Distracted driving kills about 9 people every day in the US. We’ve tried doing something about this phenomenon. Unfortunately, providing more information does not seem to be working. Despite all of the public service announcements, the statistics continue to follow a discouraging trend.
Distracted worship is also on the rise in 2020. For anyone sensitive to the spiritual needs that a worship service is designed to meet, attempting to worship from home has been completely inadequate. Then, the numerous restrictions placed upon churches created additional divisions.
After George Floyd and the BLM riots, we have seen various churches take radically different views regarding cultural issues. All of this adds up to a confusing time for most of us. Even if you are trying to stay out of the fray, you wind up with a very distracted mind when you show up Sunday morning. What does it take to snap back into focus? Revelation may provide just the answer that you need.
Keep in mind the context of the original audience. The seven churches in Asia Minor received direct address in https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re2-3 (Rev 2-3). Already, late in the first century, most of these churches had compromised to some degree with the culture. They were entertaining false religions, especially the imperial cult where the cities competed for Caesar’s accolades. In other words, they faced many distractions that pulled them away from glorifying God.
Because we are fascinated by things that are new or unique, we are prone to transfer our worship to whatever captures our attention in the moment. That initial motion toward worship is typically unthinking. You cannot worship with a divided mind and heart.
Devote your minds and hearts to worship the returning Lord because He has revealed Himself to be wholly trustworthy.
Read https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re22.6-9 (Revelation 22:6-9)
› The first exhortation we receive is to...
Keep the Prophecy of Revelation (6-7)John emphasizes the authenticity of Revelation. The angel (6), Jesus (7), and John (8) testify to the “trustworthy and true” revelation found in this book (cf. https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re21.5 (Rev 21:5)).
What causes the words of Revelation to be “trustworthy and true” is that they come from the source of truth. Through this angel, God has revealed “what must soon take place” to his servants. John received the revelation and faithfully passed it on to the Church.
In the introduction to our series, we talked about how this idea of events taking place soon alludes to Daniel’s prophecy of events that would take place in the latter days (https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Da2.28-29 (Dan 2:28-29), https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Da2.45 (45)). He is not suggesting that everything would be fulfilled right away, but that the events portrayed in these visions would begin to be fulfilled right away. Throughout history persecution paces church growth.
These latter day events would take place “soon” even as Jesus is returning “soon”. Clearly, Jesus has not returned in the sense of bringing final judgment, but there were immediate implications for the original audience just as there are implications for every succeeding generation throughout the age between Christ’s first and second coming.
Jesus says “I am coming soon” three times in this chapter (https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re22.7 (Rev 22:7), https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re22.12 (12), https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re22.20 (20)). That is the primary theme of this section. The word “Advent” simply means “Arrival/Appearing.” It is used in reference to Christ’s birth and return. John concludes with this theme of hope, encouraging the perseverance of the saints.
We frequently find thematic bookends in Scripture. We find the phrase “must soon take place” in https://ref.ly/logosref/Bible.Re1.1 (Rev 1:1). The threefold repetition of “I am coming quickly” alludes to Christ’s public
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