A Very Brief Description of the Four Major Views of the Book of Revelation

Have you ever wondered what the difference is between the different views concerning the Book of Revelation? Below is a brief, non-technical description of each:

• Preterist: Events through chapter 19 already have occurred

• Futurist: Events in chapter 6 and beyond still are future

• Historicist: The entire book traces the developments of the church 

   age

• Idealist: The book symbolizes the timeless struggle between good 

  and evil

A Glossary of the Difficult Terms in Revelation 3:7-13

1. The historical context

            • Multi-Chapter Context: Jesus’ Message to the Seven 

               Churches (1:4-3:22)

            • Immediate Context:

                        ▪ Message to the church at Philadelphia (3:7-13)

                        ▪ The church at Philadelphia likely was founded 

                           during Paul’s ministry at Ephesus (Acts 19:10)

2. Glossary

            • Angel of the Church (3:7): Angel = messenger; perhaps 

               pastor

            • The Key of David (3:7): Rightful heir of the Davidic 

               household

            • Open Doors Which No One Can Shut (3:8): A reference to 

               salvation

            • Little Power (3:8): Likely, small in number (cf. Luke 

              12:32)

            • Synagogue of Satan (3:9): Hostile, unbelieving Jews

            • . . . I will make them come and bow down . . . (3:9): 

              Submission;  perhaps  salvation of some

            • Hour of Testing (3:10): Tribulation; seems to support 

               Pre-tribulation view

            • Hold Fast (3:11): “Keep on keeping on”

            • Crown (3:11): Reward

            • Pillar in the Temple of My God (3:12): Place of honor

An Outline of Ezra 7:27-9:15

1. The speaker and the historical context

            • Speaker: Ezra

            • Historical Context: The return of God’s people from Exile

2. The main point of each section

            7:27-28: God works in the king’s heart to show kindness to 

                 God’s people

            8:1-14: God works in the people’s hearts to direct them to  

                 return to Jerusalem

            8:15-20: God works in the Levites’ hearts to direct them to 

                 return to Jerusalem

            8:21-32: The people seek God’s help for their trip to 

                 Jerusalem

            8:33-36: The people restore the treasures of the Temple and 

                 offer sacrifices to Him           

            9:1-4: Many of the people are guilty of marrying foreign 

                 idolaters

            9:5-15: Ezra confesses the people’s sin of marrying foreign 

                 idolaters 

3. A summary of the text in one sentence

God is all-powerful and works on behalf of His people to accomplish His will, but this does not exempt us from prayer, worship, faithfulness to His commands, and confession of sin.

4. Contemporary applications for the passage

            • God is in complete control of every situation (e.g., 

              government, work, etc.)

            • Believers must not neglect the spiritual aspect of life (e.g. 

              work before church)

            • Believers should never marry unbelievers

            • Believers should confess their sin to God

Ministering to Hispanics in the United States

Ministering to Hispanics is an equally difficult and rewarding experience. There will be times when you become frustrated because some people cannot understand that salvation is a free gift, but you will rejoice when the truth finally penetrates a hard heart and the Savior gloriously transforms a Spanish speaker. You will feel as if you have wasted your time when people place work above worship or grow in the faith for a time only to grow cold inexplicably, but you will feel refreshed when a believer finally “gets it” and places Christ above all else in his or her life. You will consider quitting when the ministry does not grow as quickly as you had hoped or anticipated, but you will praise God when without warning He moves in such a way that many unbelievers place their faith in Christ in a short period of time or a number of believers commit to serve God regardless of the way in which He leads them.

If you are not truly called to Hispanic ministry, you will not endure. My wife and I could recount to you the names of a dozen North Americans who expressed interest in serving the Spanish speakers at Nueva Vida, but departed just as quickly as they had arrived. Often, the hasty exit occurred either because they did not fully invest their hearts in the ministry or because the romantic idea that hundreds would come to Christ in a worship service conflicted with the reality of periods of hard work without much discernible fruit. Hispanic ministry is not for the fickle!

If, however, God has called you to minister to Hispanics, continue on even in the midst of difficulties and discouragement. Read often Paul’s encouraging words in Galatians 6:9: Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary. This verse does not state that we may reap, but that we will reap in due time if we remain faithful to the Lord and the work of the ministry to which He has called us.

The Hispanic population comprises the largest minority in the United States, and regardless of future economic or immigration issues, this statistic surely will continue to remain true. Not only has God called us to go to all of the nations (Matt. 28:19-20), but He has brought the nations to us as well. Amongst Hispanic peoples in the United States, the fields are white for harvest (John 4:35).

In 1968, Jorge Lara-Braud lamented the fact that “perhaps the most glaring shortcoming in the domestic mission programs of U.S. Protestant churches is the inadequacy of their outreach to . . . Spanish Americans who live in this country.”[1] Unfortunately, the same statement is true of national efforts in the twenty-first century as well. Now, more than ever, Spanish speakers in the United States need individuals and churches to invest in the planting of Hispanic churches that will in turn plant other Hispanic churches that will repeat the process until the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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[1] Lara-Braud, “Our Spanish-American Neighbors,” 43.

An Outline of Paul's Dealings with the Corinthians Church

In a helpful section of his commentary, Frederick Danker provided an outline of Paul's dealings with the Corinthians,[1] pieced together from a close examination of 1-2 Corinthians and Acts 18. This outline is invaluable to those who desire to study 1-2 Corinthians. which can be

•During Paul's second missionary journey (Acts 15:36-18:22), he made his initial visit to Corinth.

•Paul established the church in Corinth and remained their for eighteen months (Acts 18:11).

•After Paul's departure, moral, theological, and partisan problems began to arise. As a result, he wrote 1 Corinthians.

•Paul made a  special visit to Corinth in order to deal with the problems in the church. This "sorrowful visit" accomplished little (2 Cor. 2:1).

•Paul wrote a sorrowful letter to the Corinthians that was delivered by Titus (2 Cor. 2:4; 7:8).

•While Paul ministered in Macedonia (2 Cor. 2:12), he heard that the sorrowful letter was for the most part successful (2 Cor. 7:8-15)

•Paul composed 2 Corinthians in order to express the gratitude in his heart that the sorrowful letter was successful (2 Cor. 1:1-7), but in it he also dealt with attacks on his apostleship (2 Cor. 2:5-11), interference from outsiders (2 Cor. 3:1), and a defense of his integrity because he had been forced to change his travel plans (1 Cor. 16:5; 2 Cor. 1:15-22).

•Paul promised to come and visit Corinth a third time (2 Cor. 13:1)

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[1]Frederick W. Danker, II Corinthians, in the Augsburg Commentary on the NewTestament (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989), 15-17.