Revelation 1:1 – 8

 Psalm 24

 Explain:

 – Four Main Perspectives:  Preterist, Historicist, Idealist and Futurist.

Scripture Focus:  Revelation 1:1 – 8

– Review 1:1 – 3

Verse 1 “soon”  – 1 Peter 4:7, “The end (culmination) of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled…”

1. “Spiritual war takes place throughout the church age, and the seven churches will soon experience all dimensions of the conflict.  Moreover, the ‘last days’ spoken of by Old Testament prophecy have been inaugurated by Christ’s resurrection (Acts 2:16, 17).  The time of waiting is over, and God is conducting the final phase of His victorious warfare against evil.  By such reckoning, today is ‘the last hour’ (1 John 2:18)” (Reformation Study Bible, Ligonier Ministries).

2. “The most satisfying solution is to take the expression ‘must soon take place’ in a straightforward sense, remembering that in the prophetic outlook the end is always imminent.  Time as chronological sequence is of secondary concern in prophecy” (Robert H. Mounce).

– Revelation 1:4 – 8

– Revelation 1:7 is the key verse in the book setting its theme.

– He is coming with the clouds of heaven.  Daniel 7:13; Matthew 24:30; Mark 13:26; Mark 14:62; Acts 1:10 – 11; Titus 2:11 – 14; Colossians 3:1 – 4

– Remember – The One who is coming with the clouds in great glory is the Shepherd who laid down his life for His sheep.

– “Even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.”

Psalm 22: 16; Isaiah 53:5; Zechariah 12:10; John 19:34 – 37

– Revelation 1:8 – God is the Alpha and Omega.  He is the Lord of all history, people and time.  He is the One who is in control throughout the judgments and persecutions in Revelation.  God’s sovereignty in creation guarantees the fulfillment of His purposes in re-creation.