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Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
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“THE
BLESSING OF
REVELATION 1:1-3
Year: 96 AD
John is up in years,
perhaps in his 80’s. About 65
years previous, Jesus called John to leave his fishing boats and become a
fisher of men.
John was present at many
significant occasions:
Foot of the Cross—as Jesus
died
Wrote 5 books of the
Bible: His Gospel, I, II, III
John, and Revelation
Book of John—“Believe!”
Epistles—“Be Sure!”
Revelation—“Be Ready!”
Book of John
Epistles
Revelation—sovereignty
Book of John—portrays
Jesus as the prophet.
Epistles
Revelation
The Lord took John away
from his busy life as Pastor of the church at
God used the evil emperor
Domitian to exile John on a miserable little rocky desert island called
Patmos off the coast of what is today
It was during John’s
devotions one day that Jesus Christ appeared to him and gave him what is
recorded in chapter 1.
1.
The Focus of the book of Revelation.
(1ST 5 WORDS)
It’s not John, it’s not
the beast, it’s not the anti
Revelation means
“unveiling” (like a new
statue…pull the canvas off)
While on earth, Jesus’
glory was veiled in human flesh.
For only a brief moment it was revealed on the
Human eyes could hardly
stand the intensity…God had to veil it again in an instant.
But in Revelation, the
Lord gives John some special glasses, if you will, and allowed Him to see
unveiled before him, in all of his splendor, majesty, and glory, THE KING OF
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS!”
Together, we will see
Jesus Christ for who He is. We
will see His power like never before.
We can see Jesus in the
gospels, His first coming to earth…
…but in Revelation we see
His second coming, not veiled in human flesh, but robed in royalty, glory,
majesty, power, splendor…the GOD OF ALL GODS, THE LORD OF ALL LORDS, THE
KING OF ALL KINGS!
Gospels:
Revelation:
Crucifixion
Coronation
Came for a tree
comes for a throne
Stood before Pilate
(judged) Pilate will stand
before Him
Suffers shame
Shows splendor
Came to redeem
Comes to rule and to reign
Justifier
Judge
Lamb
Lion
We need to see both sides
of this Jesus who came down for us for one purpose…and yet is
coming back for a different purpose altogether.
Caution:
Some people love to study prophecy but aren't looking for Jesus in it
as much as gloom and doom, death and destruction, and current events.
We will have to see all these things as we study...it's all around
us, but let's make a point to make our point of Jesus!
As we launch out into this
powerful study, we need to be looking not for the sensational, but for the
Sovereign…not just for current events, but for the coming King!
Also in the station is a
young lady. She doesn’t know the
schedule of every train. What
she does know is that her fiancé’, whom she is deeply in love with is, on
one of those trains that is due…ANYTIME!
She can hardly wait. Her
heart beats wildly with anticipation.
Don’t study Rev. like the
station master, trying to get down all the facts.
Make it about your true love you are waiting to arrive anytime now!
Focus on Jesus!
That is how we should
study this book together.
(focus on Jesus)
2.
The Function of the book of Revelation
What purpose does this
book serve?
v.1 To show the future!
“shortly come to pass”
Many go around prophesying
about what will happen in the future:
“88 Reasons He’s coming
back in 1988”—big seller in the mid ‘80’s, not now!
“
“Bin Laden is the false
prophet!” Please!!!
All there is to know about
the future has already been predicted.
It has been fulfilled with
100% accuracy so far, and will continue in like fashion.
It’s right here in our
laps! God has said all He’s
going to say…and as we’ll see, it’s plenty!
Dionne “Warwitch” doesn’t
know the future, and neither does “Ms. Cleo!”
The "Psychotic Friends
network" doesn’t know the future.
Our generation flocks to
little shacks and storefronts with signs out front that say, “Ask Madame
Zonga: she sees all, knows all,
tells all…honk so we know you’re here!”
Only God knows the
future…and thanks to the book of Revelation, so can we.
When I say “we”, who am I
talking about…look at v. 1
“His servants”
I’m happy to be His
servant…how about you?
Some Christians don’t like
that term. I’ve heard of some
who’ve taken it out of their vocabulary because of the
May I say today there’s no
regrets for a servant, as long as they have a wonderful Master!
If you’re not saved,
you’re a servant, too. Did you
know that? The Bible says you’re
a slave to sin, whether you know it or not.
If you’re not saved, you
won’t understand Revelation.
It’s for His servants!
The FUNCTION of this book
is to reveal the future to Christians.
But how is that done?
What is God’s method for communicating these great truths to us?
The key word is
“Signified”. (Carries the idea
of heavy symbolism)
“like” and “as” will be
seen commonly.
God tells us up front to
expect to encounter a lot of symbolism.
Why is that?
3 Reasons I believe God used much
symbolism:
1.
Those symbols become a spiritual code
This book can only be
understood by those for whom it is intended.
You need an understanding
of the rest of the Bible in order to get the full effect.
There are over 300
references in Rev. to the OT.
Many of the symbols in Revelation can only be interpreted in light of the
OT.
The best commentary on the
Bible IS the Bible itself!
We have to anchor our
interpretations of Revelation to what God has already revealed in Scripture,
rather than letting our imaginations run wild as we read these verses.
2.
It conveys the message of the end times w/
deeper emotion
John could have written,
“A dictator will rule the world.”
Instead, he calls him “The
Beast.” (conveys the power and
cruelty of this man w/ deeper emotion).
John could have said,
“There will be a one
Instead, he refers to it
as “
3.
Because John is describing (most likely) 21st
Century events in 1st Century language and 1st Century
knowledge.
Think about it.
As God revealed these things to John, he carried him forward at least
1900 years.
If you lived 1900 years
ago, and you saw a sky full of assault helicopters, and every time they
fired a missile all the vegetation in sight was destroyed, how might you
refer to that.
“A sky full of giant
locusts!”
If God showed you the
devastation of a nuclear bomb, and you saw an entire city wiped out just
like that, how might you describe that?
“Fire and brimstone!”
John is describing 21st
C. events w/ 1st C. knowledge and language!
The $24,000 question:
How are we to interpret
this highly symbolic book? Are
we to interpret it literally or symbolically?
The answer is… “Yes!”
Both!
Literally, and Symbolically.
In other words, you find
out what the symbol stands for, and then you
BELIEVE IT LITERALLY!
For example:
Rev. 12—Satan is referred to as a dragon having a tail so long that
he can knock 1/3rd of the stars from heaven.
Obviously, that is
symbolism. Satan is referred to
as a dragon because he is so ferocious, and other scriptures tell us that
1/3rd of the stars are demon spirits (fallen angels) who followed
Satan in his first rebellion at the beginning of time.
Don’t do like the liberals
and say, “that’s symbolism…there really is no devil.”
No, that’s symbolism that
stands for a literal devil.
Find out what the symbol
stands for and then literally believe it!
So, the focus of the book is Jesus Christ.
The function of the book is to show the
future to God’s servants.
3.
What is the fruit of this book?
v. 3—a promise that if we
will just read and heed these things, we are in for a tremendous blessing!
In coming months, we will
see together that this world is on a toboggan slide toward economic
disaster, natural disaster, nuclear war, and famines and pestilence.
Thru it all, however, we
will see that God Almighty is in full control!
It’s not enough to just
read it. We must heed it.
In other words,
prophetic doctrine must hold hands w/ practical duty!
The real sign of whether
we really believe this prophecy is not how high we jump when we hear
these things, it’s how straight we walk when our feet hit the floor!
As you come each service,
don’t leave w/ your head high in the clouds of prophecy…rather leave w/ your
feet firmly planted on the sidewalk of soulwinning…as we warn our community
of the wrath to come!
This book, the Bible, will
change our community, if we will read it, heed it, and then take it to them.
No other book can do this!
No science book can explain these things!
We claim to be on a
university level scientifically…but as long as we remain in Kindergarten
morally, we will remain unchanged as a society.
Sociology may make this
world a neighborhood, but it will not make this world a
brotherhood!
Revelation gives us a
winning perspective: [read the
back of the Book!]
World events may grieve
us, and sadden us, but they don’t have to shake us.
Scripture says, “when you
see these things coming to pass…look up!
For your redemption draweth nigh!”
End of v. 3—“the time is
at hand”
Invitation:
Are you His servant?
The time is at hand!
Today—Savior
Wait—Sovereign
Today—Redeemer
Wait—Ruler
Today—Justifier
Wait—Judge
Today—God’s servant Wait—Serve Satan for all eternity!
Grace Notes Sermon Ministry:
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