Revelation of Truth
Revelation 1:1-3
ATTENTION GRABBER
Play “Perception” video.
This is a video clip where the audience is instructed to count the number of times two basketballs are passed between six students, three wearing white shirts and three wearing black shirts. At the end of the experiment the audience is polled for the number of passes. They are then asked whether or not they saw the gorilla walk among the students.
I was personally amazed to discover that I was so intent on counting passes, I never saw the gorilla!
The attention grabber is that our perceptions are sometimes very wrong when compared with objective truth.
Need (fallen condition focus)
As we approach the book of Revelation, we need to see the past, present, and future truly; that is, for what these time periods really are in God’s overall plan of redemption.
Sermon idea: Revelation of truth is imperative for our world today.
Question: What does this text tell us about the revelation of truth?
1. Revelation of God’s truth is Jesus Christ.
verse 1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ..."
So many attempt to gain truth from the book of Revelation in ways God did not indeed give it. The book of Revelation is not simply a prophetic book of future events left for us to piece together as best we can. Throughout history, men have tried to accord prophetic Scripture with current events. Sometimes they are right. Sometimes they are wrong. More often than not, wrong.
If God’s revelation of truth is not primarily about future events, then what is it about?The book of Revelation is primarily concerned with revealing Jesus Christ.The very title of this book, apokalypsis, means to uncover something concealed. This is what Christ personifies. Jesus reveals God to humanity, for Jesus is God come in the flesh.
Remember what Jesus told Philip. “He who has seen me, has seen the Father.” “I am the way, the truth, the life,” declares Jesus. John 14:6
Questions:
Do you only want to know what Christ has done, or do you want to know Christ?
Do you only want to know what Christ is doing in the world today, or do you want to know Christ?
Do you only want to know what Christ will do in the future, or do you want to know Christ?
Consider this…
If we understood every verse, every word, every symbol of the book of Revelation, yet failed to understand God’s own Son Jesus Christ, what good would all the rest do? For example, let’s say I in fact knew the name and location of the antichrist to be Simon Rousseau, living in Switzerland today. Or perhaps I could tell you the exact way in which the mark of the beast (666) would be applied is through a digital implant manufactured by a known company in China. Or assume I knew that the seven heads and ten horns of the beast rising from the sea was the European Union.
What good would any of that do if I still failed to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior?
Let’s keep first things first and be sure to look always for a deeper understanding of not only events described in Revelation, but let us diligently study and pray to fully know the Son of God. The devil cares very little of how we understand future events. He cares a great deal of how we understand Jesus Christ both now, and in the future.
The book of Revelation is then ultimately about Jesus. This core truth is imperative to understand before we go one verse further, which may be why the Holy Spirit placed it in the very opening words of John’s writing. This is then, the interpretative lens through which we will undertake this study.
Our goal, as followers of Christ, is that when this study is done, we will know Christ more fully, more clearly, and more intimately than we know Him today. How can this be? Only one way… through God’s grace.
This desire leads us to the next fundamental truth of Revelation 1, and that is…
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2. Revelation of God’s truth is given by God to His servants.
verse 1 "which God gave Him to show His servants..."
From where does the content of Revelation come? It comes from God.
This fact seems so obvious to us and is probably the reason you desire to read this message. But the declaration that this Revelation truth is from God must be stated clearly and forcefully.
Why? Because there so many false messages, so many false prophets, so many speculative falsehoods that are readily available in our world today.
ILLUSTRATE
Everyone loves to predict the future.
The stock market will rise they say.
The war in Iraq will end soon they say,
The entire globe will heat up and melt the polar ice caps they say.
There is a book published called, “MegaTrends,” that looks at the past and present in order to predict the future.
Nostradamus continues to gain popular media coverage because of his ability to predict the future.
Our predictions are not necessarily bad and not all are wrong.
But there is one critical element we must bear in mind. They are also not from God.
The book of Revelation is from God, and we must treat it as such. We cannot, and we must not, play fast and loose with our attempts to make biblical revelation fit our speculations of current events. Such speculations may gain popular attention, but they must be tempered by the weight of rightly interpreting the Word of God. Thus, where Scripture is silent or unclear, this writing will remain silent and humble.
Which brings us to our next observation…
3. Revelation of God’s truth concerns the past, present, and future.
verse 1 "which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place."
God’s redemptive plan has been moving unstoppably forward since the day of Adam’s creation. The history of God’s working in the world is recorded in Scripture as a truthful and accurate account of God’s redemptive acts. God gave this history (past) to show His servants (present) things which must come to pass (future).
We today, stand in continuity with the saints of days gone by; from Adam and Eve, to Noah and his family, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; to Joseph, to Moses, to David, to Jeremiah, to Isaiah, to Malachi; and to Peter, to Paul, and to John.
We are a part of something larger than we ourselves are able to comprehend or fully understand. But we can understand our part. We can see our place in the flow of God’s history.
Just as when I walked through the gates of Parris Island on June 15th, 1982, and the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor the of the United States Marine Corps were eventually pinned to my uniform, I became part of something larger than myself. I became a part of a history that spanned over 200 years. I stood together with the men of Tripoli, Beleau Wood, Iwo Jima, the Chosin Reservoir, Khe Sahn, and Falujah.
We too reside in the stream of history, a history that spans far more than a mere 200 years. Our history goes back to the very beginning of time, and extends into eternity. No wonder the scope and demands of understanding so often seem to elude those who read the words of Revelation.
Yet remember, the truths recorded by John are given by God to His servants, and we who are His servants, must first imbibe point number one of this message, which is the necessity of a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you do not have the illumination of the Holy Spirit to bring to your understanding the Revelation of Jesus Christ, then you can work long and hard only to feel the words of this book don’t mean anything.
But believe me, they do have meaning. They reveal facts. Facts that will come to pass in God’s own time. So with that, we must address the phrase of verse 1, “must shortly take place.”
Is this some error in the text? Did John misunderstand or mis-communicate the message? Did he think the events of the prophecy would take place in his own lifetime, or shortly thereafter? Or was God perhaps wrong, and His plans have been somehow thwarted by the progress of humanity, a progress that has put off God’s intended plans now for 2,000 years?
Be aware that many who read the words of Revelation will discount it altogether. They will ignore it. They will ridicule it. They will explain it away. But this much is true. God’s time is not our time. It is no evasion of the truth that God’s clock does not tick to the beat of the Timex hanging on my arm. It is my life, your life, and the life of all persons who have lived, are living, and will live that march on through history to the beat of God’s drum. He does not perform to the rhythm of our demands.
Still some have grown weary. They have given up. But as we shall learn, there is a blessing for perseverance, for patient watching, for steadfastness in service. Some have rejected God altogether. Christ is not coming, they say. It’s all a hoax, a lie, a fairy tale for the weak minded and cowardly who are just too timid to face the real problems of a real world on a real day. Know however, that the immediacy of God’s Word was given through John just as it remains, in order to prompt Christians through the ages to diligence and attention, not to date setting or vain speculations.
In what other way then could God have given His instructions knowing that the delay would be, as it now has been, thousands of years, yet in such a way as to keep every generation ready for His return?
Is that not the purpose of the Christian life?
If I were to ask you what is your purpose as a Christian, would you say such things as…
To serve in church.
To aid the poor.
To pray.
To study my Bible.
To grow in faith.
To sing in the choir.
To minister to prisoners.
To help the sick.
To evangelize the world.
Etc., etc.,
As good as all these Christian endeavors are, they are merely symptoms of our main goal, which is to remain ready to meet Jesus face to face.
At any given moment, even this moment, as you read these words, are you ready to meet Jesus Christ face to face?
When you finish, will what you do this week reflect a readiness to meet Jesus face to face?
When you go to work, and you’re in the middle of a big project, and the whole world is on your last nerve, will you be ready to meet Jesus face to face?
When you go home to your family, and your wife or husband comes to meet you at the door, will your thoughts and actions reflect a readiness to meet Jesus face to face?
When you talk to your children, read the Bible to them, kneel down to pray next to their beds, will you be ready to meet Jesus face to face?
Listen… these things must shortly take place. When will that be? I don’t know. The Lord did not give us a date to put in our pocket planner.
What did He give us? He gave us a warning that these things must shortly take place, therefore, be ready to meet Jesus face to face. Not merely in apocalyptic fulfillment, but in the reality of life, death, and eternity we all face each day.
And if you are ready to meet Jesus, listen to these words…
verse 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."
Which brings us to a final observation.
4. Revelation of God’s truth is a blessing to the receiver.
This blessing, in fact, is the first of seven blessings found throughout the book of Revelation.
Listen to them carefully:
1:3 "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."
14:13 "Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”
16:15 “Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.”
19:9 Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.
22:7 “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
22:14 "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city."
These blessings will be discussed in more detail as this study progresses, but the primary blessing is to know Jesus Christ personally and to be ready to meet Him face to face.
What is our goal?
To be ready to meet Jesus face to face.
What is our tool to prepare?
God’s truth, freely given.
What is the result?
The blessings of the Lord.
