I love that song. Love the other
one we sang too. I was thinking about whenever
I first started preaching and first time I realized Brother
Henry was gonna be sitting out there, I was dreading that. And
I looked down at him one time and he looked at me like it's
the first time he's ever heard the gospel. And every time I
sing, I love to tell the story to those who know it best. Seem
hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest. That's just
a blessing in my heart. Boy, we never get over the gospel,
do we? Never get over it. Turn with me, if you would, to
Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter one, people
have associated all kinds of, I'm going to say the word foolishness
with this book. They've twisted it, they have
changed the message and the meaning of it and made it as though it's
a completely separate book from the rest of the Bible. It's like
they see the Bible to be one complete writing and thought
and author and then this last book is a totally separate book. It's not. It's not. This is the same Word from the
same God from eternity to eternity. This is the declaration of the
only declaration that there is. Chapter 1 verse 1 says this book
is The revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what this is. Every word
in this last letter reveals and points us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Just like the book of Genesis
reveals and points us to the Lord Jesus Christ, just like
Exodus and Leviticus and Numbers reveals and points us to Christ,
just like Ruth and just like Job, just like the Psalms, Isaiah,
Jonah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Romans, Ephesians, Hebrews. Same thing, same thing. All 66
books in this Bible, all 66 of them could begin with these words. All of them could start off with
these words, the revelation of Jesus Christ. All of them, that's what this
is. When Genesis 1.1 says, in the beginning, God, That's Jesus
Christ. When Matthew 1 verse 1 says,
The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, that's Jesus Christ. When John 1 verse 1 says, In
the beginning was the Word, that's Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, a brother asked me a question
about something in this book. And I started reading it to answer
his question. And as I was reading it, I saw
the most beautiful picture of the work of God for his people
and for all things. Just a glorious, glorious picture
of God's doings from eternity to eternity. It was a summary
of everything else that this word says. I'm not saying that
I saw all the hidden meaning of the mystery of this book.
I'm not saying that at all. I saw a beautiful picture of
Christ. I've never seen all the hidden
meaning in any book. There's so many things in Jonah
I don't understand. There are a ton of things in
Jonah I don't understand. I do know that Him being in the
belly of the whale for three days and three nights is a beautiful
picture of Christ. So that's what I saw here. I
saw the gospel. I saw the same beautiful message
that's in every other word in this book. Most people think
that this is the place where God has has revealed all of His
judgments of fire and brimstone as though He reserved it all,
all the bad news and all the scary news for this last book. And they're afraid to read this
book. People are naturally afraid. They think, I don't want to read
that. That's all the fiery judgments of God. Here's the thing to understand.
God revealed His fiery judgment in Genesis. Is it in there? Sure it is. But
He revealed His judgment in Genesis. Fire and brimstone on Sodom and
Gomorrah. Not to mention His dealings with
Adam and Eve and Cain and the flood. But if you want to talk
about a fiery brimstone judgment, Sodom and Gomorrah. He didn't
hide it till the very end. That's the point. He revealed
it to us in the book of Isaiah. Chapter 1 verse 9 says, Except
the Lord of hosts had left us a very small remnant, we all
would have been just like Sodom and Gomorrah, destroyed under His fiery judgment. He revealed it in the book of
2 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 9. It says, The Lord Jesus is
coming back with His mighty angels in flaming fire. taking vengeance
on them that know not God and obey not the gospel of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.
And he told us in 2 Peter 3, verse 12, he said, the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. And in verse 10, he said, the
earth and all the works that are therein are gonna be burned
up. This final letter is the same
word that he has said from the beginning. This is confirmation
of everything he's already said. Everything that he said to the
world, everything he said to God's people. And for God's people,
some glorious things have been said. Some very beautiful and
glorious things. Now, I would like to try to show
you this picture. This picture, I'm gonna highlight
some of the verses throughout this book. We're not gonna do
every single verse, but I wanted to do this in one message. I
tried as hard as I can, as I could, to do this in one message, but
I saw this throughout the book. And if my calculations are right,
there's 404 verses in this book. So we're gonna try to divide
it up into a few messages. But as we go through this, let's
realize that God does not operate in time like we do. I pray this will really be a
blessing to you. This was such a blessing to me.
And it's important as we look at this that we understand that
God does not operate in time like we do. Known unto God were
all His works from the beginning. Known unto God were all of His
people. He said, before I ever formed
you in the belly, I knew you. known unto God were all His people
from the beginning. The Lamb slain was the Lamb slain
from the beginning, before, I want us to understand that, before
the foundation of the world. He was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. We think of the Lamb slain being
in eternity future. We think there came a point in
time when the Lamb was slain, and from that point on He was
the Lamb slain, and He'll be in glory, He ascended, and He'll
be in eternity future. The Lamb slain was also in eternity
past. So let's see if the Lord will
give us eyes to see this picture, and I pray He'll make it a blessing.
Chapter one tells us what this letter is about. Tells us what
is being told here, what the message is, what the declaration
is. And chapter one tells us who
is writing it and who he's writing it to. All right, verse one tells
us this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what this
is. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. All right, what about Jesus Christ?
What is the revelation? What is the message? The end
of verse five says, unto him that loved us and washed us from
our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests
unto God and his father, To Him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. That's what this is about. That's what this book is about.
It's about Christ and what He did for sinners in His own blood
and in His own death. That's what the book is about.
All right, now, who is the writer of the book? Who's the writer
of this letter? Look at verse 9. I, John, who
also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called
Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. and heard behind me a great
voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book, and send it
unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto
Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia,
and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the
Son of Man." That's the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the one writing this. He told John, you pin down what
I show you and what I tell you. But Christ Himself is the author
of this letter. And He said, I want you to send
it to the seven churches. What you write, send it to the
seven churches. That's who this is to. Seven
is the number of perfection. It's the number of completeness. The seven churches represent
the congregations of all His believers from all over the world,
throughout all generations, all of his people, the complete number
of all of his people. So what he says to them, he says
to us, if we're his people. And this is what he said to them.
If you look at chapter two, Chapter two, he goes through
naming all those churches we just read. The first one he said
was Ephesus. He's speaking to Ephesus. In
verse four, he said, nevertheless, I have somewhat against thee. He commended them a little bit. And he commended two more than
the rest of them. But he said in verse four, nevertheless,
I have somewhat against thee because thou has left thy first
love. Left your first love. And he
said, I'm not happy about that. Verse 14, he's still speaking
to the churches. He said, I have a few things
against thee. Because thou hast there them
that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling
block before the children of Israel, to eat those eat things
sacrificed unto idols and to commit fornication. And he said,
I'm not happy about that. Verse 20, still speaking to the
churches. He's speaking to Thyatira right
here. He said, notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee.
because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself
a prophetess to teach and to seduce my servants to commit
fornication and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. Chapter
three, speaking to Sardis, if you look at the end of verse
two, he said, I have not found thy works perfect before God. Verse 14, Unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans, write these things, saith the Amen, the faithful
and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert
cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. Now these
are his people. All right, these are his churches. He's speaking to his people,
but this is what he had to say to him. You are all sinners. That's what he said to him. You
are all sinners. Man at his best state is altogether
vanity. He said, you are sinners in need
of the mercy of God. So he said, John, I want you
to write this to them. I want you to tell them how great
things God has done for them. That's what I want you to tell
them. You tell them the story, the gospel story, start to finish. John said, all right, where do
I begin? The Lord Jesus Christ said, in the beginning. In the beginning. Now, chapter
4 begins the declaration of God
and His work in all things. His work concerning man, His
work concerning all things. There are 22 chapters in this
book, from chapter 4 to chapter 22. This is the revelation, all
right? This is the declaration of eternity
to eternity that God has given to us in Christ. As I was reading
through this, a bunch of scriptures came to my mind. That's how this
picture came about. I would read through and a scripture
would pop into my mind. And it opened up this picture
to me, and I pray that it will open up to you. As I recall some
of these scriptures to us, I pray you'll see this too. Here's the
first one for us to recall. Don't turn, but Genesis 1.1 says,
in the beginning, God. Is that not where God started
his word to us? In the beginning, God. God has
given this word to John. He's going to tell John the story.
And where he started is in the beginning, God, God, I'm going
to say was. But that's not that's not the
correct terminology with God. God is in the beginning. But so we can understand it,
God was in the beginning. He read, I am alpha, I am the
beginning and omega. All right, but God was in the
beginning for an eternity. We're hoping in eternity, we
can't wait for this never ending forever, no end to eternity. In the beginning, God was, for
an eternity. You talk about not needing man. Man thinks God needs him. God
was for an eternity. He had an eternal existence before
this world was ever even made. Try to fathom that. Have you ever read the first
three words of this book? In the beginning. Have you ever
read those words and just pondered them? I have, I guess maybe as a preacher,
I have. I've just thought and thought
and thought about the beginning. I wonder what it was like in
the beginning. I wonder what was in the beginning. See if chapter four opens it
up to your heart just a little bit. See if this is the revelation
to you. See if this reveals in the beginning. Okay. God and his glory in the
beginning. Chapter four, verse one. After
this, I looked and behold, a door was opened in heaven. And the
first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking
with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show these
things which must be hereafter. Now, where he said must be hereafter,
if you have a center margin in your Bible, it says chapter one,
verse 19. And what that says is, our Lord
said to John, write the things which thou hast seen, and the
things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter." He
said, John, I'm about to tell you, and you're about to write
things of the past, things of the present, and things of the
future. All right? So chapter 4, verse
1 said, A door was opened into heaven, and the Lord said, I'm
going to show you these things. Verse 2. John said, And immediately,
I was in the Spirit. I am. I am. And behold, a throne was
set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. Can you see him there in the
beginning? Can you see that throne there
in the beginning? Verse 2, Immediately I was in
the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat
on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper and a sardine stone. A jasper stone is as clear as
water, and a sardine stone is as red as blood. The one sitting
on that throne looks like blood and water. Wonder who that is. Verse three goes on to say, and
there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto
an emerald. Remember that rainbow for future
chapters. Verse four says, in round about
the throne were four and 20 seats, and upon the seats I saw four
and 20 elders sitting clothed in white raiment, and they had
on their heads crowns of gold. Well, how could they be there?
How do they fit into this picture? We're supposed to be in the beginning.
In the mind and the will and the purpose of God, all of his
works were finished in the beginning. All of them from the beginning.
Verse 5 said, And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of
God. That's the perfect, complete number. And before the throne
there was a sea of glass like unto crystal, and in the midst
of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts full
of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like
a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast
had the face of a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying
eagle, and the four beasts had each of them six wings about
him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day
and night, saying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which
was and is and is to come." What did Isaiah see when the Lord
opened the window of heaven to him? He said, in the year that
King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. And around
the throne were seraphims. They continually cried, holy,
holy, holy. That's what was, that's what
is, and that's what is to come. That's what was in the beginning.
God does not change. He does not change. What will
be in the end was in the beginning. Verse 9 says, And when those
beasts give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the
throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders
fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him
that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before
His throne, saying, Thou art worthy to receive glory and honor
and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure
they are and were created." In the beginning, God created the
heaven and the earth. In the beginning. All right,
now, every time that we come here, every time that we come
here, we mention, we preach, we praise, and we thank God for
His election. Every time we come here, we thank
God for His election. We are constantly giving glory
to God the Father for His election. All through this Bible, all through
this book, it says that God the Father elected a people. God the Father chose a particular
people to save. And it says that He wrote those
particular names in the Lamb's Book of Life. Isn't that what
it says? God the Father chose the people
and He gave those people to God the Son for Him to redeem them. God the Father chose. Gave them
to God the Son to redeem. It's what this whole book says.
Okay. Here it is. Here is that election. This is just, I leaped when I
saw it. I leaped when I wrote it. I'm
leaping right now to tell it. Here is, in your mind, you think
of that election as something so far before anything we could
ever know what it was like. It was before the foundation
of the world. Ephesians 1 says, He chose us
in Him before the foundation of the world. That transaction
was so far before anything we could know. In our picture, all
right, in this picture, in what we see right here in this, This
is the moment before the foundation of the world of God, the father
handing over the names to God, the son of the people that he
chose to save. Here's the moment. And this is
also all of heaven given glory to God for doing it. All right,
this is that moment. And when the moment happens,
heaven erupts. Here's the election. And here's
the cry that goes out, thank God for his election. Chapter
five, verse one. And I saw in the right hand of
him that sat on the throne, a book written. within and on
the backside. And the book was sealed with
seven seals. Perfect number. Completely sealed. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to loose
the seals thereof? Who is worthy to open this book,
this book of life, to see whose names are written in it? Verse 3 says, And no man in heaven,
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. And the Lord God of heaven opened
this up to John. He opened up that moment. I'm
going to show you things. He said, I was in the spirit
of God. God said, I'm going to show you things that happened
are happening and will happen. And John is watching this moment
of the sealed book. And they're crying, who can open
this book? And no man is found worthy. No
man's able. And John is so. engrossed, he's
heartbroken by this, and he literally, verse 4, he said, I wept much,
I just started crying when I saw this. He said, I wept much because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look therein. And one of the elders, saith
unto me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book,
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in the
midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having
seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of
God, sent forth into all the earth." That perfect number,
completeness, 777. Now see if this blesses your
heart. Here's the moment. God the Father
chose. He put it in the hands of God,
the son to redeem. Here's the moment, verse six,
and the lamb in the middle of the throne, verse seven, he came
and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on
the throne. This is who I've chosen. No man's
worthy to see it, no man's worthy to read. This is God the Father's
choice and decision and purpose and will only. No man was found
worthy but one, a lamb slain. He walked up to the throne. God
the Father handed it to him. Verse eight, and when he had
taken the book, the four beasts and the four and 20 elders fell
down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints. And they
sung a new song saying, thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain and has redeemed
us. Those of us whose names were
written in that book. Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by Thy blood. out of every kindred, and tongue,
and people, and nation, and has made us unto our God kings and
priests, and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld, and
I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the
beast, and the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, a number no man
can number. All of them saying with a loud
voice, Worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing
and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under
the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in
them, heard I saying," here John is, in the spirit, watching what
God is showing to him, and he's watching all of heaven. Thank
God for his election. Thank God for choosing a people
to save. You're worthy because you were
slain and you redeemed us by your blood. And he's so taken
by this, he said, I couldn't help it, I started crying out
with him. And he said, every creature in heaven and on earth
and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that
are in them heard me crying right along with them, blessing and
honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon the
throne and unto the lamb forever and ever. And the four beasts
said, amen. And the four and 20 elders fell
down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. So in our picture,
so far, we have God in all of His glory in the beginning. And
we have God's election of souls that He chose to save before
the foundation of the world. Now that's the first part of
our picture. That's where we're going to stop tonight. But let
me close this out by giving you a preview of the rest of the
story. Beginning in chapter 6, A rebellion to the one who wears
the crown takes place before the foundation of the world.
The seal, those seals were loosed, and the seal of sin and judgment
and death, they're loosed, and the adversary of Christ forms
a rebellion. Chapter 7 tells us that in spite
of this rebellion that God allowed, He had a number there with Him
who were sealed. And they were safe. And that's
our hope here. That we're sealed. No matter what's going on around
us. Our hope is that we're sealed. Chapters 8-12 tell us that this
rebellion was an attack on Christ. It was an attack on His sovereignty.
And ultimately it was an attack on His gospel. But it was a losing
attack. The adversary and all those who
were a part of his rebellion, they ended up being cast out
of heaven as a bolt of lightning to the earth. Chapter 13 tells
us that once he was there, the adversary started spreading his
blasphemies of man's free will. I will. I will. And the work
of man's own hand. Chapter 14 says, but God. He was doing all that, but God. God the Son brought the message
of grace and peace through the blood of His cross. He brought
the gospel. Chapter 15 begins the work of the cross. Chapter
16 is the suffering and the battle of the cross. Chapter 17 is the
victory of the cross. Chapter 18 is the judgment of
the cross. Chapter 19 is the union of the
cross. Chapter 20 is the resurrection
of the cross. Chapter 20 is also the last days
on this earth that we're in right now. And it's also the final
day of judgment where all sin, all death, all hell is going
to be forever put away. And then chapters 21 and 22,
they are our eternal, sinless life with Christ. That life He
accomplished for us in everything that He did. That's the story. That is the story, isn't it?
That is the gospel. That is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. That's the message we preach,
no matter what portion of scripture we're in. No matter where we
are in the scripture. The message is, to God be glory,
great things He has done. All right, I hope the Lord will
bless that. Let's all stand together. Turn with me to 283.