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Revelation the Seen and the Unseen The Book of Revelation The Seen and the Unseen Sermons by Bernard Bell 2001–2007 Catalog No. 1501–1537 Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino Cupertino, California www.pbcc.org © 2001–2007 Peninsula Bible Church Cupertino Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society. Contents Text Title Cat.No. Date Page 1. 1:1-8 Power on Earth to Stand in the Face of Hell 1501 7.15.2001 5 2. 1:9-20 The Vision That Leads to Worship 1502 7.22.2001 9 3. 2:1-7 Preserving Passion 1503 12.30.2001 13 4. 2:8-11 Defying Death 1504 1.06.2002 17 5. 2:12-17 Avoiding Compromise 1505 1.13.2002 21 6. 2:18-29 Resisting Deception 1506 7.14.2002 25 7. 3:1-6 Staying Alert 1507 7.21.2002 29 8. 3:7-13 Standing Firm 1508 7.28.2002 33 9. 3:14-22 Poor and Needy 1509 8.04.2002 37 10. 4:1-11 Behind the Veil 1510 4.06.2003 41 11. 5:1-14 Worthy is the Lamb 1511 4.13.2003 45 12. 6:1-17 When God Turns His Face 1512 7.13.2003 49 13. 7:1-17 Who Can Stand? 1513 7.20.2003 53 14. 8:1-5 Silence! 1514 7.27.2003 57 15. 8:6–9:21 The Trumpet Shall Sound 1515 7.18.2004 61 16. 10:1-11 Sweet and Sour 1516 7.25.2004 65 17. 11:1-14 Faithful Witness 1517 8.01.2004 69 18. 11:15-19 Long Live the King 1518 8.08.2004 73 19. 12:1-6 Enter the Dragon 1519 7.17.2005 77 20. 12:7-17 War of the Worlds 1520 7.24.2005 81 21. 13:1-10 T.rex 1521 7.31.2005 85 22. 13:11-18 The Great Deception 1522 8.07.2005 89 23. 14:1-5 Following the Lamb 1523 8.14.2005 93 24. 14:6-13 Glorifying God in Life and Death 1524 7.23.2006 97 25. 14:14-20 Harvest Time 1525 7.30.2006 101 26. 15:1-8 God Incomparable 1526 8.06.2006 105 27. 16:1-21 Showdown at Armageddon 1527 8.13.2006 109 28. 17:1-7, 18 A Tale of Two Cities 1528 11.19.2006 113 29. 17:8-17 But We See Jesus 1529 11.26.2006 117 30. 18:1-24 Fallen…In Just One Hour! 1530 12.03.2006 121 31. 19:1-10 Hallelujah! 1531 12.10.2006 125 32. 19:11-21 Jesus, Our Great Savior 1532 2.25.2007 129 33. 20:1-6 Plundering the Strong Man’s House 1533 3.04.2007 133 34. 20:7-15 Death of Death and Hell’s Destruction 1534 3.11.2007 137 35. 21:1-8 At the End of the Rainbow 1535 6.17.2007 141 36. 21:9–22:5 City of Gold: A Vision of Glory 1536 6.24.2007 145 37. 22:6-21 Come, Lord Jesus 1537 7.01.2007 149 PENINSULA BIBLE CHURCH CUPERTINO Power ON Earth to Stand IN THE Face OF HELL Catalog No. 1501 Revelation 1:1-8 First Message Series: The Seen and the Unseen Bernard Bell July 15th, 2001 Four weeks ago, I was on the island of Patmos on the Lord’s Day. na, would be killed for just this issue. After his arrest on the charge Patmos is a small, rocky island in the Greek Aegean, not far from of atheism, Polycarp was urged to change his mind: “What harm is the coast of Turkey. When I contacted one travel agent in Greece there in saying Lord Caesar?” Polycarp remained firm to the end; his about my plans to visit Patmos, he asked me, “Why do you go to final words as he faced the crowd in the stadium were, “Eighty-six Patmos? Do you have family there? … Are you sure that you want years have I served Him, and He never did me injury: how then can to see Patmos???” I blaspheme my king and my Savior?” Nineteen hundred years ago there was another man on Patmos, of John’s insistence that Christ not Caesar was Lord was troubling to whom scholars have ever since asked, “Why did he go to Patmos?” the authorities, all the more so since he was a leader in the church Four times, a man named John is identified as the author of the in Ephesus. John did not share the fate of Polycarp. Instead he was Book of Revelation (1:1,4,9; 22:8). From the beginning the tradition exiled. Patmos is only 40 miles from Ephesus, but it might as well be of the early church has identified this John with the city of Ephesus, 1000. Though he is isolated from the church in Ephesus and other and dated the Book of Revelation to the closing years of the reign churches throughout Asia, John has a passionate concern for the of Domitian (ca. AD 95). With a population of 250,000, Ephesus churches back home. How is he to encourage them not to com- was the fifth largest city in the Roman Empire. It was the capital of promise? He receives a revelation, the message of which he sends the province of Asia, one of the most prosperous provinces in the as the word of God, in the form of a letter to seven churches in the empire. Ephesus was a major port, and the starting point of the road province of Asia. that led through Asia to the eastern reaches of the empire. Ephesus was famous as the home of one of the seven wonders of the ancient A. What is the Book of Revelation? world, the Temple of Artemis. But this was far from being the only 1. A Revelation (1:1-2) temple in the city. Ephesus was awarded the coveted title neokoros, keeper of the temple. It was a city that was full of temples, but the The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his title neokoros was given to those cities awarded the honor of build- servants what must soon take place. He made it known by send- ing a temple for the official worship of the Roman Empire. These ing his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he temples came in two types: temples built for the worship of Roma, saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. the goddess of Rome; and temples built for the worship of the Ro- (1:1-2 NIV) man emperor. Cities competed vigorously for the honor of building Though we frequently call this book The Revelation of John, the these temples. book itself identifies it as The Revelation of Jesus Christ. But note Around AD 90, a new temple was built in Ephesus, a temple to that this revelation begins with God. Indeed everything in this book the emperor Domitian, who reigned AD 81-96. The Caesars had been begins with God. This is one of the central messages of the book: all flirting with divinity since the first Caesar, Julius, had encountered things begin with God. God is rarely described as God. The usual the concept of divine kings when he was in Egypt. The wiser emper- term for him is “the one seated upon the throne.” John says more ors were reluctant to claim divinity for themselves. But Domitian about the nature of God by calling him “the one seated upon the was eager to promote himself as a god, and took the title “Lord and throne” than if he called him simply “God.” God gives this revela- God” (dominus et deus). The citizens of Ephesus were expected to tion to Jesus Christ so that he in turn might show it to his servants. go to the temple of Domitian and there offer a pinch of incense on He does so through the intermediary of an angel, whom we encoun- the altar, acclaiming Domitian as Lord and God. For most citizens ter several times in the book. John in turn testifies or witnesses to this was no problem. They worshiped a multiplicity of gods, and it everything that he saw. And he sums this all up as being “the word of required no mental gymnastics to stretch their pantheon to include God and the testimony of Jesus.” Domitian. Indeed, the city had clamored for the honor of building The revelation is an apocalypse, from the Greek word for revela- this temple, vying with the two other great cities of the province, tion. An apocalypse is an uncovering or revealing of things that are Smyrna and Pergamon. For the Christian, though, these titles that otherwise hidden. This revelation concerns what must soon take Domitian arrogated to himself were blasphemous. They were titles place. Most people assume therefore that the revelation is of a de- that belonged to God alone. tailed timetable concerning future events, the events at the end of John says that he was on the island “because of the word of God time. I’m sorry to disappoint you, but there is no such detailed time- and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). This is a phrase that occurs several table in the book. The revelation does indeed concern the events that other times in the book. The most likely explanation is that John will soon take place, but we won’t understand those events unless we continued to bear witness to Jesus, and that witness was that it was first understand the present.
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