1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,000 So what would it be like if you fell? 2 00:00:05,000 --> 00:00:09,000 That would really change that movie, but one of my probably top ten favorite movies, 3 00:00:09,000 --> 00:00:15,000 Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, is the exact posture that I want us to take 4 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,000 as we start this journey in the book of Revelation. 5 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:23,000 That this is in some ways a leap of faith, because as we're going to break down this morning 6 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:28,000 in the title, The Sovereign Revelation, is going to give us hopefully the next, 7 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:34,000 today and then actually three weeks from now, will bring us to a good foundation 8 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:41,000 for what the book of Revelation is meant to teach us for today in 2024, 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,000 as it did also in the first century. 10 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:48,000 In the first century when John had this revelation on the island of Patmos 11 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:52,000 where he was exiled, that there's a lot going on. 12 00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:57,000 How many of us have studied the book of Revelation in the past? 13 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:01,000 That's about right. It's a book that we don't necessarily study, 14 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:05,000 because in some ways we might be scared of it, in some ways we're like, 15 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,000 well, we already know what happened, so why bother? 16 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:10,000 That's not a good understanding of Revelation. 17 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:15,000 But as we enter this book, let us take it as a leap of faith, 18 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:20,000 because the context of this book, who authored it, and all of these things, 19 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,000 means something. That the one thing about the book of Revelation, as we're going to see, 20 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 is there are not only some major themes to the book, but there's also characters in the book. 21 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:32,000 There's also characters that mean certain things. 22 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:37,000 And so we're going to go over, it's going to be a little bit heady today 23 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:42,000 for the first start of this sermon, because there's also ways of interpreting Revelation 24 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:45,000 that we need to do justice with. 25 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:50,000 If you have anybody in your life that says they are a Revelation scholar, 26 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,000 and they understand every jot and tittle of the book of Revelation, 27 00:01:54,000 --> 00:01:57,000 I'm here to say, I think they're kidding themselves. 28 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:00,000 Though they may have some good scholarship, they may understand the Greek, 29 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,000 they have apocalyptic language, and all of those things, 30 00:02:04,000 --> 00:02:11,000 that you can't fully understand everything, because it's meant to leave room for faith. 31 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:17,000 It's meant to leave room for leaning into the importance of sovereignty. 32 00:02:17,000 --> 00:02:23,000 And that's really the key. So as we introduce and move to the important central theme 33 00:02:23,000 --> 00:02:28,000 of the book of Revelation, that God's sovereignty is unfolding, 34 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:36,000 not only in history, roughly 70 AD, but also to today. 35 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,000 And as reformed believers, we know and we believe that God's Word, 36 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:45,000 the infallible Word of Christ, for doctrine and life, that the Bible sets out 37 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:52,000 to do what it says it's going to do, and you and I have no impact on it. 38 00:02:52,000 --> 00:02:56,000 That is something to really wrestle with, because as we're going to go through, 39 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:58,000 we're going to go through a couple letters over the next couple weeks, 40 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,000 we're going to go over a lot of imagery and visions and all of these things. 41 00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:07,000 It meant something very specific then, it meant something very specific 42 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:12,000 as people were reading it, it means something very specific for 2024. 43 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,000 That there are four kind of agreed upon interpretations of the book of Revelation. 44 00:03:17,000 --> 00:03:21,000 I'm going to give you those four, and then I want to encourage you to sit with me 45 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:26,000 in what I call the Munster Church view and interpretation of Revelation. 46 00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000 Okay, we have to kind of work through all of these, because it makes sense 47 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:35,000 that we start with this. Okay, the first view of the book of Revelation, 48 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,000 the first scholarly approach, is what's called the Preterist view 49 00:03:39,000 --> 00:03:43,000 of the book of Revelation. And so understanding that these letters 50 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:49,000 were letters written for a specific time in the past and not for the present 51 00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:53,000 church. So the fulfillment of Revelation, as a Preterist would believe, 52 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:58,000 has already occurred. The Preterist believes that when the temple was 53 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:04,000 destroyed in 70 AD, that that is when the book of Revelation was coming to be. 54 00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:08,000 That all the stuff that happened in history, that is what the book of 55 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,000 Revelation is, that we don't actually pull anything from today, 56 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:18,000 which again, a partial reading of Revelation has some merit, 57 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:23,000 but you can't deny the apocalyptic language for the here and now. 58 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:28,000 If we stay in this view, there's really no point in studying or reading 59 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:33,000 this book, because it was meant for 70 AD, it was only meant for 70 AD, 60 00:04:33,000 --> 00:04:37,000 and we don't really need to step into it in 2024. I don't know how you can sit 61 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:43,000 in this view with all the things that go on. Not only the letters to the specific 62 00:04:43,000 --> 00:04:49,000 churches are very appropriate for today, but also the future understanding of the 63 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,000 second coming of Christ, of the new heavens and the new earth. 64 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:57,000 All the things will get in more toward the end of it. You have to look at it, 65 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:01,000 not only the here and now, but also the back then, which on the flip side, 66 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:06,000 you also have what's called the Futurist verse. That the fulfillment will occur 67 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:11,000 in a period of final tribulation just before Jesus Christ's second coming, 68 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:16,000 that a futurist looks at it completely futuristic. Well, you can't go there, 69 00:05:16,000 --> 00:05:22,000 100%, because of what happened in history. We have documentation through the Roman 70 00:05:22,000 --> 00:05:28,000 Empire about what happened in 70 AD. We have writings, we have people that wrote 71 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,000 about the destruction of the temple. History books talk about it. So you can't 72 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:36,000 just go future and deny the past, just like with the Preterist, you can't just 73 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:42,000 sit in the past and deny the future. They both kind of co-exist. 74 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:46,000 Though Revelation looks forward to the great return of Christ and the vision of 75 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:52,000 the new Jerusalem, we also have to look at the past. The third, Revelation 6 76 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:57,000 through 19, is what we call the Historiist view of the book of Revelation. 77 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:02,000 That letters were written in order that they'd be received in by distance from 78 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:08,000 Patmos. So the understanding here is that Revelation 6 through 19 is a 79 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,000 chronological outline of the church history, from the first century AD to the 80 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:21,000 second coming of Christ. It is unwise to assume a total chronological nature to 81 00:06:21,000 --> 00:06:27,000 John's Revelation. Why? Because the chronological nature of the letters to 82 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:34,000 the seven churches can be completely applied to today. That over the next two 83 00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:38,000 weeks, we're going to look at those letters. Those letters were not just for 84 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:43,000 the seven churches, which now would be in modern day Turkey. Only four of them, or 85 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:47,000 three and a half of them, I think, are uncovered. They are very much set for 86 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:52,000 today. So understanding the history of it, understanding kind of the futuristic 87 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:57,000 nature of the book of Revelation, you then have what's called the Idealist 88 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:02,000 view. That the scenes of Revelation, most revealing God and is written for all 89 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:07,000 Christians of all times. So this is kind of like an all-encompassing of those, 90 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:12,000 which you can't really do that specifically. That the scenes of Revelation 91 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:17,000 depict principles of spiritual warfare, but not specific events. You can't take 92 00:07:17,000 --> 00:07:22,000 this solely just in the spiritual realm because of the physical nature of 93 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:27,000 history. You can't deny the history of the church. And a lot of people try to, 94 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:31,000 and that's where we kind of look back at the church. The church gets a black eye 95 00:07:31,000 --> 00:07:35,000 for a lot of this. But when you go to the first century, when you go to the Roman 96 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:41,000 Empire and what was happening to the church by the emperors, you can't deny the 97 00:07:41,000 --> 00:07:45,000 death. You can't deny the death of the apostles. You can't deny the destruction 98 00:07:45,000 --> 00:07:49,000 of the temple. You can't deny all of these things in the physical realm and 99 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:54,000 think of it just as the spiritual realm. Though Satan's methods are always the 100 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:59,000 same, since God is the same throughout, Satan does his best to be a counterfeit 101 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:04,000 God. We're going to see in Revelation, Satan's attempts then are the same as his 102 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:11,000 attempts now. And you can't necessarily look at this just as a hypothetical 103 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:17,000 spiritual because it looks towards the coming of Christ, the physical Christ 104 00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:23,000 coming back to bring his church home with him. If it's just spiritual 105 00:08:23,000 --> 00:08:29,000 understanding, if it's just devotion, then I think we miss something. So you have 106 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:33,000 these views, the preterist view, the futuristic view, the historius view, the 107 00:08:33,000 --> 00:08:39,000 idealist view. You have a lot of people speaking in just how to interpret 108 00:08:39,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Revelation. As we get past the letters more into the middle, you're going to get 109 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:46,000 all of the millennialism, right? You're going to get pre, you're going to get 110 00:08:46,000 --> 00:08:50,000 post, you're going to get ah. I tend to be a pan-millennialist. Everything's going 111 00:08:50,000 --> 00:08:56,000 to pan out in the end. And that's where I want us to sit in the posture, the 112 00:08:56,000 --> 00:09:01,000 Munster Church panelist view. That the four interpretations all have valid 113 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:06,000 points, but we submit our lives at Munster Church to God's sovereignty and the gift 114 00:09:06,000 --> 00:09:13,000 to us that is the book of Revelation. Friends, because God is good, we believe 115 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:17,000 that God wins in the end. As it is written, so we journey through this book 116 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:23,000 and we lean into the fact that all will pan out in the end because, as Lord's Day 117 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:30,000 1 reminds us, we belong to God. And if you really want to break down all the 118 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:36,000 interpretational differences, which have split churches into new denominations, 119 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:40,000 so you have churches that start because you go from chairs to pews or pews to 120 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,000 chairs. I don't know too many churches that go from chairs to pews, but you know 121 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:48,000 what I mean. People will start churches. You have theological differences as to 122 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:53,000 why people start churches. Revelation is one of them. But when you break down all 123 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 of the theological, when you break down all the historical views, really will 124 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:03,000 people sit, they write, and they kind of create these theologies that best make 125 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:09,000 them comfortable, which then I call out suspect. That if I'm going to read 126 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:15,000 Revelation in order that I, Jim Holland, remain comfortable, I don't think that 127 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:20,000 is a posture that we read the Bible in. I don't know too many people that read the 128 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:23,000 Ten Commandments and just sit there feeling comfortable knowing that we're 129 00:10:23,000 --> 00:10:28,000 sinners. That as we work through the book of Revelation, Revelation though it is 130 00:10:28,000 --> 00:10:32,000 written for you and for me and the church, it is not written with a nice 131 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:38,000 tidy little bow given to us that go, you're going to be fine in all of this. 132 00:10:38,000 --> 00:10:45,000 Though the sentiment is true, we need to work through it. Because God is good and 133 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:51,000 because we belong to him, we will make it out of this sermon series, barring 134 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:56,000 Jesus coming again. That would be pretty ironic if that happened. Some major 135 00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,000 themes as we go through, just because I'm not going to stop every time, but 136 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:03,000 kind of the concepts that we're going to go through, the things you're going to 137 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,000 see, first and foremost you're going to see God, right? That God controls the 138 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:13,000 course of history, he protects his people, and he punishes evil. God is in 139 00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:18,000 control in the book of Revelation. We're going to see it. Worship, we're going to 140 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:23,000 see that word in many different ways. That Revelation calls us to worship God 141 00:11:23,000 --> 00:11:31,000 with awe, with praise, and with obedience. And I find that so comforting that when 142 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:36,000 we get called into worship, we are called to give awe and wonder to God, we're 143 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:41,000 called to give him our praise, and we're called to obey God in worship. That is 144 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,000 what it means to be a believer. That we don't worship ourselves, we don't 145 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:50,000 worship sports teams, or our professions, or our spouses, or anything. The worship 146 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:57,000 solely goes to God. That is a little bit of the weight that the worship team has 147 00:11:57,000 --> 00:12:03,000 every Sunday. That their hope is that they are bringing us into the throne room 148 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:08,000 of God in worship. And you see how that really bypasses our opinions about 149 00:12:08,000 --> 00:12:14,000 worship? That the book of Revelation really doesn't care or have a lot of time 150 00:12:14,000 --> 00:12:18,000 for whether or not we want hymns or traditional worship, whether we want 151 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:25,000 organ or drums. At the end of the day, what Revelation demands of us is our 152 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:31,000 posture of worship. Not the style of worship. It's going to get there. And for 153 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,000 a lot of us, we're going to look at this, and I've had people literally say this 154 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:39,000 to me, so when we get up to heaven, all we're going to do is worship, holy, holy, 155 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:43,000 holy is the Lord God Almighty. We're not going to even get some Tomlin in there. 156 00:12:43,000 --> 00:12:48,000 We're not going to get some elevation worship in there. We're not going to get 157 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:53,000 some hymns. Like, why can't we go up? Mighty fortress is our God and sing that. 158 00:12:53,000 --> 00:12:57,000 I don't have any answers for you. I've never been there. But understand that 159 00:12:57,000 --> 00:13:03,000 our posture of worship is what brings our spirit closer to God. Not the words, 160 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:08,000 not the music, but the fact that we are sitting in the throne room of grace with 161 00:13:08,000 --> 00:13:13,000 God himself. You're going to see the lamb. The lamb symbolizes Christ's sacrificial 162 00:13:13,000 --> 00:13:18,000 death, the lamb that was slain for you and for me. Revelation is all about the 163 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:22,000 lamb. We're going to see that time and again. We're going to see visions, 164 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:27,000 multiple visions in this one revelation of John, the apostle, which we'll get 165 00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:32,000 there. Visions are symbolic figures and scenes that show God's plan throughout 166 00:13:32,000 --> 00:13:37,000 history. And then we're going to see something that we don't see a lot in 167 00:13:37,000 --> 00:13:42,000 Bible scripture. We're going to see the theological word is...oh, I never know 168 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:47,000 how to say this. It's supposed to be theopani, but I know that's not the way it 169 00:13:47,000 --> 00:13:52,000 is, but it is what it is. You guys say it how you want. That God actually shows up. 170 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:59,000 That God steps on the scene. And that is something that we don't see outside of 171 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:03,000 the Gospels in Christ, outside of a couple of the angel visits in the Old 172 00:14:03,000 --> 00:14:08,000 Testament and the New Testament. God Himself, Yahweh, Creator, steps on the 173 00:14:08,000 --> 00:14:12,000 scene. We're going to see the theme that's going to make us all super 174 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:18,000 uncomfortable, and that is spiritual warfare. That at the end of the day, 175 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:26,000 Satan is loosed, that he runs amok. And at the end of the day, what spiritual 176 00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:31,000 warfare brings to us is this understanding of choosing God and Satan. 177 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Now, don't get so caught up in the word choose, but understand that what the 178 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:40,000 spiritual warfare is showing us in the book of Revelation is that we cannot 179 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:47,000 serve both God and man, or God and Satan. That what Revelation is doing, it is 180 00:14:47,000 --> 00:14:54,000 demanding of us allegiance to God. I'm going to pause there really quick, 181 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:57,000 because I know there are some of you that that's uncomfortable, because you 182 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:02,000 don't want to give allegiance to anything. And I get that, I guess. But 183 00:15:02,000 --> 00:15:05,000 what the book of Revelation should open all of our minds and our hearts to, and 184 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:12,000 our eyes, is how much God is in control. And I hear it said all the time, people 185 00:15:12,000 --> 00:15:16,000 entering a hard, difficult season of life, or maybe a sickness diagnosis or a 186 00:15:16,000 --> 00:15:20,000 hurt relationship, that they know that God's got this. And I know that people 187 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:26,000 believe that, probably 99%. But the book of Revelation is going to show us 188 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:34,000 100% that God does have it, that God is doing God things, that Revelation is what 189 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:38,000 we can pull, that God, when he says, I will never leave you nor forsake you, I 190 00:15:38,000 --> 00:15:43,000 will be with you to the very end of the age. Well, friends, this is the end of the 191 00:15:43,000 --> 00:15:49,000 age, and God is still on the throne. And finally, witness and martyrdom. 192 00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:57,000 Revelation calls its readers to faithfulness, even to the point of death. 193 00:15:57,000 --> 00:16:01,000 All of a sudden, some of us just got real anxious, because we don't do death 194 00:16:01,000 --> 00:16:07,000 well, and the idea of dying for our faith is something that actually freaks us out. 195 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:11,000 Now we hear stories, beyond stories, of all the different martyrdoms that we've 196 00:16:11,000 --> 00:16:15,000 seen in history. You can read the books, the voice of the martyrs, that is a, like, 197 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:21,000 seven-volume series of all the people that have died for the faith. And I look 198 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:27,000 out at all of us, and I go, ah, we've probably not gone there. How do I know? 199 00:16:27,000 --> 00:16:32,000 Because you're all still here. Martyrdom is being killed, put to death, for our 200 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:38,000 faith. Now, for some of us, we think we're martyr for Christ when we don't get the 201 00:16:38,000 --> 00:16:44,000 parking spot that we want at Jewel. That is not martyrdom. Martyrdom is not when 202 00:16:44,000 --> 00:16:48,000 you're trying to get to church and you get a flat tire, that, oh, I am being 203 00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:53,000 persecuted for my faith. No, you just ran over a nail. Understand that martyrdom is 204 00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:57,000 brought to a different position in the book of Revelation, because that's part of 205 00:16:57,000 --> 00:17:02,000 the historical view of what we see, the Christians of the first century. The 206 00:17:02,000 --> 00:17:07,000 Christians of the first century that were killed for the faith. How do we know? 207 00:17:07,000 --> 00:17:13,000 We know how most of the apostles, if not all of them, except for John, died for the 208 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:18,000 faith. Whether crucified upside down, chopped into pieces, pulled apart by horse 209 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:24,000 and carriage. That Rome did a pretty thorough job of making sure Christians, 210 00:17:24,000 --> 00:17:32,000 those who believed in the way, Jesus, were put to death. So Revelation calls us to 211 00:17:32,000 --> 00:17:37,000 be faithful in that understanding. Now, really quick before I start my sermon. 212 00:17:37,000 --> 00:17:42,000 The author we know, John the Apostle, he authored the Gospel of John, he authored 213 00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:47,000 first, second, and third John. Best evidence we have is that it was about 81 214 00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:54,000 to 96 AD when this was recorded during the reign of Domitian, the Caesar of Rome 215 00:17:54,000 --> 00:18:00,000 after the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem of 70 AD. And then finally, what 216 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:05,000 is the purpose of Revelation? I'm not going to give you that today, and we're 217 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:10,000 going to get there, because the purpose will, in a lot of ways, show itself to us. 218 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:16,000 And what's exciting is show us in many different ways. And the book of Revelation 219 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:21,000 will mean different things for all of you sitting and all of you watching online. 220 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:26,000 So let's open up God's Word. Let's start with the first three verses. This is 221 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:32,000 known as the prologue. This is setting up the sovereignty of Revelation. So 222 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:38,000 Revelation 1, starting with verse 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God 223 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:44,000 gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made 224 00:18:44,000 --> 00:18:49,000 known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the world of 225 00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:54,000 God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the 226 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:59,000 one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear 227 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:06,000 and who keep what is written, for the time is near. One of the only times you're 228 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:12,000 going to read, and the blessing is for me and for you in this moment in time, 229 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:18,000 because I am speaking it, you are joining me in hearing it, that this is a kind of 230 00:19:18,000 --> 00:19:22,000 a table set for us. And if there are any other churches that are starting 231 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:27,000 Revelation, for them. So this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the 232 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:33,000 Revelation of Sovereignty. This phrase indicates that the content is not just 233 00:19:33,000 --> 00:19:41,000 about Jesus, but also revealed by him. The Greek word Revelation means an 234 00:19:41,000 --> 00:19:48,000 unveiling, showing God's plan for history. Again, we have to sit in the history to 235 00:19:48,000 --> 00:19:53,000 also look at what's going to happen. The divine origin of Revelation and the 236 00:19:53,000 --> 00:20:00,000 blessing promised to those who hear and keep the Revelation, that there's an 237 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:04,000 action that we're all going to be faced with in the book of Revelation. Spoiler 238 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:12,000 alert, it's to serve God or to serve man, i.e. Satan. So really what this is going 239 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:19,000 to test us over the next two and a half months is how do we view Scripture? Do we 240 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:24,000 view it as a divine revelation that governs our lives? Do we view it as, oh, 241 00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:29,000 this is just something Pastor Jim wants us to do? Do we view it as, I don't think 242 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:34,000 this really pertains to me. If you sit in that third camp, please stop because this 243 00:20:34,000 --> 00:20:39,000 does. Whether you're a believer this morning or not, this does pertain to you. 244 00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:45,000 It has to. We see the phrase which God gave him. This shows the divine origin of 245 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:50,000 the message. Christ as mediator receives the Revelation from his Father and 246 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:55,000 communicates it to John. This isn't because John had too much wine the night 247 00:20:55,000 --> 00:21:01,000 before. This is a divine interruption of John's life. John, the one that Jesus 248 00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:10,000 loved, the disciple. This is his Revelation given to him by Jesus. Now it's 249 00:21:10,000 --> 00:21:16,000 interesting about dreams and prophecy that some of us may have had dreams in 250 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:20,000 the past and it actually comes to bear like whatever we dreamed actually came 251 00:21:20,000 --> 00:21:25,000 through. Could that be a Revelation? I don't know. I didn't give it to you. But 252 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,000 understand that we're not going to interpret dreams as means of a spiritual 253 00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:36,000 exercise. This is the Revelation of John for his church, for the church of 254 00:21:36,000 --> 00:21:42,000 Christ, the church that John was a part of. And as we read that, we need to 255 00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:48,000 receive it as such that it is really a blessing for us to read this, to hear it, 256 00:21:48,000 --> 00:21:52,000 to read it. The importance of hearing and keeping the words of this prophecy will 257 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:59,000 be highlighted to all of us. Make no mistake. And when we hear it and we read 258 00:21:59,000 --> 00:22:04,000 it, we should have not only a reverence but a relevant understanding that what we 259 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:08,000 are being spoken to about are the things that were, the things that are, and the 260 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:13,000 things that will be. So that's the prologue. That's the beginning. Then we 261 00:22:13,000 --> 00:22:18,000 jump in verses four through eight. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, 262 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:23,000 modern day Turkey, grace to you and peace from him who is, who was, and is to 263 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:28,000 come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus 264 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:32,000 Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the 265 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:39,000 kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 266 00:22:39,000 --> 00:22:44,000 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and 267 00:22:44,000 --> 00:22:50,000 dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds and every 268 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:55,000 eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will 269 00:22:55,000 --> 00:23:01,000 wail on account of him, even so. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the 270 00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:09,000 Lord God, who is, who was, and is to come the Almighty. That is quite the 271 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:15,000 greeting. So let's say you invite someone over to your house. You open the door to 272 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:19,000 them and instead of just saying hi or hey, I brought a bottle of wine or hey, 273 00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:24,000 give me the tour, they went into stuff like this. Maybe it sounds something like 274 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:29,000 and behold, I crosseth your door. To break bread with you, I come bringing the 275 00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:34,000 mighty, I come that we would understand the blazing love that Jesus Christ has 276 00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:39,000 for all of us and the judgment that will come in the end. Carrie lets out, is what 277 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,000 are you doing when that person says that as they walk through your door? You're 278 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:48,000 panicking. Jim's closing the door and leaving them outside, right? That this is 279 00:23:48,000 --> 00:23:54,000 quite the start. That this is what we should interpret but also what we should 280 00:23:54,000 --> 00:23:58,000 come to expect when it comes to where we're going in the book of Revelation. 281 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:07,000 That what we are getting here is grace and peace. And I find that phenomenal. 282 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:11,000 That we're actually reading grace and peace in this. This greeting reflects 283 00:24:11,000 --> 00:24:18,000 God's covenant faithfulness to us. And it comes from the triune God, Father, Son, 284 00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:24,000 and Spirit. That this should show us the greeting of the triune God that is 285 00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:31,000 synthesized in his role not only in history but also in our salvation. That 286 00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:36,000 you are bought with the blood of Christ that was foretold by the Father and 287 00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:42,000 carried out after his ascension by the Holy Spirit. That this is showing that 288 00:24:42,000 --> 00:24:49,000 every day we are encountering the triune God in all that we do, in all that we 289 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:57,000 see, and all that we are. And what Revelation is kind of splitting open is 290 00:24:57,000 --> 00:25:04,000 that we better be right in how we live and how we do this. That we understand 291 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,000 that Christ as faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the 292 00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:13,000 kings on earth, this title affirms Christ's role as we see throughout 293 00:25:13,000 --> 00:25:20,000 Scripture prophet, priest, and king, which is actually one of the central 294 00:25:20,000 --> 00:25:25,000 understandings of reformed believers. That in God's sovereignty Christ plays 295 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:31,000 the prophet, the priest, and the king role in our lives because he has to. 296 00:25:31,000 --> 00:25:38,000 Because that is his role. That he is the prophet speaking into our lives. That he 297 00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:44,000 is the priest overseeing our doctrine and life. And he is the king that rules us 298 00:25:44,000 --> 00:25:50,000 from the day we are born until the day we go to see him. Friends, what do we pull 299 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:54,000 from this? That we need to recognize God's sovereignty over all aspects of 300 00:25:54,000 --> 00:26:07,000 life and history leading to a posture of trust and worship. So let me ask you, when 301 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:12,000 it doesn't feel like you have that relationship, when that relationship is 302 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:19,000 tarnished, when that relationship is hurt, how often do we posture to worship? 303 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:25,000 When life is not going right, when life gets hard, do we have a posture of 304 00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:29,000 worship? And I think it's interesting why we have to have that posture. Why 305 00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:35,000 worship should be our modus operandi, the operation we live out every day of our 306 00:26:35,000 --> 00:26:40,000 life. Because worshiping recognizes three things. It recognizes that God is 307 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:45,000 sovereign and Lord over all, that he has invited us to participate in it and it 308 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:52,000 gives us perspective to even the worst day of our lives. That we are called to 309 00:26:52,000 --> 00:26:59,000 worship. Now how we worship, that is going to be different for all of us. That 310 00:26:59,000 --> 00:27:05,000 when you are in grief and your worship is that of mourning or of frustration or 311 00:27:05,000 --> 00:27:11,000 of just crying out and wailing to God, that is worship. Or you're on a spiritual 312 00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:16,000 high, you're on top of this mountain and God is just glorious and you recognize 313 00:27:16,000 --> 00:27:20,000 that and you're doing your best and you're walking tall, that is worship and 314 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:26,000 everywhere in between. The book of Revelation is going to find you and find 315 00:27:26,000 --> 00:27:33,000 me in that. Every eye will see him this anticipates the second coming, 316 00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:40,000 emphasizing the visible and public nature of Christ's return. Verses 9 through 12. 317 00:27:40,000 --> 00:27:45,000 I, John your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the 318 00:27:45,000 --> 00:27:50,000 patient endurance that is in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of 319 00:27:50,000 --> 00:27:55,000 the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord's 320 00:27:55,000 --> 00:28:01,000 day and I heard him behind me, a loud voice like a trumpet saying write what you 321 00:28:01,000 --> 00:28:06,000 see in this book and send it to the seven churches in Ephesus and to Smyrna and 322 00:28:06,000 --> 00:28:12,000 to Pergamum and Thyriata and Sardis and to Philadelphia and Laodicea. So now we 323 00:28:12,000 --> 00:28:17,000 see some of the purpose, which is going to go into the next two sermons. That the 324 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:25,000 vision begins. That the scene begins. That John is recognizing us as siblings to 325 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:31,000 him and companions in Christ. What does that mean? That we are companions in his 326 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:37,000 suffering and in the kingdom patient endurance that is ours in Jesus. Oh come 327 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:42,000 Lord Jesus. Might be a cry that you've said in your life. Or when you think 328 00:28:42,000 --> 00:28:47,000 about that and go okay this season I'm in is only for a time. Or Lord you can 329 00:28:47,000 --> 00:28:52,000 come back whenever because I give up. However you find yourself, understand 330 00:28:52,000 --> 00:28:58,000 John recognizes that with you. John is in that place with you. What John is 331 00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:03,000 encouraging us individually and as a church is our participation in Christ's 332 00:29:03,000 --> 00:29:09,000 suffering and the kingdom that will be coming. And here's where we check out. 333 00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:14,000 Because let's be honest friends we don't like to suffer. You can't read 334 00:29:14,000 --> 00:29:19,000 Revelation without thinking about suffering. You can't read Revelation to 335 00:29:19,000 --> 00:29:24,000 know that the arrows of the evil one have your name on it at some point in 336 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:29,000 history. Guess what? Because they've been on there ever since you've been born. 337 00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:34,000 When you've been sanctified in Christ, regenerated and became a member of his 338 00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:38,000 church. That's why whenever we pray, right, the next two weeks we're going to 339 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:42,000 baptize some babies. We're going to pray over them that as the arrows of the evil 340 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:47,000 one are being shot at them that they have a community that they understand the 341 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:52,000 grace and the conquering peace of Christ. All of that comes from the book of 342 00:29:52,000 --> 00:29:59,000 Revelation. From Christ's words to John's Revelation is where we find ourselves. 343 00:29:59,000 --> 00:30:05,000 What I find interesting is John is commanded to write. We assume that of 344 00:30:05,000 --> 00:30:10,000 Paul when he writes his epistles, two-thirds of the New Testament. We're 345 00:30:10,000 --> 00:30:14,000 assuming that Paul is given direction from God. We hear it in his words to write 346 00:30:14,000 --> 00:30:19,000 to all those churches and to all those individuals. Here we see in a very grand 347 00:30:19,000 --> 00:30:27,000 way John getting that Revelation. But here's the rub. You have to trust that 348 00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:33,000 God is in control or else you're not going to read John's words. If you're 349 00:30:33,000 --> 00:30:38,000 going to be stuck in a place of distrust or mistrust, John's Revelation, though it 350 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:44,000 still has bearing in your life, you will miss it. So what is Revelation doing? It 351 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:52,000 is testing our resolve and our trust in God. And he's commanded to write. He's 352 00:30:52,000 --> 00:31:01,000 commanded to say and write these things. It's just amazing. Then we move to 12 to 353 00:31:01,000 --> 00:31:07,000 16. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and turning I saw seven 354 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:12,000 gold lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, 355 00:31:12,000 --> 00:31:17,000 clothed with a long robe, with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his 356 00:31:17,000 --> 00:31:23,000 head were white like white wool like snow. His eyes were like the flames of fire. 357 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:28,000 His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. And his voice was 358 00:31:28,000 --> 00:31:35,000 like a roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars. From his mouth 359 00:31:35,000 --> 00:31:48,000 came a sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 360 00:31:48,000 --> 00:31:54,000 Let's get weird. Here we go. These are going to be the different visions. These 361 00:31:54,000 --> 00:32:02,000 are going to be the things that we go, what in the world? But remember Jesus 362 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:11,000 already came once. And how did he come? Think Christmas, this isn't hard, came 363 00:32:11,000 --> 00:32:18,000 like a baby. I can handle seven pound, eight ounce baby Jesus, can't you? Right? 364 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:22,000 He's in a manger. This is great. We're going to worship, not worship the manger, 365 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:28,000 but Christ is born in a way, oh it's so beautiful. Right? Dwayne, when your kids 366 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:31,000 were born what were you thinking as you held them on the first day of their 367 00:32:31,000 --> 00:32:38,000 birth? Miracle, right? This is so great. Now what happens if your oldest was born 368 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:41,000 with flames shooting out of their eyes, right, and a sword coming out of their 369 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:47,000 mouth? You'd be like, Gwen, what did you do? Right? It would be super awkward. 370 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:53,000 But understand the story of Christ culminates here. That is we think about 371 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:59,000 the grandness of revelation, why not? Why not come like this? We don't see it 372 00:32:59,000 --> 00:33:04,000 anywhere else in scripture outside of some apocalyptic visions that Daniel had 373 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,000 in some of the minor and major prophets, but here we see him coming and he's got 374 00:33:08,000 --> 00:33:14,000 a duty, he's going to be doing some stuff. And he comes like this. This is enough 375 00:33:14,000 --> 00:33:19,000 for us to go, and let's just start Advent early. Because I love me a good 376 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:26,000 Christmas hymn and we can do that for the next four months. No, we got to sit in 377 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:31,000 it. We have to understand that the lampstands represent the churches, that 378 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:36,000 Christ's presence among them indicate his authority and the care for his 379 00:33:36,000 --> 00:33:42,000 church. Because what if out of his mouth came a dove? We'd be thinking peace. 380 00:33:42,000 --> 00:33:46,000 Guess what, friends? That already happened. Not that it came out of his mouth, 381 00:33:46,000 --> 00:33:52,000 but it came down at his baptism. That the sword is coming now. The conquering is 382 00:33:52,000 --> 00:34:00,000 going to be done. The war is going to be over. Well, why didn't he just come on 383 00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,000 the foal of a donkey? Why didn't he just come to show that he brings peace? 384 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:11,000 Guess what? He already did. That is what we consider Palm Sunday. He comes in to 385 00:34:11,000 --> 00:34:16,000 show all of these things. Well, then why, Jim? Why? I don't like this. It makes me 386 00:34:16,000 --> 00:34:20,000 uncomfortable. Now I'm going to look at Gwen Recker in a weird way. Like all of 387 00:34:20,000 --> 00:34:26,000 these things, why does he have to come like this? Hopefully that answer is 388 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:31,000 already culminating in your mind. How else is he going to come? He already came 389 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:38,000 those ways. And what happened? We missed it. He was rejected. He was despised. He 390 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:43,000 was spit on. He was flogged. He was beaten. He was deserted. He was lied about. 391 00:34:43,000 --> 00:34:50,000 He was betrayed. And he was strung up on a cross. Is anyone stringing Christ up on 392 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:58,000 a cross when he comes like this? No. There is no wavering here. This is how 393 00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:05,000 it's going to go. This is how the end scene must be. This detailed description 394 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:11,000 of Christ's emphasis of His majesty, His authority, and His purity. The sword 395 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:18,000 coming out of His mouth symbolizes the power over His Word. It's not the first 396 00:35:18,000 --> 00:35:25,000 time that the Word of God is a two-edged sword. He's already told us it is. That's 397 00:35:25,000 --> 00:35:30,000 why we get to use it against the forces of evil and darkness. It is a double-edged 398 00:35:30,000 --> 00:35:34,000 sword. You don't have to be a master swordsman or woman. You just have to swing 399 00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:39,000 it around. You just have to use it. Jesus is coming to say, I have authority and 400 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:49,000 dominion over all, including my word. Scary stuff. I get it. But we also need 401 00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:56,000 His assurance now. 17 to 20. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. 402 00:35:56,000 --> 00:36:03,000 But He laid me at His right hand saying, fear not. I always find that funny, right? 403 00:36:03,000 --> 00:36:09,000 That John's seeing this and the first thing is fear not. I am the first and the 404 00:36:09,000 --> 00:36:14,000 last, the living one. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of 405 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:19,000 death and Hades right there for the things that you have seen. Those that are 406 00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:24,000 and those that will take place after this. So if you're John, you're like, there's 407 00:36:24,000 --> 00:36:28,000 more? Like this can't be it? I mean, at this point, one of our boys is already 408 00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:32,000 waking Carrie up three times if they're having this, right? Because they know not 409 00:36:32,000 --> 00:36:37,000 to, because they'll get a real live version of this if they wake me up. But 410 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:42,000 understand, there's more. Verse 20, as for the mystery of the seven stars that you 411 00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:46,000 saw in my right hand, the seven gold lampstands, the seven stars are the angels 412 00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:53,000 of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. So 413 00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:58,000 Christ is reassuring John. He is reassuring John to not be afraid that he 414 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:04,000 holds the keys of death and Hades, that Christ reassures John and asserts his 415 00:37:04,000 --> 00:37:11,000 victory over death and judgment. So friends, as we go through this, in times 416 00:37:11,000 --> 00:37:16,000 of fear and uncertainty, rest in the assurance of Christ's victory and his 417 00:37:16,000 --> 00:37:24,000 sovereign rule. So that is the end of the first scene. What in the world are we 418 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:29,000 going to do with this? Well, let's posture ourselves in four ways. First and 419 00:37:29,000 --> 00:37:35,000 foremost, we submit to the authority of Christ. If you're not recognizing Christ's 420 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:40,000 authority, you're not reading this. Christ's authority over all aspects of 421 00:37:40,000 --> 00:37:48,000 life, including the church then and now and history, submit to his lordship in 422 00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:53,000 your daily living. So not only submitting, we're trusting in God's 423 00:37:53,000 --> 00:37:58,000 sovereignty. In a world of uncertainty and chaos, we trust in the sovereign 424 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:03,000 control of God, knowing that he is directing history according to his 425 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:10,000 perfect will. Third, we embrace the call to endurance. Like John who suffered for 426 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:14,000 his faith, believers are called to endure hardships knowing that they 427 00:38:14,000 --> 00:38:20,000 participate in Christ's kingdom and victory. And finally, friends, and I think 428 00:38:20,000 --> 00:38:25,000 this will get easier as we go, we live in the light of Christ's return. The 429 00:38:25,000 --> 00:38:31,000 promise of Christ's return should shape how we live today, motivating us to 430 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:37,000 pursue holiness, to pursue our witness to others, and to remain steadfast in 431 00:38:37,000 --> 00:38:44,000 faith. We're in the grand cosmos now. Next week, those letters are not only 432 00:38:44,000 --> 00:38:49,000 being written to those churches, those letters are being written to 214 Ridge 433 00:38:49,000 --> 00:38:52,000 Road. Let's pray.