Revelation

The book of Revelation was written for a people under pressure - a people who knew all too clearly that the world was against them. Nearly all the church leaders had been martyred. What was needed was a survival manual, explaining how to survive when the world is against you; here it is! We, too, need to know how to survive in a hostile world. Revelation is for ordinary believers, not to fight over, but to enable us to keep fighting the real fight.

Although the gospel had spread throughout the Roman Empire, it had not taken it over. Persecution was looming and the law was against them. It is in that context of suffering and oppression that the Lord gives John the series of visions which he writes down in the form of this book. It is a survival manual, explaining how to survive when the world is against you.

Even though it is a little harder for us to see, this is what we need to know in our day as well. We in the West are not yet being openly persecuted, but at least in the UK that is the direction we are heading. In any case,the world is against us and we have to know how to survive as believers on increasingly hostile ground. This is why Revelation is so vitally relevant for our day. The basic message can be summed up simply and wonderfully: Jesus wins, and as Christians we are safe with him!

Title

Revelation
Author(s)

Steve Wilmshurst
Series

Welwyn Commentary Series
ISBN

9780852346693
Format

Paperback
Publisher

Evangelical Press
Bible Book

Revelation|
Audience

Church Leaders, Adults
Pages

224
Published

12/01/2009

Steve Wilmshurst

Steve Wilmshurst was born in Surrey, southern England, to parents who were nearing the end of their service as missionaries in Nigeria. He grew up in London and studied physics at Cambridge, staying on to complete a PhD on wind energy. In an unusual change of direction, he then had a 'first career' as an engineer in the nuclear industry where he started in reactor physics and ended up working on life extension for the power stations.

Things then changed dramatically again when he took voluntary redundancy to retrain in theology at Trinity College, Bristol. Here he studied to MPhil level, with a dissertation on what's known as the New Perspective on Paul, focused on Galatians chapter 2 ('Bending the gospel: What was at stake in the Antioch incident?').

Steve then joined the staff of Kensington Baptist Church in Bristol, where he served for sixteen years. In addition to the wonderful city of Bristol, this took him to a number of other interesting places, including Lhasa in Tibet and rafting through the Grand Canyon. Around ministry responsibilities including preaching, training, mentoring and support for missionaries, he also wrote three books based on sermon series, which were published by EP books. These were all on New Testament books - in particular, he's gained a bit of a reputation as an expert on Revelation, which he has taught in various different places.

His fourth book is a slightly new departure, since it's about the Old Testament book of Daniel. This one is based on his final preaching series at Kensington, and is self-published for speed of issue.

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