INTRODUCTION
Rev. 1:1-9 (NKJV)
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and
signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2who bore witness
to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things
that he saw. 3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it;
for the time is near.
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come,
and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5and from
Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the
ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
6and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see
Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the
Almighty."
9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation
and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called
Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
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Welcome to one of the most mysterious, controversial, and neglected books
of the Bible. Some seminaries and churches won’t touch it.
People tend to have a love/hate relationship with the book of Revelation.
Some study it and other books of prophecy to the exclusion of other
Biblical truth.
Some neglect it totally for a variety of reasons:
 They are intimidated
by it and think its too mysterious to understand.
What they do understand
fills them with fear and they would just as soon not hear it.
As we begin this study let me share with you where I will be coming
from in relation to a couple of areas where honest Christians can disagree.
There are three major approaches to the study of the book of Revelation:
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Historic Approach: Already happened.
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Spiritual Approach: No literal meaning - only spiritual principles
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Futurist Approach: Yet to happen but will be literally fulfilled
There is some truth to all these approaches; but I believe the most complete
approach is the Futurist Approach and is the one that I will be using in
our study.
There are also several views regarding the Millennium and the Rapture.
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I believe that the Bible teaches a Pre-Millennial Second Coming to set
up His kingdom.
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I believe that the Bible teaches a Pre-Tribulation Rapture of the Church.
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The next major prophetic event will be this Rapture.
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Seven years later Christians will return with Christ at His Second Coming.
It is at this time that we will rule and reign with Christ.
The outline for the book of Revelation is given in Rev.
1:19 (NKJV):
19"Write the things which you have seen, and
the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."
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Things which John has seen: Chapter 1
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Things which are: Chapter 2
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Things to come: Chapters 4 - 22
I. THE BOOK
The title of this book is "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." It is Revelation
- not RevelationS
There’s a lot of stuff in this book; but it all ties together and is
one revelation.
Many people ignore the study of Revelation because they believe that
it is a closed book, impossible for us to understand. This is refuted first
by the meaning of the Greek word translated "revelation" which means "an
unveiling of what was previously unknown." Also, Revelation
22:10 (NKJV) tells John not to seal up this book.
The book of Revelation is prophecy, not symbolic or allegorical, but
to be literally fulfilled. Man predicts but God prophesies because He knows
the beginning and the end. Someone has said that History is like a reel
of film that we see a frame at a time; but God has already seen the whole
movie, beginning and end.
Why is that important today? Because we live in a time of high anxiety
and people are looking to the stars, to horoscopes, etc. to find answers.
We have what they need in God’s Word - it’s not maybe, He knows.
God has already revealed the future of planet earth in the prophecies
in His Word. For example, in this study we’re going to:
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define Rapture, Second Coming, Millennium, etc.
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learn about an economic system with numbers for everyone
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learn about the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple
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read about the emergence and destruction of Babylon and what that means
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learn about the Battle of Armageddon, etc.
But my prayer is that you will walk away from this study, not just
with more tidbits about End Time events, but with more trust in God than
ever. The future has two possible handles: Anxiety and Faith. My prayer
is that this study will enable you to grab the handle of faith.
Even though the book of Revelation is not symbolic, verse 1 does tell
us that the message to John would be revealed through symbols. The root
of the word "signified" means "to reveal through symbols." These symbols
have literal meaning and will have literal fulfillment. Most of these symbols
are from the Old Testament.
Why the symbols - why the weird language?
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It was sort of a spiritual code for the Early Church not understood by
the Romans. Its probably harder for us to understand now than it was for
the Early Church because they were so steeped in the Old Testament language
and symbols and we are not.
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Symbolism is not weakened by time.
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Symbolism arouses strong emotions by giving mental images that other forms
of communication do not evoke.
Examples:
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Babylon is described as the "mother of all whores."
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Evil is described as a "woman drunk with blood."
One more thing: What about the phrase "things which must shortly take place."
Preacher, it’s been 2,000 years. That doesn’t seem so "shortly" to me!
The Greek word would be better translated "swiftly" or "suddenly." The
emphasis of this phrase is not that these events will happen in the near
future, but that once they begin, they will not drag out but will happen
swiftly.
II. THE BIOGRAPHER
We are told that this Revelation comes from God the Father to God the
Son to an unnamed angel to the Apostle John to us. John is told to write
down what he sees.
It is believed that John is in his nineties at the time of this revelation.
Verse 9 tells us that he is in exile on the island of Patmos.
The Bible tells us that John:
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was part of the Inner Circle of disciples with Jesus.
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was with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration and in the Garden of Gethesame.
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described himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." (John
13:23, 21:7, NKJV)
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was the only disciple at the foot of the cross.
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was the first to the tomb and the scripture tells us was the first to believe
in the resurrection.
John was a man of warmth and sensitivity. He was a man who needed people,
who enjoyed being with people. He was a man who brought encouragement along
with him wherever he went.
But look at his situation now. By the whim of a dictator1
it was all taken away from him.
He’s been convicted
of trumped up charges.
He’s
in exile on Patmos, a man without a home, isolated from all people.
He
is powerless, destitute, oppressed and alone.
But here on Patmos John receives this special revelation. Maybe this
isolation was necessary for John to be able to receive it. Similar to the
benefit of Paul being in prison - his epistles.
III. BENEFITS OF THIS MESSAGE
Verse 3 is the first of seven beatitudes (blessings) in the book of
Revelation.2 It is the only book with this kind of promise.
3"Blessed is he who reads and those who hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in
it; for the time is near."
The Scripture was not as available as now so this verse speaks specifically
to the public reading of God’s Word. That means that I and Pastor Josh
will be blessed as we publicly read this book. And that you will be blessed
as you hear the word read.
You are going to be blessed personally as we study the book of Revelation.
New Life Wesleyan Church is going to be blessed as well.
One other condition is mentioned - "to keep the words written in it."
Not only reading and hearing but applying truth that we learn to our lives.
Ask: What did this lesson teach me that I can apply to my life? How can
I keep this word?
The verbs in verse 3 are in the present tense denoting continuous action.
Continue reading, hearing, applying. This book should be a part of your
regular Bible reading. This study will help make that a reality in your
life.
IV. THE BEING OF CENTRAL INTEREST
John returns to the focus of this revelation in these verses - Jesus
Christ. Jesus is the main thing and John keeps Him the main thing throughout
the whole book.
"...Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and
who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from
the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
6and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
Chapters 1-3: Jesus is the Lord of the Church
Chapters 4-5: Jesus is the Glorified Lamb
Chapters 6-18: Jesus is the Judge
Chapter 19: Jesus is the King of Kings
Chapters 20-21: Jesus is the Bridegroom
Both in the words of John and Jesus, the deity of Jesus Christ is proclaimed.
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Verses 5-6 speak of the Trinity:
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God the Father: "who is, and was, and is to come"
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Seven Spirits: description of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament language3
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God the Son, Jesus Christ:
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"faithful witness" (martyr): Jesus’ death
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"firstborn from the dead:" the first to resurrect never to die again.
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"ruler over the kings of the earth:" Second Coming
The last part of verses 5 and 6 dedicates this book to Jesus in a burst
of praise.4 The one primary purpose of this study is to get
a fresh revelation of Jesus Christ resulting in our increased worship of
Him.
Jesus Christ is the theme of this book and more specifically His Second
Coming:
7"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see
Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn
because of Him. Even so, Amen."
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"Clouds": In the Old Testament "clouds"5 were a symbol of the
glory of God. It is interesting that in Hebrews
12:1-2 (NKJV), "cloud" refers to "a crowd" which may mean that this
verse refers to the Christians who return with Christ at His Second Coming:
1 "Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which
so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set
before us, 2looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our
faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising
the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. "
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"Every eye will see Him:" How is that possible? CNN, etc.
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"even those who pierced Him": Israel - the Jews (Zech.12:10-14,
NKJV)
Verse 8 is the first of seven "I Am" statements in the book of Revelation.
8"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and
the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Same name as given to Moses by God in the Old Testament
Jesus is the A and the Z - the First and the Last. He is all that
we need.
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