The
Book is Now Open
Revelation
1:1-3
“The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew 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 readest,
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the
time is at hand.”
The book is not the book of
“Revelations” It is not “the Revelation of Saint John the Divine.” The
word Revelation is singular and the first verse clearly declares, this book is, “the
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father gave unto Him.”
Revelation is what God revealed to his son. Revelation is the
testimony of Jesus Christ; this fact in itself makes it the most
important books in the Bible. Revelation is undeniable as we shall later
see was, and is a message of Hope to the church then and today.
The disciples as well as the Jewish populace expected Jesus to lead a revolt
against the Roman Empire and establish his earthly Kingdom. The
Jewish leadership at one time had tried to force him to
accept their kingship. Throughout the New Testament the question was asked
and Jesus refused to give them the answer they expected. He
commonly said things like, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” After his death
and resurrection, after witnessing the signs and wonders they
knew the time was right. Acts 1:6-7 When they therefore were
come together, they asked of him,
saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom
to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath
put in his own power. At this point the answer to their question was spoken
off as. only known by the father. They were left with instructions to go to
Jerusalem and tarry.
This was not the answer they
expected. Acts 1:8-9 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you:
and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he
was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Now let us illuminate several important points: At this juncture the Gospel had not been preached to the
Gentiles. The Church had not been brought into existence nor had Paul
begun his evangelistic work.
There was the need for a
revelation to bring about a conclusion of all matters and
settle all of the many questions. The apostles were being killed and the church was being
persecuted, there was an urgent need for a message from God. (Rev.1:1) The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to
pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
The The very first words in the book of Revelation clearly reveal to us
that these twenty-two chapters contain “the The Revelation of Jesus Christ”,
that this Revelation was given by God, and it was given for the purpose of showing unto God’s
servants things that must come to pass shortly. God’s angel appeared
and spoke to John the Beloved, making the
Revelation known to him. Revelation is not a scary book, it is a book that
reveals the finality of our hope..
There is a need for a spiritual
revelation in the church today. There is a need for a message of hope.
I recently had a conversation with several veteran church goers who were
dealing with the dying aspects of life. I experience a state of
doubt and shock that I would not have expected to find in churchgoers. It was
hard for them to reconcile the state of the dead when they drive past huge
cemeteries. The conversation was laced with, "if there is." and
other phrased that expressed doubt. I reminded them of the question
Jesus asked. "You do believe in God, don't you?" Then he
went on to to talk about his father's house and coming back to get us.
Paul's startling revelation of being "caught up", to me Jesus
in the air brought smiles to their face.
It is not just a revelation or
the unveiling of the person of Christ, although in
the book of Revelation we see His high priestly, kingly glory; but the greater
portion of it is given over to the unveiling of those events which will
precede and accompany the return of the Lord Jesus to this earth.
The truth is clearly seen from the facts that the
Revelation was given to Jesus Christ by God the Father to show unto His
servants, “things which must shortly come to pass.
I must reiterate, it is about the destination and not the trip.
In this interesting and only
prophetic book of the New Testament, the Lord Jesus
is unveiled. The future is made known in a series of visions, seen by
John who was on the Isle of Patmos. John saw spiritual things that will
happen literally. John saw in a vision the things that would take place
from that moment in time until Jesus Christ return and establish his Kingdom.
Revelation is the answer to the disciple’s questions.
Scoffers and doubters have done everything in their power to shed doubt on the
Book of Revelation. Some say it refers to a time in the past. When
speaking of the Book of Revelation, words like pre-millennium,
post-millennium, dated, or even I just don’t understand it is used.
Those who scorn the concept that the bible is divinely
inspired choose to see its symbols as contradictory and confusing.
They perceive no value in them. Because they scoff at the idea of
God’s inspiration, they are blind
to prophetic understanding. They choose to be ignorant of what God reveals about the
future (2nd Peter 3:3-7). The foremost problem with the Book of Revelation is, it
predicts the future. It predicts the future of the church, it
predicts the future of the Jews, it predicts the future of the nations and it predicts the future of the world, this is
disturbing to many ethnic and denominational backgrounds.
Verse 3 close with these words,
“…for the time is at hand.” Again, someone
may be saying, the writer John must have been
mistaken, or he must have misunderstood,
because it has been more than 2000 years since those words were dictated to John
the Beloved But let me remind you that ever since Jesus came to this
earth, was crucified, buried and rose again,
ascended back to the Father where he is now seated at the right hand of the Father
to mediate for us (1 Tim. 2:5, Heb. 1:3), we have been living in the last days.
Hebrews 1:1-2 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he
hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Here
the Holy Spirit clearly testifies that these are the last days. Since the
Church began, we have been living in the last days. Peter’s attempt to put
this in proper perspective when he said,
2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is
with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
To further substantiate the
above statement, read these
words, Hebrews 9:26-27 For then must he often have suffered since the
foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath
he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed
unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Jesus came to this earth
literally in the, “end time,” or the end of the world. Since Jesus
came and died on the cross, we have been living
in the closing days of time. Therefore, these things will “shortly come
to pass,” and truthfully,
“the time is at hand!”
Many people have misconceptions
about what the church means. Some equate it with a
building, but throughout the scripture, church and congregation refer to people, never a building. In
fact we find several verses in the Bible
where the “church” (people) were meeting in
certain members home. Romans 16:3-5, “Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: Who have for my life
laid down their own necks: unto whom not
only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet
the church that is in their house. Salute my well beloved Epaenetus, who is the
first fruits of Achaia unto Christ.” The church is a spiritually
transformed body of believers not limited to a particular
locale, organization, nationality or denomination.
Responding to the
Church’s intense persecution at the time, Christ
assures His faithful servants that their suffering is not in vain. He too, had suffered
persecution and death. So He reminds them: Revelation 1:18-19
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and,
behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things
which shall be hereafter;
Next:
The Salutation
Revelation
1: 4-6
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