Would you turn with me this evening
to the book of Revelation? The book of Revelation. I am pleased to get to start
this book. It has been some time since we've
gone through this book. In fact, 15 years ago, we went
through this book. And I feel more blessed in going
through this book now than I think I felt about going through it
then. It is going to be a joy to study this book. I'm just
excited. In it, it shares so much about
the victory that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ and his great
victory over every single solitary enemy of the church and of Almighty
God himself. Now, I'd like to just review
a little bit tonight before we get into chapter one and verse
one, and we plan on going through this verse by verse. But I did
ask, I wrote a note, and I would encourage us as we study this
book together that we refrain from reading the commentary in
our Bible about it. Now, I'm just going to ask you
to cover it up for a bit and read it and just think about
what it says. Cover up that stuff. Now, it's
not my business to know what or who wrote or printed your
Bible. It is my responsibility to encourage
you to read whatever you own. But if you could, for just a
time, cover the bottom up, or the notes up. And a long time
ago, a preacher says, get a Bible that doesn't have anything in
it but the words. And I've done that for the last
15 years. And it's changed the way I think
about things. When you just read the scriptures,
and then, I like to use the word ruminate, because I was around
cattle most of my early days, milk cows and other kinds, and
they'd get a lot of grass, and then they'd find a nice shady
spot, and then they'd sit there and chew their cud. And I think
that that's just a proper way to think about looking at the
word of God. Just think about it. Just think
about it. And these past couple of days,
when I was up on the tops of those mountains, it was just
a bright time to think about some of the things that we're
going through here, not only in the Book of Revelation, but
the other studies that we're enjoying. And it was just a refreshing. It was a refreshing. So if you
could, now, I'm not going to check. I'm not going to ask you
next week if you did. But if we could, for just a little
while, just read the word. Just read the word. Now, turn
with me, keeping your finger there in the book of Revelation.
I would like to read one verse over in the book of Job, and
this is one reason that I'm asking you, asking me, to refrain from
reading the notes in our Bible. Now, I had a man in my home one
time, and I looked up to him because every time I heard him
preach, he always brought a message on end times. Every time. Every Bible conference I attended
and every time I heard him preach, he was always preaching on end
times. So one time he was visiting with Nancy and I in Klamath Falls,
and I said, Brother Lynn, would you share from the word of God
where you are getting all this information? Because I'm having
trouble finding it. And he says, do you have a blah,
blah, blah Bible? And I says, you know, I don't
have a blah, blah, blah Bible. He says, let me go out to the
car and I'll get mine and then I can show you. And I says, if
you have to go get a blah, blah, blah Bible in order to show me
the notes on where you're getting the stuff, let's talk about the
weather. And that's what we did. And he
showed me right then and there that he had been tremendously
influenced and he couldn't show me from the Word of God where
he was getting the stuff. He had to go to that Bible. So Job chapter 32 and verse 9. This is one reason I asked for
the first chapter at least, put your hands over the notes. Put your hands over, cover them
up. And just read the word. Read the word. Now we're going
to get a blessing out of reading the word. In fact, this Bible
tells us we're going to have a blessing for just reading this
book. There's a blessing here. But notice Job chapter 32 in
verse 9, the scripture says, and this is one of the three
friends of Job, and I have to put the word friends in quotation
marks. They had run out of words, and
this young man came up and said this. Job chapter 32 and verse
9, great men are not always wise. Neither do the aged understand
judgment. So cover up those notes. Okay,
just for a little while. Now, to have a biblical understanding
of this book, and that's what I want to do, is interpret the
book of Revelation by the word of God, the book of books. And in order for us to have a
biblical understanding of this book, I have come to this conclusion,
we must hold to some things. And I shared this last week.
There's two verses in particular that I want to read, or two passages
I want to read, that share with us that In order for us to enjoy
and appreciate and come to some real conclusions about what the
book of Revelation is about, we've got to have an attitude
about God. He's had to show us some things about God. He must
have shown to us that He is absolutely God. Turn with me, if you would,
to the book of Matthew. They're in the book of Matthew,
chapter 28. Now, we've read some of this last week. I just want
to review and then we'll go on. But in order for us to have a
view of the Book of Revelation, we must have this in our heart,
in our mind, and in our soul. It must be burned there. God's
Holy Spirit must have put it there. If we have any doubt about
this, we're going to have trouble with the Book of Revelation.
The book of Revelation is the victory of God Almighty in Christ
Jesus over everything. And if we don't believe that
he is already king, and we don't believe he's already ruling and
reigning, then we're going to run into grave difficulties.
So read with me here in the book of Matthew chapter 28, and there
in 16, 17, and 18. Matthew chapter 28, verses 16,
17, and 18. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
saying these words. And he says here in Matthew chapter
28 verses 16, 17, and 18, then the 11 disciples went away into
Galilee into the mountain where Jesus had appointed them. And
we want to stipulate underlying that God had appointed them to
meet. They were drawn by the instructions
of the Lord to be there. And when they saw him, they worshiped,
but some doubted. Now, in verse 18, he shares some
things about himself. And this is, to the Christians,
some of the most appreciated information that we could ever
have about the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is, all power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth. Now, to the Christian, to God's
people, to his believers, to the sheep of his pasture, it
is very wonderful for him to share with us that all power
and all authority is given unto him in heaven and on earth, and
nobody is his competition. He doesn't have competition.
Now, I've heard people, when I was growing up, he had competition. God's voting for you, the devil's
voting against you, you make up your mind. I hate to use the
word hogwash, but hogwash. He doesn't have competition.
He's not competing with anything or anybody. All power, all authority
is given unto him in heaven and earth. Now that is the only way
that he helped these disciples who were doubting. What's it
say? They were doubting. The next
verse says, all power and all authority is given unto me in
heaven and earth. And these disciples were comforted with those words
and they're still being comforted. When we have a problem, a doubt,
what is the most enjoyable thing that we can hear? Well, God's
having trouble today and he probably won't get around to helping you. The most comforting thing that
God's people can have is all power and all authority is given
unto him in heaven and in earth. Every bit of it belongs to him.
He is not lacking, and he's not competing, and he's not in competition. He is God, the very God, and
beside him there is none else. Now, also shares with us in 1
Timothy chapter 6, and if we have these two, now there's many,
many, many, many, many others that we could have gone to, but
if the Lord has blessed us with just the ability to grip those
verses and to believe them, that all power and all authority is
given unto the Lord Jesus Christ, now, presently, while he's standing
there, just outside of Jerusalem, with his disciples in his presence,
before he ascended back to glory, and before anything else ever
happened, he said, I have it. And he comforted his disciples,
those doubters, and even those undoubters, he comforted them
with that very word. Now, here in the book of Second
Tim, excuse me, First Timothy, First Timothy, chapter 6, 1 Timothy chapter 6. We have these words about the
Lord Jesus Christ and they just cause God's people to rejoice. And what's it say? Let's read
this. 1 Timothy. Chapter 6, verse 15,
the scriptures say, which in his times he shall show who is
the blessed and only potentate, the King of kings and Lord of
lords. That's a blessing to God's people.
And we can only enjoy the blessings of the book and the blessings
of Revelation when those truths have been shared with our heart
that presently, right now, He has been, He is, and He ever
will be the blessed and only potentate. King of kings and
Lord of lords now what that means is if there are any Kings he's
a king over them and if there are any Lords he's Lord over
them and by his divine appointment they reign that's what he says
he appoints the Kings he appoints the Lords he appoints the governors
he is in absolute absolute control of all things. And when we get
to the book of Revelation, we're going to see this time after
time after time where he demonstrates to his people, where he demonstrates
to the church, where he demonstrates to his saints, I am king. And
we may look at him as a lamb there, but he's still gonna share
with us, I'm king. I am king of kings and Lord of
lords, and there is none in competition with me. I hold sway over all
things. Now, you know as well as I know
what some of the things in the book of Job have to say. Satan
himself came up before the Lord, and he was in absolute control
of Satan over everything. All right, go ahead, touch his
body, don't touch his life. or life don't touch his body,
and on and on it goes. And the Lord gave him permission,
and the Lord gave him permission, and the Lord gave him permission,
but Satan himself, he's a created being. He's a created being, and God
has control over all his creation. All right. In this glorious book,
the Lord is called Lamb some 28 times. Now, he's called Lamb
a couple other times. And John, in the book of John,
John gives us a couple that we just delight in. John said, behold,
the Lamb of God. Turn with me to the book of John,
chapter 1. We've been there, it's a delight to be in the book
of John and being looking at these things. John chapter one,
we see these things and we're gonna look into the book of Revelation
and as we go along, some 28 times the Lord is called the Lamb.
If we wanted to put a name to this book, we could call it the
book of the Lamb. It is. He is called that more
times in here by many times than any other book in the Bible.
Now, in the book of John, chapter one, it shares with us in verse
29, John says, the next day, John sees Jesus coming unto him
and says, behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin
of the world. Now this word that he used in
that particular case means a sacrificial lamb. Those Jews that were around
him, the ones that were saved, they saw, and the ones who weren't
says he is misrepresenting that word. This is the lamb that we
have been slaying. This is the lamb that we have
been sacrificing. And John looked at the Lord Jesus
Christ and pointed at him as the lamb of God, the sacrificial
lamb. And he does it again in that same chapter in verse 36.
In verse 36, and looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith,
behold the Lamb of God. Now with him was two of his disciples.
Now John was one of the most unselfish preachers that has
ever walked the face of the earth because he told his two disciples,
there's the Lamb of God, get over there. He didn't need to
have them around him to feel like he was doing the Lord's
work. He pointed them in the right direction, and that's what
we do, is point people to the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that particular word means
a lamb that is, I have it here somewhere, the fact, the nature, and the
character of the sacrifice. all about now in the book of
revelation we find that there is a different word used and
we want to go to the book of revelation chapter five and this
word is used four times in chapter five revelation chapter five
the land now we see in these verses that the word is different
and it means in these, it does. It presents him on the ground
indeed of his sacrifice, but more in his majesty, dignity,
honor, authority, and power. I'm the Lamb of God. I am all
power and all authority. I'm King of kings and Lord of
lords. And he declares that even in this word. Now notice with
me in Revelation chapter five or six, the scripture share with
us and I beheld and low in the midst of the throne and of the
four beasts. Now I wish those translators had been more careful
with that and put four living creatures. Cause that is what
it is. I know what beast means to me. When my brothers wanted
to scare me, they told me that there was a beast under my bed.
You know what that means. It gives us not a good feeling,
but this means four living creatures. All right, and we'll talk about
that as we get there. 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. Verse eight, and when he had
taken the book, The four beasts and four and twenty elders fell
down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden
vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints. Every
one of them fell down before this Lamb. And then in verse
12 of the same chapter 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. So this lamb, this
word shares with us the definition about this lamb of his character
and his greatness and his dignity and his honor and his majesty
and his authority. And then in that same chapter,
Verse 13 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 blessing and honor and glory and power
be unto him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the lamb
forever and ever. Now every creature under the
sun and everybody said this about the Lord. Now God's people when
they can do that What a joy. What a joy. Every creature. Blessing and honor and glory
and power presents him this way throughout the book of Revelation.
He is not a mealy mouth low can't get anything done. God. He is
God Almighty. Now. If Christ is not sovereign overall,
he is not sovereign at all. If he's missed out on one thing,
he's not sovereign overall. Now, we talked about a little
bit last Wednesday night about overcomers, and I just want to
read 1 John chapter four, verse, excuse me, chapter five, verses
four and five. We're going to find this word,
overcomer, several times, or overcoming, or overcometh, in
the book of Revelation, and I just want to set us right. We're going to interpret that
word as it should be, by the word of God, and in 1 John, chapter
5, 1 John, chapter 5, verses 4 and 5, this is overcomers. Now, overcomers are not special
Christians. Overcomers are not Greater Christians,
you know one of the blessings I learned after the Lord revealed
himself to me? In Christ's church, it is the only place we can know
on this earth, I'm talking about his spiritual body, where there
is absolute equality. He shared with his disciples,
there's neither male nor female, bond or free. There's absolute equality in
the church of the living God, absolute equality. And in the
local body, he says, it will not be, you're not going to call
anybody doctor. It's not this, we're not going
to have this. When we start having elevations
in the church. When we start having elevations
and elevations and more powerful and more powerful and people
telling other people what to do, that's not what we find in
the book. The book says it will not be
that way. Now, that's our goal. We want it that way. But in the
spiritual body of the Lord Jesus Christ, there is absolute, only
place we'll ever know on this earth where there is absolute
equality. No difference between bond or free. Male or female,
no difference at all. We're equal in that sense. Now, here in 1 John chapter 5,
the scriptures share with us these words. 1 John chapter 5,
verses 4 and 5, for whosoever is born of God overcometh the
world. It doesn't say should overcome,
or could overcome, or might overcome. It says, overcometh the world.
This is our guarantee. When God gives us his new birth,
he guarantees that we will overcome this world. He guarantees it. I will be your overcomer. I will
overcome you. I will bring you through. You will not be left behind. I will lose none. That's what he said. Whatsoever
is born of God overcometh the world, and this is the victory
that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? But he that believeth that Jesus
is the Son of God. So this comes by the new birth,
and God grants to every one of his children the blessing of
not only being his here, but guaranteed eternal life. Guaranteed he is going to be
our overcomer. He's overcome. Therefore we'll
overcome now Going to the book of Revelation chapter 1. There
is a wonderful word used here now what? This word comes to
us. I just I want to mention the
word What is transliterated it's apocalypse
and That means the words taken out of one language and just
slid over into another language. The word is apocalypsis. And
we use the word, right here in my Holman Bible. The Revelation
of John the Apocalypse. Now there's three things wrong
right there. This is not the Revelation of John, it's the
Revelation of Jesus Christ. An apocalypse, what do you think
of when you think of the word apocalypse? Yeah, yeah. We've been trained
that way. We have been trained. People
have told us so much that that's what it means that we haven't
got the blessing out of it. Now the word apocalypse does
not mean war. The word apocalypse means it
means to take the cover off. It means to reveal. It means
to open up. And let's look at a few places
in the scripture where this word apocalypse means. Now I looked
it up in my dictionary in there and it's a pretty new one. The
first definition is the Book of Revelation, apocalypse. Second
definition, any of the various anonymous Jewish or Christian
texts from around the 2nd century BC to the 2nd century AD containing
prophetic and symbolic visions especially of the imminent destruction
of the world. That's the way the word is used,
apocalypse. Great and total devastation. That's the way the word is used
in our language, but it couldn't be farther from the truth. The word apocalypse does not
mean that we're impending destruction of the world. The word apocalypse
is one of the blessings that we find in scripture with regard
to what God does to us when he shares with us Jesus Christ.
He reveals him. We're no longer at war with him. The war is over. Now, turn with
me, if you would, to the first place in the New Testament where
this particular word is used, and I think you will enjoy it
with me. Luke chapter 2, verse 32. Apocalypse. So often, and I'm gonna have
to change my mindset, because apocalypse does not mean the
impending doom, the apocalypse, apocalypse, which where that
word comes from, means to be enlightened, to lay bare, to
making naked, to disclosure of truth, instruction concerning
things before unknown. That's what the word means. There's
no way in this world that you could interpret it that way unless
someone came along and started using this word because they
misrepresented and misunderstood this book and counted it as a
book about the end of the world when it is truly a book about
Jesus Christ and him overcoming every enemy. All right, Luke chapter two,
the same word is used here, been translated a little different,
but I like the way it's translated here because it really shares
with us what the word could have been translated over in the book
of Revelation. Luke chapter two, verse 32. The scripture shares this, now,
we should back up and read a lot more of this but I'm just going
to read this verse and leave the rest to you but it says a light to
lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel now
in that verse is the word that we find over in Revelation chapter
one verse one the revelation and the word here is lighten
a light to lighten now there's not one of those early Christians
that God revealed himself to that ever thought this is a dark
day Every one of them says, hallelujah. I see the light. It's been turned
on. Things that I couldn't see before
I now see. It's been revealed to me. It
was never looked at in a negative sense until some people got a
hold of the idea that this word means negative. It always meant
positive. It was always a good thing. It
was always a positive thing. It was always positive for the
person who was the recipient of it. I read one place where
this word is like taking the lid off of a pot. A pot of beans and ham hock. Good stuff. You know, you can't
see it. It's out of your vision. And
your mama takes the lid off and lets you look in there and you
say, oh man. I'm going to go wash my hands.
I'm ready. It's a positive thing. It's a
positive thing. All right. A light to lighten
the Gentiles in the glory of thy people Israel. This light
to lighten is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the light of the
world. He's the light that these people were given. It pulled
them out of darkness. It pulled them out of the cave.
It pulled them out of prison. It brought them to the light.
The Apostle Paul saw a great light. It was a light that was
turned on him and this is that word that Word means we're gonna
start here in the book of Revelation and it's gonna be an enlightenment
It's going to be taking the doors off. It's gonna be opening it
up. It's gonna put it's gonna be putting in Skylights where
it's dark and we're gonna get to see the Lord Jesus Christ
in the book of Revelation In a way that we may never have
seen him before and in this book he shares with us. I am Victor
I am king of kings, I am lord of lords, and bring on all the
enemies of the church and I will take care of them. They overcame
sin by the blood of the Lamb. It's a glory to God's people.
It's an encouragement to go through this book. Now, granted, there
are some things that are hard for us to interpret in that book,
but if we look at that as literal, and we looked at this last week,
my goodness, the Lord Jesus Christ says, eat my flesh and drink
my blood. And there's a religious group
that says, oh my goodness, we better do that. And so every
Sunday, they'd make it You know, that's not what he said. That's
not what he said. And one day he called himself,
I'm the bread of life. All right, some people start
looking around for a loaf of seven grain bread. I don't see
it, I don't see it. You know, he's not talking about
that kind of bread. And when we get to the book of
Revelation, it is symbolic, yes, but it is symbolism that raises
our opinion and view of Jesus Christ. We look at him as a lamb,
the victorious lamb. And the whole world is bowing
down in front of him and saying, worthy is the lamb, worthy is
the lamb. What's that want us to do? Worthy is the lamb. We want to get involved in it
because he is. He lifted us out of a horrible
pit and set our feet on a solid rock and established our goings
and put a new song in our heart. And we just can't help but sing
about that savior. Worthy is the lamb now turn with
me if you would to the book of Ephesians chapter 1 same word
is being used here And in fact, it's translated exactly the same
way now notice with me how this is word how this is used here
in Ephesians chapter 1 and verse 17 the revelation Look at the
word apocalypse in a positive sense it is taking Well, what happened when Jesus
Christ was crucified and he said his last thing? What happened
to the Holy of Holies? God ripped that great veil from
top to bottom and opened up. He revealed, he apocalypsed the
Holy of Holies. Now tradition has it, those Jews
went in and said, oh my goodness sakes, let's sew this back together,
we've got to keep up our traditions. But God shared with the church,
I've opened up heaven, I've made it so you can see the holy holies. once a year, got to go in there,
and now every believer can come in boldly to the Holy of Holies,
the Lord Jesus Christ, without fear and without reservation,
and bow in his presence and say what we're gonna read in the
book of Revelation, worthy, you're so worthy to receive glory and
honor and praise. And I'm just so thankful that
you changed my heart so I can do it. I can praise you. I didn't one time, but now I
can. Now, Ephesians chapter 1 verse
17, same word is used here as we find over here, the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 1 verse 17.
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ the father of glory may
give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge
of him. Give you the spirit of knowledge
and revelation same word we find in Revelation chapter one in
verse one the revelation of him the understanding of him. Now
he has been hidden. And he is hidden until he reveals
him. And we're going to read that
about the Apostle Paul, when it pleased God to reveal him.
He takes all the hidden things away, and we get to see the glory
of God in Christ Jesus, in the gospel, in all of his purposes,
and in every book of the Bible, we see his glory there. Ephesians
chapter three, verses, I want to read verses 1, 2, 3, 4, and
5 there. Same word is found in verse 3
in the word revelation here. Notice with me in Ephesians chapter
3, verse 1. For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner
of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, if you have heard of the dispensation
of the grace of God, which is given me to you, word, how that
by revelation he made known unto me the mystery. Now, what mystery
is that? That's the mystery of the gospel.
For years, Paul went through this life, a religious person,
and then God revealed the mystery to him, the mystery of the gospel. How are people really saved? Not by the works of the law.
but by the work of God, as I wrote afore in few words, whereby,
when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of
Christ, which in other ages was not made known unto the sons
of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets
by the Spirit. Now here's that word, and this
is the definition of it, and now it's revealed, and there's
some understanding that God grants to his people about the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I don't know all that was
hidden. But that's what the Apostle Paul
was used to write here. But I know this, that it's not
hidden, it's revealed to his people. He takes and pull back
the curtain. He opens it up. He makes known. Now, he doesn't make known everything,
but if we have anything, he's made it known. If you know this
much about Jesus Christ, thank God Almighty. Don't thank yourself.
Thank God He has revealed that to you, that it's by His revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ that you know it. It's not by our
study that we learn anything. It's by His revelation. Now,
He wants us to study, and it is by that that God will bless
us. But if we know anything about
the Lord Jesus Christ, anything about the Word of God, it's by
revelation. It's the revelation, taking off the mystery, opening
it up. It's those aha moments. Now I see what that means. Now I see. Oh, the revelation. It was blinded
to us, it's taken off. Now, remember what it says about
Moses on Mount Sinai? He came off of there and the
people said, you gotta cover yourself up. We just can't stand
to be around you. Now, in the New Testament, that's
brought up as Paul was writing as a secretary of God Almighty. And he said, this is how it is
in the preaching of the law. But when Christ is revealed,
the veil is taken off. That's what it is. Revelation,
I see where I was blind. Now I see it's revelation. It's getting to see the glory
of God in Christ Jesus. Now turn with me to the book
of Galatians chapter one, Galatians chapter one, back just a little
bit there. In the book of Galatians chapter
one, the revelation, the apocalypse, the apocalypse. My goodness,
let's remove the idea that it's war and rumors of wars. Let's
remove the idea that it is bad things. It is the greatest thing
God could ever provide for anybody on this earth to have Christ
revealed to them. To have an apocalypse of Jesus
Christ. That's the greatest thing. that
could ever happen. Now, here in the book of Galatians
chapter 1, the Apostle Paul is sharing with them what God had
done for him. I love this. I love this. 21 and a half years ago, in a
A gospel mission. I was asked to say a few words
because I told the director the Lord had just revealed himself
to me. And I told the director, and he says, would you come and
talk to the men? And I went over there, and this was my text.
This is what I had to say. I didn't have much to say. I
just read some scripture. But this is where I read from.
Galatians chapter 1, verse 11. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. It's
not man. There is a man's gospel. There
is a man's created gospel. There's a gospel that men use.
And it's not the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is man-centered. And the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is God-centered. It is for our benefit. It is
for our glory. But it is not from us. And Paul
is sharing that. He said it's not of men. For
I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it. But
by the revelation of Jesus Christ, he enlightened me, he revealed
it to me. Now I can just imagine, there's a whole bunch of people,
at the time the Apostle Paul would say, man, I sure would
have been glad to have been the man that preached the sermon
that brought him to the Lord. You know what the Lord did? Didn't
let anybody brag about it. God got the glory, and that's
the way it should be. No man. All we are, we're just
garden hoes and hoses. We're just sprinkling seed and
bringing some water. We plant the seed and we water
the seed, but God gives the increase. He gives the revelation. All
right, it goes on to say here, but by revelation of Jesus Christ,
for ye have heard of, does that verse have some words that we're
going to be dealing with? the revelation of Jesus Christ.
That's what we read in Revelation chapter one, verse one, the revelation
of Jesus Christ. For ye have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted
the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews'
religion above many of my equals in mine own nation, being more
exceeding zealous of the tradition of my fathers. And notice that.
I was very zealous about the traditions of the fathers. I
didn't get this from the Bible, but I sure was zealous. And then
he goes on to say, but when it pleased God who separated me
from my mother's womb and call me by his grace. Now that made a difference. And
that was the revelation of Jesus Christ. That was the first view
he ever saw of the Lord. And he spent years studying the
Bible. And he had a misconception about
the Bible, misconception about everything. He was on the works
road. He was doing everything he could.
He was getting all the glory. He talks about having all kinds
of credentials. He says, I count those as done,
that I might win Christ. He says the revelation of Jesus
Christ, when it pleased God. It wasn't me. I wasn't going
to a prayer meeting that day, going down to Damascus. I was
going down there to arrest folks. And he said that so I could bring
them back and hopefully they'd be executed. But when it pleased
God. who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me, that
I might preach Him among the heathen. Immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood." You know what that means? I didn't
go to Bible school. I went to the back side of the
desert, and God taught me. I was at a Bible conference one
time when some guy says, where did you go to Bible school? And
I said, I went to the University of the Kitchen Table. He thought
a bit, what do you mean by that? And he says, well, I just opened
my book around the kitchen table and started studying. The University
of the Kitchen Table. Now I'm very thankful you have
given me a nice spot, my study. All right. There's a couple others,
but our time is out. And I would encourage you this
coming week to at least read that first chapter. of the book
of Revelation. Read that first chapter. It sets
the tenor, the tone. It is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. 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. Now there is more said in this
book about Jesus Christ than things that must shortly come
to pass. All right, we'll stop there. God bless you as you read
that glorious book of the victory of Jesus Christ.