An Inspired Outline Of The Book Of Revelation

AN INSPIRED OUTLINE OF THE BOOK OF REVELATION

REV. 1:19

http://gbcdecatur.org/sermons/InspiredOutline.html

The book of Rev. is the only book of the Bible that gives the reader an outline right from the beginning…it’s right here in v. 19…look again

1, 2, 3!

This appeals to me, personally, because I like to preach from an organized outline…you probably hadn’t noticed. Most of my sermons will have several points...some have several more than they should…when I gave my 1st Sunday morning sermon here at GBC I said from the introduction we’d be out in time to eat, and we were…it was supper, be we ate!

As a young preacher I asked my Pastor dad once how many points a sermon should have, he said, at least one! What’s the point!

Rev. has 3 good points:

1. The things which thou hast seen

A Glimpse of the Glorified Christ…God’s Glory—ch. 1

2. The things which are

The Present…letters to the 7 churches of Asia Minor—chs. 2-3

Church Age…Dispensation of God’s Grace

3. The things which shall be

The Future…God’s Government—chs. 4-22

That’s the outline, 1,2,3. Imagine it’s a skeleton. We’ll look at the bones today, then put meat on it each week verse by verse.

#1 is finished, God’s Glory. In the first chapter of the book, the main character is revealed, and we’ve seen Him in detail in a way never before seen!

One question remains, however, from ch. 1:

Gospels--Revelation

Justifier/Judge Redeemer/Ruler Savior/Sovereign

Humiliation/Glorification…the risen, living, ascended, majestic, glorious, powerful, holy, God of the Universe, full of splendor!

“Why didn’t Jesus come like this the first time?”

Why, 2000 years ago, did He not come in a dazzling display of glory? Why veil that glory in human flesh? Why come as the meek and lowly, humble carpenter, Jesus?

Isaiah said, “He had no form nor comeliness, no beauty that we should desire Him.” I don’t mean any disrespect, but Isaiah is saying Jesus wasn’t particularly good looking…He didn’t look like the Messiah the Jews had supposed in their minds. We always see artist’s renditions of Jesus like He just walked out of a makeover, with glory shining forth out of His head, or a halo hovering atop…but that’s not how it was.

Why did He come that way, why not come the 1st time in the spectacular fashion in which He came in Rev. 1?

If He had come the first time with penetrating, omniscient eyes of fire, burning a hole in all he looked upon,/with feet of flaming brass, pursuing judgment/with the snow white hair of His holy, perfect purity/wearing the garments of the high priest/with a voice like the roaring thunder of crashing waves…

…people would have followed Him not in faith, but in fear. They would have been afraid NOT to follow Him! Our God wants people to CHOOSE to follow Him. Oh, but many want proof, don’t they?

As a boy, about 70 miles west of here, I wanted God to prove Himself to me, so I said, “Lord, if you really love me, strike me with lightning!”

I told my folks, who said promptly, “the reason He didn’t is because He loves you.”

It’s not that He couldn’t, but our Lord chooses not to work that way. He could speak a word and the WORLD would fall on its face before Him and plead for salvation…but there’s no glory for the Lord in that. He is glorified when a single sinner CHOOSES Him in faith, from their free will!

This is a major problem I have with today’s modern Charismatic Movement, based almost entirely upon signs and wonders. Jesus said, an adulterous generation seeketh after a sign…people were always trying to get Jesus to do a miracle to prove His deity… “if you’re really God, you’ll do this…or that!”…even Satan tried this on Jesus, fasting and hungry: “if you’re really God, turn these stones into bread and eat!” On the cross, the soldiers said, if you’re really Him, come down!

Jesus is not into publicity stunts…He wants people to choose Him for who He is and not what He can do!

So, we’re 1/3rd of the way thru Rev.! I know, it’s only 1 chapter, but the first division is complete…point #1: GOD’S GLORY

The next division is GOD’S GRACE. Ch’s. 2-3 is 7 letters to 7 literal churches that existed at the time of this writing. “Reading Someone Else’s Mail”…a subseries we covered a couple years ago and will summarize again soon.

And we’ll see Grace Baptist in many verses, in good light and bad, and in one particular letter, we’ll see GRACE BAPTIST practically mentioned by name! We’ll be challenged and changed as we snoop thru the mail…and while it’s got someone else’s name on it, we’ll see that God put your address on it, He knows right where we live and what we need!