Thru the Bible

Steve Schwetz: Welcome to Thru the Bible. I'm Steve Schwetz. In this study, Dr. J. Vernon McGee tells us each of the bizarre images that we see in Revelation, like the horsemen or the dragon, is a symbol for a real person or an actual event. But they aren't the focus of the book.

Instead, Dr. McGee tells us that Revelation is actually about Jesus Christ, glorified and lifted up. If you've read through Revelation before and maybe you're a little worried about the coming judgments, well, just stay with us. We'll hear four points that should calm your fears and help you trust in the Lord. He's got it all planned out.

Remember, Dr. McGee said it may seem hairy in the middle, but it all works out in the end. But before we dive into our study, Greg and I have a great story to share from a fellow listener in Poland—a prisoner, actually.

Greg: This is going to be fun, Steve. Once in a while, we get a really long letter that just is so rich and it goes so deep. So that's what we're going to just do in the next few minutes: read this letter that came from a recently via a telephone call that we received. We'll learn the story as we go along.

Let's get started. "I've been wanting to share my heart about what you did for me. Back when I was locked up—that is, he's in prison—I was stubborn and hard as nails. But you folks kept showing up with kindness. You brought simple words about Jesus that somehow cut through all my noise. I didn't change overnight, but the seed was planted deep."

"One night in the cell block, I caught Thru the Bible's program and felt like someone finally spoke my name. That's when I started listening and it hit different. The host wasn't flashy, just steady, like a friend walking beside me in a long hallway. He'd open scripture, line by line, and my pride started cracking like old concrete. I began writing verses on scrap paper and tucking them into my state-issued Bible."

Steve Schwetz: Wow, that's interesting.

Greg: "The chaplain noticed I chilled out, and honestly, it was those late-night study sessions doing surgery on my heart." Now he's about to transition. That was when he was in prison. Now he's going to transition. "When I got out of prison, the streets were loud and the temptations were louder, but your stream—that is, your digital stream, he's referring to—became my lifeline. I'd pop in my earbuds, fire up the study, and breathe again."

Steve Schwetz: Wow, what a picture.

Greg: "Thru the Bible kept me grounded. No hype, just solid food for a hungry soul. Some days I still feel the weight of my past, but those broadcasts remind me I'm forgiven on purpose." Why don't you finish this letter, Steve?

Steve Schwetz: Any reaction to that?

Greg: Just incredible about God's faithfulness and how you take somebody whose heart was, I think he said in here, "as hard as concrete."

Steve Schwetz: "Old concrete." Yeah, which is even harder because concrete gets harder over time. And yet, broke this guy's heart and he still comes back to it once out of prison. That's the encouragement because so often people are one way in prison and then they revert back to their old ways when they're out. And this man, obviously, the Holy Spirit was changing him.

Greg: Why don't you finish the letter?

Steve Schwetz: It says, "Your voices feel like family I never knew I needed. When work gets messy and old buddies call with bad ideas, I remember a TTB line and choose the narrow road. I'm not a saint, but I'm steady now, and that steadiness comes from hearing God's word daily. I've even started helping guys who are fresh out, sharing the same stream that saved my sanity. We meet in a tiny cafe, phones on the table, TTB playing low like a heartbeat."

"The Bible used to scare me. Now it reaches me. TTB taught me how to listen. I keep a little notebook of God's receipts, verses that paid my debt of shame. When holidays roll in and loneliness bites, the music and messages keep my hope warm."

This guy should be a poet. The stuff that he's talking about and the pictures that he's painting are beautiful. He continues, "The music and messages keep my hope warm. People think change is fireworks. For me, it is drip, drip, drip, verse by verse, day by day."

"If you're listening and wonder whether your prayers and gifts matter, please know for me, they kept a flicker alive until it grew into a flame. Your generosity bought airtime, but God used that time to rebuild a man. I'm proof God's word can cross bars, cross borders, and cross stubborn hearts. Thank you for sharing the hope that talks in a quiet voice and never hangs up."

Greg: Thank God for His redeeming love.

Steve Schwetz: Amen. Greg, why don't you pray for our study?

Greg: Father, we just worship You for working so powerfully in that man's life and in so many around the world. We thank You and praise You in Jesus' name. Amen.

Steve Schwetz: Now, here's our study of Revelation chapter 1 on Thru the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

Dr. J. Vernon McGee: I discovered after the broadcast the other day that I went by a verse, and I didn't entirely ignore it, but I got detoured on another truth. As a result, I bypassed something there that's quite controversial, and some may think that I purposely skidded by it. But very frankly, I have never been in the habit of avoiding any of these controversial passages, and now that we're at the last book in the Bible, I'm not about to start it. So I'm going to go back and pick up verse 10. "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet."

Now, we talked about him being in the Spirit and also the voice of the trumpet. But we did not speak about the Lord's Day and what that means. Very frankly, this is a controversial passage, and this is a place for disagreement—and disagreement among good men. Now, there are those that like to think of it as referring to the Day of the Lord. Now, very frankly, I cannot accept that.

Although the great theme of Revelation will deal with the beginning of the great Day of the Lord, which is the Great Tribulation period, and then it goes into the Millennial Kingdom, and you have all of that here. But this man John is saying, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day." Now, the Day of the Lord and the Lord's Day are, to my judgment, actually two different things. It's rather like talking about anti-fat and fat Auntie are just two different things. And if you don't think so, ask fat Auntie if it isn't true.

The thing of it is, fat Auntie may be anti-fat in her philosophy, but she's not in her looks, by any means. So that I would say that the Day of the Lord and the Lord's Day are two different things. And then a chestnut horse and a horse chestnut just happen to be two different things altogether. And my feeling here is that that is true and the Lord's Day here refers to what we call Sunday. And I have accepted that and do accept it today. Now, I recognize there are some very fine men that are saying that it should be the Day of the Lord and that there's not really any evidence to say that he's referring to the first day of the week.

Well, I personally, of course, think that there is, but this is no great thing that ought to cause any disagreement. The only thing is, I'm sure that you want to be right. And of course, you could go with the other viewpoint, but I'm sure that since you want to be right, you'll go along with me in this. Well, anyway, I've come back and I've dealt with it, and I've given you my interpretation of it and suggested that the other one is one that some of our outstanding scholars right now accept, and I certainly respect them and their viewpoint.

Now, I'm going to move right on down to verses 17 and 18 and read these two verses again today. We are looking here at the glorified Christ. We're looking at Him in one of His offices today as our Great High Priest. And as our Great High Priest, He serves yonder at that golden altar in the Holy Place, where He ever lives to make intercession for us. And how wonderful that is. And we're going to see how important that is a little later on in this book.

And then He steps outside to that laver, where He washes our feet and our hands or eyes because we get dirty going through this world. And if we confess our sins, why, He's faithful and just to cleanse us and to forgive us. And the important thing is that He cleanses us; He washes us. And Jesus is still in the foot-washing business, therefore, and He does that as our Great High Priest. We find Him here in this picture. He was in the midst of the lampstands. Now, that was the particular and peculiar responsibility of Aaron and the high priests that succeeded him. They took charge of the lamps that were on the golden lampstand.

And as we've said before, this is without a doubt the finest symbol and picture that we have of the Lord Jesus Christ is that golden lampstand. He was the Light of the World, and those lamps up there, they just fitted down in an open blossom of an almond. How beautiful that lampstand must have been of gold, speaks of the deity of Christ. And the lights up there speak of the Holy Spirit, for He said that He'd send the Holy Spirit. He upholds the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit in turn takes the things of Christ and shows them unto us, just as those lamps reveal the beauty of the lampstand.

But here He's walking in the midst of these lamps, and they are separate. Each lamp is separate. And we're going to see they're churches. And they are the light of the world today. He was the Light of the World when He's down here, but He said you were going to be the light of the world. Now, He's still the Great High Priest, and He's trying to get light out of some of us, and He's having a big problem there, by any means. So that we read here in verse 17 that John has seen our Great High Priest.

And everything that's said about Him here reveals the fact that He's in the position of judging His church. And His voice, like the sound of many waters, is the voice of authority. It's the voice that called this universe into existence. It's the voice that's going to raise His own from the grave. It's His voice that's going to take His church out of the world to be with Him. And it's His voice of authority today that the church should follow by all means.

Now, will you notice? He says in verse 17, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." Now, the effect of this vision upon John actually was nothing short of paralyzing. This is the man who was so familiar with Him, with the Lord Jesus, reclining upon His bosom yonder in the upper room and didn't mind rebuking Him when He was here on earth. Now, he falls at His feet as dead.

And my friend, if John did that, when you and I get into the presence of the Lord Jesus, we're not going to get familiar with Him. He is the glorified Christ today. And I don't like all of this "Jesus" stuff today, about "Jesus this" and "Jesus that," as if He's your buddy. He's not that. I don't even like the song that says, "Jesus is a friend of mine." Somebody says, "Well, you certainly are hard to please." I certainly am. Somebody says, "Well, why?" Well, He said this: "You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you."

When I hear somebody up strumming a guitar or screeching in a church some solo about "Jesus is a friend of mine," I feel like saying to that individual, "Well, then I take it that you're obeying Him. Because you're My friends if you do what I command you." I think we need to recognize we don't get familiar with Him. But the marvelous thing here is He says, "Fear not." And that is the greeting of Deity addressing humanity. And He gives four reasons here for not fearing.

He says, "I'm the first and the last." That speaks of His deity. He came out of eternity and moves into eternity. The Psalmist said, "From everlasting to everlasting, thou art God." And the word "everlasting" means from the vanishing point—from the vanishing point in the past to the vanishing point in the future, He's God. And anywhere you want to project yourself, He's God. And therefore, we have this that speaks of His deity. And He's first because there was none before Him, and He's last because there are none to follow Him.

Now, the second reason we're not to fear, and He says, "And He's the living one who became dead." And that speaks of His redemptive death and resurrection. And that is exactly what Paul said. You know, most of us have that guilt complex, and we're afraid somebody will point a finger at us and say, "You're guilty." And we are, of course. But Paul asks the question in Romans 8:34, "Who is he that condemneth?" Now, where's the fellow that's going to condemn me? And there are a lot of them that can and do, by the way.

But wait a minute. Paul says, "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died." My friend, if you've got a fault to find with me, you think I'm a great sinner, Christ died for me. I'd like for you to know that. Yea, rather is risen again. He rose for my justification, to show that I'm forgiven and that I'm going to heaven someday. And He's even at the right hand of God. That's a wonderful thing. He also makes intercession for me. He prays for me. How wonderful it is. How glorious it is that we have this.

Now, will you notice? He says for the third wonderful thing, "Behold, I am alive for evermore." And that speaks of His present state and session—that He's not only judging, He's making intercession. We need that. And the fourth thing, "And I have the keys of death and Hades." Now, the keys speak of authority and power. Jesus has power over death and the grave now, right now, because of His own death and resurrection. And Hades here is the Greek word for the unseen world. It can refer to the grave where the body is laid, or the place where the spirit goes.

Now, you need not be afraid of anyone except the one that can take your life. And we do well to be afraid of that, of anyone shooting us down or destroying us. But fear not. Jesus, He has the keys of death. He's the one that can relieve us of that terrible fear of death. Now, with all of this, He can say to us today, "Fear not." Now we come to verse 19, and we have given to us here the time division of the contents of the Apocalypse. And what you have here is a chronological order and division of this book into these three time periods of past, present, and future. Listen to him. "Write the things which thou hast seen, the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter."

Now, right now, rather arbitrarily, I want to make that division and then, as we go through, I think I can demonstrate that we're accurate. We have here in chapter 1 the things thou hast seen. Up to this point, what has he seen? He's seen the glorified Christ. Now, the glorified Christ is the one that is the center of this book. This book is Christocentric. The Lord Jesus is the subject of it. And I don't care what you're talking about—horsemen and bowls of wrath and beasts and all of that—don't get your eyes on those. They are just passing through.

The Lord Jesus Christ is the one. He's the one who was, who is, who will be. He's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And he's to write the things he has seen, the glorified Christ. The things that are—what are the things that are? It's the church in the world. And it's still here after 1,900 years. We'll be leaving one of these days. And that is chapters 2 and 3. Then you have the program of Jesus Christ—the things that shall be after these things. Meta tauta—after these things. And that's the program of Jesus Christ. And we see the church going to heaven there and the things that take place on the earth after the church leaves the earth.

This is a glorious picture that we have before us. And we need to recognize the Lord Jesus is the very center and heart of this book. That brings us to verse 20 here. And will you notice? "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches." You see, John will make clear when he's using symbols, and he'll help us understand what the symbols mean. Otherwise, he's talking about the very thing, and you can't spiritualize even the symbols because they are symbols of something, as he makes it clear here.

Now, he says this is the mystery. Now, that means a sacred secret—that which has not been revealed until the time of this writing, until the time it was given to John. And it pertains here specifically to that which John has seen. He has looked upon the glorified Christ. Paul saw Him on the Damascus Road, but what did he see? He said, "I saw a light above the brightness of the sun." Well, I can't even look at the sun. I don't think Paul could look either. He couldn't see Him in all of His glory, but he knew that He was there and it blinded Paul.

Now, we have here the seven stars are identified as the seven angels. And stars represent authority. Apostates today are called wandering stars; we saw that in Jude, the 13th verse. Now, angels can be either human or divine. The word, of course, is messenger. It could refer to a member of the angelic host of heaven; it could refer to a ruler or teacher of the congregation. Personally, I like to think that it refers to the local pastors of these seven churches we're going to look at. And very candidly, I like to hear a pastor called an angel because sometimes they've been called other things. And if you don't mind, I'll just hold to that.

Now, the seven golden lampstands represent the seven churches of Asia, and they in turn represent the church as a whole—the church as the body of Christ. Now, that brings us to chapter 2. And we have here in chapters 2 and 3 the possession of Jesus Christ—that is, the church, the church which is His body, the church which He loved and gave Himself for and the believers in it which the Father gave to Him, and He thanked the Father in the Lord's Prayer (John 17) for that. We are dealing with seven churches that will cover all of the churches, and we'll see that.

And after chapter 3, the church is conspicuous by its absence. Up to chapter 4, the church has been mentioned 19 times. But from chapter 4 through chapter 20, the Great White Throne Judgment, the church is not mentioned one time. The normal reaction is to inquire as to the destination and location of the church during this period. It's sure not in the world. It's been removed from the world. Now, these seven letters, they have a threefold interpretation and application.

First of all, they have a contemporary meaning. That is, they had a direct message to the local churches of John's day. And I intend to take you, in these next few studies that we have, to the location of these seven churches. I've been to them several times now, and I want to go again and again and again, because it's always been a thrill to me to visit these, to see—and I think you get closer to the Bible visiting these seven churches than you do even walking through the land of Israel. And there was a message, which is obvious when you see the ruins of those churches, that John was writing to local churches that he knew all about. As Sir William Ramsay said, "The man who wrote these seven letters to seven churches, he had been there and he knew the local condition."

Now, there is a second meaning, and that is known as the composite. Each one is a composite picture of the church. In other words, there is something that is applicable to all churches in all ages in each message to each individual church. When you read the message to the church in Pergamos, you can get a message there for your church and for yourself personally. That's the composite message that is there.

And then there is a third interpretation and application, and that's the one I'm going to emphasize, and that's the chronological. There's first the contemporary, second the composite, third the chronological. And here you are given the panoramic history of the church. It's given in these seven letters from Pentecost to the Parousia, from the upper room to the upper air. There are seven distinct periods of church history. And apparently, we are in the last one today, and that of Laodicea, or we're pretty close to it. Ephesus represents the apostolic church, the church at its best; that's the first one. Laodicea, the last church, represents the apostate church, all the way from the apostolic to the apostate. And this prophetic picture is largely fulfilled and is now church history. And that makes it extremely remarkable, by the way.

Now, the Lord will follow a well-defined and definite format in addressing each church. And that's the reason the book of Revelation is a rather simple book: because of the fact that there is laid down for us in this book the best-organized material that you'll find in any book of the Bible. There's no book of the Bible that is organized as this book is, and he'll follow a very definite format. Now, I'm going to save that till next time because we will come to the church in Ephesus next time in chapter 2. So until then, may God richly bless you, my beloved.

Steve Schwetz: Join us next time as we take a look at the fascinating letters to the seven churches. Until then, if you're looking for a resource by Dr. McGee, just call 1-800-65-BIBLE. You can also download our app from your favorite app store or visit TTB.org. I'm Steve Schwetz, praying that God blesses and keeps you until we meet again.

Guest (Male): Today's study with Dr. J. Vernon McGee is brought to you by Thru the Bible, and it's made possible by the generous prayer and financial investments from listeners like you on the Bible bus all around the world.