FOUNDATIONS

Lessons designed to promote the integrity of scripture and church!

I Corinthians 3:11“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is    JESUS CHRIST ”  

All articles are written using the NKJV, unless otherwise noted! All articles are written by David Hicks, unless specified otherwise.

THE BODY OF CHRIST

The difficulty of this lesson is in the idea that we can give a crash course in the book of Revelation in a single lesson. This of course cannot be done! The greatest reason is that the book was written to Christians that had been, prior to obedience to the Gospel, reading the Old Testament prophets in the synagogues of the Jews every Sabbath and had a working knowledge of the prophets of God and their language of repentance and judgment (very illustrative).

The majority of these, who are reading this revelation, are Christians of Jewish ancestry dispersed into Asia Minor at the warnings of the Apostles of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:1-2; 2 Peter 3:1-2). Being familiar with the language of the prophets, and also having a firsthand knowledge of the events that must shortly transpire this was a book of comfort for these Christians, knowing they had found the blessings of God through Christ instead of His harsh judgment promised to those who rejected Jesus, note:

Acts 3:22-26 “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. ²³ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’ ²⁴ Yes, and all the prophets, from Samuel and those who follow, as many as have spoken, have also foretold these days. ²⁵ You are sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ ²⁶ To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

There was no doubt in John’s revelation that the things he would record were not future advents for thousands of years down the road (with the exception of the final advent, final judgment, the end which is something that is recorded at the end of the chapter we will look at in this lesson); it was for the seven churches of Asia and would have no value in comfort, admonishment, or dedication if it was for a different generation (it is with the universal understanding of seeking God’s righteous blessings and heeding His warnings, that we are likewise blessed by these words today).

In addition, John was not writing about a future kingdom, since he plainly acknowledges that he is working “in the kingdom” – Revelation 1:9. John will also reveal to the seven churches of Asia that they each were to “hear what the Spirit says to the churches” – Revelation 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22. This instruction speaks to the fact that there was nothing in this letter of revelation that is contradictory or which has not already been spoken of within the body of work which the Spirit of God has already made manifest within the inspired writings to the churches.

This chapter is the conclusion of the earthly view of the Apocalypse, which began in chapter twelve. This goes beyond the limits of the heavenly view given in chapters 4-11 (more detail). This apocalypse is best described as the end of physical Israel, or the avenging of the Apostles, prophets, and saints on Jerusalem (universal symbol of Israel), note:

Heavenly view:

Revelation 6:10 “And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?””

Earthly view:

Revelation 18:20 ““Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!””

Once the great harlot is punished (Jerusalem), because of her role in persecuting the saints of the Lord (18:5-6), the Lord is shown as victorious over all (Chapter 19), and finally in Chapter 20, the process of this victory is revealed. 

This preliminary binding of Satan is the demonstration of Christ’s redemptive work over sin (Chapter 12:10-11, shown at the beginning of the earthly view, which also would include the persecution of those who had been victorious over sin, immediately following – 12:17).

This is also something that the Spirit of God has revealed to the churches, note:

Paul stated this as his commission from the Lord - Acts 26:18 “to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’”

The Hebrew writer described this as the victory of our Lord in bringing many sons to glory - Hebrews 2:14-15 “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, ¹⁵ and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”

Verses 1-3, deal with the power of the Gospel of Jesus as the Christ to all who obey it!

John is now privileged to see martyred Christians reigning with the King. The 1,000 years is an object of time and even the novice Bible student has to recognize that it was present tense when John was privileged to see it!

Just as Paul spoke to Timothy that Christ is now reigning as the only Potentate (present tense – 1 Timothy 6:15), John shows the same and that saints were alive with Him (hope in the face of persecution). 

It is also very important to notice that they are reigning the same amount of time that Satan has been bound – this has been spoken of by the Spirit to the churches as the time of Apostolic oversight and the protection against apostasy among saints on earth: 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 (what is restraining – Vs. 6); 2 Timothy 3:1-9.

These victorious saints are shown as comfort to those who would have the complete word at the conclusion of the Apostolic work (John 16:13), and develop a love for it (2 Peter 1:12-21). Those who would live (Vs.5  - “live again”) at the conclusion of the 1,000 year reign (Apostolic oversight), would live in victory in trust of the written word of God, regardless of the Apostasy of others, or persecutions to come, in the same manner as these who now become an example.

Verses 4-6, deal with comfort in the face of coming apostasy and persecutions!

In these verses the Apostolic oversight is done and apostasy as it has been foretold now comes alive within the body of Christ. This was something that was trying to come alive even during the Apostolic rule (take the Corinthians for example; as Paul would write the first letter to them, consider the amount of division and heresy that had crept in among them in such a short time, and how sternly Paul wrote to them in order to set them back on the single path of righteousness). Now, with only the word and those who would love it (opposite of 2 Thessalonians 2:10 – I have always said that sound teaching is only as effective as those who will only tolerate sound doctrine; i.e. love for the truth), false teachers will rise unencumbered among those who are weak and did not develop a love for the truth.

It is a battle of armies gathered with evil intent towards God’s word and against his people who will not withdraw from the truth (Gog and Magog – Ezekiel 38:2-17). This was something spoken of in detail by the Apostles and prophets of the Lord to the churches – 2 Thessalonians 2:3-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; 2 Timothy 3:1-9; 2 Peter 2; Jude).

This present release of Satan is ongoing even to this day, and until the final advent. Only those saints who demonstrate the same nature of obedience and trust as those who were reigning with Christ during the Apostolic oversight will live with the Lord (Vs. 5)!

Vs. 7-10, deal with the coming of apostasy!

In this summary chapter to the earthly apocalypse, we have followed the development of the scheme of redemption through the Apostolic reign, the apostasy, and now to the end at the final judgment scene.

The end has come (un-announced), sentence is passed, and eternal punishment and life are met out.

This is also something that has been revealed in exacting detail by the Spirit of God to the churches – see: 1 Corinthians 15:24-28, 50-58; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 5:1-11.

This is about as short as we can make this and still honor the importance of the details within; however, even the novice can see within the confines of this, some extremely important conflicts with premillennialism.

• This 1,000 year reign is definitely not a future advent (they were reigning with Christ – present tense over two thousand years ago).
• It speaks towards hope for saints of God in Christ, when it was written and now!
• It does not require a special class of saint to define its meaning (nor does the rest of God’s word). It is something all of us who spend time with God’s word can know and comprehend. 
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• These understandings, as this lesson reveals, coordinates with what the Spirit of God has already spoken to the churches, instead of some random or independent instruction; as premillennialists would have you believe.  

Next: “Premillennialism Diminishes Christ and His Body – the Church”