I hope you'll follow along in
your Bible as we look at the book of Revelation, the Revelation
chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Read with
me the first three verses. And I read verse 1. 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 bare 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. Now, this book, God's Word, I
mean, all of God's Word, from cover to cover, speaks of the
Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament says He is
coming. The Christ is coming. The Gospels,
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John say He is here. He came. The epistles and the
revelation say He's coming again. The Lord Himself, the Lord Jesus
Christ Himself said of the scriptures in Luke 24, He said, They are
they which testify of Me. God did not write 65 books and
then change the subject. There are 66 books in the canon
of Scripture. This is the last book of those
66. God did not write 65 books and then change the subject. This is called the revelation
of Jesus Christ. That's the first words of this
book. And this is the final chapter
in the story of the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 1 says, the revelation. The Revelation. There's only
one. There is no other. There's no
lost books. No one has found a lost book.
There's no book given by some angel called Moroni. There's
no Book of Mormon. There's no lost book. This is
The Revelation. And it says Revelation, singular. It does not say Revelations,
plural. But The Revelation. All things,
from beginning to end, are a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, his
person and work. Paul wrote to believers in Ephesians
chapter 1 and said that God has abounded toward us in all wisdom
and prudence, having made known unto us the mystery of his will
according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself. in the dispensation of the fullness
of times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven, which are on earth, even in him." And
Paul wrote again to the believers in Colossae, he said in chapter
2, verse 3, of Colossians, in Christ are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. And Paul wrote to the Corinthians
in 1 Corinthians 2, God hath revealed these things, that is,
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ hath revealed
them unto us by his Spirit. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. From beginning to end, it is
a revelation of who Christ is and what he has done and will
do. God Almighty created this planet,
the people on it, everything in it, and everything that hath
transpired, everything that is right now transpiring, and everything
that will yet transpire, God Almighty did it to show forth
the glory of his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do you want the
meaning of life? I have the meaning of life. I
know what the meaning of life is. Do you want to know the meaning
of life? Three words, Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
meaning of life on this planet. Christ who said, I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father,
that is, no man will see God, know God, hear from God, be spoken
to by God, live with God, be accepted by God, justified by
God, saved by God, but by me, Christ said. No man cometh unto
the Father, but by me, Jesus Christ. He said in John 3 verse
35, Jesus Christ said, the Father loveth the Son. and hath given
all things into his hand." All things. And I continue to
read in verse 1, "...the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him to show unto his servants." Now again, Christ said in Matthew
11 verse 27, No man knoweth the Father save the Son, and he to
whom the Son will reveal him. It says, God gave this unto Christ
to show unto his servant. Jesus Christ sovereignly reveals
the truth, yea, himself. Christ sovereignly reveals himself
to his servants, those whom he hath chosen. This is called the
revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his
servants. Are you reading that with me?
You'll only see, you'll only hear, you'll only believe what
you're hearing right now, what you're reading, if God Almighty
chooses for you to do so. That's a fact. otherwise you'll
reject it. One time the Lord asked his disciples,
whom do men say that I am? And they began to tell what the
public was saying about him, the Baptist, why you're Elijah,
why you're a prophet. He said, whom do you say that
I am? Peter spoke up on behalf of his Brethren, and he said,
we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And Christ immediately answered
him and said, have not I chosen you? In other words, they didn't
know Christ. They weren't even interested
in Christ. They would never have known Christ unless Christ had
sovereignly come by where they were and called them by his grace
and chosen them and revealed himself to them. That's a fact. And so it is with all of God's
elect, all of God's people whom he hath chosen. Because he gets
the glory. He gets all the glory. From the calling to the final
coronation. It says, "...the revelation of
Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants
things which must shortly come to pass." Things which must shortly
come to pass. Now this was recorded, this was
written nearly 2,000 years ago. Down in verse 19 of this same
chapter, God says, to John, write the things which thou hast seen. Now, this was written 2,000 years
ago, and he tells John to write the things which thou hast seen.
That's the past. That's things before John. That's
things in the past, before John, previous to even 2,000 years
ago. And he continues and says, write
the things which thou hast seen and things which are. That's
at the time of John, at the present time when John lived, 2,000 years
ago. Things which thou hast seen,
things which are, that is, 2,000 years ago. And, verse 19 says,
the things which shall be hereafter, things which must shortly come
to pass. 2,000 years have gone by since
this was written. Most of the revelation has already
come to pass. That's right. Did you read it
with me? And it says, he sent and signified it by his angel
unto his servant John. John received it from an angel.
Well, John fell at his feet over in chapter 19 to worship him,
thinking he was some divine creature. And the angel said, Don't do
that. See thou do it not. I am thy
fellow servant and of thy brethren. that have the testimony of Jesus,
worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is
the spirit of prophecy. That's Revelation 19, 10. So
this angel whom John got this from was a man. Yes, a preacher
of the gospel. And God has always sent his word
through men, through preachers of the gospel. Paul wrote in
Romans 10, How shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall
they preach except they be sent? Well, there are an awful lot
of people that claim to be preachers. How do you know them? How do
you know one that is sent from God? Well, read it with me here
in Revelation 1. I'm reading verse 2. It says,
John, bear record, it says he sent this unto his servant John,
who, bear record of the word of God, of the testimony of Jesus
Christ and of all things that he saw. Here are three things,
three ways you may know a true preacher sent by God. Number
one, he bears record of the Word of God. This is what the true
preacher sent by God does. He preaches the Word of God.
Not his thoughts, not his opinions, not denominations, thoughts and
opinions, not what people want to hear. He preaches the Word
of God. And I don't mean in theory. I
mean he actually, line upon line, precept upon precept, word by
word, preaches, expounds the Word of God. Doesn't just hold
the book up as a religious prop for you to think that he's using
it. He actually reads it and expounds upon it. If you listen
to a true preacher sent by God, what you'll hear is the Word
of God. The Word of God. Jeremiah 23,
and you'll hear a preacher constantly quoting verse after verse after
verse. That's the true man sent by God.
Not just a man who says he preaches it, a man actually who does it.
Jeremiah 23, God said, He that hath a dream, let him tell his
dream. But he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully."
God said, what's the chaff to the wheat? In other words, what
men say and what men dream and what men tell you will be like
chaff blown away by the wind. But he said, my word will not
return unto me void. It will accomplish what I've
sent it to do. The word of God is His power.
And Paul told young Timothy, a preacher, preach the word.
be instant, that is consistent, in season, out of season, whether
people want to hear it or not. This is the power of God. This
is the seed by which they are born again. This is the word
of the living God. This is the shepherd's voice
which Christ said, My sheep shall hear. And John goes on to say
that he bore record of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ. This is the word, Peter said,
this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
What's the testimony of the true preacher? Why, it's the testimony
of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel. A true gospel
preacher will preach the gospel every time. He won't preach man,
man's works, man's will, man's decision, man's goodness, man's
gifts. No, he'll preach Christ. And
John said, and of all things that he saw. Why don't preachers
preach Christ all the time? They must not have seen his glory,
because John said, We have heard him, we have seen him, we have
handled him, we must preach him. And the Lord goes on to say to
John in verse 3, Blessed is he that readeth, they that hear
the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
therein, for the time is at hand. You are blessed to have a Bible
in your possession, blessed to read it. But you are even more
blessed if you hear someone preach it, truly preach it, for how
shall they hear without a preacher? But you are even more blessed
by God. Yea, blessed with salvation,
the revelation of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ, if you are a keeper of these things, that is, one who
has laid hold on the truth for eternal life. Blessed are they
which keep those things, for the time is at hand. What time? the day of Jesus Christ, the
time to end all time, the time which the signs of the times
point to. Is it hand? Is it near? Yes,
Jesus Christ is near. Until next Sunday, may the Lord
bless His Word to your understanding. Amen.