I want to begin tonight in the
first verse of the book of Revelation. So, we'll go to the very first
chapter, the very first verse, and then we're going to go to
the last chapter of the book. Revelation chapter 1, verse 1. The revelation, the uncovering
of Jesus Christ. That which we want is for Him
to be revealed to us. When the Spirit of God gave this
these few words of introduction to the book, here's what he's
saying. This book, all 22 chapters, is
being given in order to manifest one person. That's Christ Jesus,
our Savior. One of the great mistakes that
I'm afraid people make when it comes to the book of the Revelation,
and believe me, I've read most all the reputable commentators
on this book in preparations for my messages. But even some
of the most reputable ones, The mistake that they make is that
they forget, they forget the opening words of the book. This book is given to reveal
to us one person, Christ Jesus. And if you read the book looking
for something else, looking for latter day events, Looking for,
well, what's going to happen just before the Lord Jesus comes
back. Like a lot of people do, looking
for various foreign countries. And even looking for the United
States in the book of Revelation. If you do that, you have not heeded the first
words of the book. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. The word revelation is apocalypse. And that word is grossly misdefined
today. Because if you listen to most
people, they say, oh, the apocalypse is coming. And they mean nuclear
destruction. That's not what the word means. The word means the unveiling,
the revealing of this special person. Who is He? He's Jesus. He's Jesus. What does that mean? He's the
Savior. You see, the Spirit of God knows this is the one we
need. We need the Savior. Why do we
need saving? Because we're sinful. Because
we're rebels against God. And nobody can save us but this
one whose name is Jesus. And so the Spirit of God, coming
to the end of this great book, He sets before us in all of these
22 chapters, which were divided by men, of course, this was one
big letter that was written. And the Spirit of God, in the
very beginning, as He has John to write these words, He puts
this, the very title of the book, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. It isn't the revelation of Saint
John the Divine. It's revelations that were given
to him about our Lord Jesus Christ and of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but it isn't the revealing of the Apostle John. It's the revealing of this One
who is Jesus. It's the revealing of this One
who is the Christ. What does that mean? He's Messiah. He's the One set forth in all
of the Old Testament Scriptures. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ, which God gave unto Him, keep
reading, to manifest or to show, as it
says in our English Bibles, which simply means to manifest unto
His servants things which must shortly come to pass. Why must
they? come to pass shortly, because
God ordained them. That's why they must come to
pass. Listen, everything that ever happens, it happens according
to the purpose of God. The Scripture says that of Him
and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory
forever and ever. The reason these things are going
to happen, they must come to pass, and He says shortly come
to pass, And that's during the age of the church, during the
gospel age. During the age from our Lord's
first advent until His second advent. Because all of the book
of Revelation covers that time period. And as we've said in
each of the seven visions, they all take us from His first coming
When He came to redeem, He came to save, He came to reconcile,
He came to work out a righteousness for us with God from His very
first coming until His second coming when He comes back to
receive us unto Himself and we'll be with Him forever and then
He will judge the world in righteousness. These things have got to come
to pass. And the things that happened
to you, the things that happened to me. They must, they must come
to pass because God ordained it. Now listen folks, in our
lives, nothing happens by accident. Nothing happens because God,
for a little bit, has lost control. Our God has ordained everything
that will ever happen. And everything will come to pass
exactly as He purposed it. As we get over into the fifth
chapter, and we've already studied this, there's a book that John
saw, it's a book of God's predestination. It's a book that's sealed with
seven seals. Written within and without on
the back side. What does that mean? It's a total
book. It's a book completely filled. It's all the will of God. You
think about that. All the will of God and His will
is done in everything. That's a big book. That's a big
book. And the only one who's worthy
to execute this will to bring God's purpose to pass is the
Lord Jesus Christ. And he's found worthy to take
the book and open the book and exercise God's eternal purpose
because he did the work God gave him to do, saving us, redeeming
us. Justifying us. And this is His
reward. These things must surely come
to pass. And they'll come to pass shortly. And as God's people, this includes
everything. Promotions come from the Lord. Sickness comes from the Lord.
All these trials come from the Lord? And we must never say,
why me? Why does this have to happen
to me? Surely we have learned anything
this side of hell is mercy. You say, why did this have to
happen to you? I can tell you why. God ordained
it, that's why. And we should be happy with His
will and thankful that He rules. It isn't Satan who governs your
life. It isn't the evil one. It isn't
the red dragon. And Satan is revealed as the
red dragon in the book of the Revelation. He's not the one
who governs. Oh, he's the prince of the power
of the air. He has his demons who are under
his control. But over that red dragon is King
Jesus. And He rules over everybody and
everything, and that includes the red dragon. So that nothing
happens apart from His will. Even back in the beginning, the
entrance of wickedness into this world. God could have put a stop
to that, couldn't He? Well, sure He could have stopped
it. He could have forbidden that viral serpent from entering into
the garden. God could have said, you can't
go in that garden. It's off limits to you. But He
didn't do that. He didn't do that. Because in
this mysterious, everlasting purpose of God, He brought about that which ultimately
would bring Him the greatest glory. That's the removal of
sin, the removal of evil by the substitutionary death of His
Son. So even the wickedness of the world, the wickedness of
man, the Scripture says that will praise the Lord, won't it?
And the vilest deed that's ever been done, that's the crucifixion
of the Lord Jesus. Who was ultimately behind that? Well, it wasn't the devil. Though
he had a hand in it. But his wasn't the hand behind
this event. It wasn't the Jews, it wasn't
the Sanhedrin, though they lifted up their arms against the Lord
Jesus Christ and despised Him, but no, no, they weren't behind
it either. It wasn't the Romans, it wasn't
the governor, it wasn't the governor Pontius Pilate, it wasn't the
King Herod. It was God Almighty. And that's
the vilest thing that's ever happened in this world. And our
Lord ordained that. And if He ordained the greatest
thing, then He ordained all the lesser things too. And this ought
to bring us comfort to our hearts. When we are hurt, when we are
upon our sickbed, or some affliction to know that our Lord brought
this to pass for some purpose that maybe we won't even know
in this life. Perhaps He'll reveal it to us
in eternity. But it should be good enough
for us to know that all things work together for good to them
that love God to them who are the called according to his purpose." Well, he then says the last statement,
and he sent, he sent and signified it. What does signify mean? Well, literally it means sign
language. It's to make use of numerology,
figures of speech, and symbols. And boy, if there's ever a book
in the Bible full of numerology and symbols and figures of speech,
it's the book of Revelation. It's given in sign language. And unless you understand sign
language, you're not going to understand the book. And when I read, as I have read
a good many books upon the book of Revelation, I find that most
men, they don't understand this is written in sign language,
and they don't understand the sign language. You know, I marvel
at those who sign in order to communicate
with those who are deaf. That's a wonderful thing. That's
a wonderful ministry that people have and I find it fascinating
Because I can't understand it. Now, if I committed myself to
it, to learning it, I'm sure I could come to some understanding
of it and how to sign for people who are deaf. But it's a fascinating
thing. But for me, if an individual
came up to me and started signing, I would say, And I say to people around me,
I don't understand what they're talking about. I have no understanding. And I'll tell you, when it comes
to the book of Revelation, God the Spirit's got to give you
understanding of sign language. Or you won't understand it. You
won't understand it. Now watch this, because I've
got to go quickly, I won't move on because I want to show you
something from the 22nd chapter. He signified it. by His angel,
by an angel, a messenger sent from God. And actually, if you want to
go down the line, here's God Almighty, who gives to His Jehovah's
Servant, Christ Jesus, He gives to Him this book. And then our Lord Jesus gives
it to an angel. And the angel gives it to John.
There's the order. It's very clear if you read the
scripture. And our Savior here is speaking as that perfect servant
of Jehovah. God gives him these words. He
gives the words to an angel. The angel gives his words to
John. But now, remember this. These are not just the words
of John. God uses John to write this book. It's a book of divine inspiration. But the message didn't originate
with John. Oh no. John's on the Isle of
Patmos. He is a preacher of the Gospel.
But the Lord, as it were, puts him in an unusual state. A state of receiving exceptional
spiritual understanding. and gives him the message. But
this is not John's writing. And it really isn't the message
of the angel. Because it didn't originate with
the angel. It comes from the Lord Jesus
Christ. who received it from the Father
as one who is indeed the servant of the Father, but as one who
is also equal with the Father. So it's His Word. Go over with
me now to the last chapter of the book. Now watch this. Look
at Revelation chapter 22 and verse 16. Revelation 22, 16. And I know
John was the human writer, and I know the angel gave him the
words to say. And I would confess this, for
these to be the words of the Apostle John, that'd be great.
As a man who walked with the Savior for nearly three years,
I'd like to know what he has to say, wouldn't you? It'd be
nice to even interview John. It would be wonderful to read
his words, but these words didn't originate with him. And how would
you like to receive a message from an angel? A message from
an angel. Perhaps one of these winged creatures. For an angel of God to give you
a message directly from God. Why, that would be exceptional.
but the message didn't originate from the angel. Oh, it comes
from a greater source, greater than John, greater than the angel. Here it is in verse 16, chapter
22. I, Jesus, I, Jesus, I sent mine
angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I, Jesus,
I testify to you. These words come from me, that's
what he says. And look down, He even says this,
look at verse 20. He which testifieth these things
saith. What does He say? Surely I come
quickly. This is the Word of the Lord
Jesus. You see, this is the reason we
must have a high regard, not only for the last book of the
Bible, but for all of the book of God, because who wrote it? Whose words these are? This is
the Word of God. I, Jesus. Where did these words
come from? Listen to what He says. I, Jesus,
He which testified these things said, what does He say? Surely
I come quickly. Amen. It's the words of the Son
of God. You see, really stamped on every
page of Holy Scripture are these words, I, Jesus, testify unto
you these things. Every page of Scripture. This
is a most unusual book that you have in your hands. The Bible.
We call it the Word of God. We call it the Holy Scriptures.
We call it the Bible because it's Biblos. You know what that
means in Greek? The book. It's the book. It's not a book, it's the book.
The book. It's the book that is absolutely
preeminent over every other book. This is a book of distinction.
Because of whose book it is. There's coming a day when our
Lord is going to renovate the heavens and the earth with fire,
right? There will be a new heaven and a new earth. And all the
books of men, you know what's going to happen to them? They're
going to be destroyed. They're all going to be burned
up. One book will be left. Heaven and earth may pass away,
He said, not my words, not the words of this book. The only book that will be preserved
by God and the only book really worth having, and we have it
right now, you have it right now, is the word of the living
God, the Biblos, the book. It's able to make men wise under
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. This is the
revelation of God to us. This book reveals to us the mind
of God, the will of God, the purpose of God. We would not
know God apart from this book. God has spoken. I'll tell you this, a God who
doesn't speak to us, a God who is silent, He can't be known. He must speak. He must speak. And He's spoken in these last
days through His Son by whom He made the world. He is the Word of God. There
is the Word of God who is incarnate. And there is the Word of God
which is written. And both the Word of God that's
incarnate and the Word of God that is written will last forever. and will always be successful.
Do you remember what it says in Isaiah chapter 55? The Lord
talks about sending forth His Word. And He says, it shall not
come back to me void. It will accomplish what I purpose.
Well, which word is that? Both. Both words. The living Word, the only begotten
One of God, Son of God, the incarnate Word. He didn't return to God
void. He did exactly what He came to
do. He wasn't a failure, He was a
success. He's always victorious. And this
book that God has left on record, you ought to do a study sometime
of how God has preserved His Word How men have tried to stamp
it out, destroy it. It keeps on persevering. There's life in this book. There's
light in this book when the Spirit of God uses it to bring light
and life. Now, I heard somebody say one
time, if the Spirit of God doesn't come upon this book, it's just
like any other book. It's never like any other book.
Don't say that. Don't talk like that. That's
talking like somebody who doesn't know what they're talking about.
Whether you believe this book or not, that takes nothing away
from the validity of it and the absolute truthfulness of it and
the power of it. This is God's Word. Respect it. Love it. Read it. Obey it. Live by it. It will bring you
life. Bring you life. I have such respect for this
book, and I know you do too. We hold it in the very highest
of esteem. God has spoken to us and here
it is. The Old Testament and the New
Testament, not the so-called lost books. They're not inspired
of God because they're inconsistent with what's been preserved through
the years. Here's one book and all of these writers, 40 different
writers as I said this morning, who wrote over a period of about
1,500 years, and they all tell the same story. There's a blissful
consistency to this book. I, Jesus, I've spoken these things. That's what we need to remember.
So we should read this book often. and ask for His Spirit to give
us understanding of what this book is about. I, Jesus, notice the rest of
verse 16, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things
in the churches. Let me tell you something. You
need to listen to preachers carefully, of course. Anybody who speaks
about the Word of God. If you listen to some people,
they'll say, this book contains the Word of God. That's just a clever error. It
doesn't contain the Word of God. It is the Word of God. It is
the Word. It is always accurate. Always
accurate. And we must beware of us or anybody
else adding anything to the book or taking anything away. That's
why he says this in verse 18 of chapter 22. Look at this.
For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the
prophecy of this book, if any man shall add to these things,
God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book. You want certain damnation? Add
to the Bible. Add to the Word of God. Add works
to salvation. Add baptism to the blessed death
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And God will add damnation to
you. If any man shall take away from
the words of this book, Or verse 18, if any man shall add unto
these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written
in this book. And then verse 19, if any man
shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God shall take away his part out of the book of life, God
will kill him. And out of the holy city and
from the things which are written in this book. You needn't think
you're going to glory. You needn't think you're one
of God's people if you take away from the words of this book.
God treasures this book because it's His words. Let us treasure
it as well. Because of who gave it to us.
I, Jesus, testify unto you these things. It isn't just John. It isn't just an angel. My goodness,
if an angel gave it to us, we'd say, my, wow, isn't this wonderful,
an angel gave this to us. But it's much higher than this.
I, Jesus, gave us these things. He says, I, Jesus, have sent
my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. What things? What things? Well, the things set forth in
this book. Beginning with the glories of
the one who sent this book and gave this book in the first place.
Our Jesus. How does John see him right from
the get-go? How did he appear to John? Here
John is. He's an aged believer. And for
the cause of Christ, for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ,
for giving the report of the gospel, he's been exiled to this
island. And he gets some words, which he accurately recorded,
And He testifies concerning the Lord Jesus. In every vision, in every vision
that He receives, He tells us of Christ Jesus. He tells us
that when Christ came to begin with, the first time, He came
to redeem His people, to save us. He's the Lamb smitten. He
tells us that when He comes the last time, the second time, He
will come to judge. Testifying of the Lord Jesus. Testifying. He says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to
testify unto you these things in the churches. Testify of what?
Testify of His glorification, how He's been glorified. You
remember how John first sees Him? He sees Him exalted. And the view of him, it nearly
kills John. And he falls down before him
as a dead man because he sees the glorified Christ. John had
got a glimpse of His glory on the Mount of Transfiguration.
But now he sees Him in His beauties and in His majesty as the glorified
Son of Man. And His eyes are piercing. And His feet could walk over
nations. He's majestic in every sense
of the word. And John said, I fell at His
feet as a dead man. That's what happens when sinners
see the glorified Savior. We fall at His feet like a dead
man. We're not running around crazy
saying, Jesus is my best friend now. No, you humble yourself
before Him. You bow before Him and you say,
He's the Lord of glory. I'm nobody. That's the way John
felt. And he testified. He testified
of what he saw. He saw the Lord Jesus in the
midst of his churches, and he heard him say, I am he that liveth
and was dead. And behold, I'm alive forevermore,
amen. I have the keys of hell and death.
John saw him as the owner of all things, and he testified
that. He testified that. He testified of what the Lord
Jesus said to the churches, the Lord Jesus gave words of comfort,
words of peace, words of assurance, words of chastisement, words of correction, words of
warning, words of encouragement, words to stand fast for the truth. John testified of what he saw
when he went up to glory. He said, a door was opened in
heaven and the first thing I saw was a throne. I'm going to believe
what John said. Because he got his message directly
from I, Jesus. The Lord Jesus gave him this
message. John said, I went into heaven
and the first thing that caught my full attention was the very
throne of God. I read about these people who
supposedly die and I don't understand all the medical implications
and all of that sort of thing, the moment of death and that. But I tell you, when somebody
says, I went to heaven and I saw all of this, and I saw mom, dad,
and grandma, and grandpa, and I saw this and that, the beautiful
thing, and they come back, I say, no, you didn't go to heaven.
I don't know what happened to you. And I may not be able to
explain it, but if you had gone into glory, you'd come back talking
about the throne of God. The throne of God. That's what
John wrote about. All of chapter 4 is when he's
caught up to heaven and he sees the throne of majesty. And he hears angels singing,
holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. I have read these
words that people say, they come back, they died and they come
back, and I've never yet read any of them that said, I heard
singing in heaven, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.
None of them have ever said that, but John did. I think I'll believe him, who
wrote the words of I, Jesus. Remember, these are not the words
merely of John. They didn't originate with him.
It's I, Jesus, testify these things. And then He testified
of the Creator. John talked about how God made
all things for His pleasure. He testified that. I'm going
to believe what the Word of God said. I'm going to believe creation.
I'm going to believe in six days God made the heavens and the
earth and all within them is. You can believe the hogwash out
there if you want to, but I'm going to believe God's Word.
Because all the science books and all the evolutionist notes
and theories and all that stuff, it's all going to burn with fervent
heat. And the book that says in the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth, it will still
exist. I'm just not going to lay hold
of that foolishness. Well, you're simple-minded. Well,
I am. But I'm going to believe the
Word of God. Testify these things. Testify
what? Testify that book of predestination,
which none was worthy to take except the Lion of the tribe
of Judah. The Lamb of God who was slaughtered,
who was smitten, who was slain, who redeemed God's people by
His blood. He's worthy and He's executing
the will of God now. Declare these things. Declare
His sovereign will and purpose that's being executed. Testify
of Him. who sends his angels forth sounding
out trumpet judgments, warning people, warning people. There's a big judgment coming. And the only place of safety
is in Christ Jesus. Testify of the enmity of the
evil one. Testify, John, of the red dragon
who sought to kill the man-child when he came into the world,
Revelation chapter 12. And testify of the fact that
as a result of Christ's death upon the cross of Calvary, he
defeated the enemy of our souls. Testify what the book says. Now
has come salvation and strength and the kingdom of our God and
the power of His glory. When did that all happen? Testify
this, John! It's when the man-child came.
Oh, blessed man-child! Who is it? I, Jesus, who testifies
these things. and testify of false religion
called Babylon, and warn people of her deception. She's beautiful
and she's alluring, but she's deadly. She wants to seduce you
and destroy your soul, for she is guided and manipulated and
she is controlled by the Red Dragon himself. Don't drink of her ungodly, deadly
elixir. Call the wine of her fornication. Don't believe her lies. That's
all she does is lie. There is but one truth, and He's
in glory. He says, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but me. Testify of him who's gonna destroy
Babylon. Testify of him who is the word
of God. Testify of him who's coming back
to fetch his bride unto himself. Testify of him who is the victorious
commander in chief. King of kings and Lord of lords. Testify of him who's going to
come back riding on a white horse. And behind him a multitude also
riding on white horses. And with the very power of God,
he will instantaneously destroy all of his enemies, and the ultimate
defeat of them is called Armageddon. Testify of that. and testify of eternity when
the bride of Christ Jesus shall be glorified in the immaculate
city washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, perfect in the Savior's righteousness. Testify of how in heaven there'll
be no more sin, no more tears, no more sickness, no more death,
no more curse, and testify that in eternity we shall see the glories of that One who loved
us and gave Himself for us, for we shall see Him face to face. I thought about this. Up until
now, we've seen but pictures of Him. I'm not talking about
those silly portraits that men paint. I'm talking about the
portraits that God has painted in His Word of Christ Jesus. We've seen the pictures of Him,
and we love Him. Based on the pictures, what we've
seen. And you go all the way through the Old Testament. The
lamb, the ark, brazen serpent, Manna from heaven. Water from
a rock. The rock itself, because that
rock was Christ. A tabernacle. And you just keep
on going. And the men of the Old Testament
who pictured Him. Adam, Noah, Abraham, David, Solomon. We just keep on going. We've
seen pictures of Him. And we've seen Him by faith.
We have beheld Him by faith. As we've read the Word of God
and the Spirit of God has opened up our hearts and given us light
and life and understanding, we've beheld the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ. Not literally seeing Him, but
seeing Him in the Scriptures and seeing Him as the very one
we need. As the Savior that we want. And we've seen Him. And we've
fallen in love with Him. We've seen His glories, we've
seen His beauties, but just a little. Because now we see through a
glass darkly. But then, one of these days,
face to face, testify of these things, John. Angel, give these things to John. And remember, I, Jesus, testify
these things. Well, who are you? He says in
verse 13, I'm Alpha and Omega. I'm the beginning and the end.
I'm Genesis 1-1, in the beginning, God created the heaven and the
earth. And I'm Revelation 22-21, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all, amen. I'm all that's to be known, to
be loved. I'm all in the covenant of grace.
I'm all in salvation. I, Jesus, testify to you of these
things. He's all to be loved and all
to be believed. He's everything. And He says,
I'm the beginning and the end, the first and the last. and He
only can pronounce a blessing upon you. Blessed are they that do His
commandments, the commandments of God, that they may have a
right to the tree of life and may enter in through the gates
of this city. Nobody else can bless you except this one. We say, bless your heart. but I can't bless your heart.
I can wish blessings for you, but I can't bless you because
they're not mine to give. They're His. They're His. And He says, blessed are they
that do His commandments, that they may have a right to
enter into the gates of this city. For without, He says in
verse 15, and I'll go quickly. He says, for without. Dogs? Who are they? Read in Philippians
chapter 3. Dogs. Filthy, dirty, lying dogs. False preachers. You shouldn't talk about other
preachers like that. The Bible says that about them.
They're dogs. Outside are dogs. They're not
inside. If they were inside, they wouldn't
be dogs. They'd be sheep. They're dogs
who want to kill the sheep. They're outside. If they were
God's people, they'd be inside. Due to God's covenant of grace,
they'd be inside. Inside the holy city. Inside
the New Jerusalem. But they're not inside, they're
outside. Outside there are dogs and sorcerers
and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie. They're outside. And while they're
outside, a bunch of us are going to be inside. Inside! With Christ Jesus. With Christ
Jesus. And he tells us this in verse
16. Who am I? He says, I'm the root
of David. You mean David was your root?
No. I'm the root of David. He came
from me. And I'm also the offspring of
David. Figure that one out. How can
that be? How can he be the root from which
David came and yet at the exact same time be the offspring of David? Because
he's David's Lord and he's David's son. He's the God-man. And he says, and I'm the bright
and the morning star." Do you have light to see and perceive
the things of God? He gave you light. He's the bright
and morning star. He's the one who illuminates
us in our darkness. And He will be the everlasting
light in the city of God. Won't need any sunshine there,
because the Bible says the Lamb is all the light in the city
of God. And I'll tell you, by God's grace,
I'm going to be on the inside. I'm going to be on the inside.
It's almost too good to be true. This rebel, this transgressor,
this ungodly man, I'm going to be on the inside. And others
just as bad as me are going to be on the outside. How can that
be? Trace the difference to God's
eternal purpose. Because God willed for me to
be one of His people. That's the only reason I'm going
to be in there. I attribute it all to His free
and sovereign grace. And I will for all eternity bless
His holy name for saving a wretch like me and making me to be righteous
in Himself before God Almighty. I, Jesus, testify unto you these
things. Well, let's sing the closing.