Selma Baptist Church
Revelation Study guide for Week 4
Scripture: Revelation 1:12-20
“The King and His Church”
Worship
Hymn of Reflection: “The Church is Christ’s Deep Longing”
The church is Christ’s deep longing
And His good pleasure too.
His every word and action
Is made with her in view.
His heart’s love is established,
And nought can Him deter;
Before the earth’s foundation
His thoughts were filled with her.
2 .The eve of all creation
He mused on His delight,
And pondered every feature,
Well-pleasing in His sight.
Creation sprang to being,
But deep in Him did hide
A heart of depth unfathomed
Fixed on a glorious Bride.
3 And thus His will was ’stablished
His counterpart to gain:
This blessed, firm intention,
Eternally the same.
Though sin should e’en beguile man,
Then mock his helpless state,
He never could forsake her,
His yearning ne’er abate.
4. Then mercy richly flourished,
And love was, oh, so vast,
As graciously He sought her
With wisdom unsurpassed.
The love He gave to win her
God only comprehends!
His life laid down, an offering
Whose fragrance yet ascends.
5. And now in resurrection
Selma Baptist Church
Revelation Study guide for Week 4
To her He draws most near,
And with untold affection
In glory does appear.
As she beholds her Bridegroom,
His glory floods her heart,
’Til she, His Bride, is raptured,
His longed-for counterpart.
Welcome to our study and discussion Guide!
Spend some time thinking over these ideas and questions. If you are able, share them with your group!
Discussion
The theme of the message today was that Churches need to be in the right relationship to the King, or
the Bridegroom, Jesus. The passage we read gave us an amazing look at what John saw when he caught
a glimpse of Jesus, and as amazing as that image of Christ is, we also can guess that the Church is
important to Jesus based on the fact that He is in the midst of the Churches.
1. Pastor Steve mentioned that The Church truly can influence the Culture. Do you belive your Church is
influencing the Culture? In what ways?
2. Pastor Steve shared a statistic that says 47 percent of people polled said that the Bible was accurate.
-What do you thing about the 47% ?
-How about the 53%?
3. Do you think the Church has the ability to influence the 53%?
4. There were also a number of items mentioned that had the Church has begun or influenced. For
example: Colleges, Hospitals, the calling of Ministers and Missionaries, Baptism Communion..etc. What
things in your life are directly connected to the work of the Church?
5. It was mentioned that the churches in Revelation are actually real geographical places. The Bible tells
us this. It was also mentioned that the churches may represent churches in different ages or eras of
time. Have you heard anything teaching about this? If so, what do you believe?
6. Pastor Steve mentioned some thoughts that C.H. Spurgeon authored concerning the Church of
Laodicea.
-The church was likely once a center of Christian activity, due to references in Colossians about its
Gospel Ministry. ( Laodicea is mentioned four times in the epistle to the Colossians (Col.
2:1; 4:13,15,16).
-Spurgeon mentions several things that might have brought them to the place they represent in
Revelation. Think about these and see if you think they match the church today..
- In process of time it degenerated, and cooling down from its former ardour it became careless, lax, and
indifferent.
-Perhaps its best men were dead,
-perhaps its wealth seduced it into worldliness,
-possibly its freedom from persecution engendered carnal ease, or
-neglect of prayer made it gradually backslide; but in any case it declined till it was neither cold nor hot.
7. Pastor Steve closed by asking that we would commit to “not neglect Prayer” as we share this series in
Selma Baptist Church
Revelation Study guide for Week 4
Revelation.
Do you think this is a commitment you can make?
For further study: “An Earnest Warning about Lukewarmness” Metropolitan Tabernacle Sermon
(No. 1185) Delivered on Lord's-Day Morning, July 26th, 1874 Ch. H. Spurgeon
Barna Group:https://www.barna.org/ (note top of web page)
Barna research about Churches and culture :
https://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/18-congregations/45-new-statistics-on-churchattendance-and-avoidance#.U7BgirS4lpM