It is a privilege to be here.
And I feel very. Honored and afraid that my father
has asked me to do this. Interestingly enough, I feel
led to teach from Revelation chapter one. It's well known that my dad. Has done a very extensive study
on the book of the revelation. So I in no way intend to expound
on the things of this book. But I merely hope to use the
first three verses of chapter one. As a foundation for some
other scriptures that we're going to look at this morning, all
of which have the same thing. Revelation one the first three
verses say. The revelation of Jesus Christ.
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. The book of the Revelation has
always been a scary book to people who don't understand it. A dark and mysterious book. And
I understand why they think this. Naturally speaking, I understand.
Most people think the revelation is only talking about future
things. Things that are not now. But
soon will be. Unknown things. And they're afraid
of the unknown. That's why it's a scary book.
But they're not thinking about what a revelation is. They're not thinking about what
the word revelation means. Because the fact is, if this
book is only talking about things that have never been, but are
to come. Then this book should have been titled the prediction.
Or the forecast. Because merely looking into the
future, it's not what a revelation is. A revelation is an enlightenment
or a realization That's something already is. Person who's struggling with
something and then finally sees the missing piece that causes
them to struggle. Has had a revelation. Well, the missing piece that
people don't see. The thing that causes them to struggle and be
worried and afraid is that they think this is the revelation
of the end of time. They think this is a revelation
of the last day. The great judgment. Chaos. And as the scripture says, Armageddon.
Which the best that I can find on that is a rendezvous in the
hills. Run for the hills. And they've missed the key fact
that this is not the revelation of those things. Verse 1 says, this is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. This is the enlightenment of.
The realization of. Actually seeing the Lord Jesus
Christ. Once a person sees the Lord Jesus
Christ and they're focused on him. They're not afraid of this
book anymore. They do fear him. But they do not fear an unknown
end. They don't fear unruly chaos
and Armageddon because the things of Jesus Christ are ordered and
sure. The things of Jesus Christ were
settled before the foundation of the world. Every step a man
takes, every leaf that falls from a tree, every wind that
blows, including tornadoes and hurricanes, every comet, meteor
in outer space has been predestinated. predetermined to an exact flight
path by the Lord Jesus Christ. And this book is the revelation
and enlightenment and realization of Jesus Christ. And the fact
that He always has been, He is, and He always will be. He's always
been in complete control of us And everything that happens around
us. Everything, even the things that
we struggle with today on the news. We just didn't see it until he
revealed it to us. The title of this book is The
Revelation of John. Meaning John is the one who had
the revelation given to him. And what was the revelation John
had? Verse one says, the Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave John the revelation?
It goes on to say, God gave it to him. Why did God give it to him? It
says to show unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass. He did it for us. If we are his
servants, if we are his people, He did it for us. Scripture says
it must come to pass. Why must it come to pass? Because
everything with Jesus Christ is ordered and sure. It must. If he said it, it must. How did God do this? It goes
on to say. He sent and signified it by his
angel unto his servant John. He sent an angel to tell it and
he told John to write it. He sent and signified and I put
an offer on a house one time. And the real estate agent said,
I'll tell the sellers the offer, but we need to get it in writing
so that there's no doubt this is what you said. Well, God sent
and signified it. He told it. And he wrote it to
prove my word doesn't change. Gave it unto his servant, John,
verse two says, who bear record of the word of God. And of the
testimony of Jesus Christ. And of all things that he saw.
John actually saw The word of God. He actually saw the Lord
Jesus Christ with his own two eyes. The only person who can
give a testimony is someone who has actually heard or seen the
subject matter. And what is the subject matter?
Jesus Christ. There's no point in standing
up to say anything about anything if it's not about the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the pivotal subject matter of the universe. The question
of life and death is, does a person believe in and believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ? Sadly, most people don't. Obviously, the unregenerate world
who doesn't even have a conscience to go to church, so to speak,
they don't believe in and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But even in mainstream religion,
when you get right down to it, they believe there was a man
named Jesus. Who walked this earth and he
was a good humanitarian. And he paved the way for us to
travel. But they do not believe that
there is a God man. Who is actually seated on an
actual throne right now. Actually controlling every single
thing that happens. But we believe that knowing. They do not believe that he is
truly alive and real. Truly. The sovereign over everything,
but he is. And seeing him this way is the
revelation. Turn back to Hebrews chapter
11. Hebrews 11. Verse six. Says without faith, it is impossible
to please him, for he that cometh to God must believe that he is. I teach the high school Bible
class at Central Baptist in Rocky Mount. And the thing that I am
most focused on right now is pressing the point that he
is. He is. I also teach young kids.
And in guitar class, I teach guitar lessons. And young people
today in the world I don't think they even believe there is a
God anymore. A few decades ago, this was a God fearing nation
and this nation willingly rebelled against the God of this nation. But today, I don't even think
they believe there is a God. So in our class at Central Baptist,
we looked at this scripture and we went back to where. The Lord spoke to Moses. And
told him to go to his people and Moses said, whom shall I
say sent me? And he said, you tell him I am. Has sent you. And then we went to a place where
he said before Abraham was I am. And then he asked his disciples,
whom do you say I am? And they said, Peter said, you're
the Christ. He was saying you are I am. And Judas sold him
out for 30 pieces of silver. I believe that's in John 9. They
brought a mob to get him, and he asked, Whom seek ye? And they
said, Jesus. And he said, I am. And they all
fell back like trees. That was not just a man speaking.
That was I am. When a person sees the Lord Jesus
Christ in all His glory and they realize He is, I am,
that's who He is, then they have received the revelation. And all of the apostles had this
testimony throughout the New Testament. They say we physically
saw Him. And you need to believe He is
who He says He is. He is the Son of God. He is God. So let's look at a few people
who have given the testimony of Jesus Christ. Turn back to
1 John 1. 1 John 1 verses 1-3 say, That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands
have handled of the word of life. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen, and bear witness, and show unto you that eternal
life which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us. That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that you
also may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship
is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ." They're saying,
we're just telling what we've seen and heard. That's what we're
writing in these letters, what we've seen and heard. Turn back
to 2 Peter chapter 1. Verse 16, 2 Peter 1, 16 says,
For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made
known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son, in whom I
am well pleased. And this voice, which came from
heaven, we heard when we were with Him in the Holy Mount."
We didn't make any of this up. That's what Peter's saying. We
didn't make this up. We didn't just hear this passed
down from generation. We were eyewitnesses of His Majesty.
We heard His voice. Turn back to Acts chapter 9. Acts 9 verse 1. Before the Apostle Paul was converted,
his name was Saul, and it says, And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings
and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high
priest, and desired of him letters to Damascus, to the synagogues,
that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or
women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed,
he came near Damascus, and suddenly there shined round about him
a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and
heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? And he said, who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus,
whom thou persecutest. It is hard for thee to kick against
the pricks. And he trembling, And astonished, said, Lord, what
will thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise
and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou
must do. And the men which journeyed with
him stood speechless, hearing a voice, but seeing no man. And Saul arose from the earth,
and when his eyes were opened, he saw no man. But they led him
by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was there three
days without sight and neither did eat nor drink. And after
this, all through the New Testament, Paul says, I saw him. It blinded me for three days. He is who he says he is. As I
read this, I think the same experience happened to me when I saw him. And it knocked me off of my high
horse. I said, Lord, what will thou have me to do? I love this one. Turn back to
the book of Daniel. Daniel. After Ezekiel. Daniel, chapter
three. Daniel Chapter 3 verse 10 says. Thou O King has made a decree
that every man that shall hear the sound of the cornet flute
harp sack but sultry and dulcimer and all kinds of music shall
fall down and worship the golden image and who so falleth not
down and worship it that he should be cast into the midst of a burning
fiery furnace. There are certain Jews whom thou
hast set over the affairs of the province of Babylon, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have not regarded
thee. They serve not thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up." They commanded,
you're going to have to bow down and worship this golden idol.
And they said, no, we don't. Verse 18 says, Be it known unto
thee, O king, we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden
image which thou hast set up. Then was Nebuchadnezzar full
of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego. Therefore he spake and commanded
that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it
was wont to be heated. And he commanded the most mighty
men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
and to cast them into the burning, fiery furnace. Then these men
were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their
other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning,
fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king's
commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame
of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. And these three men Shadrach
Meshach and Abednego fell down bound into the midst of the burning
fiery furnace. Then Nebuchadnezzar the king
was astonished and rose up in haste and spake and said unto
his counselors did not we cast three men bound into the midst
of the fire. They answered and said unto the
king true king. He answered and said lo. I see
four men. Loose. Walking in the midst of
the fire. They have no hurt. In the form
of the fourth. Is like the son of God. Now, what do you think these
three men talked about for the rest of their lives? What do you think they told?
Everybody. They testified we were scared. We did what we had to do, but
we were scared. But as soon as we were thrown
in. We saw our Savior and our God. The one that we've been praying
to. The one that we've been hoping in all this time. He was already
in there waiting on us. And in reality, he had power
over the flames. They did not harm us. We were there. He is who he says
he is. Every time I find myself in a
hard situation and I'm so afraid and faithless, as soon as I'm
thrown into the middle of it, the Lord is there. He's already
there. He said, I'll be with you. Turn
to John chapter 11. John 11 verse one says. Now, a certain man was sick named
Lazarus of Bethany. The town of Mary and her sister
Martha. It was that Mary which anointed
the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. Whose brother was sick. Can you
imagine? What an honor. To actually get to take your
hair. And wipe the feet of the master. Isn't that where we all want
to be? At the feet of the master? Mary could testify. He's real. I touch the feet of the almighty
God. Lazarus died as the Lord purposed
and in verse 40. Jesus saith unto her said I not
unto thee that If thou wouldest believe thou shouldest see the
glory of God. Then they took away the stone
from the place where the dead was laid and Jesus lifted up
his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
And I know that thou hearest me always, but because of the
people which stand by, I said that they may believe that thou
hast sent me. And when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face
was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose
him, and let him go. Now do you think Lazarus had
a testimony to give? He said, I was dead, and he brought me back to life. And
that is what every believer whom the Lord has saved says. I was
dead, and He made me alive. John chapter 20. Now try to hurry. John chapter 20. Here, Thomas got to do what every
child of God is going to get to do as soon as they get to
life. John Chapter 20, verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve
called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other
disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except
I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my
finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into
his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again, his
disciples were within and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut and stood in the midst and said, Peace be
unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger and behold
my hands and reach hither thy hand and thrust it into my side
and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said
unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas,
because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed. Lest are they
that have not seen, and yet have believed. Thomas could give the
testimony, I saw him die on that cross. I saw him die on that
cross. I watched that happen. And then
a few days later, he was alive, standing in front of me. I touched
the prince in his hands where I saw him drive the nails. I
touched that place in his side where I watched that soldier
stab him with a spear. He did rise from the grave. I
saw it. Back to our text in Revelation.
Countless men and women with withered hands, leprosy, issues
of blood, Those who were blind, lame, deaf, dumb could all testify. I know he's God. I know he's alive. I know he's
real because he touched me and made me whole. And these are wonderful testimonies,
all of the testimonies in Scripture, they're wonderful testimony and
true testimonies. But if all we had were the testimonies
of John and Peter and Paul, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, Mary, Lazarus,
Thomas, men, if all we had were the testimonies of men, we could
believe them or maybe not believe them. But this says in verse 1 that
God gave this testimony. Verse 1 says, this is the revelation
which God gave. In a courtroom, a judge calls
on someone else to come forth and testify. But in this case,
the great judge said, I will testify. I will tell you the
things that I have seen concerning my son. I watched him speak the
world into existence. I saw it happen. I beheld the strong man cast
Lucifer and all with him out of heaven. I was there when he breathed
life into man's nostrils. I saw him condescend himself
to the lowest part of the earth. I saw the king of kings walk
planet earth as a commoner. I saw the God in whom your breath
is allow men to spit in his face. I watched my only begotten son
lay down his own life for a sheep. And I saw my son take back his
body and walk out of his own grave. I watched my glorious
son sit down at my right hand and say to me, Father, the work
which thou gavest me to do, I finished it. I've secured all of the children. Not one of them is lost. And
now the father says, I give my testimony. of my well-beloved,
only begotten Son. Hear Him. Believe on Him, for
He's your only hope of eternal life. And the Father says to
us, I have sent and signified my testimony of all the things
that I have seen. This book is 100% cover to cover
the revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Turn to 1 John Chapter 5. 1 John Chapter 5 Verse 10 says,
He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of His Son. So we all need to ask ourselves,
do we believe this record? Do we believe the record that
God gives of His Son? Do we believe the whole record
and nothing but this record? So help us God. If we do, The
scripture says, blessed are we for flesh and blood have not
revealed it to us, but the Father, which is in heaven. Our God has
so graciously given the truth to us concerning his son, Jesus
Christ, and who he is. This is life eternal that they
might know thee the only true God. And Jesus Christ, whom thou
has sent, he's revealed himself to us Right here in his Holy
Word. Verse 3 in our text in Revelation says. Blessed is he that readeth. And they that hear the words
of this prophecy. And keep those things, hold on
to those things. Love and cherish those things.
Which are written therein. For the time is at hand. I pray
that God would give the revelation of Jesus Christ to us, to our
families and our children. And as 1 Corinthians 1 says,
may the testimony of Christ be confirmed in us. OK.