The Book of Revelation: Lesson 3

March 29, 2013 by admin

It’s incorrect grammatically to call something “very unique.” The word “unique.” means “one-of-a-kind.” There’s nothing else like it. It’s the only one. So how can an item be very one-of-a-kind?

The Book of Revelation is the only one in the Bible that claims the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, as its author. It begins,

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

So what John conveys is not his own message. At the start of the book, he makes it clear that it was the risen Lord who came to him quite unexpectedly and commanded him to

“write, therefore, what you have seen…”

The messages to each of the seven churches in Chapters 2 and 3 begin with something similar to this:

““These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze.”

I am aware that Paul writes in 2 Timothy 3:16, “All Scripture is God-breathed,” and so on. I believe this to be true. None of the other books of the Bible, however, make this claim about Jesus Himself being the author.

Verse 16 of the closing chapter of Revelation repeats this assertion:

“I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

So in preparation for spending time in this book, I would underscore this reminder: Treat Revelation as unique, in that Jesus Himself claims to be its author.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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The Book of Revelation: Lesson 2

March 27, 2013 by admin

My surprise recommendation for background material on Revelation would be a book about the Holocaust.

It’s difficult for Americans to get their minds around the reign of terror described in the apocalypse. For example, what is it like when the beast eventually has “authority over every tribe, people, language and nation” (Rev. 13:7)? Individuals who have never lived under a tyrant with absolute power lack the experience to fully understand such a horror.

Holocaust literature is tough sledding. (I know! I’ve read at least a dozen large books about it.) For example, The Holocaust Chronicle describes a chilly morning in early November of 1943.

“Nazi SS men and their collaborators rounded up Jews in Trawnicki, Poniatowa, and Majdanek, Poland. They marched the men, women, and children to large pits. Then, with loudspeakers blaring music to drown out the sounds of gunfire and screams, they shot 18,000 Jews to death. Proud of their day’s work, the sadistic perpetrators called the atrocity Erntefest—‘Harvest Festival.’”

In a few short years, six million Jews were systematically killed by mass shootings, the gas chambers, death marches, starvation, inhuman medical experiments, or by being just plain worked to death. And now, contemporary scholars tell us that that the number was actually much larger than originally thought.

All too many countries closed their doors to those who attempted to flee Hitler’s reach. Likewise, in the end-times, there will be no “sanctuary countries” whatsoever. And, those individuals who refuse to fall in line and receive the mark of the beast will be unable to legally buy or sell anything.

Spending time in Holocaust literature should ensure that your study of Revelation isn’t just academic or centered around prophecy timetables. Even informing yourself by looking up “holocaust” on the Internet would be better than remaining naive to what the world is like when evil gets the upper hand.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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The Book of Revelation: Lesson 1

March 25, 2013 by admin

When reading the Book of Revelation, one almost needs to adopt a mindset of looking at a picture book, with illustrations that are not necessarily realistic, but vivid, imaginative, and exaggerated. Think viewing Impressionist art.

Obviously Revelation is composed of words, not paintings, but they’re words meant to convey emotion almost as much as they do information. Face it, John was reporting visions he saw, not a lecture he heard or a report he read.

A quick example of what I’m writing about is Revelation 12:3-4, where Satan is pictured as “an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads.” He stands in front of a woman who is about to give birth so he can devour the baby as soon as he is born. The devil is so huge that “his tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.”

Is Satan literally a dragon? Could our Earth absorb a third of the stars of the sky being flung against it?

No, but doesn’t this word-picture graphically convey both the incredible power and wicked intent of this evil figure?

When you watch an intense movie, like Argo, the mood is enhanced by the music in the background. In real life, does music actually accompany people’s anxious situations? Not really. Does this then mean that honest filmmakers should not be allowed to use music? Of course not. It’s an effective storytelling device we all accept.

First-century writers were limited in terms of the communication techniques available to them. Even so, one has to admit that Revelation conveys its message with all the wallop one could want.

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Please click here to visit David Mains’ Sermon-Coach.com website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Please click here.

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Going on a God Hunt – Part 32

March 22, 2013 by admin

Well, our blog posts on the spiritual discipline of Going on a God Hunt have come to an end. Starting on Monday, I will begin a new series of blog posts on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on key truths from the Book of Revelation. But, I’ll write more about that on Monday.

For now, just one last time, I want to review the four elements that we can use to spot God’s marvelous hand on our daily lives:

Any obvious answer to prayer.
Any unexpected evidence of God’s care.
Any help to do God’s work in the world.
Any evidence of unusual linkage and timing.

Making a written record of your own God Hunt “Sightings” will help you make this discipline an important part of your spiritual formation. You will be able to look back at those times when you saw God at work. Over time, you will come to recognize how very much He loves you, as you take note of His care.

To help you see how this all works, I want to share another blog post from my wife, Karen. This one is entitled “From My Youth You Have Taught Me”:

At the border, on our way to meet some 17 people at the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, we stopped at the customs booth between the U.S. and Canada.

“Oh, oh,” I said to David. “We’ve picked the wrong line.” The car ahead of us was delayed for an unusually long time.

“Nationality?” questioned the Canadian customs official as I eased the car to the window. “We’re all U.S. citizens.” I could tell this was a man determined to be official; all my attempts at charm would be lost on him. “Destination?” For 30 years we had answered “the Shakespeare Festival in Stratford,” and usually, that was enough to ensure a minimal border pause.

“Whose child is in the back seat?” he demanded. “Our grandson,” I replied, thinking this man certainly could not refuse the charms of Landis Mains, a handsome 9-year-old. The next question, however, threw me. “Do you have a birth certificate?” For years we have been crossing this border with our own children, of all ages and sizes, and never needed to prove their parentage or nationality! I was dumbfounded.

Visions of being stalled endlessly flashed in my brain; then the scenario of trying to reach my son and daughter-in-law three time-zones away, seeing if they could find the original certificate, then hurry to a Kinko’s or drugstore and fax it to some hostile office along the border. A quick mortifying picture flashed in my brain, of 18 people arriving in Stratford, wondering where their hosts, David and Karen Mains, could possibly be.

Suddenly, a little voice spoke up from the back seat. “A birth certificate? I have a birth certificate.” This couldn’t possibly be true. Did Landis actually mean a birth certificate?

“Landis,” said his grandfather. “Do you have a birth certificate? Do you know where it is?” Landis scrambled into his bag in the back of the station wagon, unzipped a pocket, and whipped out the authenticating piece of paper. Hah! I thought, knowing by now that our adversary, the border-crossing guard, would have done anything to delay our journey. Hah! We have a birth certificate! The paper was passed through the window, examined and passed back.

We were waved through on the heels of the next half-second.

Talk about God Hunt “Sightings”! There were actually three in this little story. First, Landis’ parents had the presence of mind to copy a birth certificate for their son who would be flying as an unaccompanied minor from Tucson to Chicago. (Except he didn’t need it for his air flight; he needed it for the border.) Second, Landis actually remembered that he had a birth certificate. Third, he knew exactly where it was.

Have you any children in your life? Teach them how to play the God Hunt, and then they will prove God to you.

“O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I will still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and grey hairs…” —Psalm 71:17, 18.

I spy God!

To read more of Karen’s blog posts, please click here.

I say now is the time for you to feel good about your Christian walk, for you to stand at the top of your spiritual world and look down at what’s happening. You, the long time “loser”—please remember the children’s story I’ve been sharing with you—have found something very special, something you always wanted, and now have. And you hear your heavenly Father’s voice saying “not a ‘Loser’ but a ‘Finder,’” echoing over the entire town!

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Sunday’s coming. Do you have your sermon ready? Is it relevant? Will it effectively motivate your congregation to walk more in step with the Master? What about that Sermon Series you’ve been thinking about?

Or, if you’re someone who plans well ahead, have you asked yourself what you will preach for your Easter Sermon, your Advent Sermon, your Christmas Sermon?

David Mains and Mainstay Ministries can help. We offer a wide variety of Sermon Starters and Full Sermons that will give you Sermon Ideas to help you prepare for regular Saturday or Sunday sermons, Mid-week Bible Sermons, and Sermons for special occasions.

We also offer assistance as you create Topical Sermons, Sermons Series, and sermons for special times of the year. We have resources available to help you with Advent Celebrations, Advent Sermons, Christmas Sermons, Easter Sunday Sermons, Patriotic Sermons, and more.

For more information on how to create better Bible Sermons and how to turn Sermon Ideas into Sermon Outlines, and then into effective, meaningful Sunday Sermons, please click here to visit David Mains’ website.

You will also find a variety of resources for pastors and congregations at the Mainstay Ministries website. Just click here.