Surely we are a blessed people to have been given the gospel of the glory of the blessed God set forth before us in clear words, clear truth that cannot be overturned, that Jesus Christ is the Savior of sinners. And, you know, that's a glorious message. It's been the same message has been declared by all of the people of God from the beginning, that Christ is indeed the Savior.

And so we come today To begin looking at a book that is probably one of the most commented upon books in all of the scripture, much of what's been written about it is pure fantasy. and not founded in any truth that is within it. I don't claim to have any special insight into this book, but I believe, as we'll see, as the scripture itself testifies, that this is not a book that's meant to be clouded in great mystery to the point that God's people would not read it and not look at it and desire to know what's here.

Now one thing's for certain, and that is that the language that's used in this book is very highly figurative language. It's not always easily comprehended. But the message of it is never in doubt. And it starts off with the message of the book in the very first line of the book. The title of this book. I don't know what your Bible says as you read it there, as what the title is, but I'm gonna read the title. that is in most Bibles and actually the first line of the book. It says the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the revelation of Christ.

Now, is that not what God's people need? Is that not what the gospel is? It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. And so, while on the one hand we don't need to make light of the intricacies of things spoken of in this book, we never need to lose sight of what the book is about. Because if you miss the title of the book, you will miss the book. This is not a book that was written so that men could preach series of messages to impress other men with what they know about all the mysterious things, language that's used in this book. Nor do I believe that it is possible that we can 100% comprehend every figure of speech that is used in this book.

But I believe we can say this, that every one of the mysteries set forth in this book are set forth for one purpose, and that is to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ. and to set forth for us a panoramic view, if you want to say it like that, I don't know of a better way to say it, probably is a better way, but that's what's in my mind, at least, is that this is a panoramic view of the creation of God and the purpose of God for that creation.

Now men set forth all kinds of theories and things. Well, why did God create the world? And of course, when I was young, they used to teach us, at least some did, that God was lonesome. And so he decided, well, you know, I'm just here all by myself. I think I'll create the world. And then, you know, I'll create some people in the world to help me out and I can, you know, enjoy them and have fellowship with them. Well, God is not ever in need of anything.

Now, we can't comprehend that fully any more than we can comprehend when the Lord says I am that I am. When the scripture says that he inhabiteth eternity. When the scripture says that he is immortal, invisible, the only wise God who only hath immortality. We can't comprehend that in human understanding. It's not possible. Because you and I, the only thing we know is a beginning and an end. Everything about our life has a beginning and it has an end. Everything that we see. There's nothing you see in the world that you can look on with these eyes that doesn't have a beginning and has an end.

I was thinking about this the other day. We've got some pecan trees, as we would say, around our house where we live that my grandmother planted. And Those trees, as old as they are, which they would probably be close to 100 years old at this point in time, and those trees, you don't think of a tree having a life. You think of a tree that's just there, but trees are just as much finite plants as men are finite beings, because those trees which she planted and grew up and for many, many years flourished and offered shade to our home and whatnot, those trees are reaching the end of their life.

Most every one of them, if you cut them open, they'd be hollow on the inside. In fact, we cut one down just the other day. And the huge tree, you couldn't reach around it, couldn't start to reach around it. And that tree, the tree, what part of the tree you can see is about that thick. And the whole inside of that thing's gone. Now what does that tell us? It tells us that that tree is dying. And that tree, had it not been cut down, would eventually have fell over. And, of course, that's the way it is with all the trees around our house. They used to be really vibrant trees, and now they're covered with green moss that grows on the trunks of the tree, little flower, little plants and stuff. And all of that is just the death of that tree. It's coming down. It's coming to an end.

And so it doesn't make any difference what we look at in this world is passing away. But the one thing that is a constant that we'll never be able to fully comprehend is the eternality of Almighty God. He said, I, the Lord your God, am a holy God. That is, he's set apart. And what sets him apart is his immortality. He's set apart from all of his creation in that he created it. And all of his creation, even the angels, every angel. As the songwriter said, every angel's form and size was drawn by the eternal pen. Every one of them had a beginning and apart from him sustaining them, just like Him sustaining us, will have an end, will cease to be, except for the purpose and mercy of God to sustain His creation.

And so, I say all of that to just say we need to pause and consider what a blessing it is that we can, here in the course of our lifetime, look and read in the book which is the word of the living God sent down to men, the Bible, and read the revelation of Jesus Christ. God didn't have to reveal Jesus Christ. I mean, the world, he could have created the world and everything could have went just as he made it to be and there never have been any redemption. I mean, insofar as if God had determined to do that, he could have just made a world and, you know, we could be just like the trees and everything else and we just here and then we're gone.

But God, who is rich in mercy, created the world for the purpose of bringing glory to his name and manifesting the grace and mercy that he has in Jesus Christ unto those people whom he's loved from the foundation of the world. Now I can't fully comprehend that, neither can you. But it is a true thing. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. That's why he created the world. He made the world to manifest the glory of Christ in redemption. And so that's what this book's about. It's about what God created the world for.

And here it is, isn't it fitting that this is the last book in this Bible? In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. And here in the, and that's the first of the book, and then in the end of the book, he shows us what he created the world for, the revelation of Jesus Christ. He's manifested himself unto men. Oh, that the Lord might give us a heart and mind to look into it. I hope you read this book. It's difficult to read in many ways. And a lot of times people will start reading it and they just give up. I don't understand any of that. Just keep reading it. You know, just keep reading it. The scripture says to read it. You need to read it because it's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And I believe this, as the more that a man reads this book, if he reads this book looking for Christ, He's gonna be overwhelmed because He's on every page of it. And that's what this book is given for, for the benefit of God's people, to build us up in the faith, to see our triumphant Lord, that His will is gonna be done. Oh, what a glorious thing it is that we have such a book as this. And this book has a warning in it. And it's a warning that really covers the whole of the Bible, but specifically about this book. It said, woe be to the man who adds to this book or takes from it. And I don't want to add anything to it.

Now a lot of the stuff I've read over the years is, I don't know where people get some of this stuff. You know, and they add to it because they read somebody else that added to it and they added a little more to it. And to the point where a lot of the stuff that you read about this book is pure, as I said, pure fantasy. It has no basis in this. I mean, you can take the Bible and you can make it say anything you want it to say if you're willing to pervert it. But there's only one message that the Bible has that is not perverted. And Paul spoke about it. He said, Jesus Christ and him crucified. And if that's the message that you see in the Bible, then you see what the Bible's about. Oh, that we might have that clear understanding. you know, and that he might give us a mind and heart to rejoice in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Because it is a revelation.

See, a man can't, he can hear about Christ. I've heard, I heard the, I don't ever remember a time when I hadn't heard about Jesus Christ as a young child from infancy and being raised and hearing about a man named Jesus Christ. But I never had a revelation of Jesus Christ until God, who's rich in mercy, opened my eyes to see his glory. and to see who he is. Not just some man who did a lot of things. Not just somebody who tried to make the world a better place and did some good, but really failed altogether in accomplishing exactly what he wanted to do. That's what a lot of people think, do they not? Because they tell us that Jesus Christ died for every individual in the world. But they say, but everybody's not gonna be saved. And so if I told you I was gonna do something, or wanted to do something, but then I didn't do it, you'd say I was a frustrated person, would you not? Didn't accomplish what I wanted to do.

But I'm telling you, this is a book about a man named Jesus, who came into the world with a purpose to redeem his people. to give them eternal life so that they might never perish. And he has accomplished that exact thing. And he said to his disciples, let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me. For in my Father's house are many mansions, many rooms. And he says, I go to prepare a place for you that where I am, there ye may be also.

What a glorious savior he is. That's what he came to do. And this book is a culmination of the manifestation of the purpose of God to show himself to his people. This is a book of great comfort. You can't read this book if you're a true believer desiring and hungering after Christ and not be filled. I didn't say you're gonna know everything in it and you can explain everything to somebody, but you can't help but read this and come away saying, praise God. Lord, I don't see, I don't understand a lot of this stuff, but Lord, I see you. And may the Lord give us a mind to be such a people as that.

And so as we've, began here, and you know when I say we're going to go through this book, I don't know, I might quit halfway through because I might be so overwhelmed. I'm not going to come to you here and tell you, you know, we're going to get in every nook and cranny of this book and I can tell you what everything is. You know, like some people can tell you the number of hairs on the horse's tail and the color of the toenails on the beast. I'm not going to do that. Because I don't care what color the toenails are on the beast or how many hairs is on the horse's tail. But what I do care about is that we see Jesus Christ and his triumphant work in the earth. And that's what this book is about. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And so this is how it begins. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, God the Father is speaking, God as the Father, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants. things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth. And they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. And we'll stop right there, because that's a mouthful of stuff there.

And so, it says here that this is a revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, that is, he's appointed. unto this revelation. This is the revelation. Now when we get over here to chapter 5, this revelation is is spoken of, it says, I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven nor on earth, neither under the earth was able to open the book. neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And so, This is the revelation. See, God has hidden all things in Christ. This is the revelation which was given to Christ. He came into the world. God, who at sundry times, in divers manners, spake in times past by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us. He's the revelation. He is the revelation, and he's been given the revelation. And he's the one that's opened the sealed book. See, this book's not something that's gonna be open. The book's been opened. And the one who opened it is Jesus Christ. He is the manifestation of God's purpose in the earth. He's the unfolding of the mystery. You wanna know what the mysteries surrounding God are? And the creation and redemption is found in Jesus Christ. He's the one who's loosed the seals of it. It was written within and on the backside. It's the beginning and the end. and he is that one to whom it's been given. See, the book's put in his hand. He came into the world to manifest the glory of God to men that it might be seen.

Now, the prophets announced it. They announced that he was coming. I love to read the book of Isaiah. I like sometimes to call it the gospel according to Isaiah because You know, the gospels unfolded just plainly. In fact, the Lord Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah more than any other prophet. Because Isaiah was given this prophecy to speak about the announcing of Christ, but Isaiah knew that these things were written not for his sake, because he looked at them and said, what does that mean? Brethren, we don't wonder what it means. because it means that Jesus Christ has come as the savior of sinners. That's what it means.

And so the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him, God gave to Christ a revelation. Now this is a, you know, when we think of God, we don't think of three gods. Now the scripture speaks of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But we don't think of that as three individuals.

Now I know that people sometimes in their explanation of this, they speak about three persons. in the Godhead. You won't find that anywhere in the Scripture. It doesn't ever speak about three persons in the Godhead. It does speak about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And this is a mystery beyond full understanding by men. I would never fall out with anybody because of their theory of what it means, nor would I hope they would fall out with me on mine.

But if we believe what the Scripture says, that there is a father who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ who has sent his spirit into the world. Now that's, but he's one. He's not three, he's one. He and Jesus Christ is the only way you'll ever know God. You cannot have any understanding of who God is apart from knowing Jesus Christ. And that's what the scripture says here. The revelation which God gave to Jesus Christ. It belongs to him. He's the spokesman of God. He's the one who comes with all the promises of God. He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

Just like he said there in that passage in John 14, and Philip asked him, Lord, show us the Father and it'll suffice us. He said, Philip, if I've been so long time with you and you've not known me, say, he that's seen me has seen the Father. He's the revelation of God.

He's the revelation which God gave to him, to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. Now, there's a lot of people really get off on these terms here about shortly come to pass. Now, let me speak to you about this. Now, if something is shortly to come to pass, It's not speaking about something way out in the future, is it? It's talking about something that is right there. And the revelation that was given to Jesus Christ is that which shortly must come to pass. There's a passage of scripture that says, a short work will the Lord make in the earth. Now that's not talking about a chronological situation, it's talking about the certainty and the absoluteness of the fact that this will be done, not in some far out, way off thing, but it will be done.

Now when we think about time, we think about a very small, window of action, do we not? I mean, you know, when you think about world history, it's impossible for you to see all of the history. Now you might read about it and know some highlights about it, but you don't really know what happened.

The Lord knows the end from the beginning. See, and all things in between. The scripture says we live our lives as a tale that is told. God doesn't see things as they happen. He's the one that makes things happen. See, a lot of people think God's sitting up here waiting for stuff to happen. And he's waiting for this to happen and then he's gonna do this and that and the other.

No, God sees all things from the beginning. And the things, he wrote the book. I mean, have you ever heard of a guy that started writing a book? and the book just took over and wrote itself. And he didn't know what was gonna happen in the end. He started it, but it just took over and the book wrote itself and got to the end, no.

You see, an author writes the book. In fact, a lot of times, authors will write the end of a book before they ever write the beginning. They'll start off with where they want this thing to wind up, and then they'll fill it in going backwards. Well, God has, the end and the beginning are, he sees all of that as one thing.

And this is that unfolding of the purpose and mercy and kindness and glory and grace of God. As he said to Moses, when Moses said, Lord, I want to see glory. And the Lord said to Moses, he said, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy. And that's his glory. See that's, that he'll show mercy.

Now a lot of people get all up in arms when it says whom he will show mercy. We ought to be amazed that he will show mercy. See, that's the glorious part of the revelation of Jesus Christ, is that it is a revelation of the mercy of God. See, Jesus Christ is the glory of God. That what Paul said, he said that the light is shined upon our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We see the glory of God. What is the glory of God? I will show mercy. See, that's a glorious thing. And where do we see it? It's in the revelation of Christ. Nowhere else. That's the only place mercy comes. Mercy comes through Jesus Christ. There would be no mercy except through him. Men have no knowledge of any mercy of God apart from that which they see in Jesus Christ.

See, he's the revelation of God. to men, or that he might give us our eyes to see. Which God gave to him to show to his servants things which must shortly come to pass. That is, they will come to pass. They are happening even as we speak. This is coming to pass shortly. It's a short work the Lord's making in the earth. It doesn't mean something that's gonna happen way out there, but it means these things are in the purpose of God and brought to pass.

He sent, he sent his word and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. Now I believe that generally speaking, When we read about the angel of God, it's speaking about Jesus Christ. He's a messenger. Now in this particular case, it would appear that there was a messenger sent to John other than the Lord Jesus Christ, because this angel was sent to tell him about this revelation that was given to Jesus Christ. And so it is that he said, it was shortly coming past, he's sent.

Now the Lord, when the Lord sends his word, the scripture says it will not return to him void. In other words, you can send something and it may or may not get there. If you've ever mailed a letter, you know, I mean, sometimes you know that it might not get there. That's why you put a return address on it, because you might get it back. It might not reach its destination. But you see, when God is pleased to send his word, it will accomplish the thing that he sends it to do. It can't fail, because he is the messenger of his own word, and he's the power of his word.

That's what makes what we speak of from time to time as what some have called irresistible grace, or the effectual call of the Lord. When the Lord calls a man, he'll come. He'll hear the word. That's according to the purpose of God. He calls his people out of darkness. He called the children of Israel out of darkness. And they came out of darkness.

And signified it by his angel unto his servant John. He sent a particular messenger. And the Lord sends, How shall they hear, the scripture says, without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? I mean, the Lord sends a particular message for a particular time for a particular people.

We don't have to look any further than an Ethiopian eunuch riding in a chariot going back to Ethiopia to reading the Bible and wondering, I wonder what this means. See, he was already, the Lord had awakened this Ethiopian to the point he wanted to know who this was, but he didn't have any understanding. So what happened? The Lord sent Philip.

Can you imagine? I don't know exactly how that happened. I don't know if, you remember those commercials where the, let's see, it was, a rental car commercial, and the guy would come and he'd just glide in, kind of fly down into the place where he was going. I don't know if that's exactly how it was with Philip going there to this Ethiopian eunuch, but at some point in time, Philip was running alongside this chariot, and he heard this guy reading, and he said, do you understand what you're reading? And the guy said, no, how can I except somebody tell me and say, well, that's what I'm here for. Because the Lord sent him.

Now brethren, the Lord sends men. If a man's hungry and thirsting for the truth of God, God will send somebody to him with the message. I believe that with all my heart. I don't believe it's possible for a man to desire to know the gospel, to know the remedy for his sin, to desire to be brought into the presence of God. I don't believe that it's possible for a man to have such a desire as that and the Lord not send somebody to him with a message.

Or send it in some fashion. It might not be a man insofar as we understand. It might be the Spirit of God might be sent to open the man's eyes to see as he reads and studies the scripture, but the Lord will send his message to that person. I don't know how all that works. I'm not one of these guys that has all these hard, fast answers about it's always gonna be this way or that way. God's able to bring his people to Jesus Christ as he sees fit, when he sees fit, and most of the time, he does it just exactly by what we're talking about, that somebody goes with the gospel. and enlightens that person by the work of the Spirit to open their understanding. And that's how it works.

But anyway, the Lord sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. He specifically picked out John to write this. Now, we don't know except by what little tradition and history that we can gather exactly when this book was written. Now some people who have a particular ax to grind on their prophetic interpretation of this book, they want to say that John wrote this book before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. I don't know for a fact if it was or not. I don't believe it was. I believe it was later. I believe history is more on the side of the fact that this was written sometime around 90 A.D. John was an old man and he had been banished to the Isle of Patmos by the Romans for preaching the gospel. It's like he said, they're going to get rid of him. And so I believe that the Lord put John there in this island to give him this, to unfold to him this revelation that was given to Jesus Christ that he might deliver it unto the churches. And the Lord, as we know, has used it. And He does use it. But He chose John. Now why did He choose John? Because it pleased Him. He didn't choose John because John was smarter than anybody else, or been to so many years of Bible school, and been trained by the best Bible teachers. He didn't do that. He just sent him. Remember when he sent the disciples, the Pharisees, they said, man, these men are ignorant and unlearned men. How on earth can they be speaking forth these scriptures and know these things that we don't even know some of this stuff they're talking about? How can that be? Because God sent them. And God's able to send men however he wants to. And he doesn't pick to who he's gonna send because of their gifts. He gives men the necessary gifts to do whatever he sends them to do.

May the Lord teach us and help us. And I would encourage you in these days to read the book of Revelation. You should read the book of Revelation on a regular basis. Because it is that which all of God's people desire to know, to see Christ revealed. May he be pleased to do it as he has set forth before us a revelation of Jesus Christ in this supper that he has left us with. This is that which he has determined that we should have. It's very simple. Nothing elaborate about this. Some various religious groups and whatnot make it to be an elaborate thing, but it's not elaborate. It's bread and it's wine, the fruit of the vine. And it's done to remember the Lord's death until he comes again. And he's given it to all of God's people. You don't have to belong to a certain organization to be able to partake of this. The scripture gives warnings about taking it unworthily. And to take this unworthily is to take it without a proper regard what it is. It is that which, as Brother Al said, it is the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. Now, we know that it's bread, and we know it doesn't change into something else. It's always gonna be bread, and this is always gonna be fruit of the vine, but the Lord said, this is my body, which is broken for you, and this is my blood, which is shed for you. And the reason that that is is because he would have us to having our mind and understanding what this actually represents as being that which is true. And we take it and we eat it because we can taste it. And we can swallow it. It becomes part of our body when we partake of these things. They go into our body. Oh, that the Lord might give us a mind today to take this, having examined ourself, what's your motive for taking this? Is it that you want to be one with Christ? You want to remember his death? Then by all means, you're commanded to partake of this. But if it's just something that you don't have any real regard to, you can take it or leave it, then you best leave it. But may the Lord give us a mind and heart to receive it as he gave it, as his body and his blood.