Revelation
Revelation 20
October 22, 2023
Are you going to live out the great commission to make disciples of Jesus to the ends of the earth? If yes, then to some degree the only thing that matters is that all authority in heaven and on earth now belong to Jesus AND Jesus is going to be with us to the end of the age!…until He returns. That being said, it would seem likely that the great commission is being lived out and the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus is advancing in part because Jesus, Himself bound the strong man for a thousand years.
Revelation 19
October 15, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 19
In this chapter we see a tale of two stories…two feasts. One story leads to everlasting life and joy and pleasures forevermore and the other leads to death. Everything that is good, right, and true can be found inside the true story. Everything outside of that story is ultimately a lie and bound for destruction in the end.
Revelation 18
October 1, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 18
We need to pay attention to the things that bring us joy and the things that bring us grief. Let us not simply assume that our hearts will be aligned with God’s heart in the end. In His providence we are given glimpses over and over again to know that which we truly love.
Revelation 17
September 24, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 17
As we have seen previously God’s judgment can look like taking something that should be a blessing and making it a curse for those who have rejected Him. In a similar way, we will see in this chapter how God can take something of a curse and make it a blessing. The wilderness always has a negative connotation except for when we see it has preserving us from going astray with the rest of the world. We praise Him for His wilderness if it is from there that we watch His judgment fall on those who have gone after the beast and all it could offer.
Revelation 15-16
September 17, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 15—16
The seven bowls of God’s wrath are a depiction that God is going to pour out his wrath fully on the un-godly with no chance for repentance afterwards. The bowls are repeatedly poured out throughout the Church Age culminating in the return of Christ and the final destruction of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
Revelation 14
September 10, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 14
It is good that we are reminded at this point in Revelation that there is an eternal gospel to be shared and to be believed in light of impending judgment. It is so tempting try to decode everything in order to make a prediction about when the judgment may come. That isn’t the purpose of the revelation. The purpose is that our endurance would be based on a vision of Christ that sustains all the way to the end.
Revelation 13
September 3, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 13
The dragon has been thrown down and he is furious. He has turned his attention to make war on those who hold to the faith in Jesus. His antics are not new, but they are powerful. In a call for the Church to endure by faith we are given a vision to see things from a heavenly perspective.
Revelation 12
May 28, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 12
G.K. Chesterton once said: “The objection to fairy stories is that they tell children there are dragons. But children have always known there are dragons. Fairy stories tell children that dragons can be killed.” The reality is that there is a dragon, he’s furious, and he wants to destroy the Son by destroying the redeemed. Revelation is a playbook of sorts for how the dragon can be conquered. In the end, it is when we lose our life that we gain it and subsequently render the already defeated dragon powerless. Discipleship in this life is to this end…daily taking up our cross in order to die to ourselves.
Revelation 11
May 21, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 11
We were once enemies of God. The profound reality is that for those who crucified Jesus in the first century they would never have considered themselves as enemies of God. It would seem as though the two witnesses represent that which was necessary to prove this truth: While we were yet enemies, Christ died for us! We are a product not of our “goodness”, but of God’s covenant of grace.
Revelation 8-9
May 7, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 8, Revelation 9
How would God help His people be faithful to the end? Perhaps He would give them a vision of the truth about the enemy AS WELL AS the truth about Himself. No doubt, the enemy is scary, BUT God is scarier than the enemy. God isn’t JUST scarier…He’s true and trustworthy. He is the “I Am”. God never lied to us. The enemy did and our Good Father is exposing the enemy while strengthening us for the fight that will inevitably come our way.
Revelation 7
April 30, 2023 • Michael McCracken • Revelation 7
John sees a vision of a representation for what is happening on behalf of God’s people. Not only are things around them ordained for their sake but they are ultimately sealed belonging forever to their God and King. We rejoice as we realize that the seal is none other than the blood of Christ by which we make our robes white and live a life of praise and joy and thanksgiving because of the past, present, and future Grace our Lord Jesus purchased for us on the cross.