Revelation chapter one and verse
one opens with these words. 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 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. The revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which
must shortly come to pass. Now the book of Revelation in
the scriptures is a book which has aroused much curiosity through
the ages with many people. It is a book that because of
its mysterious and allegorical nature, because of the graphic
pictures contained therein, because of its dealings with the final
judgment of mankind, the end of the world, of eternal things,
of spiritual powers, Satan the adversary, the dragon, the beast,
these various imageries contained therein. It is a book which arouses
both the interest of the curious and of the fantastical and of
those in religion and indeed outside of religion who are just
curious about the supernatural. and of mysterious things. And
there are many strange interpretations given of the Book of Revelation
by many in different quarters of both the religious world and
outside of it. But it is also a book that because
of its nature can also be off-putting to the believer or the child
of God. It can be a daunting book that because of its allegorical
and pictorial nature it can be hard to understand and therefore
often others are put off delving in and yet here at the beginning
of the book John writes that 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 This is not
a book to be approached with mere curiosity or a fantastical
spirit, but it is also not a book that the believer should in any
way neglect. For there is a great blessing
in reading and in hearing the words of this prophecy and in
understanding what is written therein. And there is indeed
a great blessing in having what is contained therein revealed
to us as a reality of which we are concerned. and as a reality
of which we understand and see and partake of. Yes, blessed
is he that readeth, for the time is at hand. But I want you to
notice as we look briefly at this book this morning, I want
you to notice firstly that the book is described as a revelation
This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him
to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass.
It's a revelation. It reveals something to us. It reveals a reality to us, how
things really are. It looks at time. It looks at a span of time leading
up to the end of this world in seven separate visions, in seven
parallel visions. And in each vision which is described
throughout the Book of Revelation there is a further view of just
what reality there is lying beneath the facade of what seems like
reality in this world. You see, when we look around
us in this world, when we look at events in history, when we
look at events in our own time and situation, when we look at
our own circumstances, when we look with the outer eye upon
this world and the things which are done and said in this world,
what seems like reality to us with what we see with our eyes,
what we see is in fact a deception. It is in fact a mirage, a facade
masquerading as a reality, which in fact is a lie. What most men
see as they look around them and think is real is in fact
a lie. That deception that they see
is spun by the god of this world, the prince of this world, the
adversary, Satan. That old serpent. And what he
seeks to present to us, to all mankind, to all throughout all
the ages is another view of things. He wants us to see time and this
world and events in a certain light. He gives us a certain
view. What is that view? Essentially
it is that he constantly and repeatedly wants to present a
picture of his own victory in this world and of the defeat
of Christ and his kingdom. Satan the adversary wants to
deceive the people to think that he rules the world or indeed
that they rule the world. and that God and His Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ, are nothing, are defeated, and are of no consequence. So the people think little of
God and of Christ, and they think much of themselves and what they
see. and ultimately that which is
spun and told them as a lie by that master of lies, the serpent,
Satan. So Satan ridicules, he mocks,
he derides, he presents as weak and faltering, as poor and pitiful,
all that God is, all that God does, and all that God has done
in his kingdom. Satan laughs at and scorns the
things of God, and he carries away multitudes in his spell
of delusion to think that what he says in this his lie is in
fact real and true, a reality. But it isn't. In fact, it is
so far from reality that in many ways it is remarkable that he
can get away with it for so long. But as they say, if you tell
a people a lie often enough, and for long enough, in the end
they believe you. So they have. And they have because
God has allowed it. Indeed, behind Satan's manipulations
there is a greater hand, a greater power at work. God himself has
sent a spiritual strong delusion into this world, by the which
the people are deceived. He says to Satan, who does his
bidding, go on then, tell your lies, do as much as you can,
deceive the people, Have your last fling, enjoy your moment,
for in the end you're a defeated foe, a spent force, conquered. But Satan does what he can. And
in the book of Revelation, what the Spirit of God is doing, what
He is showing by the Lord Jesus Christ in this Revelation, which
was given, which was shown unto John and unto his servants, about
things which must shortly come to pass. What the Spirit of God
is doing in these visions, which John wrote down in this book,
is presenting to us reality. What lies behind the covers that
Satan has thrown over reality? What lies behind the facades
and the mirages that Satan deceives the masses of the populations
with? Here in the book of Revelation
we look behind that which we see with the outer eye, that
which we see on earth, to see into that which is eternal, that
which is true, that which is everlasting, that which in time
must shortly come to pass. One by one the covers are taken
away and Jesus Christ himself reveals just what is true behind
them. Yes this book is a revelation,
the revelation of Jesus Christ and what he reveals is his victory,
his absolute victory His absolute eternal conquest and dominion
and power, His victorious reign and conquest of all His enemies,
of all that stood against Him. Far from being defeated, in the
book of Revelation, Christ shows to us, He demonstrates in seven
parallel visions, how he has defeated all his enemies, every
last one. Oh, what a vision, what visions,
what a revelation, what a revelation there is here, if we could but
see, what a revelation, the revelation, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Secondly, I want you to see that
this is not just a revelation, but 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 under his servant john who bear record of the word
of god and of the testimony of jesus christ and of all things
that he saw yes this is the revelation of jesus christ it's his revelation
it's his revelation to reveal And it's His revelation which
He has revealed concerning Himself. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. It's about Him. It regards Him. It concerns Him. And it's revealed
by Him. It is a revelation first and
foremost of a person. not so much of events but first
and foremost of the person that stands behind all of those events
not just of the enemies which are conquered but of the person
who has conquered not just of the events that will come to
pass in time but of the one who will bring those events to pass. Yes, it's the revelation of a
person, the revelation of Jesus Christ. You can read this book
all you like. You can study it all you like. You can come up with the most
correct and accurate interpretation. You can compare all the interpretations
which men have brought about upon this book. You can look
at postmillennialism, premillennialism, amillennialism, futurist approach,
historistist approach, craterist approach. You can look into all
the schemes and all the interpretations. You can come to the wrong interpretation. You can come to the right interpretation. But if all you have is words
and facts in their head, and you never come to see the one
of whom this book is a revelation, and the one who reveals the message
of this book concerning himself, then it's of nothing worth. of nothing worth. It's just data,
facts in your head, which will go to the grave and perish with
you on that day when God judges the quick and the dead. Yes,
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. But in reading, And in hearing,
you must, we must read of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must
hear of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we must not only hear of
him, but we must hear him. Because this is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. He must be revealed to us. And his revelation must be revealed
by him to us. for it's 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. What things are these which must
shortly come to pass? What things are these which are
of consequence to us? to which we should give heed,
for the time is at hand. What things are these? What things? They are judgment. They are the
things concerning judgment, the judgment of all things, the judgment
of the sin and the rebellion of a fallen race and a fallen
world, of fallen humanity. of mankind who God created upon
the earth and who quickly turned in rebellion against his maker
and fell into sin and sin entered and death by sin and death passed
upon all men for all have sinned. This is a book of judgment of
sin and rebellion The judgment of all sin and rebellion. The
judgment of that sin and rebellion which is outside of the Church,
outside of Christ in all men. But also the judgment of sin
and rebellion inside the Church. The judgment of those who are
outside of Christ. The judgment of those in Christ.
The judgment of the world. The judgment of the Church. The
judgment that spans from the beginning of time to the end
of time. The judgment of the wicked and
of the righteous, of mankind and of spiritual powers, dominions
and forces. Yes, this is a book of judgment. The overthrow of all Christ's
enemies and of all his people's enemies. This is a book of judgment. but a book which demonstrates
and which reveals to us not simply the outpouring of judgment but
of the outpouring of judgment based upon the fact that Christ
has conquered all his enemies. Here in the prophecy, here in
this revelation which God gave unto John as he was on the isle
of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus
Christ when he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind
him a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am out for an omega,
the first and the last. What thou seest, write in a book
and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia. What John
saw, which he wrote in a book and sent to the seven churches,
what he saw in the seven visions which he was shown here by the
Lord Jesus Christ by his angels which he wrote down in a book
and sent to the churches which we have before us today as a
record given to the churches what we have here are seven visions
of those things which should come to pass seven visions of
that time spanning the days in which John lived, unto the coming
again of our Lord and Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we
have seven parallel visions in seven different arenas, giving
seven different revelations of Christ's conquest of all his
enemies. Seven visions spanning the same
span of time. that span of time from the ascension
of the Lord Jesus, having completed his work of salvation at the
cross, having conquered death upon the cross, having risen
again from the dead and having ascended, from that time when
the Son of God ascended into the heavens until that time when
the Son of God will come again and descend from the heavens,
on that day of judgment when he will come to judge this world,
to destroy this world and to bring in the new heavens and
the new earth. We have seven revelations, seven
visions here concerning that same span of time. That span,
what time is that? It is that of which John speaks
in chapter one, that time in which he sat, that time in which
he was. When he says in verse 10, I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet. What is this, the Lord's day?
It is that day, that spiritual day, that picture of a day that
describes this very time span between the ascension of the
Son of God and to his descending again when he returns. A day
is that time when the sun arises and is set in the heavens till
that time when it descends and sets and nightfall comes. It's
that span of time when the sun rises and then returns And spiritually
it speaks of that time when the Son of Righteousness, the Son
of God, has ascended and is sat down in glory, shining forth
from the heights of heaven, shining forth his light by his gospel
into this dark world. And it spans the time from his
ascending as the sun rose up to the heights, to that time
when he will descend and return in judgment. from the rising
of the sun until the going down of the same. The Lord's name
is to be praised. That's the day, the Lord's day
in which John was in the spirit on the Isle of Patmos. This is
the Lord's day in which if we are in the spirit, wherever we
may be, whatever the physical day on earth, whatever the time
it may be, if we are in the spirit in this span of time of the Lord's
day, and we hear a voice behind us as of a trumpet, then we will
know something of what John heard and knew as the Lord Jesus Christ
revealed this message unto him. This is the day. This is the
day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in
it. You say, but that's 2,000 years ago that John heard that.
Christ rose and ascended 2,000 years ago and he's yet to descend.
How can that be a day? What we read elsewhere in scriptures
that a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a
day in God's eyes. Yes, this is the day, this span
of time. So we see seven revelations,
seven visions in this book in which we see judgment pictured
and Christ's conquest over all his enemies. It's in that light
that we see these seven visions of judgment executed by Christ,
by his seven angels. Time and again throughout this
book, in visionary language, in allegorical language, we read
the number seven, we read of the seven stars, the seven golden
candlesticks, the seven churches, but so often we read of seven
angels. And angels are those to whom
judgment is committed. When Christ judges, he judges
through his angels. He sends forth seven angels to
execute judgments. He begins in the early chapters
with the seven angels of the seven churches to execute judgment
upon the churches. Later on, we read of seven angels
sent forth with seven vials, seven vials of the wrath of God. We read of seven angels with
seven trumpets. Time and again we read of seven
angels who execute the judgment of God and we have these seven
visions of this span of time. But what I want you to see, we'll
look at these very very briefly and overview these seven visions,
what I want you to see in these is that in these revelations
of things which must surely come to pass, what is being revealed
is what has already been purposed from all eternity and what has
already been accomplished at the cross by our Lord Jesus Christ
when he laid down his life for his own. We read in verse 5 of
Revelation 1, When John opens he says, Jesus Christ who is
the faithful witness and first begotten of the dead and the
prince of the kings of the earth unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sins in his own blood and have made us kings and priests
unto God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Later when he sees this glorious
vision of him who is like the son of man The Lord Jesus Christ
stood in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He says,
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his
right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not. I am the first
and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. This is the revelation. This
is He who makes this revelation, who reveals it, and it concerns
Himself. And this is the One, He, who
is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega. He who liveth
and was dead. He who is alive forevermore. he who have the keys of hell
and of death. For you see everything that is
revealed in these visions of that which will come to pass
in judgment in time in this world and at the last judgment in judgment
in six seven different arenas all that will come to pass has
already been brought to pass Ultimately it's on the grounds
of that which was accomplished at the cross and on the grounds
of that which was purpose from all eternity. All stems from
that one event in time which means more to you than any other
event in history. That one event in which all time
folds in like the Papers at the center of a book, all history
folds in and meets at this one event, when Jesus Christ, the
son of God, was nailed to a tree and crucified outside the city
of Jerusalem, and suffered and died in the place of sinners,
in the place of his people. When he died as their substitutes
and drank the cup of God's wrath against their sins. when He took
away their sins and washed them in His own blood. Him that washed
us from our sins in His own blood. All history folds in on that
event when Christ died, and when the sins of His people were judged
in the Saviour, and when He blotted them out, and having blotted
them out and taken all sin in them away, and brought in everlasting
righteousness for them. And having died and having blotted
out all sin and brought in righteousness, he rose again, having conquered
sin, having conquered death, having conquered hell, and having
risen, he ascended. All history meets at that time,
for that is the moment when God judged the heavens and the earth,
when God judged all that is in this world, all that is in the
earth, that was the moment, that was the judgment of the world.
And all that is given us in these revelations, in the book of Revelation,
in these seven visions, merely flows out from that which happened
upon the cross, that which was purposed from all eternity. There,
at the cross, was the judgment of this world. All was settled
there. All was settled, all was finished. Everything else is merely a revealing
of that and a dispensing of the penalties to be brought to pass
at the last days based on that which had already been judged
and already been finalized on the cross when the Lord Jesus
Christ hung his head and cried out, it is finished, and gave
up the ghost. The verdict of guilty or not
guilty has already been passed on all men, already, it is finished. As Christ said in John, as the
cross and his death approached he said as the hour came he said
now is the judgment of this world now shall the prince of this
world be cast out and if i be lifted up from the earth i will
draw all men unto me now is the judgment of this world and nothing
of man None of it, nothing of this judgment
was dependent upon man. None of it was dependent upon
the response or upon the free will of man. All was determined
from God from all eternity. All was done by God in Christ.
All is settled. What happened at the cross 2,000
years ago is what will determine where you stand for all eternity. You see it is of great consequence
to you what happened outside Jerusalem upon that cross when
Christ was nailed to the tree. What think ye of Christ? Has he been revealed to you?
What do you know of the revelation of Jesus Christ? Well John was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day And behind him he heard the great
voices of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last. What thou seest, write in a book
and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia. What he saw
was seven visions, seven visions spanning the same time, seven
parallel visions, As it were, going around a mountain, transcending
up higher and higher, covering the same circuits around that
mountain. But each vision getting higher
and higher. The first begins on the earth
with the Church of God on the earth. And then we see the judgment
of the world. And then we ascend higher and
higher until we see the final judgment of the last enemy, death. Until at the end, in Revelations
chapters 21 and 22, we see the glorious pictures of the new
heaven and the new Jerusalem. The new heavens and the new earth,
the new Jerusalem, the eternal glory into which the saints of
God, those who were washed by the blood of Christ, those whose
sins were washed away by him at the cross. Here we see their
final destiny. What John was shown was seven
visions. The first begins in the house of God, the Church.
The first vision, running from chapter one through to the end
of chapter three, concerns the house of God, the Church. He's
given this wonderful, glorious vision to begin with of the Son
of God, the Son of Man, Christ in the midst of the seven golden
candlesticks. This glorious vision of Christ,
the Judge, And where is Christ stood? He stood in the seven
golden candlesticks in the midst of the seven churches. This picture
of all the church of Christ throughout all time, in all its assembly
throughout all the world. This glorious picture of the
church as of a golden candlestick. This glorious picture of the
church in its perfection in Christ. And yet Christ stands in the
midst of it as its judge. For in this world those who comprise
the church still have the flesh, and they still have that in them
which is judged, that which God judged in Christ at the cross
when he washed away their sins. So the judgment begins at the
house of God. It doesn't begin with the wickedness
in the world, but with Christ's people. begins with the church. The first picture of judgment
we see is of Christ himself stood as the judge in the midst of
his church. And we have this view of the
church and of Christ's judgment of all the church's enemies which
are within and Christ's victory over all those enemies. Then
from chapter 4 to chapter 7 we have the second parallel vision.
Here we see the judgment of all which is in the earth, and Christ's
conquest over all his enemies in the earth. These are the enemies
of Christ's people without the church. Those who would persecute
God's people throughout the ages, those who would mock and deride
them as they mocked and derided Christ, those who would bring
them through great tribulation, those who would slay them. Again
this section opens with a glorious picture. We began in the first
vision with the vision of Christ in the candlesticks. Now we have
a vision of the great throne in heaven. A throne was set in
heaven and one sat on the throne and he that sat was to look upon
like a jasper in a sardine stone. Oh what a vision of one upon
the throne. but the vision proceeds to the
description of the book with seven seals and the opening of
the first six seals the opening of the sixth seal of which brings
in the last judgment upon all the world. Yes in this description
which covers the same time span as the first vision which concerned
the church here we see a vision concerning the earth and God's
judgment of the earth and of the wickedness of mankind in
the earth and of the enemies of his people and of Christ.
And again, of Christ's total conquest of all those enemies.
The third vision is from chapter 8 through to chapter 11. In chapter
7 we're presented with a consolatory view of the elect of God in the
description of them as the sealing of the people of Israel, the
144,000, and their ultimate glorification in heaven. Hope is presented
to us of our final destiny, of that rest which we enter into
in Christ, of our glorification in heaven. But then to the beginning
of chapter eight, the seventh seal of the book is opened. And
here another section begins, covering the same time span from
the ascension to the descent of Christ on the day of judgment.
Here we see the opening of the seventh seal. And with the opening
of the seventh seal, we see seven angels with seven trumpets. And
the trumpets are those trumpets which warn of judgment to come. Each trumpet sent forth in this
world is a picture. In its judgment which it brings,
it's merely a foretaste of that final judgment, which will utterly
destroy the whole world. But these judgments that come
by each trumpet which is sounded, bring forth a different natural
disaster of which we read. Each trumpet is blown and a different
disaster goes forth. And we live in our days when
we see the natural disasters, we see the earthquakes, we see
the tempests, we see the wars, we see the famines, we see the
illnesses. And mankind looks on in wonder
and the fools of men say, well how could a good God of God of
love send these things? But in the book of Revelation
we see why, we see what's going on. These are merely foretastes
of judgment to come, they're warnings. They are in a way gracious,
loving warnings to mankind. That these are nothing compared
to that which is to come. Nothing compared to that which,
if you despise my son and his cross and his love for sinners
and the death which he died and that salvation which he wrought,
If you shut your ears to his gospel, and those who would preach
his gospel, if you despise it, there is judgment to come which
will destroy all things utterly. And these earthquakes and disasters
which rumble about in the world throughout the ages, and indeed
in increasingness in our days, are gracious warnings to a wicked
and rebellious world. Hear, O world, that the Lord
God liveth. Hear, O Isles, listen, O Isles. Judgment is coming. So the trumpets
are sounded. And after the six trumpets, John
is told to eat a little book sent from heaven. And we read
of his prophecy, his ministry of prophecy. And we read of the
two witnesses. These two witnesses are a picture
of that sending forth that witness to the truth of the gospel, of
all gospel preachers sent forth by God to declare Christ in this
world. And yet in the end we see the
picture of these witnesses being slain in the street and the world
rejoices for it thinks it has done away with these troublers
that trouble its peace. yet they haven't because the
witnesses rise again and at the end of chapter 11 we see Christ's
conquest of all the kingdoms, all the kingdoms of the world
have become his and all that the witnesses witnessed of are
true for Christ is the one name given among heaven on earth by
which men might be saved, he is the savior of sinners hear
his gospel, hear his witnesses. So at the end of chapter 11 we
again see the Last Judgment ushered in as the vision draws to a close.
The fourth vision is in chapter 12 to 14. In this vision we see
the spiritual enemies of Christ described. Those forces which
lay behind the warfare of the prior three visions. That warfare
we see in the church, in the earth, in the natural disasters,
in the worlds, persecution of the church and the world's rejection
of the gospel all this which motivates the people all that
which causes the people to be led left right and center all
that which causes them to despise Christ and his gospel that deceit
of which I spoke of which Satan spins and tries to tell people
this is reality when in fact it's a lie well these things
come from spiritual enemies Those spiritual enemies, Satan, the
dragon, the beast. These mystical and allegorical
pictures which are used in chapters 12 to 14 in this vision to describe
these spiritual enemies. And to describe the woman, the
church, which brought forth a child, Christ, who these enemies slew. And yet in slaying, they brought
about the salvation of a multitude. It's in this vision of the spiritual
enemies and Christ's conquest of them, we see the distinction
between Christ's people and those who are without. Between the
true religion of Christ and all false religion which opposes
it. We see the division at the Last Judgment which is seen in
the picture of the harvest of the earth and of the reapers
being sent forth with the sickle to cut down the harvest and to
divide the wheat from the chaff. see this conclusion of seven
angels of judgment dividing the two people the sheep from the
goats the one from the other for all eternity one into everlasting
glory and one into everlasting judgment and darkness. The fifth
vision is from chapter 15 to 16 this is much briefer as we
move towards the final visions We are, as it were, going up
a mountain and as we go up the mountain, as we traverse, as
we do a circuit of the mountain, as we go up higher and higher,
the circuit becomes smaller. So the visions become shorter
as we come up closer to the visions of heaven and the new heavens
and the new earth at the end. So this vision is shorter. In
this vision we see the description of the seven angels with seven
plagues. and although of course still
covering the same time span as the prior four visions, it is
however in this vision the concentration is very much upon the final judgment. The view is not of the time leading
up to it so much as looking throughout time, looking wherever you are
in time, however close you are to Christ ascension or to his
coming again, wherever you stand in time, the vision is set upon
the final judgment to come, upon that day, that judgment day in
that place called Armageddon where the pouring out of the
seven vials and the pouring out of the seventh vial at Armageddon
signals the voice from the throne which declares it is done. Here we see the pouring out of
the wrath of God from the seven vials by the seven angels of
judgment. Here we see the wrath of God
revealed That very same wrath of God of which Paul speaks in
Romans 1, where he says that the wrath of God is revealed
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men. That wrath which burns
throughout all time from the heart of God against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. That wrath which is made known
in the beginning of the gospel. That wrath which burns against
you. If you are outside of Christ
this day, and that wrath which will usher you into eternal judgment,
if you can ever come to know the revelation of Jesus Christ
and the washing of his blood, and yet that wrath, who for those
who are in Christ, was poured out upon his own Son, God's own
Son, as their Savior, yet for the rest will be poured out upon
them for eternity. but in Christ it was swallowed
up when he cried out it is done it is finished and he hung up
his head. The sixth vision from chapter
17 to 19 describes the destruction of the spiritual enemies of Christ,
the final destruction of Satan and his angels, the final destruction
of Babylon the Great, that world power, that force, that thinking,
that delusion that governs the whole world, behind which lies
the deception of Satan, the beast, the false prophet, all false
religion. Here we see the conquest of Christ
against all of this and the vision leads up to the marriage of the
Lamb and His exaltation, the marriage of the Lamb of God,
even Christ as He sees His bride. and as he's exalted as the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And finally the seventh vision
in chapters 20 to 22 and verse 5, the last vision is seen in
demonstrating the destruction of the last enemy, death. and of course the dragon, that
old serpent, the devil and Satan, who with death was thrown into
a lake of fire from which there is no escape. Now we see not
only the enemies of God destroyed, but we see also death and hell
itself cast into the lake of fire, which is called the second
death. And what arises out of such a
vision? What is left with Satan and his
angels destroyed? With death and hell thrown into
the lake of fire, what can be left? What is left to see? Why all that is not destroyed?
All that is preserved, all that is everlasting. All that which
is righteous. All that which is everlasting
and glorious. All that which would enter into
eternal glory with the Lamb of God forevermore. That's what
we see once death and hell and Satan are destroyed. We see the
glory of Christ's people, the glory of His church, the glory
of His bride, the glory of all those washed by the blood of
the Lamb, the glory of the new heavens and the new earth to
which they enter. All those whose names are in
the book of life, all these are spared, and all others are cast
into the lake of fire. But here in chapter 21, in the
conclusion, we see this glorious picture of the new heavens, the
new earth, the new Jerusalem, the world to come, the glory
of the bride of Christ in it. With the book concluding in the
latter parts of chapter 26, in verse six onwards we read, It
is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. And I will give unto him that
is a first of the fountain of the water of life freely. Oh,
what visions! What enemies! But what victories! All victories that Christ has
wrought and will execute in time and will bring to a conclusion
on that last day. But what I want you to see again
is that all this has been purposed from all eternity. All the judgment
that we see in these visions stems from that one judgment
of the world wrought 2,000 years ago, outside the city, upon a
cross, when Christ the Lord was crucified. There, every enemy
was destroyed. There, the precious was separated
from the vile. There, death was destroyed. There, Satan was destroyed. Sin was blotted out and righteousness
was brought in. Everlasting life was brought
in. There, at that hour, now is the
judgment of this world, Christ said. There was the judgment
of this world and so it was. And where you stood at that time
in that judgment, will determine just where you stand in the judgment
to come. But where? Where do you stand? What can you see? What do you
know of it? What of these visions have been
revealed to you? What do you know of the revelation
of Jesus Christ? Oh, what visions! And oh, what
a vision in the end of that new heavens and the new earth! But
have you seen? Can you see? Has it been revealed
to you? Are you one of Christ here? One
who will behold in reality that which John saw at the end here
in a vision? Will you be one of those enemies
who are finally destroyed? One to whom will be sent the
seven angels? with seven vials to pour out
upon you the wrath of God forever and ever? Or are you one of those who hear
a voice from heaven cry unto their soul, come up hither? One of those who've come out
of great tribulation, One of those who have washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. One of those to
whom Christ has been revealed. One of those who know what it
is to see and know the revelation of Jesus Christ. Amen.