SNBS Relevation Part 1

Good evening and welcome to Sunday Night Bible Study with Pastor Joe Sia Shipley of Wyden Baptist Church.

Happy to be with you guys here from my house instead of from my office at the church. We recycled a couple previous lessons from the past couple weeks, but now we're back and as promised, today,

October 25th, we are starting our study of the book of Revelation. And today we're going to start by defining some terms.

So we're going to define some terms today, and you may find yourself having been an ardent studier of New Testament prophecy and the book of Revelation, or you may just be starting out.

Well, today we're just going to define some terms before we even dig into what the scripture says about it and kind of help you be able to picture the different views about this.

Now, as we start digging into Revelation, you need to remember some things we've gone over many times before.

First off, the difference between doctrine and theology. Remember, a doctrine is a cardinal truth, a foundational truth found in scripture from Genesis to Revelation.

Obviously, it never contradicts another doctrine. Well, a theology literally means the study of God.

Well, since men are the ones doing the studying, we know that it can and will be flawed.

There's no perfect theology. There's no person who has it all right. Nobody. So theology can be flawed, and it will be.

Doctrine can't be, because doctrine is from God. Theology is from man. Well, when it comes to eschatology, the study of last things, we have to understand that there is nobody who has it perfectly right.

Nobody. We have to have a proper amount of grace and mercy for that.

Having said that, within eschatology, there are doctrinal cardinal truths that can't be argued.

That's what the Bible says. The resurrection of the dead, Jesus Christ's return. Those things will happen.

The Bible says they will happen. So it's not up for debate. Things that aren't up for debate are things that are not as clear or explicit in the

New Testament that we have to infer from. It doesn't mean God's a God of confusion.

It means that we as people can be stupid, and we need the Lord to help us and give us insight.

So as we study this, guys, pray for that insight. Pray that God shows you, and understand that there are people godlier than you, with a slightly different view.

There are people godlier than me, with a slightly different view. We have to allow for that, so long as it's not heretical, like Satan is going to win, or something like that.

So allow for that. At the same time, also understand that we are told to study to show ourselves a proof and to rightly divide the word of truth.

So let's start digging in. As always, be sure to like and share and subscribe and all that stuff to our

YouTube channel, Witten Media Ministry. Witten Media Ministry. And of course, our

Facebook page. We don't get any proceeds from it. It's just to help share the gospel. In addition to that, don't forget our schedule.

Mondays, time out with Pastor Ben, Tuesday night Bible study with Brother Jeff, and Brother Christian's been doing a lot lately, that's been fun.

Brother John Everett is coming up soon. Brother Andrew's music studies on Wednesdays, Thursday night

WOW moments, and Fridays or off days, Saturday question and answer, which we did live yesterday at 2 o 'clock every

Saturday. Sometimes live, sometimes pre -recorded. And then Sunday mornings, we have our sermons, and Sunday evenings we have some night

WOW Bible study. So here we are. The four typical views of how to view

Revelation or New Testament prophecy. So behind me, I have the four typical ways

Christians have understood the book of Revelation, okay? Now, Revelation, apocalypse, literally means to uncover, to reveal.

So, out of or take off the cover, apocalypse means to uncover.

That's what the book of Revelation means. There's just one. God only needed one revelation. He didn't need many.

So when someone says I have a new revelation from God, no they don't. They may have been illuminated, they may have learned something, the

Holy Spirit may have shown them something they've never seen before, but they did not get a new revelation because then they would need to be in the 67th book of the

Bible. These are the four ways people have typically, Christians have typically viewed the book of Revelation, okay?

I'm going to try and explain these just briefly. We won't spend all night here, just, I want to give you some terms. Take some notes, study them on your own, research them, and help figure out which one maybe you're lining up with the most now.

And as we spend the next few weeks in Revelation, it will probably change. That's fine. You want your theology to change based on what

God's word says, not the other way around. First one I have up here is preterist.

Now preterist, pre meaning past, these Christians typically viewed the book of Revelation to have already been fulfilled mostly, and most of the book of Revelation they believe was fulfilled in the first century, okay?

So, the events of 70 A .D., remember there was a Jewish revolt from 66 to 73, and it was, the culminating point was actually in the middle when

General Titus and the Romans, which are Seprus as interpreter, destroyed the temple,

Herod's temple, destroyed it, and desecrated the Holy of Holies by slaughtering a pig in the

Holy of Holies. Well, the preterists see that event as being fulfilled, as the book of Revelation being fulfilled by that event.

Most preterists think the book of Revelation was written before 70 A .D., which is a pretty hard, pretty hard case to make, but you have full preterists who would say all of Revelation has been fulfilled, that's a no -no.

Okay, that's a no -no. We have big problems with that. As they say, we're living in the new heavens and new earth now.

There's not very many of those. But you have partial preterists. Partial preterists say that all of Revelation except the last three or four chapters has been fulfilled, but the last three or four chapters speak of Christ's return and the resurrection of the dead, and obviously they don't think that's happened yet because it hasn't.

They would just say the first 18 and a half chapters or whatever were fulfilled in the first century, okay?

Now if that sounds odd to you, just hold on. Give them some grace.

If that sounds odd to you, and if the next one sounds odd to you, and if the next one sounds odd to you, and if the last one in the future sounds odd to you, maybe it's just because you grew up never hearing that before, it doesn't make it wrong.

Maybe that's right. Remember what I said about doctrine and theology, okay?

A historicist is someone who views the book of Revelation as, yes, it has occurred in our past, but it is a picture of the history of the church, okay?

So it is a picture of the events of 70 AD, yes, but that's just the beginning.

You have the rise of the Pope, okay, who's typically seen as the Antichrist, right? You have the

Reformation, you have all these things. Historicists see the book of Revelation as a big storybook of the life of Jesus' church, okay?

So it's not future events. They have already happened in the life of the church. Again, they would most likely still say the last three or four chapters have yet to happen.

The Differences of Progress says this was fulfilled in the first century, and most of is prophesying in the first century.

Historicist says no, it's about the whole life of the church from the past 2 ,000 years. An Idealist is someone who sees the book of Revelation as almost completely symbolic, allegorical, as a picture of spiritual warfare, light and darkness, kingdom of darkness, kingdom of light, good and evil, and it's really just a big picture of the cosmic battle between good or evil, and it's kind of like spiritual warfare being played out on the pages of scripture, and it gives us an insight on what the spiritual world looks like.

So it's not about events. It's allegorical. It's like Jesus' parables. It's not that it really happened or it really will, but it's spiritual warfare and it's a picture of it, and it's what is going on with angels and demons and Satan and God and all that kind of stuff.

A Futurist is someone who sees the first three chapters, so the first chapter is being stuff that's already happened, second and third chapter being real churches in the life of John, and then chapters four onward as still having yet to be fulfilled, and again, if that sounds odd to you, give mercy and grace.

Maybe that's something you've never heard of before, but this view is pretty popular, especially in the

United States and other places. A Futurist view is saying that most of Revelation, chapter four onward, especially chapter six onward, have yet to be fulfilled.

They have not been fulfilled yet. It could happen tomorrow. It could happen a thousand years from now, but they have yet to be fulfilled.

So a Futurist thinks that the book of Revelation will be fulfilled in the future, at least chapter four onward.

Those are the four typical ways to view the book of Revelation, as well as other

New Testament prophecies like the Olivet Discourse and Matthew 24. So a

Futurist, the book of Revelation was mostly fulfilled in the first century with the destruction of the

Temple in 70 AD. A Historicist, the book of Revelation is a large storybook of the history of the church, and it's the past tense now, but it's a history book of the church.

An Idealist is the book of Revelation is not to be taken literally, but it's an allegory, a symbolism of spiritual warfare.

A Futurist, most of the book of Revelation has yet to take place. Chapter four onward will take place in the future.

All right, there are the four main ways to look at the book of Revelation, at least traditionally. Now, when it comes to the millennium, chapter 20 verses one through eight, chapter 20 verses one through eight.

We'll do these three terms, and then we will stop for the night, because I know that's a lot of terms. My in -person crews on Sunday nights have been saying

I need to slow down. So let me take a breath. All right.

Millennium means a thousand years. Or Revelation 20 verses one through eight.

This is the only time explicitly in scripture where this period of 1 ,000 years is explicitly mentioned.

So what are we going to do with this thousand -year period? You read Revelation 20, one through eight.

In fact, let's read it right now. Revelation chapter 20 verses one through eight. I'm going to read it from my phone because I left my

Bible at work. I'm at a shop in Memphis.

Evergreen UV. UV lighting fixtures. I bring my

Bible to read on break, and yeah, left it there.

Okay, Revelation 20, which is where our last one was, one through eight. You ready?

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit, and a great chain.

And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan. There have been so many times where, you know, people are like, well, who's the dragon of Revelation?

Well, read it. It says it's Satan, okay? Sorry. Who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until a thousand years were ended.

After that, he must be released for a little while. Then I saw thrones, and seated on them were those to whom the authority of the judge was committed.

Also, I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus, and for the word of God. Those who had not worshiped the beast or its image, and had not received the mark on their foreheads or their hands.

They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.

This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection. Over such, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him a thousand years.

And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison, and he will come out and deceive the nations.

They're at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their numbers like the sand of the sea.

And then they lose, of course. Okay, now, so,

Christ reigning for a thousand years. What does that look like? Well, we got three ways of defining this, okay?

Pre -millennial, post -millennial, and all -millennial. And you've probably heard of these. These are more popular ways to look at it.

This is how you look at the book of Revelation, and you test their prophecy in general. This is specifically dealing with Revelation 21 through 8.

What do you do with this thousand years, okay? The mill means thousand. Pre means before, post means after, all means no, okay?

So we're talking about the return of Christ. Pre -millennials, pre -millennialists, say

Christ comes back before the thousand year reign. Post -millennialists, sorry guys, say

Christ comes back after a thousand year reign. All -millennialists say there's no literal millennial reign.

They call it realized millennium, that we are in the millennium right now. So let me explain these the best

I can, okay? Stay with me. Take notes. Focus. Rewind it if you have to. We'll go over this more than just tonight, especially if you guys put it in the comments.

I read the comments. Pre -millennial. Jesus comes back before the thousand years, and we can debate later about is there a rapture before the great tribulation, in the middle of the great tribulation, or at the end of the great tribulation.

But either way, any of those ways, Jesus comes back and then sets up a literal kingdom on this earth.

A lot of times, especially if you're a dispensationalist, it's in Jerusalem. And the nation of Israel is sovereign nation.

He's ruling the earth from. But either way, he sets up a literal one thousand year reign on this earth.

Where Jesus Christ is king of this earth. Not even the new earth yet. This earth.

Okay? So Jesus Christ is king of this whole earth. Not that all these nations may still be there, but England, the

UK, the United States, Brazil, Cambodia, all that.

Jesus is king of the earth, literally, for a thousand years. So he comes back before that thousand year reign, obviously, and then he sets up his reign.

Post -millennials say, no, no, no. Jesus comes back after a thousand year reign. And you're saying, how is

Jesus going to come back after he reigns for a thousand years? And the answer post -millennials will say is because he's not going to literally reign from this planet, but he'll reign through his church on this planet.

So Jesus will be in heaven, and he will be reigning through his church. What they say is, the great commission.

You know, they're forming disciples of all nations. That at some point, the gospel will take hold in every nation.

And that Christianity will continually become more prominent in all the nations.

And more and more people will be saved. And we'll see the difference culturally, politically, where most nations will be

Christians, and the culture will be Christian. Okay? So it's kind of like a positive spin on things. Okay?

The world will keep getting better. Most post -millennials will say, this hasn't happened yet.

But at some point, the gospel will break through in every nation. And Christ won't literally reign on earth himself, like sitting on a throne.

But he'll reign through his church, which will have influence in the whole world.

Not that every human will be saved. But through trial, error, and persecution, the gospel will break through at some point.

And that most of the world's nations will be Christians. If you want to think of it that way. Well, on the list, it's probably not a fair term, on the list, because it literally means no millennium.

And that's not what they believe. They probably prefer the term realized millennium.

Meaning that we are in the millennium right now, and it's not a literal thousand years. Like, post -millennials normally don't believe it's a literal thousand years.

They can. But all millennials say, no, no, no. It's not a literal thousand years.

And unlike the post -millennials, they're not going to say that we haven't reached it. They're going to say that age began after the first century.

After Jesus ascended, Pentecost, destruction of the temple, all that stuff, that age began.

So it's not that they don't believe in a millennium. It's that they believe we have been in that age since Jesus left.

And typically they do not have the view that the world will get more

Christianized. They don't believe that the gospel will break through in the same sense that post -millennials believe it will.

They believe, much like pre -millennials, that the gospel will be heard in all nations, but not necessarily accepted in all nations.

And all millennials don't take the millennial reign literally. They don't think Christ is going to reign through his church.

They don't think Christ is going to literally reign. They're thinking that the millennium is just what the name of this age is.

And that we're in it right now, and Satan is bound right now. You may say, how is

Satan bound right now? Well, they'll say he's bound from deceiving the nations. He can deceive individuals, but he can't deceive the nations.

That's what all millennials would say. So, let's review, shall we?

We already reviewed on this side, so this side. Pre -millennials say Christ will come back before the thousand -year reign.

He will literally reign on this earth for a thousand years. Post -millennials will say Christ will return after the millennium.

And the millennium is not him literally reigning on this earth. It's him reigning through his church, which has taken hold in every nation and had a large influence on the world, and it's gotten better.

All millennials say there's no literal millennium. That's the name of this age, and that we can preach with boldness, but we can't expect that the gospel will break through in every nation like post -millennials, and that Satan is bound from deceiving the nations right now.

Okay? So they believe, all millennials believe Revelation 21 through 8 is our state right now.

So, there's some terms. I try to be as fair as possible to every group. I haven't even told you which groups

I'm in. Remember, it is okay for your theology to change.

The doctrine of the Bible never changes. The theology of man can and should.

If your theology has never changed, you probably need to study more. It's called a study because it's on God. All right, guys, that's all we have for tonight.

I love you guys very much. Thank you for suffering through this with me. I hope you've learned something.

Put it in the comments. Q &As, live Q &As. Ask questions then. Say, hey, I watched this video.

What does this mean? I'm not afraid to do eschatology live on public Facebook. I'm good with it.

Love you guys very much. I hope to talk to you guys later. Don't forget to tune in to Pastor Ben's timeout tomorrow at 10 a .m.