The Supremacy of Christ: Satisfaction

By William McCarrell, Richard McCarrell and Daniel Anderson

 McCarrell's mature spiritual wisdom provides insight from the seven letters to the churches in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3. The commentary, outlines, and practical applications will encourage believers in their spiritual walk. Additional study questions will help guide individuals as well as small groups in the study of these letters.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Grace Acres, Inc.
• Release date: Oct 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781602650510

William McCarrell

Dr. William "Billy" McCarrell was born in Chicago to Samuel and Sarah McCarrell. After a rocky childhood and youth, McCarrell graduated from Moody Bible Institute. He served as pastor of the First Congregational Church of Cicero which later changed its name to Cicero Bible Church. During his forty-five years at the church, he saw growth from a congregation of twenty-five to an average attendance in Sunday school and church between nine hundred and one thousand-a megachurch in its time. He saw the church through prosperity and depression and through two world wars. The church supported hundreds of missionaries around the world and McCarrell helped plant twenty churches in the Chicago area. He also oversaw weekly radio broadcasts on WGN radio as well as The Moody Network. The Fisherman's Club, a weekly evangelistic outreach of men to the Chicago area, was founded by McCarrell. Records kept by the church show some amazing facts: • 533,815 people were dealt with concerning salvation and eternal destiny. • 140,000 professions of faith in Christ were recorded. • 17,159,690 gospel tracts were passed out. • Daily radio broadcasts were beamed out over five stations, including WGN. • The Cicero Press was established (1923) for the purpose of producing good Christian books and literature; eventually it was sold to a large publisher and moved out of Cicero. • 250 Christian workers were sent out, influenced by Cicero Bible Church. • The very first bus ministry in America was organized, picking up entire families and bringing them to Sunday school and church services at Cicero Bible Church. The bus ministry continued even during the gas-rationing WWII years. Wheaton College conferred an honorary doctorate on McCarrell, who served as a trustee on the board of Wheaton College for forty-nine years. At his funeral in 1979, the then-presiding president of Wheaton, Dr. Amerding, spoke of McCarrell's service and shared that with forty-six years of service, he was the longest serving trustee. While pastoring, he also served for twenty-two years as Professor of Local Church and Personal Evangelism at Moody Bible Institute. He also lectured at Dallas Theological Seminary, teaching on dispensationalism and church planting. This was during the presidency of Dr. John Walvoord, who was the spiritual son of Dr. McCarrell. In 1929, he founded an independent fellowship of churches (IFCA) along with his close friends Dr. M. R. DeHaan (Radio Bible Class), Dr. Oliver Buswell (president of Wheaton), and layman O. B. Bottorff. After his retirement from Cicero Bible Church in 1958, he continued the work tirelessly, traveling across the country and to the United Kingdom. A men's dormitory at Appalachian Bible College was named for him. He even pastored a church in Wisconsin for a time. Through the years, he served on more than fifty organizations, boards, and councils by providing administrative support, advice, or encouragement. They include Pacific Garden Mission, Faith Theological Seminary, Bryan College, Chicago Hebrew Mission, Great Commission Prayer League, and Lightbearer's Association. McCarrell and his wife Minnie were the parents of nine children; their son Paul was killed in action during World War II. McCarrell was known as a "man of one Book" with a relentless evangelistic heart, always sharing Christ with those with whom he came in contact. He was known for his uncompromising stand for separation from the world.

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Dr. William McCarrell, a voice from the past generation, provides this present generation with a helpful devotional concerning the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. With expositional clarity and pastoral insight, Dr. McCarrell both encourages and exhorts believers of any generation to live faithfully for Christ.

—Fred Chay, PhD

President, Grace Line Ministries

Dr. McCarrell’s mature spiritual wisdom saw the benefit to be derived from a focused study of the letters to the churches in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Structurally, this work contains not only commentary, but also outlines, practical applications, and study questions that may help those choosing to use this for a group Bible study, or as Sunday teaching preparation. This work is not merely historically significant; it shows great insight and speaks well to every believer today regarding the focus needed in our daily walk with Jesus Christ.

—Patrick Belvill

President, Tyndale Theological Seminary & Biblical Institute

Pastor, Tyndale Bible Church

I may have a different view than most book reviewers of Dr. William McCarrell’s book, The Supremacy of Christ: Satisfaction. I not only read the entire book, but had Dr McCarrell teach me the book in Bible college. Yes, I was given tests on this book!

I can still picture going into class and Dr. McCarrell teaching. There were no wasted words, and he quickly got to the subject at hand. In this book as well as in his classes, Dr. McCarrell takes the reader deeper into Scripture than many have experienced.

The Supremacy of Christ: Satisfaction will be my go-to guide any time I study Revelation 2 and 3. The depth to which McCarrell goes into the Scripture and how he bring us back to Christ are refreshing.

—Macon Hare

Communications, New Tribes Mission

I like to call the seven letters to the seven churches, found in the Book of Revelation 2–3, the forgotten section of the Bible. These chapters actually represent seven epistles written to seven churches in Asia Minor back in the first century. Yet, when most people think of the biblical epistles, this is the last section of Scripture that they consider. Instead, they typically identify the thirteen epistles of Paul or the New Testament’s general letters (Hebrews Jude). Revelation 2–3 is also forgotten because when people think of the Book of Revelation, they think of the end-times prophecy of the Apocalypse (Revelation 4–22) and typically do not remember that the book actually has an epistolary framework (Revelation 2–3).

Yet, Revelation 2–3 should not be so quickly or easily discarded: these chapters represent important information for the church today, if for no other reason than the fact that they record the final words of Christ to His church. This is why I am grateful for Grace Acres Press bringing back to life the work of Dr. William McCarrell and his valuable exposition of Revelation 2–3. McCarrell observes that each of these letters follows a specific literary pattern. After defining the pattern, McCarrell then follows the historico-prophetic view, which teaches that these letters also speak to seven specific ages in church history. Regardless of one’s personal perspective on the employment of the historico-prophetic view, readers of McCarrell’s work will benefit from the application of Christ’s words—not only to church history, but also to the life of the church today, as well as to our personal lives.

What would Jesus say about your church and your personal walk with Him? Read McCarrell’s important work and you will find out!

—Dr. Andy Woods

Pastor-Teacher

Sugar Land Bible Church, Houston, TX

The Supremacy of Christ

Satisfaction

Dr. William McCarrell

Rev. Richard McCarrell D.D.

Grace Acres Press

Larkspur, CO

Grace Acres Press

PO Box 22

Larkspur, CO 80118

www.GraceAcresPress.com

Copyright © 2017 by Grace Acres Press. All rights reserved.

This booklet is a compilation of a series of expository messages on Psalm 23 as delivered by Dr. McCarrell on Cicero Bible Church’s On Wings of Song broadcast.

Originally published by Brown Gold Publications.

Printed in United States of America

20 19 18 17 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09

All Bible references are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted by law, without the prior written permission of the Publisher.

Grace Acres Press also publishes books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

ISBN 978-1-60265-046-6

eBook ISBN 978-1-60265-051-0

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: McCarrell, William, author.

Title: The supremacy of Christ : satisfaction / William McCarrell, D.D.

Other titles: Satisfaction

Description: Larkspur : Grace Acres Press, 2017. | This booklet is a compilation of a series of expository messages on Psalm 23 as delivered by Dr. McCarrell on Cicero Bible Church’s On Wings of Song broadcast. Originally published by Brown Gold Publications. | Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016040936 (print) | LCCN 2016052154 (ebook) | ISBN 9781602650466 | ISBN 9781602650510

Subjects: LCSH: Bible. Revelation, II-III--Criticism, interpretation, etc.

Classification: LCC BS2825.52 .M385 2017 (print) | LCC BS2825.52 (ebook) | DDC 252--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016040936

Dedicated to my mother,

Mrs. Sarah McCarrell, age 94,

Mother of nine children, including three preachers,

Grandmother to twenty-nine, and

Great-grandmother to thirty-nine.

Contents

Foreword xi

Preface xiii

Practical Importance 1

Ephesus, the Apostolic (Powerful) Church 5

Smyrna, the Suffering Church 11

Pergamos, the Compromised Church 19

Thyatira, the Church Settled in Sin 29

Sardis, the Dead Church 39

Philadelphia, the Fundamental Church 49

Laodicea, the Church Christ Spues Out 61

Practical Summary / Prophetic Importance 71

Study Questions 81

Study Answers 85

The Authors 89

Foreword

The richness of God’s Word is timeless. Thus, it is a great blessing to reintroduce the impactful message of a seasoned servant of the past. Such is the case with the opportunity to access the work of Dr. William (Billy) McCarrell regarding the Seven Churches letters of Revelation 2 and 3.

Dr. McCarrell’s skill in understanding the text of Scripture, combined with his clear application of the Scripture, provides us with an edifying study. The format utilized by Dr. McCarrell combines simplicity and substance, and he begins with a succinct outline of the passage addressing the seven churches. He then amplifies this by integrating practical truth and applications, most of which recall illustrations reflective of his day of ministry. By the way, those now-dated illustrations demonstrate Dr. McCarrell’s ability to exercise amazing relevance to the world scene that he served. At the same time, he displayed thorough historical research in his study. He does present the position that the seven churches provide an overview of church history from the founding of the church (Ephesus) and culminating with the Laodicean Church marking the close of the Church Age.

Throughout this series of studies, Dr. McCarrell repeatedly emphasizes the place of Christ in the life of each church—thus the appropriate renaming of these lessons: The Supremacy of Christ: Satisfaction. The study questions provided at the end of the book constitute a practical tool to enhance readers’ engagement with and usage of this material.

It is with humble honor and joy that I commend Dr. McCarrell’s writings for the strengthening of the Body of Christ. From his life of dedicated service to the Lord and