Session 13 – The Book of Revelation

1 John

Written by the apostle John (part of three letters he writes)

Incarnation

1 John 4:2

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that
Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God

1 John 5:5

Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of
God.

Love for One Another

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the
darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to
make him stumble. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks
around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness
has blinded him. (1 John 2:9-11; see also 3:11-24; 4:7-21)

If you don’t love other people, you don’t love God.

Sin and the Christian life

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If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar
and his word has no place in our lives.
2 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does
sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the
Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but
also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1:8-2:2)

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We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born
of God keeps him safe, and the evil one cannot harm him. (1 John 5:18)
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2 John

For authorship and date, see similar info on 1 John

Written to maybe one particular congregation to warn them of false teachers on the
loose, and largely reiterates the themes of 1 John like believing in the Incarnation, and
continuing to love one another.

One text to clarify:

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your
house or welcome him. 11 Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work. (2
John 10-11)

3 John and Jude – read them for yourselves!

Revelation

What do you think Revelation is about?

What do you think Revelation is meant to do?

“A curious record of the visions of a drug addict” (George Bernard Shaw)

Two Questions

 What is it?
Session 13 – The Book of Revelation

 What is it trying to do?

What is it?

 We need to know what type of writing it is before we can appreciate it.

 You do this all the time.

o Revelation is Apocalyptic

 The Greek word means “revelation”

 God causing you to see something you wouldn’t normally be able

to see.

 God can “reveal” both the present and the future.

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What is Revelation trying to do?

Smyrna Ephesus Th

Laodicea Philadelphia Pe

Sardis
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Four Big Themes

• Jesus is the key to the future

• Judgement is real

• Suffering hostility is a normal experience of the Christian

• God’s future is better than you think

Jesus is the key to the future

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the
throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and
seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and
took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. (Rev 5:6-7)
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Judgement is Real

End of the World

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• Justice will Come

• It destabilises our vision of what is permanent

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Suffering in the life of a Christian

 Rev 14:13

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on

 In the book of Revelation, the more godly you are, the more likely you are to
suffer

Revelation 3:17

You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not
realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
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God’s future is better than you think

Revelation 22:1-3

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing
from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the
city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,
yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the
nations. No longer will there be any curse.