We need to come to Revelation without a specific view, as each prophecy can have multiple applications, meanings, and fulfillments that can be true. We must come to Revelation with patience and humility, seeking dialog and cooperation not disagreements and strife, for that is what is clearly in err.
We are to interpret in light of the historical context and what it meant then because John’s readers did not have a modern newspaper or CNN. And, for us to think that Revelation meant nothing for 2000 years until our generation came is extremely arrogant and dismissive to the countless Christians who came before us, upon whose shoulders we stand.
Revelation is for all generations, not just ours or one to come! Also, we must never seek to be dogmatic with our feeble opinions and limited understandings. In addition, the applications in Revelation are for us now, as they were also active in the early Church and will have further meaning and fulfillment in the time to come. Revelation is not just about the first Christians, nor is it just about what will happen in some distant future. These precepts are for us today, for us to know, for us to use, and for us to deploy deeply in our lives and walk in Christ. What we do know is Christ is coming back! When Satan will be finally be defeated is not known, but God will comfort and take care of us!
Revelation‘s purpose is not to satisfy our dogmatic assertions and speculations. Let us not bother with unwarranted calculations, to which we have no idea or call to do. Rather, let us seek His precepts so we can grow further in our spiritual formation and make Him known to others!
Revelation is about our genuine discipleship and growth in Christ and how He impacts us so we can impact others. In His time, it will be clear without dispute (Acts 1:7). Revelation continues to add to our spiritual growth and faithfulness and encourage the Church through persecutions and the daily stresses of life. What we have to know is what we need to know. We do not need to know what He has not yet revealed, as our duty is to our spiritual formation and the expansion of the Kingdom, not idle speculations and argumentations.
The purpose for our lives here is to learn and grow in Him over any theological agenda.
What we learn in our preparations is far more valuable than what will come about. To live in a sin-infused world is difficult and we need the Savior and Lord to guide us through it. Our lives, circumstances, and experiences will bring us trials and testing before we learn the lessons we are taught. What we learn from Him will help us be vigorous, victorious, and able to overcome anything life or Satan can throw at us.
This article series also serves as the introduction to our Bible Study in the Book of Revelation.
It is impossible to fully understand The Revelation or any other Scriptures unless we first follow Paul’s example in Php 3 and ask God to enable us as He had to enable Peter in Mt 16. We must be taught by God, not by man, Ps 119; Mt 23:8-12; Jn 6:44-69; 1Jn 2. And, we must be spiritually baptized by God, not by man, Mt 3; Mk 1; Lk 3; Jn 1; Ac 1-2; Ac 9-11; etc. We must receive God’s Power from on High that gives us Wisdom from God, Righteousness from God, Holiness from God and Redemption from God, Lk 24; 1Co 1. We must have “the Mind of Christ” or we wiil hear Jesus Christ tell us that He never knew us, Mt 7; 1Co 2. Multitudes will hear this bad news when it is too late to change so we are commanded to test ourselves and the spirits while there is still time, 2Co 13; 1Jn 4. People, please, test yourselves and the spirits!
A handout of four, basic Gospel Truth questions for testing ourselves as we are commanded to do:
Jesus Christ said: “For there shall arise false christs and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect! Behold, I have told you beforehand!”
Jesus Christ said: “He that is of God, heareth the Words of God. For this cause ye [unbelieving Jews, unbelieving non-Jews, including false Christians] hear them not: because ye are not of God!”
Paul wrote: “Test your own selves, whether ye are in the Faith! Prove your own selves. Or know ye not, as to your own selves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed, ye be reprobate?”
James wrote: “My brethren, if any among you err from the Truth and one convert him, let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall cover a multitude of sins!”
Peter wrote: “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction!”
John wrote: “Beloved, believe not every spirit but prove/test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world!”
Jude wrote: “For there are certain men crept in privily, even they who were of old written of beforehand unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ!”
1) Jesus Christ commanded us all to seek first God’s Kingdom and God’s Righteousness, Mt 6:33a. First means first. His command is expounded in other Scriptures but probably best of all in Ro 1:16-25. In the Scriptures there is a Righteousness from God revealed that is by Faith, the “One Faith” as God defines Faith, and this is what we must believe in according to Scriptures such as Mk 1:14-15; Eph 4:4-7; etc. God’s One Faith is very specific and it is never to be redefined in any way. What, exactly, is it that we must find first, believe in and make more important than our own physical lives?
2) All true Christians have left the Law of Sin and Death to belong to the Law of the Spirit of Life, Ro 1-8. Under the Law of Sin and Death, the wages of sin still end in Death, not in eternal Life. How, exactly, do we leave the Law of Sin and Death to belong to the Law of the Spirit of Life? The answer to the first question is also part of the answer to this question. In Ro 1-8, Paul described in great detail how it is done but what he wrote can be correctly summarized in a short paragraph.
3) When Jesus Christ changed the water into wine, He revealed His heavenly Glory, including His spiritual New Covenant Baptism, Mt 3-7; Mk 10:35-45; Lk 11:1-13; Lk 12:1-50; Jn 2:1-11; 1Co 12:12-13; etc. In Jn 2:1-11, Jesus Christ also revealed how we must leave the Law of Sin and Death to belong to the Law of the Spirit of Life, Ro 1-8. What was the symbolism in Jn 2:1-11 that revealed Jesus Christ’s heavenly Glory, including His spiritual New Covenant Baptism?
4) In 2Th 2, Paul warned about a terrible lie that the man of sin, the lawless one who is the liar, uses to deceive and exalt himself as God. Also, see Jn 8; Ro 1; Rev 14. Some “scholars” falsely claim the liar is the lie but Paul revealed what the lie is in detail within 2Th 2. What is the lie?
Jesus Christ said: “If ye abide in my Word, then are ye truly my disciples and ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free.” His simple exact original Gospel Truth can easily be known and He said so. Anyone, who denies it, has called God and God’s Word – “liars”, 1Jn 4-5!
True Christians will have the anointing from the Holy One of God that teaches us the basics of Salvation, Jn 6:45; 1Jn 2. True Christians receive our Power from God through His anointing that gives us Wisdom from God, Righteousness from God, Holiness from God and Redemption from God, 1Co 1. True Christians, through our anointing from God, will have “the Mind of Christ”, 1Co 2. True Christians will know the easy short correct answers but false Christians will not know them.
In God’s Love as He defines Love, anne