Let's look in Revelation chapter
1. Revelation chapter 1. Now after you find Revelation
1, go over to the book of Colossians 1. I'll go back to Revelation in
just a little bit. Several weeks ago, I brought
you a message to introduce the book of Revelation It's been
so long ago you probably forgot it. So I want to review just a little
and then go a bit further in seeking to understand a book
that is to most people very mysterious. To most people If you read to
them from Genesis through the book of Jude, they'll pretty
much follow what you're talking about. And especially if you
go Matthew through Jude. But then you get to the book
of the Revelation, and things become a little more confusing. I certainly can't answer all
the questions that are raised about the book of the Revelation,
but I do know what it's about. See if I can help you a little
bit. Here in Colossians chapter 1,
we find God's three works God's three mighty works set forth. Those works are the work of creation,
the work of providence, and the work of salvation. Look with
me in chapter 1. Look at verse 14. He says, we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins. Now make sure you understand
this, wherever you have redemption through His blood, you've got
to have forgiveness of sins. That just has to follow. If the
captives had been redeemed, if that ransom price which God demanded,
if it has been paid, then forgiveness of sins, it must follow. It is the result. It is not possible
that the Lord Jesus would shed His blood redeeming us As our
brother read back in the office from 1 Peter chapter 1, the precious
blood of Christ. It is not possible that the precious
blood of the Lord Jesus would be shed and then there would
not be forgiveness of sins. That has to follow. Continue
reading. Speaking of this One who redeemed
us, He says who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. Now watch this. Here's His work
of creation. For by Him, that is Christ Jesus,
this One who redeemed us, This One who bought us. He didn't
buy heaven for us. He didn't buy grace for us. He didn't buy the love of God
for us. He bought us. He bought us with
His blood. Therefore, our sins are forgiven.
This One who bought us is the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn. He is over
all Now verse 16, For by him, by this Redeemer, were all things
created that are in heaven and that are in the earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities
or powers. All things were created by Him. Who created all things? Christ the Lord. The Son of God. Our Redeemer. Isaiah says, That One who made us, bought
us. He owns us where He is. He says, verse 17, and He is
before all things. And by Him all things consist. There is His providence. Everything
is held together. Everything functions. Everything
serves its purpose by the will of the One who redeemed us, by
the will of the One who created us. He keeps everything together. He keeps everything running right
on schedule. You see, by providence, we're
to understand our Lord is working all things after the counsel
of His own will. And He is bringing to the goal
that which God purposed before the world began. I know to us,
oftentimes, things seem to be a bit haphazard. It seems like maybe things are
sort of out of control, but they're not. They're not. Everything moves according to
the will of our Redeemer, that One who made us. Before God made
the world, He ordained everything. All things are of God. That's what the Word of God says.
Well, who is it that makes certain that everything God ordained
is coming to pass? That's Christ our Lord. And in your life, and in my life,
everything is working for our good, according to God's purpose,
and our Savior, our Redeemer, the One who bought us with His
blood, the One who made us, He is keeping us right on track,
right on course. I will confess to you in public
that which I have said to a few people in private, the loss of
my voice is one of the greatest trials of my life. Brother Shepard and I were talking
and I said, you know, what is a preacher without his voice? I just felt like, you know, I'm
just kinda in idle I'm not going forward and I wasn't going backwards.
And yet I know these things are according to God's eternal purpose. And even this, and I'm thankful
I'm better, and I anticipate getting even better, more better,
much better. But even this has been a great
trial to me. Now I understand from the scriptures
it's a light affliction. And really all of our afflictions
are light afflictions, aren't they? When set in comparison
to the glory that shall follow. But I know, and you know, in
the midst of the affliction, it doesn't seem too light. But we also know that these things
don't happen by chance. I don't know what God's purpose
has been in sitting me on the sidelines for a little bit. I've done some writing. I've
done some reading, I've done some crying, and I've done some
wondering. And God forgive me, I've even
done some complaining. But like I told Brother Shepard,
when I'm thinking straight, I know it's of God. And I know that the One who redeemed
me, the One who made me, also brings to me and brings to you afflictions in life that He will
use, working together with everything else, for our good and for His
glory. I know who's behind it, and that
helps, doesn't it? When you're in the midst of some
severe trouble, some great difficulty, some illness, some hardship in
your life, you settle down, and like I say, you're thinking straight,
you say in your heart, I know this has come from you. Give me grace to thank you. To
thank you. And I'll tell you this, I am
thankful that my Lord, my Redeemer, remember how we started. I'm
thankful my Redeemer and my Creator is keeping me right on course. And that's true for you too,
who are the people of God. He rules in creation. He rules
in providence. Now watch this in verse 18. And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead. that in all things he might have
the preeminence." Here's the salvation of his body,
the salvation of his church. He is the one who justified us
and therefore he is the firstborn from the dead. In this passage
of scripture, we have Christ Jesus. He's the head of creation. He is the head of providence.
He is the head of salvation. Now, let me ask and answer a
question. What has the God of the Bible
purposed to do? What has He purposed from old
eternity? Because we know God's not making
any new decisions. God doesn't react. Everything
God does, that which comes to pass in what we call time, is
but the fulfillment of that which was ordained before time ever
began. Just this, if you understand
this, you'll know more than most preachers in the whole wide world. What has God ordained to do,
to bring to pass? That in all things, His Son might
have the preeminence. That's what God has ordained. God has ordained He had the preeminence
in creation. God has ordained He had the preeminence
in providence. And God has ordained that He
had the preeminence in redemption and in salvation. And in the
Bible, God has ordained Jesus Christ to have the preeminence. This is not a book about Israel. This is a book about Jesus Christ. And He's not the main subject
of the Bible. He is the subject of the Bible. There is no other subject. And
that which is so of all the Bible is so in the book of the Revelation. So go to Revelation chapter 1. That in all things He might have
the preeminence. So when you get to the book of
the Revelation, I listen to some of these preachers, so-called They act
like they know everything there is to know about the book of
Revelation. But they show me, they reveal
to me through their preaching, they don't know this. In the
book of Revelation, Jesus Christ is preeminent. That's what they
don't show me. in the book of the Revelation.
They're talking about the works of Satan in the book of the Revelation. They're talking about the United
States in the book of the Revelation. Now it is so that among the world
governments that are in opposition to God, and the United States and all
of the other nations as well. But that's not the subject of
the book of Revelation. It is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. It is not the revelations of
Jesus Christ. It's not many revelations. Sometimes
we'll have a slip of the tongue. Open your Bible to Revelations
chapter 1. No, it isn't Revelations. It's one revelation with several
parts. But it is one revelation of one
person. If you can understand that, you'll
go a long ways toward understanding the book of Revelation. I'm sure
thankful for the water. I appreciate that. Let me read to you the first
three verses. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show,
to manifest, to expose, to reveal, to uncover, unto His servants
things which must shortly come to pass." You know why they must
shortly come to pass? Because God ordained them. And that which God has ordained
must shortly come to pass. In John chapter 3, our Lord speaking
to Nicodemus, He said the Son of Man must be lifted up. Why must He be lifted up? God ordained it. There is no
salvation without Him being lifted up. God purposed it. So He is
going to show things which must shortly come to pass. Well, John
wrote this toward the end of the first century. You say, we're
talking about nearly 2,000 years later. You're saying, shortly
come to pass? Yes, shortly come to pass. Because a day with the Lord is
as 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is as a day. And he sent and signified it
by his angel unto his servant John." I draw your attention
to the word signified. It is quite literally sign language. Symbolism. And as you go through the book
of the Revelation, you remember this. There's a lot of sign language
in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. There's a lot
of symbolism. And we're not unfamiliar with
that sort of approach in scriptures, because isn't that what all of
the Old Testament is? Symbolism and sign language. So there's a lot of sign language. Everything is not to be taken
literal. There must be a spiritual viewpoint. Now, when things are obviously
literal, we take them that way. There will be much, as you go
through the book of the Revelation, that will be in symbolic language. What you have to figure out is,
what is the symbolism? What does the symbolism mean?
In order to arrive at a correct answer, Go back and remember
the theme of the book, the preeminence of Jesus Christ. It is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Notice in the second verse, speaking
of John, who bear record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth,
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. Now if we are to understand the
book of Revelation, as I've already indicated to you, We must see
and realize that the Apostle John delivers it in seven visions. Seven being the number of perfection. This is a beautiful and perfect
revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And every vision, every
vision presents to us all of the gospel age. That is, from
our Lord's first advent until His second advent. And in each
of these visions, you will find, you will discover, that John
makes reference to Calvary to some aspect of our Savior's work
of redemption and reconciliation. That great work whereby He put
our sins away. That great work whereby He brought
in for us an established everlasting righteousness. In each of these
visions, redemption is to be seen, it's to be noticed. It needs to be appreciated and
be thankful for. Because without redemption, there
is no salvation. Without the shedding of blood,
there is no remission of sins. So in each of these visions,
John will always remind us of the gospel, of the message of
redemption by Christ Jesus. And then He takes us through
the gospel age. I don't know how long what we
call the church age will last, and neither do you. Nobody does. Somebody says, do you think we're
in the last days? John wrote, when he was inspired
of the Spirit of God, John said, we're in the last days now. Maybe we are in the last days
of the last days. I don't know. You read through
church history. The saints of God have often
gone through difficult periods. And you know what they would
say? The Lord is coming back soon. The Lord is going to come back
and take His church out of this mess. But guess what? He hasn't come back yet. Now
there are those who, because He hasn't come back yet, they
draw this conclusion. He's not coming back at all. But in this they're wrong. Read
2 Peter chapter 3 on that. In this they're wrong. They think
because the Lord hasn't come back now, well, He's not going
to come back at all. He will come back. I don't know
whether it's going to be in the next few years or not. Had someone
say to me just recently, they said, you know, our country is
in such bad shape. I think the Lord's coming back
soon. And I responded this way, down
through history, There have been great nations that have risen,
and saints of God within those nations. And then when things
began to fall apart, because corruption from within causes
a great country to disintegrate, and I think that's what we're
seeing in our country. But when they saw it in their
country, you know what they said? Lord's coming back soon. But he didn't. And oft times
those countries just crumbled and fell. I don't know what God is going
to do with our nation. We've never been a Christian
nation. We have, however, been a nation
historically that has protected the scriptures, disperse the Word of God through
God raised up preachers. I don't think there's ever been
a nation from which has gone forth more gospel sermons than
the United States of America. And I'm thankful to live here.
Make no mistake about it. Somebody gave me a cap one time. It said, American by birth. Southern by the grace of God.
Well, I tell you, God was merciful in having us to live in this
great nation. I don't know what's to become
of it, but He does. Because He's already
charted her course. And I know there are a lot of
people who are living in great anxiety about the upcoming election. There is no need for you to be
anxious. And I say, seek God's face. Vote for the candidate who presents
the most moral standing. Seek God's will in all of your
choices. But know this, whoever is elected
is God's servant, sovereignly appointed by God
to fulfill that which he determined to do before he made the world. So, remember the words of the
Apostle Paul, Be anxious for nothing, but in all things give
thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Don't be disturbed as to, worried about the state of things
are uncontrollable. There is somebody who controls
all things. It's our Redeemer. It's our Creator. The one whose head of creation
is the head of providence and the head of our salvation. He
is executing God's eternal purpose. And as you go through the book
of the Revelation, And I'm not even going to get as far tonight
as I got last time. I ain't even got back to my introduction
yet. But my voice is wearing thin.
So let me just give you this. As we go through these and the
Lord willing, I'll be back Wednesday night. And we'll pick up right
where we're leaving off tonight. I know I said that. Six weeks
ago, I think it was six weeks ago, and I said, the Lord willing,
and he wasn't willing. You've heard that expression,
if the Lord's willing and the creek don't rise. Well, if the
Lord's willing, the creek will rise. And if the Lord's willing,
we'll gather again Wednesday night. But we'll always be reinforcing
this. I'm always going to be trying
to impress this upon you. The book of the Revelation is
all about Jesus Christ. And here is the theme. It is the victory of the Son
of God and all of His people over Satan and all of His cohorts. That's what the book's about.
I had Joe to read to open the service there from Romans chapter
8. And there are so many precious
verses in that blessed chapter. But the one that especially pertains
to this, here is the theme, here is the subject. of the book of Revelation. We
are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. Our Savior
won the victory at the cross. We are victors in Him. We can't be defeated. The gospel
can't be defeated. The church can't be defeated. Our Lord Jesus and His work of
redemption cannot be defeated. God's eternal purpose cannot
be defeated. God is bringing to pass His will
in all things. And we are to give glory to the
one who ordained all things and who is bringing all things to
pass. And let's cease the anxiety. I hope our blood pressures will
go down. Be thankful. I'm so thankful
that the one who redeemed me is on the throne, aren't you? And nothing, somebody said nothing
moves or exists or wiggles. apart from His will, be comforted, children of God. Let's sing a closing song for
the day.