Vs. 21 - To him that overcomes the world, and the temptation to live our lives without accepting that invitation, to them he will grant the fellowship with him at the throne of God. 

        - We will see this picture in the next chapter 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Pg10

Ephesus - Distracted Church - Hold on to your 1st love

              Reward - Eat from the tree of life

Smyrna - Martyr Church - Believe in me and suffer for me

             Reward - Wear the crown of life  

Pargamos—Church in the middle of Paganism - Don’t accept wrong doctrines and other Gods as bring something else to believe in

             Reward - Eat of the bread of life

Thyatira - Ritualistic Corrupt Church - You can not accept Christ and continue to live a sinful life - you can keep saying I am sorry, but never truly change. It isn’t true repentance - You don’t confess your sins to a priest you confess them to Jesus Christ.

             Reward - I will give you the morning start  

Sardis - The Dead Church - You can’t claim to know the way but be dead spiritually. Live like you are truly watching and waiting

             Rewards - You will be clothed in white raiment   

                  I will blot his name out of the book of life

                  I will confess your name before my Father and his angels  

Philadelphia - Revived Church - Faithful Church - Hold on I come quickly “All of a sudden”

             Rewards - I will make him a permanent fixture in the temple of my God

                         You will always be with me - You will be sealed with the name of God  

Laodicea - The Church of Compromise - You are blind, stop accepting the world but claiming to be mine. Repent it’s your only chance

             Reward - You can be with me in Heaven 

Chapter 4                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Pg 11 

From Chapter 4-22 there is no more mention of the word “church”

· The false church will be referred to as the Great Harlot

· The true believers that are the real church will be referred to as the bride 

This chapter starts the 3rd division of this book of Revelation

Remember Rev. 1:19 - 1) Write the things which thou hast seen 

                                    2) Write the things which are  

                                    3) Write the things which shall be hereafter

· These are the things which shall be hereafter

· Look into the future

· What has happened to the church? The church has gone to heaven

· How did the church get to heaven? The rapture of the church (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Corth. 15:51-52) 

Vs 1 After this - after what? After the church is finished occupying earth it will be caught up into heaven

· We see through John’s eyes, we hear through John’s ears

· John looked and saw a door - the door was opened - this door was opened to reveal to John and us what was to come after leaving this earth

· John hears the first voice - the voice of Christ inviting him up to a heavenly realm, from an earthly realm - This voice was as strong and clear as a trumpet (1 Thess. 4:16-17)

· Jesus said I am the door (John 10:9)

· Caught Up - gr. “harpazo” - definition - “caught up” - “rapture”, “snatched away” 

Vs 2 Immediately - At once “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corth. 15:52)

· I was in the spirit - The spirit was guiding him (John 16:13) It was a spiritual trip not physical

· A throne was set in heaven - the throne is the center of the power of the universe - The headquarter of all the universe

· The throne is occupied by God - (The Father, The Son , The Spirit) 

Vs 3 John describes the one that sat upon the throne - We do not see physical characteristics. John describes the appearance of God by using vivid color. We see God on the throne in all of his brilliance.

Jasper 1) The last stone in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:20) this stone represents Benjamin the last son of Jacob which means - The son at my right hand. Jesus sits on the right hand of God.

        2) Rev. 21:11 John describes this stone as being clear as crystal “like a prism” reflecting all colors    Rev. 21:18-19 Jasper is the first stone in the foundation wall of the New Jerusalem

Sardine Stone - Bright red stone - 1st stone in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28:20)

        Represents Jacob’s first born Rueben - Christ is the first born of the dead which means he is the first tobe resurrected from death to eternal life

Rainbow - around the throne - Rainbow - gr. “Iris” which means “Halo”.

        This rainbow had a dominate color of green like an emerald

        Rainbow is a symbol of the covenant in Noah’s day (Genesis 9:12-17). A covenant of mercy is remembered before the judgment of the tribulation starts. 

Vs 4 - 24 Elders - these elders represent the redeemed - Representatives of the church

        1) Not representatives of Israel - they won’t fully be redeemed until the end of the 7 year tribulation (Daniel 12:1)

        2) Not the tribulation saints - They are not yet saved (Rev. 7:9-10)

        3) The church is the only group that will be complete and glorified at this point. The church will sing the redemption song (Rev. 5:8-10)Paul sets elders in place in the earthly church (Titus 1:5)  

        4) Clothes in white raiment - clothed in the righteousness of Christ (2 Corth. 5:21)

The marriage garment is described (Rev. 19:7-8)

-Crowns of gold - what the church is given as rewards (2Tim. 4:8) (1 Pet. 5:4) (James 1:12)            

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Pg 12

Vs 5 1) Lightening and Thunder - These proceed all storms - The storm of judgment             

        2) Voices - This denotes the direct commands of the issue of judgment

        3) 7 lamps of fire which were the 7 spirits or 7 fold work of the Spirit of God (Rev. 1:4)  

Vs 6 1) Sea of glass - This is the floor in front of the throne

             - Glass describes the appearance not what it is made out of

             - The calm sea indicated the place of rest that the church has arrived

             - The sea in (1 Kings 7:23) was a huge circular bronze basin which held about 12,000 gallons of water. It was in the courtyard of the temple. The priest had to wash their hands and self before they sacrificed to God.

             - Since the sea is calm it represents the undisturbed water because their in no more sacrificing - Jesus    represented the last blood sacrifice to God

        2) 4 Beasts full of eyes - 4 living creatures - they resemble Cheribums (Ezek. 1:15-10; 10:20) and Seraphims (Isa. 6:2-3)- Eyes behind and in front represent their awareness of everything 

Vs 7 Description of Beasts

        1st beast like a lion

        2nd beast like a calf

        3rd beast has face of man 

        4th beast like a flying eagle

These 4 living creatures identify to the 4 written gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & John)

        1) The 1st living creature the lion - The gospel of Matthew shows us Jesus as King (Rev 5:5) Lion of the tribe of Judah

        2) The 2nd living creature the calf or ox - The domesticated service animal - The gospel of Mark represents Jesus as a servant (Mark 9:35)

        3) The 3rd living creature had the face of man - The gospel of Luke shows us Jesus the Son of Man

        4) The 4th living creature was like a flying eagle - The eagle is all seeing above everything which represents the deity of Jesus (John 1:14) 

Vs 8 1) They each had 6 wings - compare to the Seraphims (Isa. 6:2)

        2) Full of eyes within - nothing escapes their sight (inward sight - knowledge)

        3) They rest not day and night - they never sleep

        4) They sing Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty - continually they praise (Isa. 6:3)

        5) Which was and is and is to come - this is the way Jesus identified himself (Rev. 1:8) 

Vs 9-11 This is the first great worship scene that we see in heaven, the worship is continually happening

      1) They give Glory, Honor and Thanks - This is Praise!

      2) The 24 Elders which represent the church Fall down before him in submission

      - The church will worship him as the creator of all things (John 1:1-3)

      - The church will worship him as the redeemer in Chapter 5

       - They cast their crowns before the throne - we give all honor to him  

We will worship him because we are privileged to be part of his creation, earth was created by God and we were created by God, by his will and we will not worship him for the material blessings that he gave us on earth. We will worship him because of the opportunity of being a part of his plan, and the fact that he wanted us to be a part of his fellowship and kingdom. 

Praise - Is a spiritual feeling accompanied by a physical expression of a believer when the thought of whose they are overpowers the thought of who they are!

 Chapter 5                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Pg 13 

This chapter is a continuation of the worship scene in Chapter 4 

Vs 1 John saw a book “scroll” in the right hand of God.

· This scroll was written on the inside and outside. This is typical of the contracts that were written in those days “title deeds, marriage contracts, lease agreement and wills”

· Inside contained the details of the contracts, the outside contained the summary

· It was sealed with 7 seals - this was to prevent someone unauthorized from opening it

· The book or scroll represents the title deed to the earth and all that was created

· Possession of the scroll and the authority to open it, represents the ownership, authority and control of the property that is deeded. This scroll represents the new covenant of God with the earth and mankind 

Vs 2 the strong angel - is unidentified - maybe Gabriel whose name means “strength of God”

Vs 13-14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Pg 18

· The Elder speaks to John and says “Do you know who these new people are, the ones in the white robes?” and John replies, “I don’t know”

· John had seen the Old Testament Saints and John had seen the Church, but he has never seen this group

· The Elder answers, “these are they which come out of the Great Tribulation, and have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb” - These are the Gentiles that came out of the Great Tribulation period who have accepted Christ

· This shows us that there will be Gentiles who are saved during the Great Tribulation period

· The 144,000 Jews were numbered earlier and this is a totally different group. This group came out of all nations, and, kindreds and people and tongues. 

Vs 15-17

· This group will serve him day and night in his temple

· We can be sure that this group is not the church because the church is never associated with the temple. We will see the church later in the book of Revelation. They will be in the New Jerusalem where there is no temple

· These Tribulation Saints will serve in the millennial kingdom where there will be a temple

· They shall hunger no more, they shall thirst no more, they will not be scorched by the sun - The Lamb will feed them and lead them to fountains of living water. God shall wipe away all the tears from their eyes - They shall be given the things that they have had to do without while they suffered in the time of the Great Tribulation

· Jesus tells his disciple in John 10:16 that he has other sheep besides them. He also tells us he has other sheep besides us that he will redeem.

Chapter 8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Pg20 

· In chapter 8 we have the opening of the 7th seal which will show us the 7 angels blowing 7 trumpets

· We will see 4 of the trumpets in this chapter 

· Notice the pattern - there will be 4 series of 7 judgments that relate to the Great Tribulation. These judgments are all tied together. The 7th judgment of each series will introduce the next series of 7 judgments. This lets us know that these judgments are all related to the same time period. The 7 years of the Great Tribulation. 

· These first 6 judgments in the form of seals that were removed are the judgment upon man because of his refusal to accept the truth and his willingness to sin. 

Vs 1

· And when he had opened the 7th seal, there was a silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

· Jesus commands these judgments to happen and for this period of time there is silence which means that there are no commands being given during this time to carry out judgment

· He has already ordered the angels to hold back the wind of judgment so that the Tribulation Saints could be sealed

· Now there is a silence in Heaven also

· This is the calm before the storm

· After these 6 seals had been opened God gave man a chance to repent

· This silence marks the period of time in the Tribulation between grace and judgment

· Some people will accept it, some will explain it away “Remember Pharaoh” 

Vs 2

· These are a special group of angels that stand before God

· They were given 7 trumpets

· Notice how trumpets are used in the Old Testament (Numbers 10:1-8)

                    Look at verse 4 a single trumpet is blown to gather the assembly. I think this corresponds to the last trumpet  which is the sound of the call of the rapture (1 Cor. 15:51-52)

· This is the last call to the church

· The voice of God will be that trumpet (1 Thess 4:16-17)

· Look back at Numbers 10 and notice this:

          •The tribes were divided into 4 groups consisting of 3 tribes in each group they camped around the tabernacle        North, South, East & West

          •And there were 3 groups which carried the articles of the tabernacle. These groups were from the tribe of    Levi, (Kohath, Gershon, Merari)

          •A trumpet sounds for each group to move 4 groups + 3 groups = 7 total groups = 7 trumpets 

Vs 3-4

· Another angel came and stood at the alter, the golden alter

· This angel stands at the place where prayers are offered

· This angel is given much incense

· This is what makes prayer pleasing to God, this incense is Jesus’ approval, this is done because he is no longer intercessor “Remember we pray in Jesus name”

· Remember the 5th seal (Rev. 6:9-11) - Now these prayers are being answered because Jesus is putting his name “the incense” with prayers

· The silence that John spoke about in verse 1 is about to be over Vs 5

· The incense has traveled up to God, now the answer to their prayers will be thrown down to the earth

· The Tribulation Saints prayed, “God avenge us” and now he does

· There were voices - This means that this is under the direction of commands

      •Thundering - We hear that the storm is coming

               •Lightening - We see that the storm is coming  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Pg 21

· Earthquakes - This censer is thrown to the earth and the earth rumbles under the pressure of judgment 

Vs 6

· The silence is over, the prayers of the Martyred Saints have been answered. The angels are preparing to blow the trumpets

· When the trumpets blow there will be plagues which will be direct judgment from God and these are literal plagues 

Vs 7

· 1st Trumpet - Hail and Fire mingled with blood

· 1/3 part of all the trees were burnt up and all the green grass

· Plant life is the first thing that God created after bringing order to the universe (Gen 1:11), now it is first on the list of trumpet judgments

· This compares the plague of hail and fire in (Ex. 9:18-29) Vs 8-9

· 2nd Trumpet  •1/3 part of the sea became blood   

           •1/3 part of the living creatures in the sea died   

           •1/3 part of all the ships were destroyed

· Why? Because this literal mountainous mass that was burning was cast into the sea. Not fell but cast

· Jeremiah 51:25 refers to Babylon as a mountain but we don’t know what this mountain of mass is  

Vs 10-11

· 3rd Trumpet - Fresh water becomes bitter

· A star or meteor fell into the river of fresh water and contaminated 1/3 of all fresh water

· Water is an essential need and this will cause great chaos

· The star was called wormwood

· References in the old testament •Deut. 29:17-18 - Judgment for idolatry

•Jeremiah 9:13-15 - Judgment for disobedience - turning away

•Jeremiah 23:15 - Judgment of false prophets who preached false gods “Baal”

•Also Amos 5:7 & Lamentations 3:15-19 Vs 12

· 4th Trumpet - 1/3 part of the sun, moon and stars were darkened

· This will drastically effect mankind - The sun regulates the heat of the earth and the light of the earth (seasons of growing)

· The moon regulates the tides of the ocean

· The stars balance the unknown outer space

· Jesus spoke about this in Matt 24:29 - He says the heavens shall be shaken

· We panic today over the thought of a single meteor falling from the sky: Imagine if 1/3 of all the stars fell 

Vs 13

· We see another angel who has an announcement

· This separates the last 3 trumpets from the first 4

· This angel here is translated eagle, in some versions you will see this

· God announces to the inhabitants of earth that these last 3 trumpets will bring a lot of sorrow

· They are called the “woe trumpets” 

Trumpets

· 1 - Hail and Fire mingled with blood- 1/3 part of all trees and all grass destroyed

· 2 - 1/3 Part of sea becomes blood, 1/3 part of all sea life dies, 1/3 part of all ships destroyed

· 3 - 1/3 Fresh water becomes bitter when the star wormwood is cast into the rivers

· 4 - 1/3 Part of the sun, moon and stars were darkened 

Chapter 9 - 5th and 6th Trumpets                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Pg 22

 · Remember these are called the woe trumpets.

These 3 trumpets represent the intensity of the 3 ½ years of the Great Tribulation 

Vs1 The fifth angel blew the trumpet

· I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth and He was given the key of the bottomless pit

· This star was different than the stars that we saw in the 3rd and 4th trumpet - This star was called He or Him

· This star carries out a plan and it says He was given. 

I believe this star is Satan

· Isaiah writes (Isaiah 14:12-15) “How art thou fallen from Heaven O Lucifer son of the morning”

· Luke writes in (Luke 10:18) “And he “Jesus” said unto them, I behold Satan as lightening fall from Heaven” 

· And to him was given the key to the bottomless pit

· (Rev 1:8) - “Jesus hold the keys of hell and death”

· This bottomless pit or abyss will be spoken about often and that is where Satan will be chained in Rev 20:3

· The abyss or bottomless pit is a very real place (Luke 16)(Mat 12:40)(Eph 4:8-10)(2 Peter 2:4)(Jude 6:7) 

The key means Power to open & close

Satan - this fallen star was given power over this bottomless pit to open and close it. This is the judgment. 

Vs 2 He opens the bottomless pit

· This place of fire & brimstone and the smoke, covered the earth 

Vs 3 & 4 Out of the smoke there came locust but not normal locust

· They were given power by God - as an act of judgment

· They were given power to sting and torture

· They did not destroy the earth or grass or trees, their destructive power was against man

· They were only given power to hurt those who had not been sealed by God.  

Vs 5 Their job was not to kill man but to torment man that rejected God

· This would happen for 5 months - the lifespan of a locust 

Vs 6 Man will seek death and shall not find it

· The curse of this plague is that men will want to die to escape but the won’t be able too. 

Vs 7 - 10 Description of Locust

· They looked like horses prepared for battle

· On their heads it looked like they had crowns of gold

· Their faces looked like humans

· Teeth like a lion

· Breastplate looks like a soldiers iron breastplate - it also protected them

· The sound of their wings were loud

· They had tails that stung

· They had power to hurt for 5 months 

Vs 11 They had a king over them, which is the angel of the bottomless pit

· Its interesting that in (Proverbs 30:27) it says “The locust have no king, yet go they all of them in bands”

· These locust have a king, and the king gave instructions

· The name of the king is (Hebrew) Abaddon (Greek) Apollyn

· This means destroyer

· This king is one of Satan’s most trusted leader or either Satan himself. There are different ranks of Demons and Angels

Vs 12  One woe is past: and behold there come 2 woe here after                                                                                                                                                                                                    Pg23    

Vs 13-14 Sixth Trumpet

· Back to the alter where the trumpets started (Rev 8:3)

· The sixth angel blows the trumpet and then is given a command by Christ who is at the golden alter

· The command was to loose the 4 angels which were bound in the great river of Euphrates which separates the East and the West

· These angels were evidently wicked because they were bound. They possessed power to release enormous destruction

· Look at the significance of this area:

             1. The Garden of Eden was somewhere in this area

             2. The sin of man began here

             3. The 1st murder was committed here

             4. The 1st war was fought here

             5. Man turned from God and the flood started here

             6. The Tower of Babylon where idolatry began and spread

So it is fitting that this is the place that is used to begin this judgment

(Zach 5:11) tells us that this is where Satan will set up his headquarters for the final stand against God.  

Vs 15-16 The four angels were loosed, which were prepared for an hour, and a day, and a month and a year - This time frame lets know that God knows exactly in detail what he is doing.· One third of mankind will be killed

· One fourth has already been killed - 4th seal - Pale horse

· Half of mankind will be destroyed during the Great Tribulation (Matt 24:22) says “and expect these days shortened there should be no flesh saved”

· The army that these angels bring forth are numbers 200 thousand, thousand “200 million”

· I think this is an invasion of this earth by the demonic forces, that these evil angels can bring. Which is linked to the opening of the door of the bottomless pit.

· Some think this description refers to tanks, but I think it is a literal demon army 

Vs 17-18 A description of this army of demons. John said I saw - He describes the horses and horseman with vivid color (breastplates of fire - bright red) (jacinth - dark blue) (brimstone - yellow) - these describe the horseman

· The heads of the horses were as heads of lions

· Out of their mouth came fire, smoke, brimstone

· These horses were what we think of as dragons that breathe fire

· These horses issue these plagues upon man, from their mouth

· These three things - Fire, Smoke and Brimstone will kill 1/3 of all mankind

· It is interesting that this is the judgment that God poured out on Sodom and Gomorrah when they rejected God and made homosexuality and a sexually immoral lifestyle the focus of their city (Gen 19:23-25) 

Vs 19 Their power is also in their tails, their tails were like serpents

· Not the tail of a serpent, but the head the part that bites and inflicts pain and sickness

· These riders of the horses had different breastplates - red, blue, yellow

· These horses were able to kill men by breathing fire, smoke & brimstone

· These horses have heads like lions

· They had tails that were like serpents that will bite you

· There were 200 million of these

· They kill 1/3 of all mankind 

Vs 20-21 The people that were left, still did not repent

· They worshipped other Gods

· Look at what’s going on here on the earth, pagan worship, murderous acts of violence, demonic worship, witchcraft, sexual immorality and thieves in abundance who will steal

· The absence of the restraint of the Holy Spirit on Evil makes the earth a wicked place to live in.  

Chapter 10 - The interlude between the 6th and 7th Trumpets                                                                                                                                                                                                           Pg 24 

We have 3 different influential personalities that we will read about. First in this chapter we read about the mighty angel and then in the first 14 verses of chapter 11 we will see the two witnesses.  

Vs 1 Some say this angel is Christ but Christ only appeared to man as an angel in the old testament before he took on the body of a man. This is his preincarnate form.

· When he came to this earth he took on himself our humanity and had the form of a man. He was crucified and resurrected and then he had a Glorified body and he ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God as the (Post incarnate Christ). Christ is not revealed in the book of Revelation as an angel. Remember this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

· Another strong angel ??, one like the previous one in (Rev 5:2)

· Came down from heaven clothed with a cloud - the clothing of a cloud identifies him as a special messenger of Christ

· This angel comes to make an announcement of his 2nd coming the same way that angels announced the first coming

· This rainbow signifies the covenant that God made pertaining to the 1st judgment of all the earth. It will not be a flood.

· His face as it were the sun - this signifies that this angel had been in the presence of God (remember Moses’ face Exodus 34:29) (Remember Rev 1:16) Remember the angels at the tomb (Luke 24:4-2) men stood in shining garments

· His feet were pillars of fire. His feet represent the judgment we will see once the strong angel comes to earth; what he places his feet on. 

Vs 2 What is the little book?

· This little book or little scroll represents the same book that we saw in chapter 5. This book represents the title deed on the earth (Remember Rev 5:1-8)

· This book was open: the seals have been removed

· This book includes the judgments that will fall upon all creation because of sin: remember the book represents the title deed of all creation and the authority over it.

· The book that was given to the Lamb has now been given to the mighty angel

· Notice his feet were as pillars of fire in verse 1, which represents judgment. One foot is upon the land and the other upon the sea. This shows us the authority of Christ to execute judgment upon all of creation “land and sea and everything in them”

· Everything is God’s (Psalms 24:1) (Psalms 8:6-8)

· It’s called the little book because the Great Tribulation is actually a little time “short time” 7 years (Romans 9:28) 

Vs 3 The angel cried with a loud voice as a lion roareth .

· This was the dominate voice of the angel claiming authority to judge all creation by the authority of Jesus Christ. Remember he was the only one worthy to open the book

· The 7 thunders represent the voice of God giving credibility to the angel’s claim

· (Job 37:5) - God thundereth marvelously with his voice; great things doeth he, which we cannot comprehend

· The Jews would refer to thunder as the 7 voices (Psalms 29) 

Vs 4 John was writing everything that he saw and heard, but he was commanded “not to write” what the thunders said.

· This is the only part of the book of Revelation that is sealed

· Everything else is revealed to us (Rev 22:10)

· What did God say? We are not told, we can only speculate 

Vs 5 The angel lifted his hand to take an oath or vow

· He lifted his hand to heaven because he took an oath to God

· Verse 6 shows us the attributes of God the creator and sustainer of all creation and Jesus who is the manifestation of God in the flesh (John 1:1-3) (Colossians 1:16)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Pg 25

· “That there should be time no longer” - This is a welcome announcement to the Saints of God in the Great Tribulation that time is near for Christ’s return and an affirmation of (Matt 24:22) This is the answer to the martyred saints prayers (Rev 6:10) 

Vs 7 This verse tells us that this final prophecy which is the mystery of God, or these last days of judgment are just about over and the beginning of Jesus’ righteous kingdom is about to begin

· The mystery was declared by God’s prophets, but will be revealed by Jesus Christ

· The 7th angel is about to sound his trumpet 

Vs 8 The voice that speaks to John again is the voice of Christ

· John has returned to earth in spirit

· John is commanded to take the book out of the hand of the angel “go and take” 

Vs 9 John goes to the angel and asks for the book

· The angel says “take it and eat it up” - John becomes a participant in this scene

· Eating the book means to receive the word of God with faith (Jer. 15:16)

· You first have to accept the word of God and then digest it.

· It shall make thy belly bitter - it will upset you internally after you eat it

· It shall be in thy mouth as sweet as honey - it will be pleasing to your taste. It will satisfy your craving (Ezekiel 3:1-3) (Psalms 119:103)

 Vs 10 John took the book and digested it - he accepted it, believed it and hid it inside of him

· His belly immediately became bitter - after he digests what the seal judgments, the trumpet judgments and the bowl judgments hold in store for the unbelievers, he becomes nauseated

· The sweetness of the taste is what every believer should experience, which it the satisfaction of knowing that God is in control and he has a plan of deliverance to all believers. He satisfies us and John by showing him the final victory over all of life’s struggles. The bitterness is having to know the horrible things that must happen to an unbelieving world.  

Vs 11 This is a call for John to warn others by telling them of these judgments that will fall upon all men who don’t believe and give hope to those that do.

· We should look at this book of Revelation as a call for us to tell others of the bitterness of rejecting Jesus and the sweetness of his promise to deliver us.

 · Many people only want to hear and taste the sweet things if the bible, but God commanded us to study and preach the things which also are bitter. The book of Revelation shows us the bitter, the things that upset us internally, so that we can be better witnesses for him. God wants us to study the full counsel of his word. (Acts 20:27)