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No claims of absolute originality are made for this material. As one man said, "I milk a lot of cows, but I churn my own butter." Please use these sermons as the Lord leads, but nothing on this site may be used for profit without my expressed, written permission!
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Back To The Future Sermon #1 Series Introduction: In this
study, we are going to embark on an exciting adventure. We are going to study the book of The
Revelation Of Jesus Christ. This
is a wonderful book. It has been
misunderstood, misrepresented and misinterpreted by many. The book of Revelation has been avoided
because many seem to believe that it cannot be understood and that reading it,
studying and preaching from it will only lead to confusion. That is sad,
because anyone who takes the time to study the Revelation will soon discover
that it is not hard to comprehend. In
fact, the book will only be unclear to the unbeliever, Luke 8:10; 1 Cor. 2:14. The
diligent student of the book will also soon discover the fact that Jesus Christ
is more clearly revealed than He is anywhere else in the Word of God. This is not a book to be avoided; it is a
book to be read and studied. So,
beginning today, I want us to take a trip. Not a trip to any geographical
location, but a trip to the future. I
would like to move through this wonderful book paragraph by paragraph and bring
you a series of sermons I would like to entitle Back To The Future. By
way of introduction, I want to briefly mention the four methods of
interpretation people take when they approach the book of Revelation. How you approach this book will determine how
you interpret it; and how you interpret it will determine what you will receive
from it. There are four primary
interpretations of the book of Revelation.
They are: 1. The
Preterist Interpretation – This view sees the events recorded in
Revelation as being a historical record of the events of the first
century. This view requires a belief
that Jesus has already returned to the earth, and it ignores the fact that the Revelation
claims that much of its content is clearly prophetic in nature, 1:3; 22:7, 10, 18-19. 2. The Idealist Interpretation – This
is the liberal view. The idealist looks
at the Revelation as a collection of allegories and stories designed to depict
the struggle between good and evil. This view does not see the events of the
Revelation as actual events, but as mere myths and fables. 3. The Historicist Interpretation –
This view considers the Revelation to be a sweeping overview of church
history. It sees this book as a timeline
of church history from the apostolic era down to this present day. Most of the events in the book are considered
to be past events. Those who hold to
this school of interpretation often engage in spiritualizing the text and in
viewing it a pure allegory. This view
ignores the book’s claims to be prophecy and offers odd interpretation and
strange applications of the text. 4. The Futurist Interpretation – This
view looks at the book of Revelation and sees most of the events as being
future in nature. This view holds that
the book of Revelation is mostly prophetic in nature. This view takes a literal approach to
interpretation. The futurist
interpretation allows all of the events of the Revelation to be actual
events. The people, places and
occurrences are not spiritualized and relegated to the realm of allegory and
myth. Everything to book says from the
rapture of the church to the second coming of the Lord Jesus to a literal
millennial kingdom is seen as a real, actual, future event. This is the only school of interpretation
that allows the book of Revelation to be considered as it is written and for
the clearly stated purpose for which it was written, 1:1, 3. This is the path of
interpretation that we will follow for our study. Here
are a few quick thoughts to set the stage for our study of this book. Date: 95 AD – Many liberals try
to date it later, but there is no evidence for their claims and strong evidence
to date this book in the first century. Author: John the Beloved,
the same Apostle who penned the Gospel and the three epistles that bear his
name. This is not really in dispute as
it is stated clearly several times: 1:1,
4, 9; 22:8. Title: The Revelation of Jesus Christ. ( Key Verse: Revelation 1:19
– This verse offers a clear, three-part outline to the events of the
Revelation. This verse is also the key
to understanding the book. The
Revelation is the only book in the Bible to contain its own divinely inspired
outline. That outline is as follows:
I. The Things Which Thou Hast Seen – Chapter 1 II. The Things Which Are – Chapter 2-3 III. The
Things Which Shall Be Hereafter – Chapters
4-22 Background: This book was written during some dark days for the early
church. They were suffering terrible
persecution under the iron hand of the Roman Emperors. This book was written to give them hope,
comfort and encouragement in the struggles they faced. This book was also given to them to let them
know how the plan of God would eventually play out. They are made to understand that God has a
plan for the future, and that His plan includes the destruction of Satan, sin
and this wicked world; and the redemption of creation and God’s Own people, and
the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. This great plan will take shape far
more clearly as we move through the pages of this book. The Least You Need To Know:
This book is a book of prophecy. It speaks of future events in what is
often symbolic language. That language,
however, is clearly defined and explained.
This
is a book closely tied to the Old Testament.
Of the 404 verses in Revelation, 278 refer to the Old Testament in some
way. Of those 278 verses, there are over
800 allusions to Old Testament events.
So, a working knowledge of the entire Bible is necessary to understand
all that is taking place in this book. The
book of Revelation and the book of Genesis stand like the great bookends of
God’s creation. Many things that have
their commencement in Genesis have their conclusion in Revelation. Things like sin, Satan, creation, the curse,
Heaven, earth, redemption, etc, come full circle by the time you reach
Revelation. Now,
that is a lot of introductory material. I hope I haven’t lost you already. If you are still here, let’s begin our
journey through this wonderful, vitally important book. Let’s go “Back To The Future.” Revelation 1:1-3 THE UNVEILING OF THE BOOK Intro: In these first
three verses, we are given a solid introduction to the content and purpose of
this book. Let’s dig into these words
for a few minutes and try to glean a greater understanding of all we will study
and these weeks go by. I want to entitle
our first study “The Unveiling Of The Book.”
These three little verses reveal some of the essential principles that
govern the content of the book of Revelation.
A. This book is a
book about Jesus! Your Bible might title
this book “The Revelation of Saint John the Divine”. That is the title
given to this book by some man. However,
the real title of this book is given in verse
1. It is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is what this book is. B. Jesus Christ is
the theme of the Bible. You might say
that the Bible is a “Him” book. It is a book about Him! Everything in the
Bible points to Jesus in one way or another.
You can find Him on every page, in very chapter, and in every event.
But, the book of Revelation, more so than any other book of the Bible, is a
book about Him! It is a “revelation”
or an “unveiling” of the Person, the Purposes, the Plans,
the Power,
and the Promotion of the Lord Jesus Christ. C. When Jesus was
here the first time, He was veiled. He
was not recognized by most people as God, even though He was and is God in the
flesh, Phil. 2:5-8. The Bible tells is in 1 Cor. 2:8 that if they had known Who Jesus was, they would not
have crucified Him. Now, there was one occasion when the veil
of His flesh was pulled aside and His glory shown forth. This happened on the Mount of
Transfiguration, Matt. 17:1-8. There, the heavenly glory concealed beneath
the flesh of His humanity burst forth.
However, that event was only witnessed by Peter, James and John. The rest of the people did not see His glory. When the world looked at Jesus all they
saw was His poverty, His humanity. They
saw a carpenter from D. The book of
Revelation tells us that the world has not seen the last of the Lord
Jesus! He is coming again. When He comes the second time He is not
destined for a cross, but for a crown.
He is not coming as a suffering Lamb, but as a Sovereign Lord. He is not coming in shame and poverty, but in
splendor and power. There is coming a
day when Jesus Christ will come and be revealed to the whole world. They will see Him as He truly is. This is the clear teaching of the Scriptures,
1 Cor. 1:7 (The word “coming”
is “apokalupsis”.);
2 Thes. 1:7 (The word “revealed”
is “apokalupsis”.)
; 1 Pet. 1:7. (The word “appearing”
is “apokalupsis”.) Do you get the picture? Jesus is coming and the world will see Him as
He really is, Rev. 1:7. E. As the chapters of
this book unfold, we will see that Jesus is the solution to all the problems of
the world. We will see that He is the
only hope for fallen man. We will see a
world in turmoil and tribulation and that Jesus is the answer to the need. We
will see that when everything else is gone; when sin, Satan and sorrow have all
been defeated; Jesus will still be Lord.
Regardless of what you might be facing today, remember that Jesus Christ
is the answer. He is your only
hope. He is “the way, the truth and the life,
and no man cometh unto the Father but by” Him. F. We will see God’s
promise to Jesus in Phil. 2:9-11
fulfilled in this book. Jesus came to
this world to give His life for humanity.
He came to reveal God and redeem God’s elect. He did give His life for us and God has
promised to exalt Him because of that.
We will see that accomplished in this book. Verse one
says, “which God gave unto Him.” This reminds us that when Jesus
became a man, He voluntarily gave up the independent use of some of His divine
prerogatives. When Jesus was here, He plainly said that He did not know the
hour of His Own coming, Mark. 13:32.
Some believe that the Revelation is God giving this information to Jesus. But, there
is a problem with this view; this book does not tell us of the day and the hour
when Jesus will come. It does, however,
give a full revelation of the glory He will display and receive in the future. II. v.
1b THE PURPOSE OF THE REVELATION A. The purpose of
this book is clearly stated in verse 1,
“to
shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.” This book is given to the people of God so
that they might be able to comprehend God’s master plan for the future. Verse
3 reminds us that this book is a book of “prophecy”. Now, there are two types of prophecy. One meaning of the word is to “forth
tell”. That is what I am doing
right now. I am taking the Word of God
and I am “forth telling” that Word.
There is a sense in which preaching is prophecy. The other use of the word carries the idea of
“fore
telling”. That is, of revealing
truths and events before they occur.
Both of these types of prophecy occur in the book of Revelation. Revelation
1-3 are “forth telling” chapters. Chapters
4-22 are “fore telling” chapters. B. This revelation of
Jesus is given to “His servants”. The word
servant is the word dou/loj (doulos {doo'-los}) This word refers to “one who gives himself up to
another's will; a slave”. It
brings to mind the law of the bondservant in Exodus 21:1-6. If a man became indebted to another, he was
to work off that debt through seven years of servitude to the debtor. At the end of the seven years, the debt was
considered paid and the servant could go free.
If, however, he wished to remain with his master and spend his life
serving him, then a hole would be bored through his ear and he would become a
bond slave. The hole in his ear would
mark him as one who served the master by choice, out of love. This book is for the people of God! The lost man or woman will have real trouble
grasping the truths contained in this book because they are words intended for
those who serve the Lord from a heart of love.
As I said earlier, these are things “spiritually discerned.” C. We are told that
another purpose of this book is to reveal “things which must shortly come to pass”. Many people read this and think of shortness
of time. If that is the case, then we
have a problem. It has been 2,000 since
these things were written and most of them have yet to be fulfilled. This phrase simply means that when these
events begin to take place, they will happen in a short period of time. So, the events of the Revelation were made
clear 2,000 years ago, but once the events begin to unfold; one will follow the
other in rapid succession. The word “shortly”
translates two Greek words. They are: “en” (en) which means “in”
and “tachos”
(tachos)
which means “quickness; swiftness”. We get our word “taxi” from this
word. You need to get somewhere in a
hurry, so you flag down a taxi, you hop in a take off. That is the way the end time events will take
place. Once they begin, they will “take
off like a speeding taxi.” ( D. Verse one says
that He “sent and signified it by His angel”. The word “angel” simply refers to a
“messenger”. Jesus sent this word to John by a heavenly
messenger service; much like the virgin birth was announced to Mary. But, the word “signified” is very
important to understanding this book. It
literally means “to give sign”. We could
read that word “Sign-I-Fied”. In other
words, the Lord is letting us know that He will be speaking in symbolic
language and word pictures in the Revelation.
Why would the Lord use signs and symbols? There are a few reasons: 1. These
symbols are a spiritual code.
The church in that day was under intense persecution. The language used would have been clear to
the redeemed, but a riddle to the lost who might desire to use the message of
the book to attack the saints. 2. Languages
change, symbols do not. John was
trying to write about events, images and people far into the distant
future. He did not possess the
vocabulary to adequately describe what he was seeing. He used the language of his day to describe
events in our day and beyond. That is
why the Lord sent this message in signs and symbols. As the language has changed the symbols have
retained their power and they still speak today. Don’t
worry about the signs and symbols that we will encounter in this book. They are all carefully and completely
explained for us. Remember, this is not
a hidden book; it is a revelation, an unveiling of eternal truth. We will encounter important symbolic numbers:
3, 4, 6, 7, 12, 666 and they are all explained in the book. We will read about
trumpets, bowls and seals; they are all explained. Every symbol we will encounter is defined for
us. III.
v. 1c-2 THE PENMAN OF THE REVELATION A. John is designated
to be the human author. This is the son
of Zebedee. He is the one known in John 20:2 and 21:20 as “the disciple whom Jesus loved”. He is the one who rested his head on the
breast of the Lord Jesus at The Last Supper, John 13:23. (Ill. Even there, he was privy to divine secrets. It pays to be close to the Lord. He reveals things to His friends, Gen. 18:17; John 15:15.) He is the one
who left everything to follow Jesus, Matt.
4:22. He is the one who stood by the
cross of Jesus as the Lord hung there dying, John 19:26-27. He was the
one who looked into the empty tomb on the morning of the resurrection and
believed, John 20:8. That is the penman of this book! He was a faithful friend to the Lord Jesus
and a faithful scribe of the Word of god.
John tells us that he faithfully recorded everything that was revealed
to Him. Just as John had faithfully
recorded an accurate record of the first advent of the Lord Jesus, John 19:35; 21:42; 1 John 1:2; 4:14, he
tells us that he is doing the same with this revelation that He has been given. B. These visions must
have overwhelmed the old Apostle. But,
he gives us a faithful record of the Revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. IV. v. 3
THE PROMISE OF THE REVELATION A. This is the only
book in the Bible that comes with a built in promise to those who read, hear
and heed the message. God promises a
special blessing to those who spend time in this blessed book. B. There are three
present tense words used to describe who can expect to receive this
blessing. They are readeth, hear and
keep. 1. He that readeth – This refers to the
one who would read these words in the public gatherings. In those days, copies of the Scriptures were
rare. Usually there was one copy per
congregation and one person would stand and read so that all could hear the
words. The one who reads the book is
promised a blessing. 2. They that hear – This refers to the
congregation that is hearing the words as they are read. There is a special blessing attached to
hearing this book read. 3. They that keep – This speaks to those
who will take this message to heart.
Those who hear it, believe it, and live it can expect the Lord to bless
them for their efforts in this book. C. We can expect the
Lord to feed us and teach us as we move through this great book. But, we can also expect the Lord to bless us
because we are taking Him at His word and we are reading, hearing and keeping
the words of this prophecy. That is why
I would encourage you to invite lost people to these studies. I believe the Lord will save them! Invite other believers; if they come they
will be blessed along with us. Conc: Now, we are told why this book is so important in the last phrase of verse 3. It says, “for the time is at hand”. The word “time” in this verse does
not refer to time on a clock; it means “due time; a season; an era of time”. God is telling us that we are nearing the end
of this things and this book will give us help and hope as we see the end
approaching. If
the time was near 2,000 years ago, why haven’t these things come to pass?
First, God’s clock does not operate like our clock. Friend,
if you are here lost today, you need to come to Jesus and be saved. One day, He will come and it will be too late
then. Now, if the Lord has spoken to your heart on any level during this
message, I invite you to come before Him and do whatever it is He is leading
you to do.
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Copyright 2003 by Alan Carr |
