Free End Times Book (pdf).. - Rapture Notes

Chapter 3
Church History
The Book of Acts tells about the history of the early church. The Epistles give instruction to the church. But it is in
the book of the Revelation that a prophetic history of the church is given. The whole book is about prophecy, so it is
understandable that the messages to the seven churches of Asia were meant not only for the actual churches of that
day, but for seven periods of church history that would describe conditions from the beginning of the Church Age to
the end of it.
The Book of the Revelation is unique in that the opening verses tell us that what follows was given to Jesus by His
Father. Jesus then passed the contents to His beloved Apostle John (now an old man in exile on the island of Patmos
off the coast of Asia, or modern Turkey). John recorded for us in vivid language what he saw and heard. The
information was imparted to him partly by means of a series of great visions. Information about events transpiring in
heaven are juxtaposed with happenings on earth. The book contains interludes and flashbacks, so understanding the
order of events in the Revelation takes thoughtful care.
Genesis, the Book of beginnings, unfolds little by bit. Great themes of human history are introduced to us one by
one. These themes branch out and are woven as recurring themes in the rest of the Bible. In the book of Revelation
all these themes come back together in a great consummation.
The 404 verses of Revelation contain 800 Old Testament references! Many Jewish symbols and ideas which have
not been used in the entire New Testament suddenly reappear in Revelation. Because of this, no one can hope to
understand this marvelous last book of the Bible without reading the rest of the book--all that has gone before.
The Revelation gives an outline of its contents in Chapter 1, verse 19. "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is
now and what will take place later." This verse may be considered the KEY to the Book. The three parts of the
Revelation are:
1- What you have seen - The Person of Jesus - 1:1-18
2- The Things that are now - The Presence of Jesus Christ in This Age - 1:19-3:22
3- The things that will take place - The Program of Jesus Christ For The Future - 4:1-22:21
In this section we will only consider the second of these parts.
The Presence of Jesus Christ in This Age
Following the Ascension of Jesus, Acts Chapter 1, we do not again hear directly from the Lord Jesus Christ until we
come to the last book of the Bible. There Jesus is depicted for us in priestly robes walking in the midst of, and
judging, His church, during the present age. The aged Apostle John records:
On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on
a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia and Laodicea."
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,
and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and
with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were
like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing
Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will be Done… 29