Hope Channel

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2019: Revelation

Sikhu Daco

Justin Kim

Israel Ramos

Callie Williams

01-The Gospel From Patmos

For some, the future completely freaks them out.

For others, they're so curious, they want to see what's going to happen in the future.

On this season, we're going to look at the entire book of Revelation.

Rather than being freaked out, we're going to look at what points of faith this book has to offer.

Coming to you from Silver Spring, Maryland, welcome to Inverse, a Bible-based conversation on life principles, contemporary issues, and thought-provoking perspectives.

Now here's your host, Justin Kim, with Inverse.

We're so excited that you decided to join here, us, with, here at Inverse.

And we have our team, we have our friends here, and we have a whole new season on the Book of Revelation.

We're going to have 13 episodes on 22 chapters.

So we're going to ask Siku, can you pray for us?

And we're going to dive into the scriptures.

Loving Father, we're so thankful for the gift that you've given us in the Bible, and we pray that you would help us to understand the things we're going to be learning from this book of Revelation, that the blessing that it promises in Revelation 1 would be ours as we're going to read.

Like I'm so I'm really excited about Revelation.

Like I'm like an adrenaline is rushing through me, not because we're all taping, but also it's the Book of Revelation.

And it's as if we need to know all the books of the Bible to really understand this book.

This is like the climax, the epitome, the...

So, I'll stop talking and we're going to go into verse 1 and Israel, can you read verse 1 through 3 of chapter 1 because we're starting here...

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, to show His servants things which must shortly take place.

And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that He saw.

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near.

So, we really want to encourage you guys all out there if you're watching or if you're listening or however you're interacting with in verse to really take out your Bibles.

We know you can just read the Bible verse and that's awesome.

But having the Bible out in front of you and then especially this season going through the book of Revelation with us is going to be an awesome experience all the more real in the scriptures.

I mean, there's a lot to unpack here, and we'll spend some time in verses 1 through 3.

But let's look at the, this isn't a boring introduction.

So, it starts out with the revelation of Jesus Christ, which is the full title of the book, not the Revelation, and it's saying that God gave something to Jesus and then Jesus gave to an angel, the angel gave it to John.

Yeah, so whatever that is is what we're about to read.

Yeah, it's a cool kind of like a ladder thing or like kind of a bounce thing factor going on.

Yeah, so it's given it and it talks about that a little bit more in verse 2 and then verse 3 about Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy So this is important because it brings a blessing in Reading it and if you're hearing the words and then keeping it, so there's something in here that we can keep and because the time is near so that's why the blessing comes to those people.

So this is deep, this is coming from God the Father Himself and then...

Coming down to us and then you mentioned verse 3, there's a blessing there, not only in reading so all of you out there, like, take out your Bibles and read it and get the blessing, and also hear the words of this prophecy in the Inverse Program, and then keep those things, so do those things that are written therein.

Siku, why does the book start off this way?

I mean I think it's significant it says the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You know I grew up going to church and my brother, my older brother, when he would want to scare me, he would send me to my room and make me read the book of Revelation.

You got a lot you got a lot to thank your brother.

But that was, That was the way that he would torture me, was, go to your room and read Revelation.

And I would cry, because to me, it seemed like a really, really scary book, with beasts and plagues.

And blood and swords and famine and bugs and plagues.

So the book starts, though, this is not a book to torture people.

This is not a scary book that nobody should read.

It actually says this book, when it's read right, when it's understood correctly, this is a revelation of Jesus Christ.

And the purpose of this book is for us to see a clearer picture of Jesus.

All of scripture points to Jesus, but the book is called specifically a revelation of Jesus Christ.

That word of, which sometimes you can just be like, you know, just kind of skip over it But there's some power to that.

It's this is not only a revelation of Jesus meaning talking about Jesus But it's also Jesus who's doing the re on Veiling the revealing from Jesus so that there's a dual thing going on.

I love it, all the scary parts, it's about Jesus, yeah, and not the scary parts about Jesus, but not the scary parts, but alluding to, pointing to Jesus.

Well, I think once we understand the purpose of the book of Revelation, it eliminates fear.

You know, the Bible says, perfect love casts away all fear.

And that's why it's important for us to understand before we even dive into the book of Revelation, this is not the revelation of the apocalypse, or this is not the revelation of the last day events or this is not the revelation of beasts but it's the revelation of Jesus Christ and it is the most sacred of all revelations it is the most sacred of all topics so much so that I think that is why you have God the Father involved in this Jesus Christ involved in this the angel involved in this John who is a servant of God, which was a title that was also given to Moses, involved in that and all those agencies are engaged to bring the revelation to the reader, the person who reads and understands and is blessed and so you have the revelation of Jesus Christ for you and for me today, the most holy and sacred of all revelations in Scripture.

Yeah, I really think you want to underscore that point, you bring the sanctity and the holiness of this book, you also see kind of the hierarchy as God the Father and it's not in that order but you can kind of rearrange it, it goes from God the Father to Jesus and then Jesus to the angel and then angel to John and then John to the 7 churches, we'll find a little bit later on, and then 7 churches to us.

Yeah, it goes to you, blop, blop, blop, blop, blop, blop.

And it shows that this is the magnitude of this message.

What are other elements we can kind of glean from that passage?

If I go back to the fact that God is giving Jesus this message, who gives it to an angel, who gives it to John.

The significance that this message was given to John.

And this is towards the end of his life, and he has been exiled to this island of Patmos.

So he's on this island all by himself and I think the temptation might be to be scared or this is the end of your life and you're all alone, but God comes to him in a very profound way.

At a time of life when, you know, when you look at old people, sometimes the temptation is to be like, their usefulness has been worn out.

You know, they've done everything that they could do.

But John, at the end of his life, God gives him this very significant and very important revelation.

And for me, it says that God can use you whatever stage in life you're in, and whatever place that you're in, isolated as he may have been, God gives him this beautiful picture of Jesus, a fuller revelation of Jesus Christ.

Even though he had been walking with Jesus throughout his ministry, he's like, hey, let me show you Jesus even clearer.

So John, the apostle, spent time with Jesus on earth, But now this revelation is now Jesus in heaven and this this super magnificent Jesus I mean, it's there's some crazy scenes in here.

Yeah, that really are all inspiring Yeah, well on that point as an English teacher after 0 and 1 word Yes, and that is in verse 1 it says and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John.

And I know that, you know, when you're approaching any kind of text, whether it's the Bible or a poem or, you know, a story, you need to know how you're supposed to read it.

And I know before I read the first part of it when I was younger I was not punished by my brothers by reading Revelation I'm so sorry but I do remember reading it and I'm like I'm just super confused like what are these monsters gonna show up I'm just lost right now but the very beginning it's saying this is symbolic And we need to keep that in mind as we read it in order to understand it correctly And as you said earlier, you know, we need to understand Genesis through Jude in order to understand Revelation Yeah, so we can kind of look through like why I think it means this like, okay Well, let's say what the text says and stick there because that's the best way to understand it Yeah, I think there's it's so cool that I'm just so excited about this book It is because there's these books and in the English in the English literature world there's these books like James's James Joyce's Ulysses or Dante's Inferno that are just packed with all these memes and political figures and themes that are popular of the day.

Sebastien Braxton

02-Among the Lampstands

So John was stuck on the island of Patmos all by himself, away from everyone he ever knew.

Sometimes in our spiritual experiences, it feels like we're stuck on an island and God is away from us.

Find out what God has to say to John in the book of Revelation.

Welcome to the second episode on this series on Revelation.

If you missed our first episode, you're going to want to go back to the archives and see episode 1, so it sets us up for episode 2.

In this episode, we're in chapter, we're still in chapter 1, and we're going to look at verses 9 through...

But we're going to really get into this chapter, so let's have a word of prayer and Kali, you're going to read the Bible verse for us but Sebastian, you're going to pray for us.

Our Father, we have all experienced what it's like to feel that God is far from us, and sometimes, Lord, to suffer for what is right.

And so, Lord, we pray that as we open the Word of God today, that you would guide us, and you would provide us with that same comfort that you provided to John so many hundreds of years ago.

Bless us, Lord, with understanding and be with the words of our mouths and the thoughts of our hearts, is our prayer in Jesus' name.

I, 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 of a trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, and what you see, write in a book and send it to the 7 churches, which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

So verses 9 through 11, Jared, look what's going on here.

I think we're gonna emphasize a little bit about the experience of John.

I think we're sometimes getting impatient.

We want to get to the part, the monsters, and then all that part.

But the existential component, the background, the experience of John is so crucial to the beginning of this book.

Yeah, John, this is the John the Beloved.

This is the John that Jesus called from being, you know, a fisherman, blue collar occupation.

He heard the voice of Jesus calling to him and he followed Jesus for 3 and a half years.

He was 1 of Jesus' compatriots and saw all the miracles and everything else leading up to the crucifixion and Jesus ascended and after that, as the church began to grow and experiencing persecution, John was 1 of those dudes that they just couldn't kill.

They threw him in a pot of oil and he came out unscathed and unburned.

So they said, we're gonna send this dude out to this desert island out in the middle of the Aegean Sea and just leave him there on this, like, you know, penal colony.

Which, you know, like, according to Christian tradition, I mean, he was the gospel, the disciple of love, the apostle of love, and they said that there's these accounts where he would just go around, like, love each other, love each other, love.

And if you read his letters, it's like, beloved this and beloved that and love this and love that.

And the guy who's so full of love, you put him on an island all by himself.

I think that's critical because the Bible, you know, gives you the framing of Revelation Wasn't just something that was for the ages or just to have a prophecy Like God says I'm gonna call you to be a prophet.

I'm gonna give you this vision But it's interesting how through him doing what Jesus was calling him to do, he came into this contact with Christ who he had not seen for what, 50 or more years.

And so you see that even as he's delivering the vision of Revelation, he himself is being comforted in his persecution.

That what he's been believing and suffering for all these years is real.

And you can think, older people kind of can become a little bit cynical, right?

Saying, you know, I've lived my life, I've done all this kind of stuff, and all of a sudden things come into focus for you.

And I think for John, he's in a situation where you're all alone.

He hasn't seen Jesus in who knows how long.

And it's kind of like, man, is this thing real?

And Jesus understands that I have to give this revelation and I'm gonna give it to John, of all people he could have given it to, who were Christians at that time, to comfort him and give him assurance that the Lord was near.

Yeah, he's experiencing some suffering here on this island and I don't care how much of an introvert that some of us may think we are.

I think for an extrovert, just to be by themselves for 5 minutes would be painful.

Sebastian, you're definitely an extrovert, right?

I'm, yeah, like a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10 on the extroversion.

There have been times where I need to get away, I need to clear my head, so I'll go camping by myself.

And I just get the itch, and I start talking to squirrels.

Bro, you are the definition of a loud introvert anyways.

So regardless whether you're introvert or extrovert, being alone for, and I don't really know how long he was on this island for but it was for a very long time and he's yearning.

So this message and now it sets us up for the 7 churches and there's some parts to get before that but there's a message here to those who are lonely, to those who are suffering, to those who are, who feel rejected, isolated.

And also people who are, John says there in verse 9, he says, I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation.

So there's a sense that if you are in tribulation, John is your brother, right?

He's a person who's going through persecution and tribulation just like you.

And I think there's something that every person in life knows what it's like to do the right thing and end up losing in the end.

So let me ask you this question to clarify that.

So there's sometimes when we go through suffering that's because it's unjustly given, put upon us.

You know, some circumstance that I didn't create and kind of like John, like he didn't voluntarily go to Patmos, but he's there.

And there's another situation where, I mean, you're the idiot, you made the mistake and you're in the conundrum that you're at yes and you're suffering how do we differentiate the 2 and how does Jesus comfort us is there a difference between the 2 is there a note I mean how do we differentiate those 2 situations Kelly?

Jonathan Walter

03-Jesus’ Messages to the Seven Churches

Sometimes our spiritual lives go up and they go down, they go sideways and sometimes we can't get back.

This happened in history, this will happen in the future, this happened in the 7 churches of Revelation.

Find out more on this episode of Inverse.

Hey guys, welcome to this episode of Inverse.

We're so excited for this episode especially because we have a new cast member and we're so excited and we can't say it, we're so excited we keep saying the word excited over and over again.

We're going to, maybe you can pan to Jonathan, he's a good looking tall gentleman to my right, to your left, and we have Siku in the house today in the studio, and also Sebastian, and we're gonna be looking at the 7 churches.

I'm originally from Europe, the country of Austria.

The place where everyone just sings and dances like in the Sound of Music, that's what we do all day long.

We're going to do some dancing and singing.

Hopefully we won't see Sebastian singing, but otherwise we'll be into the Word and then studying the 7 churches.

Father, we love you and we love the Word that you've given us and we just want to understand it.

Help us to dig deeper, give us your spirit to guide us as we try to exalt these lessons that we find in the 7 churches of Revelation.

Thank you that you will do this, I pray this in Jesus' name, amen.

So we look at episode 1, we look at the beginning of Revelation, why it's so important to look at this book, episode 2, we look at John, he's stuck on an island and we actually get into the vision and now we're going to go through a tour de force around what modern day Turkey is to these 7 churches and applications for today.

So in our Bibles, let's go to Revelation Chapter 2 and Sebastian, can you read, let's read the first verse of Chapter 2 there.

Revelation 2, 1, To The angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things says he who holds the 7 stars in his right hand, Who walks in the midst of the 7 golden lampstands.

I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil.

And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.

And you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for my name's sake, and have not become weary.

First 4, Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Remember therefore, from where you have fallen, repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Sebastian, can you read verse 6 and 7 for us?

But from its place, but this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Okay, so we read that first church, the first church, the church of Ephesus, and there are 7 churches.

And Siku, give us a little bit of background.

Well, we talked about in previous episode that Jesus, through an angel, is giving this revelation to John, the beloved disciple.

And he's writing letters now that are going to go to these churches that are real life churches that exist in Asia Minor and each of these churches have been established after Jesus went back to heaven and Jesus even after he went to heaven is still concerned with the state of the church on earth.

And in chapter 1, we talked about he's walking in the midst of his church.

And so he's got an intimate knowledge of what's happening in the churches, not just an intimate knowledge, but he has genuine concern for the situations that they find themselves in.

So he gives, he addresses them, he gives praises for good things that they're doing.

He rebukes them sometimes for things that they're not doing right.

And he gives them promises that they can hold onto.

Yeah, Jonathan, give us a little bit of string.

We just read the the first chapter the first First church there the first church of the Ephesus So all the churches kind of follow a similar pattern kind of guide us through that structure of it.

Yeah Well, it starts out with Jesus addressing the church.

He says, you know, the name of the church, Ephesus, or Smyrna, or Pergamos, and so on, it continues.

He gives a certain title for himself, or describes himself, and every description gives us a different viewpoint of who Jesus is, which I really love.

And then he goes into a description of what is going well in almost all of these churches.

But then of course, because he loves us, he will also tell us the things that are an issue that needs to be addressed.

And then he kind of goes into this rebuke mode and says, hey, this needs to be figured out before I come.

And then he moves into an appeal to repent, an appeal to come back to whatever was there, what was right.

And then it ends always with this saying that we should listen to what the Spirit is saying to them.

Yeah, no, I love this part of the 7 churches because these are real churches that happened, that existed in history.

Also, the cool thing is these are major cities back in their day and that Jesus loves people, His people in cities, I don't know the exact year but a couple of years ago or maybe it was, I don't know, after the year 2000 that the world, 50% of the world, there's more people who are living in cities than the non-cities for the first time in earth's history and there's a lot of work that needs to be done, the gospel needs to just go forward in cities and this is just a great motif to launch us into that.

Sebastian, what are some things that pop out?

Now, we don't have time to go through all the 7 churches.

I mean, that's like a whole season in itself.

Before Sebastian goes, I just want to point out to you.

You just got, you just got, you just got, It's okay.

No, I mean, not, Not about Ephesus in particular, but just to say he's writing to real life cities that existed in his day.

But he's, the message that goes to those cities has application not just to them then, but to us now in our individual lives.

And it also goes through like the church as it has gone through historically.

So, so the message that we read in Revelation 2 and 3, it's not something for back in the day, but it's something that has application to our day and something that gives us a view of what happened in the church historically.

There's a historical fulfillment and then a prophetic fulfillment and then also a personal fulfillment.

If I can steal some more time from Sebastian.

It's interesting because there were obviously more than 7 churches.

If you read the book of Revelation, you see there's all these episodes of sevens.

You have the 7 plagues, you have the 7 trumpets, 7 bowls, all seals, yeah, and here are 7 churches.

04-Worthy Is the Lamb

If we can get an insight into the White House or the President or the Prime Minister's inside room, what would we see?

On this episode of Inverse, we're going to get an inside peek into the living room of Jesus Christ.

Hey everyone, we're so excited that you decided to join us for this episode of Inverse, especially as we study the entire book of Revelation.

On this episode, we're going to look at Revelation 4 and 5 and we're going to look at a particular room.

This is the room where Jesus is at and this just this vision takes the cake, it takes the prize, it is number 1 when it comes to the glory and the the awesomeness and just it's just the craziest vision ever and there's just so much in scripture.

So Jonathan, can you pray for us and we'll dive right into scripture.

And as we approach Revelation chapter 4 and 5, and as we try to see who you are and how you are, we just pray that you will give us that revelation through the Holy Spirit as we study your word.

So Siku, can you pick up from, we're gonna read Revelation chapter 4 and let's read verse 1 and 2 there.

After these things, I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven and the voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me saying, come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this.

Series

InVerse, 1st Quarter 2019: Revelation

04-Worthy Is the Lamb

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