THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH (4 OF 16)
by Zach Terry
Scripture: Revelation 4:1
This content is part of a series.
Title: The Rapture of the Church (4 of 16)
Series: Revelation
Author: Zach Terry
Text: Revelation 4:1
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
- 25% of the Bible deals with prophecy, most of that with the 2nd coming of Christ.
- The first and last promise in the Old Testament and New Testament deals with the 2nd coming of Christ.
- Someone has reported that there are 1,845 references in the Old Testament alone and a total of 17 books that give it prominence.
- Of the 260 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are 318 references to Christ's second coming. That averages one out of every 30 verses.
- Furthermore, 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event.
- That leaves only four books that do not refer directly to the Second Coming. Interestingly, three of these four books are single-chapter letters which were written to specific persons on a particular subject.
The Second Coming of Christ was a big deal to the Early Christians.
Paul was only in Thessalonica 2 weeks. If you had two weeks to plant a church, establish it and move on, what would you cover. Paul taught at great length about the 2nd Coming.
Alexander McLaren- The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. They were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.
Why? Because they saw the return of Christ as a very exciting, hope filled event.
CONTEXT: Keep in mind that John is on the isle of Patmos, exiled by Rome for preaching the Gospel. He there worshipping alone on a Sunday and God gives him this remarkable vision. In chapter One he sees Jesus amidst the lampstands, which represented the Churches. Then in 2-3 Jesus executes loving redemptive, but at times harsh discipline on his churches.
Now we come to chapter 4.
TEXT: 1 After this I looked, and behold,
The Greek grammar did not include punctuation so words like, "behold" were used as a sort of exclamation point. So what Jo ...
Series: Revelation
Author: Zach Terry
Text: Revelation 4:1
OPENING ILLUSTRATION:
- 25% of the Bible deals with prophecy, most of that with the 2nd coming of Christ.
- The first and last promise in the Old Testament and New Testament deals with the 2nd coming of Christ.
- Someone has reported that there are 1,845 references in the Old Testament alone and a total of 17 books that give it prominence.
- Of the 260 chapters in the entire New Testament, there are 318 references to Christ's second coming. That averages one out of every 30 verses.
- Furthermore, 23 of the 27 New Testament books refer to this great event.
- That leaves only four books that do not refer directly to the Second Coming. Interestingly, three of these four books are single-chapter letters which were written to specific persons on a particular subject.
The Second Coming of Christ was a big deal to the Early Christians.
Paul was only in Thessalonica 2 weeks. If you had two weeks to plant a church, establish it and move on, what would you cover. Paul taught at great length about the 2nd Coming.
Alexander McLaren- The primitive church thought more about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ than about death or about heaven. They were watching not for the undertaker but for the uppertaker.
Why? Because they saw the return of Christ as a very exciting, hope filled event.
CONTEXT: Keep in mind that John is on the isle of Patmos, exiled by Rome for preaching the Gospel. He there worshipping alone on a Sunday and God gives him this remarkable vision. In chapter One he sees Jesus amidst the lampstands, which represented the Churches. Then in 2-3 Jesus executes loving redemptive, but at times harsh discipline on his churches.
Now we come to chapter 4.
TEXT: 1 After this I looked, and behold,
The Greek grammar did not include punctuation so words like, "behold" were used as a sort of exclamation point. So what Jo ...
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