WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.300 So, as Matt mentioned last week, we are starting a series in the book of Revelation, the last 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:18.679 book of the Bible. And Revelation is a bit of a notorious book. It's notorious for its striking 00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:24.300 imagery. It's notorious for being in some places hard to interpret. It's notorious for, at times, 00:00:24.300 --> 00:00:31.440 raising theological controversy. But today, what we want to do is look at the opening of the book 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:38.100 and just listen to how Revelation presents itself to us. And I hope what you'll see as we begin, 00:00:38.420 --> 00:00:43.820 and as we continue through this book over the coming weeks and months, is that Revelation is 00:00:43.820 --> 00:00:50.320 actually a comforting book. And yes, it's a bracing book, but ultimately it's a worshipful and life-giving 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:58.100 book. So, let's turn to Revelation chapter 1. That's page 965 in the Pew Bible. And I'll read 00:00:58.100 --> 00:01:04.460 verses 1 through 8. You'll see that the first three verses are a prologue of sorts, and then verse 4 is 00:01:04.460 --> 00:01:09.240 where the book proper begins. And we see that Revelation is actually a letter like so much of 00:01:09.240 --> 00:01:16.640 the New Testament. So, let me read for us. Revelation chapter 1, verses 1 through 8. 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:24.700 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon 00:01:24.700 --> 00:01:30.780 take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word 00:01:30.780 --> 00:01:37.180 of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud 00:01:37.180 --> 00:01:42.140 the words of this prophecy. And blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, 00:01:42.140 --> 00:01:51.140 for the time is near. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:57.060 who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 00:01:57.760 --> 00:02:03.260 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on 00:02:03.260 --> 00:02:09.139 earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from his sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:16.859 priests to his God and Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is 00:02:16.859 --> 00:02:22.339 coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the 00:02:22.339 --> 00:02:31.479 earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, 00:02:31.479 --> 00:02:43.280 who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful for 00:02:43.280 --> 00:02:49.719 your word and for this book of Revelation. Help us now as we seek to understand this book and to 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:56.839 approach it. Help us by your spirit to hear what you are saying to us, your church. For Jesus' sake, amen. 00:02:56.840 --> 00:03:04.539 Amen. Well, what I want to do this morning is walk through the first eight verses of Revelation and 00:03:04.539 --> 00:03:09.259 give a bit of an overview, or at least an orientation to this great book that we call Revelation. 00:03:09.740 --> 00:03:16.379 And I want to make five points or five observations from what we see here that will help us launch out 00:03:16.379 --> 00:03:22.920 on our study. So, with that being said, let's just dive in. The first observation is this. 00:03:22.919 --> 00:03:31.399 The book of Revelation is from God. The book of Revelation is from God. This is how the whole 00:03:31.399 --> 00:03:36.139 book begins, telling us where it came from, its source. Look again at verse one, the revelation 00:03:36.139 --> 00:03:43.039 of Jesus Christ, which God gave him. That is, God the Father gave this message to his son, Jesus, 00:03:43.339 --> 00:03:49.859 to then pass on to his people. In particular, we're told that Jesus sends this message through an angel to 00:03:49.860 --> 00:03:56.700 John. And John, we learn a little later, is in exile on the island of Patmos, exiled for his faithful 00:03:56.700 --> 00:04:02.420 witness to the word of God. Now, from the early days of the church, this John here in Revelation was 00:04:02.420 --> 00:04:08.280 identified as John the Apostle. And even though there are some major stylistic differences between, 00:04:08.500 --> 00:04:15.020 say, the gospel of John and the book of Revelation, it's hard to imagine who else might be so well-known 00:04:15.020 --> 00:04:20.639 and so well-respected in the early church to be able to write such a letter, not just to one church, 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:27.180 but a whole region of churches. But now, even if we have good reason for believing that John the 00:04:27.180 --> 00:04:32.259 Apostle was the author of this book, and I think we do, we shouldn't miss the point that John himself 00:04:32.259 --> 00:04:38.900 makes in these opening words. What's most important is that this book is from God. 00:04:38.899 --> 00:04:45.479 And not just any God. You know, the late first century when John was writing knew of lots of 00:04:45.479 --> 00:04:51.879 different gods. And Rome, the empire at the time, was decidedly pluralistic. But look at how John 00:04:51.879 --> 00:04:58.379 describes this God in verses 4 and 5. This is the God who is, and who was, and who is to come. 00:04:59.560 --> 00:05:06.019 Now, that phrase is actually an echo of the divine name from Exodus chapter 3, when Moses 00:05:06.019 --> 00:05:13.439 encounters the burning bush and God reveals himself as the Lord, Yahweh, I am who I am, 00:05:13.799 --> 00:05:21.979 or I will be who I will be, the eternal, unchanging, transcendent, sovereign one. 00:05:23.060 --> 00:05:29.279 And the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah will hear God reiterate this divine name and reaffirm 00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:36.000 God's history-spanning transcendence. Earlier in the service, we read from Isaiah chapter 4, 00:05:36.000 --> 00:05:43.680 verse 6, thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am the first 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:55.240 and I am the last. Beside me there is no God. The first and the last, he who was and is and is to come. 00:05:56.439 --> 00:06:04.660 But then surprisingly, in verses 4 and 5, John adds the word, and from this God and from the seven 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:10.000 spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:16.160 dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. Now, we naturally ask, who are these seven spirits? 00:06:17.640 --> 00:06:24.879 It's hard to imagine that any mere creature could be placed on par with the one true God in the way 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:30.720 John does here, because he says it's from this transcendent God and, well, who could possibly occupy 00:06:30.720 --> 00:06:39.820 that place with the great transcendent I am? Well, it seems that with this phrase, John's probably 00:06:39.820 --> 00:06:48.460 referring to the Holy Spirit. Seven here denoting the fullness of the Spirit. Some translations even 00:06:48.460 --> 00:06:55.700 render this phrase the sevenfold Spirit. And indeed, there may be an Old Testament allusion here. In 00:06:55.699 --> 00:07:02.139 Zechariah chapter 4, the Old Testament prophet Zechariah, we see that the Spirit is possibly symbolized by 00:07:02.139 --> 00:07:09.639 the number seven, as the prophet sees seven flames on the seven golden lampstands, and then says, it's not by 00:07:09.639 --> 00:07:17.019 strength, it's not by might, but by my Spirit. So, what do we make of all this? Well, what we make of this is that 00:07:17.019 --> 00:07:24.339 the book of Revelation comes from God, but not just any God, the triune God. Father, Spirit, Son, 00:07:24.339 --> 00:07:33.239 the one Lord. Now, let's just pause for a second and consider that. The book of Revelation is God's 00:07:33.239 --> 00:07:41.000 word, God's message to us. Indeed, we now know that Revelation is God's last written word that he gave to 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:48.159 the church. This is the book God wants us to have as the culminating word, the last word, before Christ 00:07:48.160 --> 00:07:54.460 returns and we see him face to face. You know, if you had a beloved family member who left you perhaps 00:07:54.460 --> 00:08:00.140 one last written letter and they wrote it especially for you, out of love and concern and care for you, 00:08:00.180 --> 00:08:09.260 how would you treat that letter? You would prize it. You would cherish it. The very fact of having that 00:08:09.260 --> 00:08:15.960 letter would bring you great comfort. And that's true of the book of Revelation. It's from God, 00:08:15.959 --> 00:08:23.859 and it should bring us great comfort to know that God has given it to us. But if Revelation comforts us 00:08:23.859 --> 00:08:30.299 being from God, we should also expect that Revelation should challenge us being from God. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:38.439 If indeed it is from God, then it contains what God wants us to see. Indeed, the very word 00:08:38.439 --> 00:08:45.019 revelation means an unveiling, a kind of pulling back of the curtain. This is something that only God could 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:52.439 make known. It's a divine disclosure. Here is, as it were, the perspective of heaven laid out for us. 00:08:53.360 --> 00:08:59.059 And if it is indeed that, then it is different from us. It's other than us, and we should expect to be 00:08:59.059 --> 00:09:05.299 challenged by it. And indeed, we find there are many things in Revelation that will challenge us. 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:12.740 Revelation is not for the faint of heart. For those who are happy with complacent, comfortable, 00:09:12.740 --> 00:09:20.019 cultural Christianity. Revelation is like a splash of cold water. Or even better, Revelation is sort of 00:09:20.019 --> 00:09:30.779 like a whole sprinkler system going off at once. But wouldn't we rather that than a supposed word 00:09:30.779 --> 00:09:37.000 from God that merely tells us what we already know? Wouldn't we rather have God's word come to us 00:09:37.000 --> 00:09:42.500 and challenge us than have merely our own voices telling us what we already know? 00:09:44.279 --> 00:09:50.799 If our engagement with God's word doesn't challenge us, is it really God's word? Or just our own word 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:59.220 that we're reading? When God's word challenges us, that's perhaps the precise moment when we know that 00:09:59.220 --> 00:10:06.179 indeed we're dealing with someone other than ourselves. That it's not just our own cultural preferences or 00:10:06.179 --> 00:10:13.419 predilections kind of staring back at us in the water, but that here we are beholding the face of the 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:23.000 eternal God. So the book of Revelation is from God. It is his heavenly divine disclosure about history and 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:31.059 eternity, about power and weakness, about empires and martyrs, about witness and true justice. 00:10:31.059 --> 00:10:36.919 Revelation is from God. And therefore, we should expect it to bring both comfort and challenge. 00:10:39.399 --> 00:10:45.139 But second, what we see here is that the book of Revelation is not just from God, it's for the 00:10:45.139 --> 00:10:50.419 church. It's for the church. Look again at verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, 00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:58.559 to show to his servants. God intends this message for every servant of King Jesus, that is every follower 00:10:58.559 --> 00:11:04.879 of Christ, every church member. This book is meant for you, Christian. In verse 4, we see that John's 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:11.519 immediate audience were the seven churches in Asia, that is Roman Asia Minor, which is today the country 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:18.659 of Turkey. In chapters 2 and 3, we see that there are specific messages for each of these seven churches 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:24.919 from the risen Lord Jesus. But what we also notice, that as this number unfolds, we see that the number 00:11:24.919 --> 00:11:31.839 seven, as we've already seen, is a very significant number in the book. So why does John write to seven 00:11:31.839 --> 00:11:39.439 churches? Well, because seven was a number that symbolized fullness and completion, like the seven 00:11:39.439 --> 00:11:46.860 days of creation in Genesis. So these seven historic local churches are also, in God's providence, a 00:11:46.860 --> 00:11:52.959 representation of the whole church. So Revelation wasn't just meant for seven local churches in the first 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:58.840 century, but for the universal church of all times and all places as well, which means that Revelation 00:11:58.840 --> 00:12:09.580 is for you. God the Father gave this message to his son Jesus, and Jesus delivered it to the Apostle John 00:12:09.580 --> 00:12:15.580 through an angelic messenger so that the whole church, us included, could benefit from it. Revelation 00:12:15.580 --> 00:12:24.720 is for the church. And that means two things. First, it means that you can read and understand 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:32.800 Revelation. Don't be intimidated by it. It's not just for prophecy aficionados or Bible scholars. 00:12:33.800 --> 00:12:38.820 Yes, there will be some things in the book that don't make sense at first, but, you know, isn't that 00:12:38.820 --> 00:12:44.480 true of every book in the Bible? Every book has parts that aren't immediately clear, but you can still read 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:51.700 and be edified by this book. I like the story that Vern Poitras tells. He's a New Testament professor, 00:12:51.700 --> 00:12:57.159 and he tells this story about understanding the book of Revelation. He recounts how a group of 00:12:57.159 --> 00:13:02.360 seminary students had finished playing basketball in a gym together, and they noticed that in the 00:13:02.360 --> 00:13:07.960 corner, one of the janitors was sitting reading a book. So the seminary students come up, and on their 00:13:07.960 --> 00:13:12.960 way by, they say, oh, what are you reading? And the janitor says, I'm reading the Bible. And the seminary 00:13:12.960 --> 00:13:21.240 students ask, well, what part of the Bible? And he says, Revelation. Ah, well, now the seminarians 00:13:21.240 --> 00:13:26.080 thought that they could help this poor soul to understand. So they say, well, do you understand 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:32.759 what you're reading? And the man says, yes, I do. And the seminarians were astonished. They said, well, 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:39.940 what does it mean? And he said, Jesus is going to win. That's what the book of Revelation means. 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:49.340 Jesus wins. You see, friends, you can understand the book of Revelation. In fact, one of the best 00:13:49.340 --> 00:13:53.820 summaries of the book of Revelation I've ever encountered wasn't in a commentary, though there 00:13:53.820 --> 00:13:59.420 are some great commentaries on Revelation. It was actually in a kid's show called What's in the Bible 00:13:59.420 --> 00:14:05.740 by the old VeggieTales creator, Phil Vischer. And in this kid's show, he's able, in just a half an hour 00:14:05.740 --> 00:14:12.460 of a kid's show entertaining to encapsulate what this great book is all about. Even a child can 00:14:12.460 --> 00:14:19.639 understand the main themes and the main message of the book of Revelation. So you see, the message of 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:24.919 Revelation isn't so complex and intricate that you need years and years of training to understand. 00:14:26.180 --> 00:14:32.480 Even a kid's show can capture the beauty, power, and truth of this book. Revelation is for the church. 00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:39.300 The second thing that that means isn't just that Revelation is readable, but also that it's relevant. 00:14:40.019 --> 00:14:44.379 You know, if you jump ahead and read chapters 2 and 3, you'll see that those churches face some of 00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:50.379 the exact issues that we face today. Things like the danger of spiritual complacency, 00:14:50.960 --> 00:14:57.420 or the danger of compromise in the face of a dominant culture, or the danger of moral laxity in 00:14:57.419 --> 00:15:04.159 the midst of a pleasure-centered world, or the worries of persecution and social exclusion for 00:15:04.159 --> 00:15:11.939 following Christ, or the danger of self-sufficiency bred by material wealth and comfort. You read these 00:15:11.939 --> 00:15:17.219 seven letters, and it can feel like John has been following us all on Instagram and reading our mail, 00:15:17.279 --> 00:15:22.839 and it seems like he knows exactly what we need to hear. But then, after you read chapters 2 and 3, 00:15:22.840 --> 00:15:27.220 you get to chapters 4 and following, and that's where things really start to get interesting in 00:15:27.220 --> 00:15:34.480 Revelation. But consider this simple literary observation, friends. Chapters 4 through 22 00:15:34.480 --> 00:15:44.100 are meant to be relevant to the church's struggles in chapters 2 and 3. Chapters 4 through 22 don't 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:50.440 blast off into a completely different book with a completely different audience. No, those visions of 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:58.360 chapters 4 through 22 are exactly what those churches need to hear so that they can continue in their 00:15:58.360 --> 00:16:06.980 faithful witness. In fact, verse 3 of chapter 1 right here in our text says that we are supposed to hear it 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:14.500 and keep it. That is, obey it. Not speculate over it, not merely pontificate about it, but hear it 00:16:14.500 --> 00:16:23.740 and heed it. Why? Because it's relevant to us. Now, that will be part of the joy of our sermon series 00:16:23.740 --> 00:16:29.799 together. We'll begin to see how those visions in chapter 4 and following, we'll begin to see how 00:16:29.799 --> 00:16:35.679 those visions are indeed for the church, for us right now, to hear and to keep and to be encouraged 00:16:35.679 --> 00:16:44.859 and to be challenged by. So that's our first two big observations. Revelation is from God and 00:16:44.859 --> 00:16:51.219 Revelation is for the church. That's who it's from and that's who it's for. Now, we also ask, well, 00:16:51.339 --> 00:17:00.839 what is it about? And that's our third point. Revelation is about what must soon take place. Again, 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:07.880 verse 1, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things 00:17:07.880 --> 00:17:16.160 that must soon take place. As I mentioned, the outline of Revelation on a broad scale is fairly 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:21.860 straightforward. After the introduction in chapter 1, chapters 2 and 3 give the seven letters to the 00:17:21.860 --> 00:17:28.380 churches in Asia Minor. Then in chapter 4, a series of visions begins, and these visions continue all the 00:17:28.380 --> 00:17:35.020 way to chapter 22, verse 5. Then the end of chapter 22, from verse 6 to the end, is the conclusion of 00:17:35.020 --> 00:17:40.240 the book. And the conclusion has very similar language and themes to the introduction here in chapter 1. 00:17:41.900 --> 00:17:47.800 Now, when you kind of zero in and you read that big section in the middle with all of the visions, 00:17:48.340 --> 00:17:54.300 the thing you realize, the first thing you realize is that the climax of that section, those visions, 00:17:54.299 --> 00:18:01.839 the climax, the high point, the conclusion of it all, is the return of Christ. The defeat of God's 00:18:01.839 --> 00:18:08.000 enemies, Satan, evil, death, and the consummation of the new creation in the new heavens and new earth. 00:18:09.419 --> 00:18:14.639 That God's great victory is coming. The king is returning. All of his enemies will be defeated, 00:18:15.159 --> 00:18:17.139 and creation will be healed and restored. 00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:27.040 But coming back here to chapter 1, we ask, in what sense is that going to be soon, John says? 00:18:27.660 --> 00:18:34.360 The things that are about to take place soon. Was John just mistaken that the return of Christ was 00:18:34.360 --> 00:18:39.940 going to happen relatively shortly, and he got the timing wrong? Or are we wrong to interpret those 00:18:39.940 --> 00:18:44.640 final chapters in Revelation as depictions of God's great triumph when Christ returns in glory? 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:52.060 Perhaps those are symbols of something else. Well, friends, I don't think John was mistaken about 00:18:52.060 --> 00:18:59.960 timing. And I do think those final chapters describe the church's great hope of Christ's bodily return. 00:19:01.600 --> 00:19:08.500 In order to understand what John means here in chapter 1 by soon, is to realize that in the Bible, 00:19:08.500 --> 00:19:15.799 time is talked about in two ways. On the one hand, there's chronological time. You know, that's the 00:19:15.799 --> 00:19:21.039 kind of passing of hours and days and months and years. And the Greek word for that kind of time was 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:26.019 chronos. That was clock time. The just passing of days and months and hours and minutes and so on. 00:19:27.059 --> 00:19:30.859 But in the New Testament, there's actually a second word for time. There's another Greek word for time. 00:19:30.859 --> 00:19:40.039 And that word is kairos. When a sports team says, this is our time, or when you reminisce with your 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:45.359 friends and say, we had the time of our lives, then you're getting a sense maybe a little bit of what 00:19:45.359 --> 00:19:51.399 the term kairos means. It's significant time. It's meaningful time. It's the right time. 00:19:51.400 --> 00:20:00.680 And in the God-centered perspective of the Bible, there isn't just clock time. There's kairos. There's 00:20:00.680 --> 00:20:07.800 redemptive historical time. These are the chapters of God's plan and purpose unfolding. 00:20:08.740 --> 00:20:14.720 Like when God says, when Jesus says, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. 00:20:15.240 --> 00:20:21.000 What Jesus means there is that the last great chapter of God's timeline have begun. 00:20:21.400 --> 00:20:28.380 So when John says, the things that must soon take place, he doesn't necessarily mean soon 00:20:28.380 --> 00:20:37.100 chronologically. I think he means soon redemptive historically in the unfolding of God's redemptive 00:20:37.100 --> 00:20:45.759 plan. This is what's next in God's plan. And it's already beginning to dawn. It's unfolding right 00:20:45.759 --> 00:20:51.339 before our eyes. John is saying, you live in the last chapter of God's story. 00:20:53.599 --> 00:20:58.859 It's helpful to compare what John says here in Revelation chapter one to a similar phrase in 00:20:58.859 --> 00:21:06.420 Daniel two. In Daniel two, God reveals in a vision, a plan for the unfolding of his redemptive purposes. 00:21:06.700 --> 00:21:10.859 And in that vision, Daniel foresees a day when God's kingdom will be established 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:17.599 after the rise and fall of a number of earthly empires. And Daniel in that moment says that these things, 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:22.479 these are the things that must take place in the future. These are the things that will take place in the 00:21:22.479 --> 00:21:27.119 latter days. For Daniel, the things that must take place were a long way off. 00:21:28.339 --> 00:21:32.419 But notice that for John, he picks up that same phrase, the things that must take place. 00:21:32.420 --> 00:21:39.600 But now the things that must take place are soon. They're impinging, they're imminent. 00:21:40.920 --> 00:21:45.800 What was far off for Daniel, living before the death and resurrection of Christ, 00:21:46.340 --> 00:21:54.580 is now for John soon. Because the church lives after the great saving work of God in the death and 00:21:54.580 --> 00:22:02.039 resurrection of Jesus. And because of that, the church now lives in the latter days that Daniel saw. 00:22:02.420 --> 00:22:10.180 Remember in 1 John chapter 2, the apostle John tells the church there that it is the last hour. 00:22:11.400 --> 00:22:17.200 The chapter of God's plan in which we live as the church between the first and second coming of 00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:27.660 Jesus is the last chapter of God's redemptive plan. These are the last days. And that's why John can say, 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:36.279 these things must take place soon. I think baseball is a good analogy here. You know, in the first few 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:42.860 innings of a baseball game, no one would say that the end is soon, right? You've got a long way to go 00:22:42.860 --> 00:22:49.120 in that baseball game. But when you start to reach the eighth and the ninth inning, especially in the 00:22:49.120 --> 00:22:54.540 ninth inning, the last inning of the game, then you would start to say, yes, the end is soon. 00:22:54.539 --> 00:23:03.359 But think about it. In baseball, that last inning could actually last a long time, chronologically 00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:11.359 speaking, especially before the advent of the 15-second pitch clock, right? And yet, even if that ninth 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:18.079 inning lasted 30, 40, 50 minutes even, you would still say that in terms of the baseball game, 00:23:18.079 --> 00:23:24.819 the end is soon. It's near. We're right on the cusp of when everything will come to the conclusion. 00:23:27.139 --> 00:23:34.039 And that's, I think, a little bit of what John wants us to sense here. It's the ninth inning of God's 00:23:34.039 --> 00:23:41.119 great redemptive plan. And there isn't a pitch clock, so it might take some time. But regardless, 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:47.899 from the perspective of heaven, from the perspective of what God wants us to have and share, these things 00:23:47.899 --> 00:23:55.399 will happen soon. In fact, they've already begun to unfold. At any moment, the inning will end, 00:23:55.500 --> 00:23:59.199 the victors will take the field, and the celebration will begin. 00:23:59.200 --> 00:24:10.559 Now, as we think about how to apply this point, the application of this soonness, this nearness of 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:15.039 what must take place, we actually find that the application is repeated throughout Revelation. 00:24:16.840 --> 00:24:27.600 As God or John says things like, stay awake. The Lord will say through John, stay awake. Bear witness. 00:24:27.599 --> 00:24:38.519 Don't let the world press you into its mold. The end is near. Stay awake. Bear witness. Don't let the world 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:46.419 press you into its mold, even if it means suffering, even if it means losing your life. Bear witness. 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:54.459 Don't let the world press you into its mold. In fact, from God's perspective, losing your life 00:24:54.460 --> 00:25:01.319 won't be a defeat because we follow the one who conquered through death and rose again to everlasting 00:25:01.319 --> 00:25:10.960 life. These things, Christ's return, the defeat of evil, the triumph of God, these things must take 00:25:10.960 --> 00:25:19.660 place, and they are soon. So Revelation, then, is about the things that must soon take place. 00:25:19.660 --> 00:25:26.360 And that leads us to our fourth point. The book of Revelation is from God. It's for the church. 00:25:26.820 --> 00:25:32.980 It's about the things that must soon take place. And fourth, the book of Revelation communicates 00:25:32.980 --> 00:25:39.300 these things through symbols. The book of Revelation communicates through symbols. Again, look at verse 1. 00:25:40.160 --> 00:25:40.500 It says, 00:25:40.500 --> 00:25:57.019 Now, admittedly, it's not immediately obvious in our translation here in the English Standard Version, 00:25:57.700 --> 00:26:05.359 but that verb, he made it known, is actually a verb that literally means he signified it. 00:26:05.359 --> 00:26:10.719 He signified it. And that's actually how some of the older translations, like the King James Version, 00:26:10.919 --> 00:26:18.379 actually put it. He signified it by sending his angel to his servant, John. So we get a hint right 00:26:18.379 --> 00:26:25.519 up front that a lot of revelation is going to come to us in the form of symbolism. Christ signified this 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:31.740 thing to the church. Now, in the first couple of centuries leading up to John's day, there were a 00:26:31.740 --> 00:26:38.579 number of works that utilized heavily symbolic images to convey their meaning. This is what we now 00:26:38.579 --> 00:26:44.420 sometimes call apocalyptic literature. But in fact, it wasn't just in the couple of centuries leading up 00:26:44.420 --> 00:26:49.640 to John's day. This is something we see across the Old Testament as well. Portions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, 00:26:49.839 --> 00:26:55.859 Daniel, Zechariah, and a number of other books contain portions that are heavily symbolic in this 00:26:55.859 --> 00:27:02.159 symbolic style that we've come to call apocalyptic literature. So for John's audience, it might not 00:27:02.159 --> 00:27:07.879 have been as strange as it is to us today to receive a book like this. You know, we aren't used 00:27:07.879 --> 00:27:14.419 to reading this kind of heavily stylized, figurative, symbolic language, but it was a little more common 00:27:14.419 --> 00:27:20.979 for John and his audience. Now, if you read an introduction to the book of Revelation in a good 00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:26.539 study Bible, you'll learn that there are a number of ways that Christian readers have made sense of 00:27:26.539 --> 00:27:32.400 this symbolic language, and some approaches have been more popular at one time or another to sort of 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:40.200 guess or to sort of discern what these symbols are pointing to. One approach, for example, would say that 00:27:40.200 --> 00:27:47.099 all the symbols are referring to an event that was fulfilled in the first century. Another approach 00:27:47.099 --> 00:27:52.639 sees Revelation as symbolizing the unfolding of church history as the ages go on. Yet another 00:27:52.639 --> 00:27:57.719 approach would see Revelation as symbolizing primarily events that are yet in the future that 00:27:57.719 --> 00:28:02.740 have not taken place yet. And then yet another approach would even understand Revelation as 00:28:02.740 --> 00:28:07.879 expressing kind of timeless spiritual realities. Yes, looking ahead to a future, but also spiritual 00:28:07.879 --> 00:28:12.559 realities that are true right now in the church age and throughout the church age. 00:28:12.559 --> 00:28:17.839 Now, we're not going to spend a ton of time unpacking those different approaches and things 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:23.259 like that. If you're interested this week, you can grab an ESV study Bible or borrow one from a friend 00:28:23.259 --> 00:28:27.599 and check them out for yourself and read them and get a good grasp of what they are and how they 00:28:27.599 --> 00:28:33.879 approach the text. And, you know, we might ask as we look at these different approaches, we might ask, 00:28:33.960 --> 00:28:40.359 well, which way is best? Well, the reality is, is that each approach has its strengths and weaknesses. 00:28:40.359 --> 00:28:45.519 And, and most commentators agree. And the approach that we'll take is a blended approach in this book. 00:28:46.519 --> 00:28:50.759 That sometimes the symbols do refer to things going on in the first century. And sometimes they 00:28:50.759 --> 00:28:55.139 clearly refer, refer to things that are going to happen in the future, like the bodily return of 00:28:55.139 --> 00:28:59.979 Christ. But, you know, the most important thing that we'll want to do as we walk through Revelation 00:28:59.979 --> 00:29:05.419 and consider this symbolism, you know, the best way to really approach the symbolism of the book of 00:29:05.420 --> 00:29:11.440 Revelation is to understand it in light of the Old Testament. The book of Revelation probably has 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:17.759 more allusions and references to the Old Testament than any other book in the, in the whole Bible, 00:29:17.980 --> 00:29:26.700 in the New Testament. So it's God's words itself that will open up for us the book of Revelation. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:32.500 And it's the Old Testament that's going to help us grasp what God wants us to hear and to heed 00:29:32.500 --> 00:29:38.779 as we study this book. So we'll pay particular attention to how what John is saying is, is 00:29:38.779 --> 00:29:43.940 preluded and references God's promises and plans laid out in the Old Testament that are now being 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:51.940 fulfilled in the New. Now, this symbolic nature of Revelation, I think kind of practically means a 00:29:51.940 --> 00:30:00.680 couple of things for us. Practically first, when you read Revelation, slow down. And if you don't 00:30:00.680 --> 00:30:06.560 understand something, be humble, admit that it might be a little hard to understand. The symbolic 00:30:06.560 --> 00:30:13.740 nature of Revelation reminds us that this is God's word and not ours. And we have to submit ourselves 00:30:13.740 --> 00:30:21.600 to him and ask for his help to understand it. Secondly, the symbolic nature of Revelation means 00:30:21.599 --> 00:30:29.779 that God wants your heart. He isn't just interested in barraging your brain with more facts. 00:30:30.740 --> 00:30:37.379 God indeed also wants to capture your imagination. He wants to capture your heart. Through this book, 00:30:37.439 --> 00:30:44.039 God wants to reform how you picture the world and your subsequent hopes and desires. He wants to shape 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:51.480 those at a deeper level. You see, because these symbols, they wake us up. They capture our thoughts. 00:30:51.480 --> 00:30:56.259 And our thinking and our hearts, they shake us out of our complacency. Some of them are even 00:30:56.259 --> 00:31:04.700 frightening, you know. Each of us is born into a time and a place and a culture with its own symbols, 00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:09.819 with its own ways of making sense of the world, with its own deep cultural longings and desires. 00:31:11.180 --> 00:31:16.680 But Revelation is here to come to us and to retrain and to retrace our thinking, 00:31:16.680 --> 00:31:19.440 our imagining, our desires, our values. 00:31:21.380 --> 00:31:26.000 And one of the main things that God is trying to do in Revelation through this deeply symbolic book 00:31:26.000 --> 00:31:34.740 is that God wants to wake us up to reality, to transcendent reality, to God-centered reality. 00:31:35.460 --> 00:31:41.060 So often our cultural symbols and our times that we live in, it just slowly wants to close us in, 00:31:41.059 --> 00:31:47.399 to just close the door that the only thing that matters, the only thing that's real is just what's 00:31:47.399 --> 00:31:54.559 right before us, what we can see. But this book wants to open us up to the transcendent reality of God 00:31:54.559 --> 00:31:57.899 and God's plans and God's future. 00:31:57.900 --> 00:32:05.640 Because in reality, God's reality is the only reality there is. 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:11.840 Well, this brings us then to our fifth and our final point. 00:32:12.980 --> 00:32:18.800 The heavily symbolic book of Revelation is from God. It's for the church. It's about the things that 00:32:18.800 --> 00:32:26.140 must soon come to pass. And then fifth, the book of Revelation is for our blessing. 00:32:26.140 --> 00:32:29.840 It's purpose is to bless us. Verse three, 00:32:29.960 --> 00:32:32.680 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, 00:32:33.180 --> 00:32:36.300 and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, 00:32:36.520 --> 00:32:40.660 for the time isn't here. And then in verse four, John immediately speaks of 00:32:40.660 --> 00:32:44.740 the grace and peace that flow from the triune God to the church. 00:32:45.740 --> 00:32:48.300 And as we'll see in chapters two and three, 00:32:49.180 --> 00:32:52.960 John's readers need this blessing of grace and peace. 00:32:52.960 --> 00:32:58.519 His original audience needs the grace to persevere in their faith in the midst of trials, 00:32:59.220 --> 00:33:03.360 especially the pressures to compromise in the midst of persecution. 00:33:04.460 --> 00:33:07.900 And in the midst of these external trials, they need peace, 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:12.539 the peace that only the eternal God, who is sovereign over history, can give. 00:33:14.200 --> 00:33:18.220 And friends, the reality is, is that we need those blessings of grace and peace too. 00:33:18.220 --> 00:33:21.640 And that's what Revelation is meant to convey. 00:33:22.420 --> 00:33:24.259 Blessed are those who hear and keep it. 00:33:24.360 --> 00:33:26.420 Grace and peace to the church. 00:33:27.779 --> 00:33:32.440 And this grace and peace comes to us because ultimately, 00:33:33.059 --> 00:33:35.299 Revelation isn't just from God. 00:33:36.339 --> 00:33:37.600 It's about God. 00:33:38.980 --> 00:33:41.539 God who is the Alpha and the Omega, 00:33:42.059 --> 00:33:43.740 the beginning and the end. 00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:47.680 And Revelation leads us to worship Him. 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:52.440 You know, if our time spent in Revelation as a church 00:33:52.440 --> 00:33:58.400 leaves us more fascinated by scrolls and trumpets and bowls, 00:33:59.039 --> 00:34:02.380 if it leaves us more sort of fascinated and curious about those things, 00:34:02.480 --> 00:34:05.299 then filled with all filled worship of God, 00:34:06.019 --> 00:34:07.819 then we've missed the forest for the trees. 00:34:09.019 --> 00:34:13.219 If we spend more time squabbling about views of the millennium or things like that, 00:34:13.219 --> 00:34:17.439 rather than being in awe of who God is and who Jesus Christ is, 00:34:17.599 --> 00:34:18.980 then we've missed the point. 00:34:20.959 --> 00:34:23.500 Because Revelation is ultimately about God. 00:34:24.039 --> 00:34:25.519 That's why it blesses us. 00:34:27.219 --> 00:34:30.539 It's about God's unfathomable mercy in the gospel. 00:34:30.699 --> 00:34:31.559 Look at verse 5. 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:34.399 To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood 00:34:34.399 --> 00:34:37.019 and made us a kingdom priest to His God and Father, 00:34:37.079 --> 00:34:39.339 to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 00:34:39.619 --> 00:34:41.579 It's about God's mercy to us. 00:34:41.579 --> 00:34:46.460 And Revelation is also about God's righteous judgment of the whole world. 00:34:47.420 --> 00:34:48.340 Look at verse 7. 00:34:49.179 --> 00:34:51.079 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, 00:34:51.440 --> 00:34:53.279 and every eye will see Him, 00:34:53.599 --> 00:34:54.699 even those who pierce Him. 00:34:54.759 --> 00:34:57.659 All the tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him. 00:34:57.719 --> 00:34:58.659 Even so, amen. 00:34:59.420 --> 00:35:01.920 Revelation is also about God's perfect, 00:35:02.340 --> 00:35:06.400 good, holy, righteous judgment of the world. 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:12.280 And Revelation is also about God's glory. 00:35:13.139 --> 00:35:16.320 God's glory as the source and goal of our whole existence. 00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:17.900 Verse 8 says, 00:35:18.000 --> 00:35:20.160 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, 00:35:20.579 --> 00:35:23.480 who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 00:35:23.480 --> 00:35:27.840 You know, when the book of Revelation comes to a close at the end, 00:35:28.500 --> 00:35:30.480 the thing that strikes you the most there, 00:35:30.699 --> 00:35:34.400 I think isn't actually the triumph of God over sin and death and Satan, 00:35:34.480 --> 00:35:36.300 although that is a great triumph. 00:35:36.780 --> 00:35:40.639 And the thing that strikes you the most isn't the beautiful picture of the new heavens and new earth 00:35:40.639 --> 00:35:42.480 and the new Jerusalem with the golden streets 00:35:42.480 --> 00:35:44.880 and the reunion of saints in heaven and earth 00:35:44.880 --> 00:35:47.320 or the beautiful picture of that heavenly city. 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:51.260 It's not those things that really leave you the most awe-filled. 00:35:52.840 --> 00:35:55.380 It's actually God there at the end. 00:35:55.860 --> 00:35:57.180 God in the midst of the city. 00:35:57.760 --> 00:35:58.880 God present with His people. 00:35:59.120 --> 00:36:01.120 And, you know, the climax of the book, 00:36:02.300 --> 00:36:04.860 the climax of the whole book is that we humans, 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:09.000 we humans who have fallen into terrible and deserved judgment, 00:36:10.100 --> 00:36:13.720 we humans have been rescued by the lion 00:36:13.720 --> 00:36:16.720 who in love became a lamb and was slain. 00:36:17.320 --> 00:36:19.960 And being redeemed by His blood, 00:36:20.080 --> 00:36:24.000 everyone who has faith in Him will be brought safely through judgment 00:36:24.000 --> 00:36:27.200 to have fellowship with God forever. 00:36:28.500 --> 00:36:32.000 It's striking after 17 rich, symbol-laden chapters 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:35.300 that weave together the strands of Old Testament prophecy 00:36:35.300 --> 00:36:40.480 into a tapestry that brings every bit of biblical revelation to its fitting conclusion. 00:36:41.140 --> 00:36:46.519 All of these visions come to this simple and beautiful phrase in chapter 22, verse 5. 00:36:47.320 --> 00:36:48.160 It says, 00:36:48.900 --> 00:36:51.400 They will see His face. 00:36:53.400 --> 00:36:57.080 You know, when Moses heard God's voice speaking to him from the burning bush, 00:36:57.200 --> 00:36:59.700 Moses heard the divine name, 00:36:59.760 --> 00:37:00.640 I am who I am, 00:37:00.700 --> 00:37:03.800 but he couldn't actually behold God face to face. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:07.180 God was hiding Himself, as it were, in the burning bush 00:37:07.180 --> 00:37:10.000 so that Moses could approach Him but not see Him. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:13.340 And later, when Moses says to God in Exodus, 00:37:13.639 --> 00:37:14.719 God, show me your glory, 00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:15.820 again God says, 00:37:15.900 --> 00:37:17.900 But Moses, you can't see me and live. 00:37:18.880 --> 00:37:19.900 So Moses hides, 00:37:20.159 --> 00:37:21.860 God hides Moses in the cleft of a rock, 00:37:21.900 --> 00:37:23.519 and God passes by, 00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:25.099 again declaring His name, 00:37:25.179 --> 00:37:25.659 The Lord, 00:37:25.880 --> 00:37:27.019 I am who I am, 00:37:27.059 --> 00:37:28.460 I will be who I will be. 00:37:30.179 --> 00:37:32.219 We can't see God's face and live. 00:37:32.219 --> 00:37:35.439 But wonder of wonders, 00:37:35.579 --> 00:37:38.259 what for Moses was unattainable, 00:37:39.199 --> 00:37:42.899 and what for saints ever since has remained out of reach 00:37:42.899 --> 00:37:45.599 will one day be enjoyed by all God's people in Christ, 00:37:46.199 --> 00:37:49.059 that they will see His face and live, 00:37:50.379 --> 00:37:53.419 and they will reign with Him forever and ever. 00:37:55.099 --> 00:37:55.839 Let's pray. 00:37:55.840 --> 00:37:58.760 Father in heaven, 00:37:58.860 --> 00:38:03.840 we ask that as we begin to set out on this great book of Revelation, 00:38:05.760 --> 00:38:07.079 You would allow us, God, 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:10.140 not just to understand these things, 00:38:10.700 --> 00:38:13.079 but to have our hearts and our lives 00:38:13.079 --> 00:38:17.059 deeply shaped, transformed by them. 00:38:18.660 --> 00:38:22.720 Lord, give us a deep hunger to know You and Your glory. 00:38:22.719 --> 00:38:26.239 Help us to approach this book with humility, 00:38:26.899 --> 00:38:30.079 and help us to hear what You want us to hear. 00:38:31.119 --> 00:38:33.259 And may we experience the blessing, God, 00:38:33.379 --> 00:38:36.239 of hearing it and keeping it, 00:38:36.539 --> 00:38:39.659 so that we might live as faithful people in this age 00:38:39.659 --> 00:38:40.559 that You've called us to. 00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:44.079 Looking forward to Your great return in glory. 00:38:45.019 --> 00:38:46.399 We pray this in Jesus' name. 00:38:47.139 --> 00:38:47.399 Amen.