Stephen recently began preaching on the first 3 chapters of the book of Revelation. These chapters contain an introduction, a vision of the Lord Jesus, and letters written by him to seven churches.
There are a number of helpful resources online dealing with both Revelation in general and the seven letters in particular. One very readable commentary on Revelation, which is available to read free online is The Returning King by Vern Poythress (Westminster Theological Seminary). He also has a free study guide with questions on each section.
He gives the following guidance on how to read the book of Revelation:
• Read it prayerfully. Jesus Christ is the source of this Book (Rev. 1:1). He alone can give you spiritual eyes and hearts to understand it. Pray to the Lord that he would interpret this book to your heart.
• Focus on the central theme. Read Revelation to see what it says about God ruling history and bringing it to consummation in Christ. Read for the big picture. Don’t be discouraged when you do not understand some detail. Most people who get into difficulty fail right here. They want to understand the details and to predict future historical pinpricks before they have even begun to absorb the central message. They are doing things the wrong way around. Nobody can properly understand the details of a book without first understanding the main points.
• Be God-centred. Otherwise, you will be like someone who takes holds of a knife by the blade instead of the handle. Or you will be like someone who tries to understand a beautiful painting by looking in a magnifying glass at each blob of paint on the canvas.
• Focus on the hope for the coming of Christ. Watch how the whole book points forward to Christ’s return.
• Let the images “soak into you.” Get involved in the Book. Don’t try to puzzle it out. Enjoy it. Cheer for the saints. Detest the beast. Rejoice in God’s power and glory. Praise the Lamb.
• Pay attention to Old Testament themes and images that are used in a fresh way. The book of Revelation has many allusions to Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, and the breadth of the Old Testament. Becoming familiar with the Old Testament will help you deepen your appreciation of Revelation, even though the basic message of Revelation comes through to all the servants of Christ.
• Recognise that the central part of the book is a prophetic vision given by God to John. Prophetic visions are full of symbols. They are symbolic representations of spiritual truth, not photographic copies of events.
• Use this book in times of distress, persecution, and death. Christians of all ages testify that it speaks powerfully to people in deep trouble.