of Jesus for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus remember we looked at that phrase the testimony of Jesus he was giving testimony to Jesus Verse 10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet so he sang on the Lord's day the Lord's day interesting the phrase the Lord's day in the New Testament times eventually came to mean the first day of the week the Lord's day because that was the day that Jesus rose from the dead so it became designated as the Lord's day so when we say the Lord's day it's giving reference to the fact that on the first day of the week the Lord Jesus was raised from the dead and from then on the early church began to gather together for worship and so on on the Lord's day John is saying on the Lord's day the first day of the week what happened to me I was caught up in the Spirit so this years being caught up in the Spirit is an act of God meaning it's not like I or you can press some buttons and we can you know just jump out of this physical body and get into the Spirit now we know that we can pray in the Spirit we can be more sensitive to the Holy Spirit all of that but this is not something we do at our will right it's something God causes just like what happened to Paul so if you just cross reference we'll come back to Revelation 1 but just cross reference 2 Corinthians chapter 12 Paul writes he says 2 Corinthians verse 12 and I'll just read those first 6 verses 2 Corinthians 12 verses sorry first 4 verses it is 2 Corinthians 12 verses 1 to 4 Paul writes it is doubtless not profitable for me to boast I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord I know a man in Christ who 14 years ago whether in the body I do not know or whether out of the body I do not know God knows such a one was caught up to the third heaven and I know such a man whether in the body or out of the body I do not know God knows how he was caught up into paradise and heard inexpressible words which is not lawful for a man to utter now Paul is talking about his own experience here but he's putting it in the third person trying to be a little humble he says I know a man I know such a person and in this experience he couldn't tell like was it in the body out of the body meaning it was so real to him it seemed like he was in the body it's like hey this is a real thing and yet it was a spiritual experience of course it's a vision and revelation a spiritual experience but it was so real he's saying whether in the body or out of the body I cannot tell it's like as though my whole being was taken up into heaven caught up there but we know that when you read it Ezekiel's experience as well the body is here in the spirit he's caught up into heaven and he's experiencing the spiritual realm he and God is giving him revelation or information in this manner so going back to Revelation chapter 1 verse 10 John says I was in the spirit so his body is here on earth but his inner person spirit and soul is taken into the spiritual realm and what we can see here is that in the spiritual realm there is sound there is also a sense of direction because he says I heard behind me sense of direction that means the sound is coming from behind so obviously there's a sense of direction there is forward backward so he says I heard behind me a loved voice sound so that means in the spirit world we are getting some insight about the spiritual world in the spiritual world there is communication happening sound there is a sense of direction behind me and then John is relating that experience to what he knows from the earth he says that sound is like the sound of a trumpet he knows trumpet from the earth like trumpet I heard the sound of a trumpet so what he's hearing in the spiritual realm what he can do is he can only relate it back to things on the earth so the sound it sounds like a trumpet but the point I want us to understand that is that in the spiritual world there is a sense of direction there is sound these are realities in the spiritual realm we can see now how does that sound travel now on the earth we know sound is transmitted it's travelling through the medium of this air the vibrations that happen so in the spiritual realm how does sound travel it doesn't need the medium of air or vibration I don't know how it travels but there is sound and it probably is travelling without a physical medium somehow that sound is being transmitted he's hearing this voice verse 11 and the Lord Jesus is introducing himself saying I am alpha an omega the first the last so there's the same Jesus who spoke all year and then he's giving John instruction what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia and he mentions the name of the seven churches now notice what he's saying what you see right in a book how is that going to be possible I don't know I'm imagining this that John is in the spirit he's caught up to the heavens he's the spirit is operating in the spiritual realm he's hearing and seeing but the Lord Jesus is saying John right so was he simultaneously writing or did he come back after this experience and then write we don't know but I'm making an assumption that because there is so much of information I don't know whether John had this whole experience then came down and he sat down for the next one week and wrote everything down I don't know or was it that while he's having a spiritual experience it happened at the same time somehow in his body he's sitting here sitting at his desk or wherever he would have been sitting in an ink pot and a feather pen and he's writing I don't know whether it's happening simultaneously or whether it happens you know afterwards we don't know but if it was happening simultaneously it's amazing that means his spirit and soul is encountering all this in the spiritual world and at that same instant through his physical body he's sitting here and he's writing and it's a laborious work it's not as quickly as you can type on with a computer and if you make mistakes you can just delete and all that no no writing on a scroll is a very laborious work so he probably had a scroll in front of him pen and I mean this ink pot and whatever and he's I don't know how he did it or if he wrote it later on it had to be a supernatural work because he had to remember everything he saw and all the words that were spoken he had to remember all of that supernaturally by the spirit and write everything down so we don't know exactly how it happened but either way it was a supernatural thing and but the Lord sees Jesus said what verse 11 what you see right in a book and then send it to the seven churches that means either that one scroll was stared among them most likely or he had to make seven copies which would have taken a lot of time and he would have sent it to each one of these churches in the map I think in the PDF there's a little map there which I will just share for us to just look at the location of these seven churches so here you can see it this is the Mediterranean Sea and this is the modern day west coast of Turkey and he's on the island of Patmos tiny little island here, Patmos he's banished there and here you see the seven churches Ephesians this is the place where Paul came and the Apostle Paul he established the church here and he actually spent about more than three years in his third missionary journey Paul was here in Ephesians and while he was in Ephesians he nurtured a lot of the younger leaders who became future leaders of the church it is very likely that for about a little over three years during his third missionary journey at Ephesians that these other churches were planted so he must have trained these leaders to send them here Smyrna, Pergamon, Taitara, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea all these other churches were planted remember during his first missionary journey Paul actually wanted to minister in Asia he actually wanted to go and preach here but the Holy Spirit said no and he had a vision sorry in a second missionary journey not the first one he wanted to minister here the Holy Spirit said no you go over the Mediterranean so he from the island from Troas he set sail over to the Mediterranean on the other side and then he went down this whole region on the side was Thessalonica down to Corinth and so on so in a second missionary journey he spent his time here and it was only during his third missionary journey the Holy Spirit allowed him to come to Ephesians and from Ephesians Asia was reached this part of Asia was reached the seven churches so they all pretty close to each other many of them must have were trained by the apostle Paul Paul's ministry definitely influenced all of these churches and before Paul Paul went to Rome sorry Paul was in Rome for about two years and he was released briefly he came and he appointed Timothy as the bishop of Ephesians so really Timothy was the leader in the church Ephesians and then Paul went on to Rome where he was beheaded around AD 68 now Revelation being written around AD 95 almost 30 years almost 30 years not entirely but almost 30 years after Paul has been beheaded so 30 years have gone so we don't know if Timothy is still the leader and Ephesians or Timothy by this time must have been quite elderly he may have handed over the leadership to somebody else so we don't know exactly whether Timothy is still the bishop here or the transition has happened some say that Timothy also was sent to jail for his faith and so on so we don't know but Paul definitely had a great influence in Ephesians Timothy was the bishop appointed by Paul but this is now almost 30 years after that so we are not very sure if Timothy is still the leader there or he has handed it off to somebody so going back to Revelation chapter 1 verse 11 the Lord Jesus said telling John John and send it to these seven churches now I see a question here John John's question is would there be any reason God is addressing these seven churches particularly there is no reason given here but this is just a personal opinion I feel that the apostle John was very elderly now must have had influence in this region so remember John the other apostles were all based in Jerusalem right so that's quite south far away from but John has been banished to Patmos and Patmos is close to these seven churches it's possible that and we don't know we don't have a record of this it's possible that the leaders from these seven churches would have in some way connected with John reached out to John or you know some connection which means that John the beloved apostle has some influence in these seven churches and so the Lord is telling him right to these churches so that's one again I'm just saying it's my there's no chapter and verse to prove what I'm saying I'm just trying to think because usually that's how God works he works through what he has given to us and he says okay you you write to these people these were churches that John had influence over through those leaders they would pay attention to what John says so the Lord is saying send the message to them that's one reason but also a second reason again there's no chapter and verse for this but I'm just thinking that it's one way of multiplying the message that what is given in the book of Revelation so don't just keep it to yourself get it out to the closest church a set of churches seven churches are really close you get it out to them multiply the message that there's no way that this book of Revelation is going to get lost you know it would have come to those churches could be possible that they would have either had their own copies or made their own copies of this episode from John that the message is multiplied it's preserved and it can be then passed on so these are two thoughts I have and we can't back it up either from history or from chapter and verse but this is what I think so verse 12 John remember this is all a spiritual experience like in the spirit he turns to see the voice that spoke with me so there's a sense of direction there is also perception just like the natural world John is operating in the spiritual he's turning to see where is this who's speaking I know this voice is coming from behind me who's speaking turns around and then he sees and it's very interesting what he sees having turned I saw seven golden lampstands so he's seeing seven lampstands now John is Jewish for him the lampstand represents what's inside the temple so lampstand what is it Old Testament in the holy place there's the lampstand there is a table of showbread there is the altar of incense and there is a lampstand three pieces inside the holy place there's the outer coat, the inner coat and the most holy place and the inner coat or the holy place there are three things there is the table of showbread there is the altar of incense and there is a lampstand The lamp stand is the only source of light inside the inner court or the holy place. That's because there's a thick curtain that used to separate the outer court from the inner court. So they had the lamp stand that was the only source of light and it was with that light the high priest would replace the showbread and he would trim the altar of incense with that light meaning the bread and the altar of incense had to be maintained with that light. Now he is seeing in heaven lamp stand. He's seeing seven lamp stands and what does each lamp stand represent? We see in verse 20 the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. So now the Lord Jesus is assigning a meaning for John lamp stand. It's something associated with the temple, the tabernacle and then the temple. Now the Lord Jesus saying John, I'm giving a new meaning to this. The lamp stand, each one of the seven lamp stands they are representing one of the seven churches, local Christian communities. Beautiful picture. So a local church is a lamp stand. So there is some correlation or some connection we can say, you know, lamp stand, the Old Testament, what purpose did it serve? It gave light in order for the bread and for the incense to be taken care of. Local church, what should it do? It should give light or revelation for the word of God and for prayer and worship that's, you know, represent by the altar of incense. The word of the local church brings that revelation, brings that illumination and it's a place that through which the word of God and the altar of incense, which is prayer and worship can take place. So for John, this has become very significant. The lamp stand used in the temple is being used to represent a local church. So there is meaning to all of that. Okay, let's pause here. We're shopping with verse 12. I'll try to go a little fast, otherwise we won't finish the book or revelation. But there's so much of meaning here, but we'll pick up speed next week. Could somebody please close and pray and then we will get ready for the next class. Heavenly Father, we praise you and thank you for these words that we are learning. And we pray to God that you would help us to understand better every week and help us to really fix this in our eyes of God and to have a grip of this beautiful prophetic books of God. We pray that you would minister to us as we go forward and help us to remember this all the days of our lives. We thank you in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Thank you everyone. I have a wonderful rest of the day. Bye now.