Eugene Prewitt: Book of Revelation

Eugene Prewitt

Ouachita Hills College

Respect for Messengers and Revelation’s Overcomers

Our Father in heaven, I ask that by the power of your Spirit, that you'd help us to understand the Holy Bible as we study it.

I thank you and I ask for that gift in the name of Jesus.

Today we're beginning an overview, beginning an overview of Revelation 2 and 3.

And we're beginning by observing something that is consistent in every 1 of the 7 messages of the 7 churches.

1 item is that the messages are given not directly to the churches, but to the messengers of the churches, and unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, unto the angel of the church of Smyrna.

To the messenger, here's the message to the messenger of each church.

The first point I want to bring out is that though we ought to be kind to every living human, though what we do to the least of our brethren is something we have done unto Jesus, though Jesus identifies himself with every living person, more particularly he identifies himself with his messengers.

So that an insult given to 1 of God's messengers is an insult received as if given to Jesus himself.

I want to read to you some statements there from the Bible.

It will save us some time in turning pages if we read it from the handout.

We're looking at Matthew 25, verses 40 and 45.

And the king shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, and as much as you have done it unto 1 of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me.

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, "...and as much as you did it not unto 1 of the least of these, "...you did it not unto me." There's the first point we made.

Jesus identifies himself with how many persons in humanity?

He identifies himself with everyone in humanity so that you cannot be rude to the uncultivated.

You cannot harbor a grudge against your brother or your sister and I mean literally brother and sister you cannot be contrary in action or thought to 1 of the people in the web of humanity without it being received as if done to Jesus.

And when you do something kind for someone, it is received as if you had done something kind for Jesus.

If I were to ask the question, how would you get closer to Jesus?

Would this truth present an answer to you?

What might you do to get closer to Jesus?

You would go and love the people that you meet on the street.

By seeking out people to show them kindness, you draw closer to Jesus and qualify yourself to be on the right side of the sheep and the goats division.

He that receiveth you, this is speaking to the apostles, receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.

And in the same story as found in Luke it adds, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.

And Matthew continues, he that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward.

And he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man's reward." So in the first passage, Jesus identifies himself with everyone in humanity.

But more particularly, who does he identify himself with?

That's right, his prophets, his messengers, his righteous men.

More particularly, he identifies himself with them.

The next passage, 1 Thessalonians 4, Furthermore then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so you would abound more and more, for you know what commandment we gave you by the Lord Jesus." It's interesting, how did he give the command?

That's right, the command that was given through God's messenger is as if it is from Jesus.

He that despiseth, he therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man but, what does it say?

God, who also hath given unto us his Holy Spirit." This is the point that God's messengers pray for and receive the power of his Holy Spirit.

And when they are treated with disrespect, God relates as if his spirit has been treated with disrespect, even to the point of denying that the disrespect was directed against the human agent.

I'd like you to read the next paragraph on your own later, but I'm going to skip it and go to the Revelation 1.16.

Would you summarize the beginning statement that you said in reference to that particular...

It was kind of like a main statement that you made on this 1.

The third passage, what I'm saying is that we're despising...

Because Jesus fills men with his Holy Spirit, then when we resist or treat the messengers with disrespect, we're treating his spirit with disrespect.

And Jesus had in his right hand 7, what does it say?

It's explained in this same passage, the stars are messengers.

And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun, shining in his strength.

The mystery of the 7 stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the 7 golden candlesticks.

The 7 stars are the messengers of the 7 churches, and the 7 candlesticks which thou sawest are the 7 churches.

And then chapter 2 verse 1, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write, these things saith he that holdeth the 7 stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the 7 golden candlesticks.

The summary of these 3 passages is that Jesus presents his messengers as if they are specially held in his hand, as if they are his prized possession.

Maybe some of you in that first handout in this semester wondered what T-I-H-I stands for.

In other words, this is a quality that Jesus uses later to describe himself, when he introduces himself to the 7 churches.

1 of his identifying characteristics is he's the 1 that holds his messengers and dwells with his church.

He walks in the midst of the golden candlestick.

Typically in this class, we're not studying the writings of Ellen White, but I want to read to you something here that illustrates the truth we've just noted in the Bible.

I have been carrying a great burden for the people in Battle Creek.

Last night I was laboring most earnestly in prayer.

That Ellen White, the prophet, what kind of labor did she do?

She labored in prayer and how did she do it?

The commission was given me by the Savior.

It is not you they have rejected, but me their Savior.

You have nothing to retract of the messages that you presented during the General Conference held at Oakland and during the Berrien Springs meeting.

You have nothing to regret in the words you have spoken and written to the leading medical missionary workers.

I have for you still more decided messages to bear.

Those who have made light of the messages that I have given my messenger to bear have insulted the 1 who gave the messages.

Our people, this is not quoting Jesus any longer, our people need to humble their hearts and confess their sins and be converted.

They need to fear and tremble lest God's Spirit be withdrawn from them and they be left to hardness of heart and blindness of mind because they have rejected the word God has given them.

The messages that God has sent have been born line upon line, precept upon precept.

There's more you could read there, but the summary of what I wanted you to understand is that it's a solemn thing how you relate to God's messengers.

Because who is speaking through the messengers?

When we make light of God's messengers, we wound the spirit, we injure our own soul.

Generous provision is made for veterans who have fought for their country.

These men bear the scars and life-long infirmities that tell of their perilous conflicts, their forced marches, their exposure to storms, their sufferings in prison.

All these evidences of their loyalty and self-sacrifice give them a just claim upon the nation they have helped to save, a claim that is recognized and honored.

Revelation 2 and 3

Today we're talking about Revelation 2 and 3, the messages to the 7 churches, excepting that we're not really going to touch Laodicea, because that is the subject of the entire lecture tomorrow.

When we introduced the class, we talked about how in Revelation 1.1 we know that the prophecies of Revelation begin about in the time of John.

And by the context of the prophecies themselves we can perceive that they extend to the time of the second coming.

I'm using that first lecture as an introduction to just suggest to you that the 7 messages of the 7 churches are themselves like this.

That they begin in the time of John, the apostle, and they proceed through the Christian age.

In 1 hour, there's no chance we can get through the 2 chapters in the kind of detail that you ought to study them.

So I tell you, you ought to assign yourself to study them.

Because there are not so many places in the Bible where after giving a revelation, you find something like this.

He that has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the...

Do you see that that gives some priority in the Bible to this particular part of Revelation?

That you ought to give it special attention, that you ought to listen to it especially.

So the names, you don't need to memorize them, but they are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.

No but you can find it in your Bible in Revelation 2 and 3.

To nearly, well to most of these churches, God gives a commendation and an implied or a plain rebuke.

Something he appreciates and something he doesn't appreciate so much about the church.

You ought to find it instructive for you as a teacher in the future or as a Sabbath school teacher to notice which he gives first You know, he typically gives first He gives the commendation first.

He typically warms up with a commendation Then he gives a rebuke then he ends with a conditional promise that implies that you can recover yourself out of the snare you've fallen into.

Let me say this thought again because it describes all 7 churches.

When Christ is going to give a rebuke through his messengers he prefaces that rebuke with a commendation.

Then he follows up the rebuke with a way that the church can redeem itself.

That is, though you have fallen, yet to those that overcome, does that imply that you can't overcome even if you have these problems?

So I'm just going to tell you, if you study the books on education and Ellen White's writings, you'll find that same principle described there.

That commendation warms the heart for rebuke and that if you rebuke someone, give them a way to redeem themselves so they don't feel like they'll be continually under your condemnation.

If you feel like you're underneath someone's condemnation, it puts distance between you and them.

But if you feel like you can restore the relationship, the distance is brought back together.

Then what do the promises to the overcomers do?

They provide a means whereby, at least in our perspective, that separation can be healed.

Okay, let's move to Ephesus in particular.

Revelation chapter 2, And we're looking in verse 2.

Maybe I ought to point out to you that that is an introduction to many of the churches.

Look for example at verse 13, what he says to Pergamum.

Look up at verse 9, what he says to Smyrna.

Look at verse 19, what he says to Thyatira.

If there's something that ought to be on our mind, the first thing that that might prevent us from many falls is to realize that Jesus knows our works.

On the other hand, when we think about that fact that He knows our works, we typically think about it in the negative sense.

But if I could say this as simply as I understand it, Jesus is not a negative person.

While He notices our bad works, it does not distract Him or blind Him to our works of charity, our prayers, our efforts to forward His cause.

He notices the things we do for Him, the sins that we resist in His name.

Illustrated in this verse, I know your works and your labor and your patience.

What was the early Christian church like?

The early Christian church was a working church.

In fact, we find in the gospel, well, it's not in the gospel, it's in Paul's writings in Colossians, that the gospel was preached in 1 generation to every creature under heaven.

What commendation does Christ give to the early church?

They went about the work they were given to do.

Jesus said, go you into all the world teaching all nations.

They went into all the world teaching all nations.

He says, I know your patience and how you cannot bear them that are evil.

It describes how they related to those over them and under them.

Those over them were persecuting them wrongly.

But maybe it had an impact on their relation to those doing wrong inside their own body.

Is it right for the church to discipline its members?

And it's part of the commendation to Ephesus that they had strong church discipline.

He said, you cannot bear them that are evil.

It would be better for our church today if we could not bear those that were evil.

On the other hand, there is a correlation between the commendation in this verse and the rebuke that comes just after.

But finishing verse 2, and you have tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and has found them liars." Theologically, this is such an important part of the verse.

If you were to deal, or in the future when we face Roman Catholicism and Protestants claim that they go by the Bible only.

Catholicism claims that it goes by a combination of tradition and the Bible.

And when the 2 butt heads in the field of debate, there is an argument that is very embarrassing to Protestantism.

How do you know which books belong in the Bible?

Do you find a prophet somewhere in the Bible that tells you which books belong in the Bible?

Why do you acknowledge these books and reject others?

It's because of the writings of the fathers.

Tradition you hold over the Bible in the very fact that you accept the book that's in your lap and reject other parts.

I want you to know the argument is bogus on the basis of Revelation chapter 2.

Revelation chapter 2 says to the first church age, 200 years before the Council of Nicaea, that while the false prophets and true apostles were alive, what did the early church do?

It tested them and found those that were liars to be liars.

That is, the testing of true and false prophets was not conducted after their death, but during their lifetime.

They were judged by those writings and accepted or rejected on the basis of those writings.

What were the first writings in the entire Scripture?

The 10 Commandments, and who were they written by?

Laodicea

Our Father in heaven, I ask that you'll bless the time we spend here in study of Revelation 3, the message for our time.

We're dependent on you to give us wisdom as we consider, and I ask for that gift in the name of Jesus, amen.

Yesterday we talked about, where we got started talking about Ephesus through Philadelphia, and we mentioned particularly that Smyrna and Philadelphia were 2 churches that had no rebuke delivered to them.

Laodicea also differs from the other churches and is unique in this respect.

It is the 1 church that has no commendation.

If I could just draw that out in a simple way, would you expect from Revelation 2 and 3 that the final church age would be more spiritual, less spiritual, or about equally spiritual as the Christian church in other ages.

You would have to expect it somehow from Revelation chapter 3.

The term Laodicea comes from the name of a lady, Laodice, but the word means literally a people judged.

That's interesting because of course the testimony of dead in Revelation is that there is a judgment in the end of time.

And Jesus introduces himself to Laodicea as the faithful and true witness.

What is the role of Jesus in the judgment?

Jesus is the 1 who confesses before the Father and the angels.

Either says that I claim them as mine, or if he denies them, then their names are blotted out.

Turn in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 3.

Revelation chapter 3, and we're looking at verse 14.

It says here that Jesus is the beginning of the creation of God.

You ought to know just for purposes of non-conformist you'll meet that the word beginning here, the Greek word arche, can mean the first in time or the first in eminence or the first as in the origin.

Does the rest of the New Testament indicate any 1 of those qualities to Jesus?

That he was the first thing created, the most important thing created, or the origin of the creation.

Are any of those attributes given to him in other parts of scripture?

Absolutely, he was the origin of the creation.

So Jesus introduces himself to Laodicea as the origin of creation.

Is creation an issue in the time of the judgment?

When did Darwin first publish his origin of species?

The beginning of the judgment was when it was first published.

Jesus highlights the issues for the church in each of these messages And 1 of the issues for the church in time of Laodicea is the divinity of Jesus and the issue of creation.

Verse 15, I know your works that you are neither cold nor hot.

I'd like you to understand what is being measured by this metaphor of heat.

Keep your finger here, but turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 24.

We're looking to see what spiritual quality is measured by the metaphor of heat.

And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax, what does it say?

It's speaking about the same period of time as Laodicea, the end of the world, indicates that there are going to be some that have love.

Love is something you think of as being warm or hot.

But here, what's causing love to cool down?

And if I could speak to you in this respect, there are 2 ways that iniquity causes love to grow cooler.

There is a way you typically think of and that if you are in a worldly society if you're living for example in the big city or if you are living in a family full of unbelievers that atmosphere around you or of your friends can cause your own devotion to grow cooler as you become like your friends and like the atmosphere in the city.

Also, as you're trying to reach out to your unconverted family, and trying to reach out to your unconverted friends, and trying to lift up an unconverted church, as they repulse your efforts and put you at arm's length and speak ill of you, sometimes falsely.

It is very easy for you to lose your affection for the lost, For the evil that is abounding around you, for your love for the lost to grow cooler.

You ought to know as part of the Laodicean period of time, that you should guard against both developments.

Because the Bible says in the next verse in Matthew 24, But he that endures unto the end, in context, he whose love endures hot unto the end, the same shall be saved." Matthew 24, verses 12 and 13.

Yes, simply, the 2 things that cause our spiritual love to decrease, 1 is partaking in evil, and 1 is being offended by those who repulse our efforts to help them.

Nor is it either by assimilating to the evil or being critical of it.

So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." Jesus pictures the church as if they are part of him.

There is a metaphor here that because of its vulgarity is often preached to youth groups.

I mean, speaking about Jesus spewing us out of his mouth as vomit.

You should know at least this much from the metaphor, that if Jesus spews us out of his mouth, we are no longer part of him.

If you're not part of the body of Christ, you have no part in him.

It's apparent that this body is an organized body, because you can be in His mouth while you are still lukewarm.

Verse 17, because you say I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.

We're going to spend most of our period on this passage.

We've talked about the nature of spiritual warmth, the metaphor of spiritual warmth.

I want to talk about the metaphor of spiritual riches.

Has not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which he has promised to them that love him." So God has chosen a certain class.

What characteristics do they have in this verse?

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Eugene Prewitt: Book of Revelation

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