The Church where I belong

The Revised Standard Version (Chapter 7)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!”

John describes his vision Revelation 7:9–10 (NET 2nd ed.)

After these things I looked, and here was13 an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe,14 people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. They were shouting out in a loud voice,

“Salvation belongs to our God,15 who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

13. The phrase “and here was” expresses the sense of καὶ ἰδού (kai idou). 14. Here καί (kai) has not been translated before each of the following categories, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. 15. The dative here has been translated as a dative of possession.

Revelations is about to Church

The author writes about the vision of Jesus and what Jesus was saying to him about the church. We need to take the author at his surface meeting this letter to the church was about the church. It’s potential and failures. He specifically writes about the seven churches and what their strengths and weaknesses were strength and weaknesses existence as we look at our churches. Some of us will claim that what we’ve seen from churches is even worse.

Surface meaning cleansing and victory

9. John’s there before me adds a touch of vividness. He saw it all so clearly. But the great multitude was too large to be counted. He did not know how many there were. The definite number in Revelation 4 pointed to completion: none was missing. The great throng here shows the impossibility of counting up the number of the redeemed. They came from every nation, tribe, people and language (see note on Revelation 5:9); expression piled on expression indicates the crowd’s universality. Incidentally this is a further indication that spiritual rather than physical Israel is referred to in the earlier part of the chapter, for otherwise the crowd would be the Gentiles only, not all the nations. The vast throng stands before the throne and in front of the Lamb. Once again Christ is accorded a place with the Father.

The redeemed are dressed in white robes. The Greek noun stolas signifies long robes, and is much more appropriate to glorious garments than to workaday clothing. That they are white probably points us to justification. The saved stand before God perfect in the righteousness which Christ supplies. White is also the colour of victory, while palm branches, too, were often emblems of triumph. The emphasis on triumph leads some to hold that the white-clad throng are the martyrs. Against this, there is no indication in the narrative such as we get elsewhere, e.g. the reference to those ‘slain because of the word of God’ (Revelation 6:9), or those ‘beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus’ (Revelation 20:4). Moreover it was not their death but Christ’s that won the triumph. Victory came through his saving work so that it is he who provides the white robe. For people confronted with tyrants who put their trust in sword and bow, it is good to be reminded that final triumph comes through quiet trust in Christ.

10. In a loud voice the multitude ascribes (cried out is really a vivid present) salvation to God and the Lamb (see note on Revelation 5:13). Both are in mind, not one. And as God is he who sits on the throne it is God as sovereign of whom John is thinking. Salvation then comes from the sovereign act of God in Christ.

Morris, Leon. 1987. Revelation: An Introduction and Commentary. Vol. 20. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

AUTHOR

On first blush, there is no problem with the authorship of Revelation because the author identifies himself as “John” (1:1, 4, 9; 22:8). The issue is which John. The Christian writers of the first couple of centuries all attest to John the apostle, the author of the Gospel of John and letters of 1–3 John, as the author of Revelation. One of those writers, Irenaeus, was a disciple of Polycarp, who, Irenaeus reports, was a disciple of John the apostle. Irenaeus attributed Revelation to “John, the Lord’s disciple” (Against Heresies 4.20.11). In addition, Justin Martyr wrote of “John, one of the apostles of Christ, who prophesied by a revelation that was made to him” (Dialogue with Trypho 81). These second-century church fathers are joined by the third-century writers Tertullian (Against Marcion 3.24) and Hippolytus (On the Antichrist 36) in affirming the apostle John as the author of Revelation.

As early as the third century, however, questions about John’s authorship were raised on the basis of the linguistic differences between Revelation and the Gospel and letters of John. The Greek of Revelation, like the Greek of John’s Gospel, is fairly simple. In Revelation, however, there are numerous grammatical anomalies that do not appear in the Gospel. At most points these anomalies can be linked to aspects of the author’s visionary experience. That is, the author was wrestling with some aspect of the vision that did not communicate well in the normal, grammatical use of Greek. Therefore, the author “bent” the language in an attempt to convey as much of the reality of the vision as possible (see the note on 1:4 regarding John’s misuse of grammar to emphasize a crucial aspect of the vision as an example of this phenomenon). On this basis, there is no reason not to side with the early Christian writers and accept John the apostle as the author.

In addition, there are a number of images and features in Revelation that find their parallel primarily, and often only, in the Gospel of John in the New Testament: (1) reference to Jesus as the “Lamb” (5:6, and 27 other uses; cf. John 1:29, 36); (2) the image of Jesus as the “door” (4:1—see note in commentary; cf. John 10:7); (3) Jesus as the Word (19:13; cf. John 1:1, 14); (4) the cross as the judgment of Satan (11:4–18; 19:11–20:3—see notes in commentary; cf. John 12:31–32; 16:11); (5) Jesus as “light” (21:23; cf. John 1:4, 9; 3:19; 8:12; 9:5; 12:35–36, 46); (6) Jesus’ preexistence (13:8, NLT mg; cf. John 8:58; 17:5, 24; Col 1:17); (7) the “I am” statements (egō eimi [1473/1510, 1609/1639]), which appear most often in John and Revelation (1:8, 17; 2:23; 21:6; 22:13, 16; cf. more than 20 uses as self-identification in John’s Gospel).

DATE AND OCCASION OF WRITING

There are two primary choices for the date of Revelation. One is the mid-90s of the first century ad. The other is the mid- to late 60s. Scholars have been divided on this almost from the beginning of Christian history. Early church writers provide support for both dates (and a number of others), and modern scholars have joined them in their diversity. In the nineteenth century the predominant dating of Revelation was in the 60s. In the twentieth century it has been the 90s—although, in the last generation of scholars, many have been returning to the 60s for the date of Revelation.

Mulholland, M. Robert, Jr. 2011. “Revelation.” In Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: James, 1–2 Peter, Jude, Revelation, edited by Philip W. Comfort, 405–6. Cornerstone Biblical Commentary. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.

Is John the Disciple the Author?

The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Defining the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha)

The word “pseudepigrapha” literally means “falsely ascribed writings,” and refers to works that falsely claim to be written by a specific author. While many works classified as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha are indeed falsely ascribed authorship by Old Testament figures, the category is usually defined more inclusively.

Bauckham and Davila define the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as “ancient books that claim to be written by a character in the Old Testament or set in the same time period as the Old Testament and recount narratives related to it, but which do not belong to the Jewish, Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant biblical canons” (Bauckham and Davila, “Introduction,” xvii). The Lexham Bible Dictionary draws a slightly different boundary, classifying books found in the Septuagint as represented by the Old Testament of Codex Alexandrinus or in the Latin Vulgate (including appendices), as Old Testament Apocrypha rather than Old Testament Pseudepigrapha even if they are not canonical for any Christian or Jewish groups.

Some works that are thought to be by Jewish authors from approximately the period of 200 BC–AD 200 but which are not set in the time period of the Old Testament are also often grouped with the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, such as the Letter of Aristeas, Orphica and the Hellenistic Synagogal Prayers. However, the works of the first century AD Jewish authors Josephus and Philo of Alexandria are not classified as Pseudepigrapha.

Charlesworth describes the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha as usually, but not always, having the following features (Charlesworth, OTP 1, xxv):

• They are Jewish or Christian.

• They are attributed to ideal figures in Israel’s past.

• They claim to contain God’s Word or message.

• They build upon Old Testament ideas and narratives.

• They were composed during the period 200 BC–AD 200 or preserve Jewish traditions that date from that period.

There are approximately 65 writings and fragments that qualify as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha according to these criteria; many others were written after AD 200 and are sometimes also classified as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha.

Jewish, Christian, or Neither?

Many of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha were unquestionably written by Jewish authors. This is especially the case for those written in the BC period, such as Jubilees. Others show awareness of Christian ideas and practices. For example, the Odes of Solomon affirm the doctrine of the Trinity, and the Vision of Ezra makes reference to baptism and the New Testament account of King Herod killing the baby boys in Bethlehem (Matt 2:17). Some of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha represent an editorial progression: many of the Old Testament Pseudepigrapha were probably written by Jewish authors but nevertheless contain some references to Christian concepts, which were probably inserted by scribes after the original composition. It is sometimes difficult to determine whether the references to Christian concepts are the work of the original author or of a later scribe.

The authors and scribes who wrote the references to Christian concepts are usually characterized in scholarly literature as Christians. These authors and scribes may or may not have held beliefs that the early church fathers would have been identified as orthodox Christianity, and present-day members of different Christian traditions may or may not regard them as Christians. For this reason, Lexham Bible Dictionary usually refers to these authors and scribes as “Christian-influenced” rather than as “Christian.”

A few works often classified as Old Testament Pseudepigrapha clearly fall outside the viewpoints of traditional Judaism and Christianity altogether. For example, the original form of the Book of Ahiqar is polytheistic, while the Apocalypse of Adam contains gnostic views.

(For further information on Second Temple Judaism, see this article: Second Temple Period. For information on Christianity in general and how it is defined, see this article: Christianity. For further details on Gnosticism and why it was deemed heretical by early church fathers, see this article: Gnosticism.)

We are the body of Christ. What does that mean?

Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible (The Body of Christ)

The Body of Christ. In his account of the Lord’s Supper, Paul spoke of the bread as Christ’s body “which is given for you” (1 Cor 11:24). Elsewhere in Paul’s letters, similar expressions indicate that he understood Christ’s death to be the means of human deliverance. In 1 Corinthians 10:16 he speaks of “participation in the body of Christ.” Believers are closely identified with Christ’s atoning death. They are said to have died to the Law “through the body of Christ” (Rom 7:4). Believers are reconciled in “his body of flesh by his death” (Col 1:22). Paul’s repeated use of “body,” “flesh,” and “death” underscores his point that the vicarious ministry of Jesus in the world, culminating in physical death, is the fundamental basis of Christian faith. Peter concurred when he wrote that Christ “bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Pt 2:24).

Paul’s most frequent use of the word “body,” however, is in a metaphor of the church in its relationship to Christ. In a number of passages the church is the “body” and Christ the “head” (Col 1:18). Christ has been made “Head over all things for the church,” which “is his body” (Eph 1:22, 23). The body grows by “holding fast to the Head” (Col 2:19). As head of the body, Christ is its Savior (Eph 5:23). The head/body metaphor stresses the organic dependence of the church on Christ and his lordship over the church. The church finds its self-understanding in terms of its Head. The relationship is organic in that the life flows from, and is sustained by, the Head. The relationship is immediate, direct, and complete. Apart from Christ, both in his historic atoning sacrifice and in his present position at the right hand of God, the church has no existence.

An aspect of the church as the body of Christ is its essential unity within its obvious diversity. Historic distinctions are to disappear as Jew and Gentile, male and female, slave and free, become one body in Christ (Gal 3:27, 28). Because there is one Spirit, there is one body (Eph 4:4). The result is a new humanity formed out of formerly alienated parties (Eph 2:11–16). The unity of the body is not a goal but a fact brought about by the baptism of believers into one body (1 Cor 12:13). The body of believers should give expression to that unity (Phil 2:2).

Paul found it necessary to add that the body’s unity and corporate nature does not result in destroying or minimizing the individual. By their “incorporation” into Christ, believers belong not only to him but also to each other, “and each needs all the others” (Rom 12:5 LB). The individual “parts of the body” find their significance by virtue of their belonging to the body. In Romans 12 and in 1 Corinthians 12 Paul took note of different gifts found within the body, which he said should not be stifled but expressed. “Let us use them according to the grace given to us” (Rom 12:6). Taken together, the variety of gifts contribute to building up the body (Eph 4:12). In the process the body grows in love (v 16) and becomes the visible manifestation of divine love in every age.

Revelations Reveals

WHAT THE BOOK OF REVELATIONS REVEALS...

The revelation regards the church. The second thru third chapters gives us this insight Revelation 2-3 and ends with Revelation 21:9 "I will show you the bride". Within the writings of the book there is a tension of crisis and hope Revelation 1:10 represents the hope. The Lord's day in his court is eternal. Alternately, we live with the presents of the beast Revelation 13:1. The church always has a hope as it is surrounded by crisis. The church is always under attack. However, a crisis church become stronger. Example: September 11, 2001 was one of this country's darkest hours. during that time the country came together and prayed. The church became sanctuary for a hurting country. We know what the church can accomplish during dark times but what does the church look like?

NO LIMITS

The church is not exclusionary. In this world confusion reigns. We cannot expect confuse people to come in and know everything about the gospel. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS THE ANTIDOTE FOR CONFUSION. When attempt to limit seekers or those who need Christ we work against God and ourselves Deuteronomy 32:30. The power of the church is additive. "Let down your nets" John 21:6

What composes Christ’s body

The NET Bible (Chapter 1)

1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but 44 grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ.

44 “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).

Ant. Jewish Antiquities, a history of the Jewish people written by Josephus (see Ag. Ap. above)

Pirqe Avot A collection of the sayings from Jewish sages and rabbis

Sifre Sifre on Deuteronomy, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Deuteronomy compiled ca. a.d. 350–400

Deut Sifre on Deuteronomy, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Deuteronomy compiled ca. a.d. 350–400

SBT Studies in Biblical Theology

Biblical Studies Press, The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible (Biblical Studies Press, 2005).

We may look poor but we are rich:

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 8

9 For you know the grace14 of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, he became poor for your sakes, so that you by his poverty could become rich

There should be a mark of suffering for others

The NET Bible (Second Edition) (Chapter 20)

24 Now Thomas (called Didymus),40 one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 The other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied,41 “Unless I see the wounds42 from the nails in his hands, and put my finger into the wounds from the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe it!”43

26 Eight days later the disciples were again together in the house,44 and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked,45 Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put46 your finger here, and examine47 my hands. Extend48 your hand and put it49 into my side. Do not continue in your unbelief, but believe.”50 28 Thomas replied to him,51 “My Lord and my God!”52 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are the people53 who have not seen and yet have believed.”54

The Lord is our representation

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Psalm 22

For the LORD is king64

and rules over the nations.

29 All of the thriving people65 of the earth will join the celebration and worship;66

all those who are descending into the grave67 will bow before him,

including those who cannot preserve their lives.68

30 A whole generation69 will serve him;

they will tell the next generation about the sovereign Lord.70

31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;71

they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.72

We Must become Doors

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 10

7 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the solemn truth,17 I am the door for the sheep.18 8 All who came before me were19 thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.20 9 I am the door. If anyone enters through me, he will be saved, and will come in and go out,21 and find pasture.22 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill23 and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.24

doors of opportunity

door of Hope

Look Like Jesus

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 5

22 But the fruit of the Spirit41 is love,42 joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,43 23 gentleness, and44 self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ45 have crucified the flesh46 with its passions47 and desires. 25

God is Working

The NET Bible (Second Edition) Chapter 1

For I am sure of this very thing,9 that the one10 who began a good work in11 you will perfect it12 until the day of Christ Jesus. 7 For13 it is right for me to think this about all of you, because I have you in my heart,14 since both in my imprisonment15 and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel all of you became partners in God’s grace16 together with me. 8 For God is my witness that I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. 9 And I pray this, that your love may abound even more and more in knowledge and every kind of insight 10 so that you can decide what is best, and thus be sincere and blameless for the day of Christ, 11 filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.

Walvoord, John F. 1985. “Revelation.” In The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, edited by J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, 2:932. Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.

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The Church of Pergamum

The Church of Thyatira

The Church of Sardis

The Church of Smyrna

The Church of Philadelphia

The Church of Laodicea

The Church of Ephesus