The Blessing Book Revelation 1 Take a look at Revelation 1:1-3. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” We are studying the Book of Revelation. Some older Bibles call it The Revelation of St. John the Divine. That’s wrong on every level. It’s the revelation of Jesus, not John. Secondly, John is not divine. Only God is divine. And please don’t call this the Book of Revelations. It’s not plural, it’s singular. It’s not many revelations; it’s one revelation of Jesus Christ. The reason we call this the blessing book is because this is the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read it, to those who hear it, and to those who obey it. The devil doesn’t want you to hear this series of messages. There are two books in the Bible that the devil especially hates: Genesis and Revelation. The Book of Genesis pronounces the devil’s doom, and in the Book of Revelation that doom is carried out. Don’t be surprised if some weird things happen while we are studying this Book. In the past we’ve had lights go out, birds get loose inside the church, recording equipment fail, etc. There is no devil in the first two chapters of the Bible, and there is no devil in the last two chapters of the Bible. Satan has waged a war against the first eleven chapters of Genesis and the entire Book of Revelation. He tries to spread the lie that Genesis is a myth and that Revelation is a mystery. Neither one of those statements is true. There are four things I want you to see in the first few verses of the Book of Revelation. First, I want you to see the central Character of the Book. The central character is not John; it is Jesus. If you don’t learn more about Jesus by reading this Book, then you’ve misread it. 1. When Jesus came the first time, His glory was veiled. When He comes again, His glory will be unveiled. 2. When Jesus came the first time, He came to a crucifixion. When He comes again, He’ll be coming to a coronation. 3. When Jesus came the first time, He came to a tree. When He comes again, He’ll be coming to a throne. 4. When He came the first time, He stood before Pilate to be judged. When He comes again, Pilate will stand before Jesus to be judged. 5. When Jesus came the first time, he came in shame. When He comes again, He will come in splendor. 6. When Jesus came the first time, He came to redeem. When He comes again, He’ll come to reign. 7. When He came the first time, He came as a suffering Servant. When He comes again, He’ll be coming as a Mighty Sovereign. You need to see Jesus, not only as the Justifier, but as the Judge. You need to see Him, not only as the Redeemer, but as the Ruler. Jesus is the central character of this Book. One thing that really gets under my skin is people who love prophecy but not Jesus. They study prophecy almost as a hobby, and they’re more preoccupied with the Second Coming than they are with the One who’s coming. Imagine a Station Master who knows all the schedules of the trains and has them memorized. Now imagine a young lady who knows nothing about the schedules, but she knows her fiancé is on one of those trains. She can hardly wait for him to get there. I’ve known people who are like the Station Master when it comes to the Book of Revelation. They have their facts, and figures, and charts all in their heads; but their heart is not beating with anticipation for the One they love like that young ladies was. Our Bridegroom is at hand! If you don’t fall in love with Jesus before this study is finished, then there’s something wrong with you. Point number 2 is the clear purpose of the Book. Verse 1 states the purpose: “to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass.” The only One who knows the future is God and those to whom God shows it. The devil doesn’t know the future and fortune tellers don’t know the future. I remember a story about a fortune teller who used to advertise on TV who went bankrupt. You’d think she would have seen that coming! The word “servant” here is the word for bond slave. You will never understand the Book of Revelation until you’re willing to become the bond slave of Jesus Christ. If you’re not His bond slave, then this Book is not for you. You’ll simply be reading someone else’s mail! There’s nothing wrong with being a bond slave if you have a wonderful master. A slave doesn’t have to worry about food, or shelter, or clothing. He doesn’t have to worry about his schedule, or his hospitalization, etc., because that’s the master’s business. There’s no greater freedom that being the Lord’s perfect slave. You’re going to have to submit to Him or you’ll never understand this Book. There are two thoughts about this future that Jesus is going to show His people. There is the sureness of the prophecy and the nearness of the prophecy. Notice that this verse speaks of things that must shortly come to pass. Circle that word “must.” There are no ifs, ands or buts about it; the things written in this book will happen. Just as the prophecies concerning Christ’s first coming were perfectly fulfilled, the prophecies concerning His Second Coming will also be perfectly fulfilled. A lot of folks missed the blessing of His first coming because they didn’t believe those prophecies would be literally fulfilled. For instance, prophecies that He would be born in a stable and prophecies that He would be born of a virgin, and prophecies that He would literally be called Jesus, etc. But there’s not only the sureness of this prophecy; there is the nearness of this prophecy. When you see the phrase “must shortly come to pass,” it’s not talking about the next 15 minutes. It’s been over 2000 years since John wrote this. The word “shortly” means “quickly.” In other words, “When it happens, it will happen quickly, suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye.” Over and over again, Jesus told us to be ready. Why? Because when He comes, it will happen suddenly. But I also want you to see how God reveals the future to His servants. The first verse says, “…and he sent and signified it by his angle and to his servant, John.” The first four letters in the word signified are s-i-g-n. The Book of Revelation is filled with signs and symbols. We’re going to study a lot of that symbolism. In order to understand the Book of Revelation, you have to understand the Old Testament. Many of these symbols are allusions to things that happened in the Old Testament. The best commentary on the Bible is always the Bible! When we talk about symbols in the Book of Revelation, it always brings up the question, “Are we to interpret those symbols literally or symbolically?” The answer is “Yes.” We will interpret this Book both literally and symbolically….and those interpretations don’t have to contradict each other. When you find out what a symbol stands for, you literally believe it. For example, in Revelation 12 Satan is spoken of as a great red dragon whose tail is so long it can knock a third of the stars our of heaven. Obviously, that’s symbolism. Satan doesn’t actually have seven heads or a tail that can sweep the stars out of the heavens. But as we study this, we find that those stars represent fallen angels that have become demon spirits. Satan is characterized as a dragon because of his ferocity, and cruelty, and power. This is a symbolic representation of a literal devil. Some people would read this passage and say, “Oh, that’s just symbolism. There’s no literal devil.” But to be accurate, you have to interpret this book both symbolically and literally. The central character of this book is Jesus. The purpose of the book is to reveal the future to God’s servants. But the third thing I want you to see is the comforting promise of the Book. “…who bare record of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” The promise is that if we read this Book and heed this Book and keep this Book, God will bless us. John is telling us what he saw and heard. What did he hear? According to verse 2, it was the Word of God. I would be willing to be that many of you have never read this Book all the way through. Read it. If it doesn’t do anything else, it will scare the hell out of you….literally! But not only should we read it; we should heed it. The word “hear” in verse 3 means to heed. Have you ever told your kids something and then added the phrase “Do you hear me?” You’re saying, “Are you taking to heart what I’m telling you?” Don’t just let your eyeballs skim the page: heed what it says. Prophetic doctrine and practical duty are always to be linked together. The real sign of how much you believe the things we’re going to study won’t be according to how many notes you take or how many times you say, “Amen.” The real sign will be in what you do to warn men of the wrath to come. I don’t want you to come out of this study with your head in the clouds of prophecy: I want you to leave with your feet on the pavement of soul-winning. That will be the sign of whether you believe these things or not. Finally, I want you to see the certain prophecy of this Book. Verse 3 says, “…the time is at hand.” What time is he talking about? He’s talking about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As we get closer to His return, the signs intensify. I can think of 6 major signs that tell me that the time is truly at hand. I’m going to list them for you as we close. Sign number 1 is the return of Israel to her land. On May 14-15, 1948, Israel became a nation. Sign number 2 is Russia’s rise to prominence and power on the world scene. Don’t think for one moment that we’re through with Russia. The Russian bear hasn’t died, he’s just wounded. Ezekiel had a vision of an army that would invade Israel from the north in the last days. Bible scholars tell us that this is a clear reference to Russia. Sign number 3 is the revival of the Roman Empire. In Revelation 17, and in Daniel 2, and in other places, it tells us that the ancient Roman Empire is going to be revived with a 10 nation confederacy. That 10 nation confederacy was formed January 1, 1987. The antichrist will come out of this confederacy. Sign 4 is the rise of the occult and Satanism. As of 1988 there were 35 thousand practicing witches and warlocks in Great Britain. 40,000 black masses are held annually in France. The book stores in this country are filled with books on voodoo, the occult, satanism, e.s.p. and astrology. These things are now being taught in public schools and colleges with your tax money footing the bill. They can’t teach about Jesus, but they can teach all this other garbage! Sign number 5 is the great increase in earthquakes. The Bible says that the last days will be marked with a great increase in the incidence and intensity of earthquakes. The Book of Revelation is going to talk about this. When the earth begins to quake, you’d better have a firm place to stand! The only safe place I know to stand is on the Rock of Ages! You may tremble on the Rock, but the Rock will never tremble under you. Sign number 6 is famines and pestilences. Jesus warned us about world famine and the black horse of Revelation is beginning to ride through the world. The sands of time are running out for this generation. If you intend to do anything for God, you need to do it quickly. But you can do nothing until you first give your life to Christ. Will you do it today?
Posted on: Mon, 19 Aug 2013 01:12:06 +0000
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