Apostolic Pentecostal Bible Study

Today, we meet the first two of those three terrors head-on. Revelation nine gives us the fifth trumpet and the sixth trumpet, and I'll tell you up front, this is one of the strangest, most vivid, most genuinely unsettling chapters in the whole book. We're going to meet demonic locusts with human faces and scorpion tails, and a 200-million-strong cavalry with lion heads breathing fire.

In Revelation six, we watched the Lamb break the first six seals, and the four horsemen rode, the martyrs cried out, and the sky itself began to shake apart. Then in Revelation seven, the story paused for a breath, and we saw God seal His own people and gather that great, uncountable multitude in white robes before His throne. Today, the pause is over. Today, the seventh seal finally breaks, and when it does, it doesn't end the story of judgment — it opens a whole new chapter of it. Seven trumpets are about to sound, and Revelation eight gives us the first four.

The sixth seal just announced the end of history itself, the coming of God and the Lamb in undeniable, cosmos-shaking glory. At that point you would expect John to go straight into the seventh seal and unveil the kingdom of glory in full. Instead, the action stops. John steps back and shows us two visions of God's people in the last days instead.

This is the chapter where the seals on that scroll from chapter five start breaking open one by one. This is the chapter where the Four Horsemen ride. This is the chapter where the martyrs under the altar cry out for justice, and where the sky itself starts to unravel.

Revelation 4 and 5 belong together. They're really one long vision with two acts. Chapter 4 is the introduction; a vision of God the Creator, enthroned, surrounded by rainbow light, twenty-four elders, and four living creatures who never stop crying, "Holy, holy, holy." That chapter ends in worship of the One who made all things.
Chapter 5 is the second act, and it shifts the spotlight. Now we see God the Redeemer; Jesus, the Lamb who was slain and yet lives, who has conquered death itself. Chapter 4 closes with worship of the Creator; chapter 5 closes with worship of the Redeemer. Same throne, same God, two sides of who He is: Lion and Lamb, Creator and Savior.

Alright, so if you've been with us through chapters two and three, you know we just spent two whole episodes on seven letters to seven churches. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea — real churches, real problems, real promises. Very earthy. Very grounded in the day-to-day life of the local church.
John's attention gets pulled off the earth completely and up into heaven itself, and from this point forward, heaven is basically the backdrop for the rest of the book. This is where Revelation stops being a letter to churches and starts being a guided tour of everything that's coming.

Last episode we covered the first four: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, and Thyatira. Today we're finishing the list. We've got Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
And I want to say up front — these aren't just ancient postcards. Every one of these letters follows the same pattern: Jesus introduces Himself with a specific title, He tells the church what He sees in them, He gives them a promise or a warning, and then He closes with, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” That last line matters. It means these letters weren't just for Sardis or Philadelphia two thousand years ago. They're for whoever has ears to hear right now — which is you and me.

This week we talk about the seven letters to the churches in Asia Minor. We will examine what they were commended for as well as what they were rebuked for.
Lord Jesus, You walk in the midst of Your churches even now, and You see us just as clearly as You saw Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos and Thyatira. Forgive us where we have grown busy but cold, where we have grown comfortable with compromise, where we have stayed silent instead of standing firm in love. Restore our first love. Give us courage to endure whatever hardship comes our way, faithfully, unto the end. Sharpen us with Your Word, that we would use it rightly — never against one another, but against every false thing that tries to take root among us. We ask for ears to truly hear what the Spirit is saying tonight, and hearts willing to overcome. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The book of Revelation, written by John the Beloved, is an apocalypse which tells the reader about the power and majesty and authority of King Jesus! For the next several weeks we will be exploring this book in depth. This week, I will lay down some basic information about Revelation and go through chapter 1. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to connect with me on Facebook or X.

This lesson will conclude our spiritual warfare series, and will focus on prayer and fasting. Specifically Kingdom Prayers. God will help us as we increase our faith in Him through Kingdom prayer and through fasting. Let us hone these spiritual disciplines together!