The Book of Revelation

Revelation 12 describes God’s eternal victory over evil and reminds us that we are to live in His victory.

Pastor Greg explores different historical views of the two witnesses described in Revelation 11.

As witnesses in the Kingdom of God, our testimony is to be a fire that challenges evil and leads others to repentance.

As followers of Christ, we are citizens of Heaven. That is our primary citizenship. All other earthly citizenships are secondary.

Revelation 10:1-11 reminds us that God is omnipotent, sovereign, and faithful. He is God over all chaos and all stability. We are encouraged to hear, obey, and experience His voice.

Revelation 8 and 9 contrasts the Kingdom of Heaven with the kingdom of darkness as the six trumpets are blown by the angels. As evil is allowed to inflict the earth, the text reminds us of God’s promise to protect those who are in Him.

In Revelation 8:1-5, when the seventh seal is broken, we learn that the central focus of the heavenly throne room is the prayers of God’s people. We are all intercessors whose prayers are collected in Heaven and used to create a response from Heaven to earth.

Revelation 7 describes a process more than a chronology. From the language of the text, we learn that we can draw strength from God through worship and intimate community with others. We will go through difficulty, but God promises He will go through it with us. 

Revelation 7:9-17 reminds us that the Lamb came to save all of humanity. Jesus wants us to be counted in the limitless crowd worshipping the Throne. There is hope and encouragement in the power of grace, which remedies the problem of sin and chaos.

By studying the seal of righteousness and the various number patterns in Revelation 7:1-17, we understand its significance for the original Jewish audience and believers today. Chapter 7 is a picture of God’s covenantal faithfulness to His beloved and holy people.

In Revelation 6:1-11, we see that the six seals represent various forms of divine judgment linked to human actions, specifically false worship and idolatry. As the people of God, we must adopt the worship culture of Heaven and make sure Jesus is the only one receiving our attention and praise.

When we avoid God’s plans out of fear and choose our own paths instead, we miss out on His promises for our lives. Revelation 4:1 invites us to let go of our own answers, desires, and beliefs and trust God.

Revelation 6 and 7 are about God’s judgment and the response of humanity to chaos and suffering. As believers who have placed their identity in Jesus, we can stand victorious before the throne in the face of tribulation.

Revelation 5:1-14 shows us that Jesus is the perfect and complete solution for the plague of sin. On this side of the cross we have the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. We also see that Biblical worship has the power to affect both Heaven and Earth.

In Chapter 6 of Revelation, we see the significance of the first six seals, God’s judgment, the four horsemen, and the suffering of believers. We learn we must stop fixating on a world under judgment and fix our eyes on Him through lives of worship and obediance.

The Book of Revelation tells how the prayers of saints are collected in Heaven and trigger supernatural activity on Earth. The church plays a crucial role in ushering in God’s authority, so we must respond to the chaos around us with prayer and intercession.

Satan utilizes spiritual entities to control and corrupt the physical world. For example, politics and the government often become places where he does the most damage.

How does it look like to behold the Lord daily, and how does it benefit us? Our daily encounters will lead to a new worship experience.

True worship has a direct object. We can’t participate in it until we completely surrender. It’s a choice. It’s yielding to the Holy Spirit. If Jesus isn’t the focus, if His character isn’t elevated, if He isn’t worshipped and adored, it isn’t true worship.

What does true worship look like? It’s stepping into heaven by setting our minds on the things above. True worship is far more about our mental choices than our emotional conditions. True worship is focused on Jesus.

Worship includes three significant lenses: Giving thanks to God for what He did and what He will do, praising Him for who He is, and beholding Him with affection and amazement.

Pastor Dustin expounds upon his previous teaching of Revelation 4:11

Our Heavenly perspective can be deadened by our sin and narrowed by improper focus. To access Heaven, we must get to know the Father through His Son, Jesus.

The Lord is obvious: He stands at our heart door and knocks. Are you willing to open your heart to let Him in?

Jesus is the one who opens and closes doors. We are on a journey where our faith is being refined, tested, and pushed to grow.

Jesus is saying to the believers in Philadelphia that their faithfulness has not gone unnoticed. In this passage, Jesus reveals some truth: faithfulness to Him brings favor into our lives.

Dr. Ian Paul, largely considered one of the leading theologians of Revelation, dives into Revelation 7:1-17.

Verse 16 states, “So because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Why was this church lukewarm?

Verse 8 states, “I know all the things you do, and I have opened a door for you that no one can close. You have little strength, yet you obeyed my word and did not deny me.”

Revelation 3 states, ” To all who are victorious, I will never erase their names…” This immediately begs the question, “Can your name be removed?” Two simple logical ideas are offered: First, Jesus says it can be removed. Second, Jesus teaches how to live so it isn’t a problem.

The spiritual deadness of these believers was the result of their incomplete lifestyle. Somewhere along the way, they thought, I can check out of my faith. And because they weren’t living from the Holy Spirit’s direction, they possessed the name Christian, but their outer life didn’t reflect this professed identity.

We don’t work in God’s Kingdom because it’s required of us. We work in God’s Kingdom because it’s what we were created to do.

We are graced with the opportunity to repent from sin, not the choice.

David Mitchell examines a passage of Revelation which warns us of the spirit of Jezebel and her influence on the global chuch to this day.

In Revelation 2: 12-17, Jesus expresses His anger towards the sin of tolerating idolatry and sexual sin. The way Jesus addresses these issues applies directly to our culture.

I want to challenge us as a people to ask the question, where in my life am I allowing myself to partner with the demonic by using accusation?

If you ask for an answer to your sufferings, you will never get a satisfying answer. We all want the fellowship of the resurrection and the power, but no one wants to be part of the fellowship of Jesus’ suffering.

Jesus did not enter our world so that we might partake of good manners or morals. Rather, God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

The Lord is compassionate. He hates anything that stands in the way of our partaking in life, truth, and the paradise He prepared for us.

The word “agape” at its root means “to live for the benefit of another.” Real love means that I put on His nature for the benefit of others.

I want to highlight that He speaks to be heard and understood. He’s not just talking. He intends that we understand what He’s saying.

No one in history has witnessed Jesus in more ways than John. Revelations 1:9-20 illustrates Jesus as He is now, through the eyewitness account of John.

The King of Glory, is advancing. This is not darkness coming after light. This is light going after darkness. This is Heaven invading hell.

You got clean the moment He died. You can choose to not partner with sin.

In what areas in your life do you cling to people and other kingdoms more than Jesus, the Person of Truth?

There are seven attributes of the Spirit being built within us: the fear of the Lord, instruction, knowledge, understanding, discretion, counsel, and reproof. We cannot be constructed and experience these attributes without intimacy with Jesus.

Revelation is a single letter to seven churches. Through this letter, God is honoring what is honorable and correcting what is detrimental. We need to expect this same type of treatment from Him in our personal lives.

These letters that John, the beloved Apostle of Jesus, wrote have hidden truths to the seven churches that carry a very poignant message for the people of God today and for Vintage. It is our responsibility to listen and act on this message.