Revelation chapter one, I'm taking
the title for the message from the words found in verse two. Verse two says, who bear record,
who bear record, a true record, that is John of the word of God
and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that
he saw. So I'm taking the title from
those words, the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's mentioned
two or three times in the Revelation, this statement, the testimony
of Jesus Christ. Look down at verse 9 of chapter
1. who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and
in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle
that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ. The testimony of Jesus Christ
is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. If you want to turn with
me, you can over in chapter 12, Revelation chapter 12, verse
17, It's mentioned again, and the dragon was wroth with the
woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which
keep the commandments of God, and they have the testimony of
Jesus Christ. That's the same as the gospel
of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, it's mentioned
over here in chapter 19, if you want to follow with me. Chapter
19, verse 10. And John said, I fell at his
feet to worship him, that is, this messenger, the angel. And
he said unto me, see thou do it not, I am thy fellow servant,
and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus Christ. For the testimony of Jesus Christ
is the spirit of prophecy, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that
prophet that came declaring that salvation is in Christ and by
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, a question. What is the
book of Revelation all about? What is the book of Revelation
all about? A lot of people have a lot of
wild, crazy ideas about what the Revelation, this book, is
all about. Well, I'm going to tell you today
what it's all about. It's all about the Lamb. The Lamb, the
Lord Jesus Christ. 27 times in this revelation we
have the book of Revelation. 27 times it mentions the Lord
Jesus Christ in His sacrificial character as the Lamb of God. Hold your place there and turn
over to chapter 5. And one of the elders saith unto me, verse
5, Weep not, behold the line of the tribe of Judah, the root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book, to loose the seven
seals thereof, and I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne,
and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood
a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven horns, that is all
power, seven eyes, all knowing, which are the seven spirits of
God sent forth into all the world. Another word that's mentioned
quite often in the Revelation, not only the Lamb of God, but
talks about the throne of God. I counted 31 times in the Revelation,
it talks about the throne. And we know the Lord Jesus Christ
is sitting on the throne of God and glory. There interceding
for us as our advocate, as our mediator. So what is the book
of Revelation all about? Notice it's the Revelation verse
1 of Jesus Christ. Now that ought to clear everything
up. It's the revelation or the revealing or the declaring of
the Lord Jesus Christ who He is. So we can safely say it's
all about Him. The entire Bible from the beginning
in Genesis to Revelation, he's the Alpha, he's the Omega, he's
the beginning and he's the end of all Scripture. All Scripture
is about the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who does the revealing
and he is the one who is revealed. It takes God to reveal God to
our heart. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed them unto his children. The Apostle Paul writes this
in Galatians chapter 1, 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." Salvation is a revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ to your heart. It's an invasion of God in your
heart. As in creation and providence
and salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ must have all the preeminence. So throughout the written word
of God, the Holy Scripture, the Lord Jesus Christ must have all
glory, dominion, power, and preeminence forever and ever. Now hold your
place there, and let's look back to the book of Colossians. Can
you find that, the book of Colossians chapter 1? Colossians chapter
1. It says in verse 14, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, Colossians 1.14, who is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are
in earth, visible, invisible, whether it be throne, dominions,
principalities, or power. All things were created by him
and for him, and he is before all things. By him all things
consist, and he is the head of the body, the church, Who is
the beginning? We read that. Who is the beginning?
The end. Alpha, the omega, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things, here's the word, in all things
he might have the preeminence. Well, that's a pretty big word.
For in Him, for it pleased the Father, that in Him should all
fullness dwell." What does that word preeminence mean? He must
have all the honor and glory. He must have the first place
in all things. Now, He must have the preeminence
because He is the Lord of glory. This is especially true in all
the Word of God, but especially true in this last book in the
Bible called the Revelation of Jesus Christ to His servant John,
unto His church, it's bought with His blood. We're no more
our own keeper. We're bought with the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice, I love this verse 5,
chapter 1, verse 5, Revelation. Jesus Christ, He is the faithful
witness. He's the first begotten from
the dead, deliberate for our offenses, raised again for our
justification. Unto the prince of the kings
of the earth, He's the King of kings and Lord of lords unto
Him that loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood. It's all His doing. It's all
His purpose in saving sinners. The Lord Jesus Christ is all
the Word of God is all about the Lord Jesus Christ. And as
He's pictured in the Word, He's not pictured as a weak, pitiful,
God and Savior who wants to and can't, but the Almighty Sovereign
over heaven and earth. Did you notice verse 8? In chapter
1, verse 8, the Lord said, I am Alpha, the Omega, I am the Beginning,
the Ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and is to come. Now, look at this word, the Almighty. Now, is there anyone mightier
than the Almighty? How many times in the Revelation
do we read, he said, I am God, beside me there is no other. He is the only Almighty Savior,
Almighty God, that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's pictured in
this Revelation as conquering all, all enemies. I think one
of the key verses is found in chapter 2, excuse me, chapter
6 verse 2. Chapter 6, Revelation verse 2.
And I saw and beheld a white horse, and he that sat on him
had a bow and a crown, was given unto him, and he went forth conquering
and to conquer. He conquered all of his enemies,
all of our enemies. So Lord Jesus Christ is the absolute
victor over all things. Paul writes in Romans 8, and
all things were more than conquerors to him that loved us. Because
he wins every battle as our substitute, as our representative, as our
surety, as our mediator. In Christ Jesus, we are, as believers,
winners. Don't you want to be on the winning
team? Everybody wants to be on the winning team. In the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's the captain of our salvation who has never
lost one battle. He's the conqueror. We're winners
in him, under him who loved us. He's given us the victory through
our Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Colossians, the
Apostle Paul puts it this way. talking about the Lord's victory,
blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against
us, which was contrary to us. He took it out of the way, nailing
it to his cross. Having spoiled, defeated principalities
and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over
them in himself. He never lost a battle. Never
lost a battle. Satan, defeated. Sin, put away. Death. He said in this same chapter,
Revelation 1 verse 18, I'm he that liveth and was dead. Behold, he said, I'm alive. I'm
alive forevermore. And I have the keys of hell and
of death. The singular subject, theme,
and message of the entire Bible, Old Testament and New, is the
person and work and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. As in
creation and in providence, So in redemption, so in all the
Holy Scripture, it's the purpose of God that the Lord Jesus Christ,
He must have all the honor and glory. You remember the word
from chapter 5? Revelation over here, chapter
5, look at verse 12. Saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the Lamb. Now who's worthy of all honor
and glory? Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. And every preacher which is in
heaven and on the earth, under the earth, such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, blessing, honor,
glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne
under the Lamb forever and ever. There's those two words, Lamb
on the throne, victorious over all things. The book of God is
a book all about the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible is the book
about Christ. It's all about Him. All the promises
and blessings of God given to sinful men and women are in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Apart from Christ, God promises
nothing but wrath. Every supposed blessing will
prove only to be a curse. Apart from Christ, all the love,
mercy, and grace of God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Make sure
you don't miss that. All the revelation and knowledge
of a triune God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is not only
the central message of Holy Scripture, He is the message. To understand
this is to have the key that opens the Word of God and reveals
its treasure unto us. That which is true of the whole
volume of inspiration of Scripture is especially true in this last
book we call the Revelation. What is the book of Revelation
all about? It's about the Lord Jesus Christ, His person and
His work. Twenty-seven times In this book,
we see the Lord Jesus Christ in his sacrificial character. Salvation is to be received by
faith, the faith of God's elect, that looks to the true Christ
of God. The faith of God's elect looks
unto the Christ of God that is revealed in Holy Scripture. Any
other Christ is a false Christ. that has nothing for a guilty
sinner and that cannot save us from our sins. Be sure you're
trusting the Christ of the Bible, not the Christ of a certain denomination
that says that he wants to and can't, that he's tried and failed. To trust a false Christ is to
have a false salvation. To trust a false Christ is to
have a refuge of lies that God said, I'll sweep away. Make sure
you're trusting the Christ of God that's revealed in the book
of God. That's so important. Trust the
Christ of God that cannot fail. Both John and Paul warn us about
false prophets that preach another gospel, another spirit, and another
Jesus. Paul said, you better stick with
me. Matter of fact, he says in Galatians chapter one, though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than
that which we have preached, remember what he said? Let him
be damned. Let him be accursed. So it's
a serious thing. Make sure you're trusting the Christ that's revealed
in the book of God, in the book of the Lord Jesus Christ. The
one who is enthroned in our heart must be the Christ of God, or
we have nothing but an idol. Now, would you trust an idol?
Trust the true and living God. He said, look unto me. He said,
I am God, Isaiah 45. I am God. Beside me there is
no other. Then what does he say next? Look
to Me, look unto Me, and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth,
I am God, and there is no other. Now, let's look at verse 1. of Jesus Christ. Now, that's
the key right there. The key is right here in the
beginning. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto
him. It's a God-given revelation unto
the servant of John that show unto his servant things which
must come. Now, must shortly come to pass. shortly come to pass, and he
sent and signified it by his angel, his messenger, unto his
servant, John the Apostle. John the Apostle. God gave this
revelation of the exalted, glorious mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ,
and he's given this unto his servants. His servants, you see
that in verse 1, His servants. And all these things, He says,
must shortly come to pass. Now, if God has said it, and
spoken it, and decreed it, and declared it, Will it come to
pass? He said, I've spoken it. I'll
do it. I've purposed it. I will bring
it to pass. We can mark it down. Things which
must shortly come to pass. Remember, our Lord told His disciples,
I must go to Jerusalem. and must be betrayed, must be
crucified, must die, and must be risen again. And Peter said,
wait a minute, wait a minute. We don't think you ought to go
to Jerusalem and die. The Lord said, get out of my
way. I must do these things. Without His sacrifice for our
sin, we have no salvation. John was guided through this
glorious revelation, this glorious vision by a heavenly messenger
sent to him, signified it by his angel unto his servant John. Now the angel here is not named,
but maybe it's the same angel that came to Joseph and said,
call that baby, that's in Mary's womb, called
his name Jesus, he shall save his people from their sin. All
the angels of God have one message. The Lord Jesus Christ is everything
in salvation. And the writer of the book of
Hebrews calls the angels of God, ministering spirit, sent forth
to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation. Do you
realize the Lord said when the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ
is being preached that the angels of God desire to look into these
things. The angels of God are hovering
about God's people when they worship the Lord Jesus Christ. Their ministering spirit sent
forth to minister to those who are the heirs of salvation. These made us heirs of God and
joint heirs with the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray the Lord will
bless this study and lead and guide me and us together through
this revelation of Jesus Christ. And I think it'll take at least
two years, maybe longer, and I'm not going to get in a hurry.
This is the third time we've studied through this book, and
I jot this note down to myself because we look at this revelation
ten years ago, And if we go on this schedule, it kind of seems
like every 10 years I come back around to a book again. And in
another 10 years, I'll be 80 years old. In another 10 years,
probably most of us won't be here. I probably won't be here. In another ten years, we'll be,
maybe some of us, Lord, we'll be with the Lord. And seeing
Him face to face. No longer seeing Him revealed
in the Word, but beholding Him face to face. It says that over
here in Revelation. That we'll see His face. We'll
look at that. Chapter 19, I believe it is.
Or thereabouts. Now look at verse 2. Who bear
record. Bear record. John bearing a true
record. of the testimony of Jesus Christ.
He bears record of the word of God. Now, whenever we see that
statement, word of God, we often think of the written word, don't
we? The written word of God. And
we know that all scripture is given of God. The word of God
is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. But
whenever we see the word of God, we also should think of the Lord
Jesus Christ who is called what? He's the Word of God. He's the
expressed image of the living God. The Word of God. A word
is a vehicle of communication, isn't it? I'm speaking words.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the communication of God as the prophet
of God unto His people. He speaks the Word of Truth.
Who bear record of the Word of God and The testimony of Jesus
Christ. Now, I love that statement. The
testimony of Jesus Christ. You know, oftentimes in religious
circles, I'm glad we don't do this here, and I don't know any
of the great churches that do this or practice this, but oftentimes
in religious circles and different places, they have what they call
a testimony meeting. And people stand up and they
give their testimony. Well, what is our testimony?
Jesus Christ. He's everything. It says that
in the book of Colossians chapter 3 verse 11, Christ is all and
in all. In Him dwells all the fullness
of a Godhead bodily and in Him we stand complete. John was faithful
to declare unto us all that he saw and all that he heard. things
that he saw, and we know that he speaks about that down here
in verse 10, what he heard. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day, and I heard this great voice. as the voice of thundering waters,
the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ. John was cast out on this island
for the testimony, this island called Patmos, for the word of
God, for the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this island, and you can
look this up, I Googled this on Google Map, and I looked up
this island called Patmos. It's still called that today.
It's an island off the Greek coast, about 40 miles from Ephesus,
and this island was the place where they put notorious, vicious
criminals. It was the Alcatraz of that day.
Now, it's said in traditional history that the reason John
was put there, we know for the gospel, but it said that they
tried to put John in a pot of boiling oil to kill him, and
they did, and it He received no harm. And so they couldn't
figure out how to kill him. So they put him out on this island.
And there he had this special revelation of the Lord. He said,
I'm your companion in tribulation. Now, the Lord put him out there
to receive this special, special revelation of Christ. Now, you
can go there today. You can go to, you can look at
the different Airbnb in different places, and you can go to this
Greek island there in the Aegean Sea, and there is today, yet
there on this island of Patmos, a monastery there called St. John Monastery. There's also
there, they say, now I don't know, these things get blown
out of proportion, but they say there is a cave there that you
can visit where John lived when he was on this island. Now, I
don't know about all that, but I do know this. He was put out
there by God's purpose, God's grace, to receive this revelation
that he might write it down and give it to us. Now, what a blessing,
what a blessing. John bare witness to the things
that he heard and saw. Now, have you ever tried to tell
something you don't know? You can't do it, can you? John
said that he saw and he writes down what he heard and what he
saw. That's why I read over here in
1 John chapter, don't turn, let me just read it to you. That
which we've seen and heard, we declare it unto you. That's what
John is doing. What he heard, what he saw, he
said, I'm going to declare that unto you, the testimony of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is the essence of true
preaching. It's telling what you know. Paul
the Apostle, John the Apostle, these men were taught of God,
and they preached the things they were taught. Now, preaching
in our day, and for us, is simply repeating what God has already
said. That's what it is. It's declaring
the things we know from the Word of God. That's what preaching
is. It's declaring the testimony
of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the same as the Gospel of
Christ, telling what you know from the Word of God that Paul
calls the Gospel of God. Let's see if we can find that.
Over in the book of Romans, chapter 1. Turn over there. Romans, chapter
1. Verse 1, Romans 1, 1. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which
he promised for by his prophet in the Holy Scripture, Romans
1, verse 3, concerning his son Jesus Christ, our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, declared
to be the Son of God, with power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead. So we declare unto you
the gospel of God, the testimony of God, concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now, turn back to Revelation,
chapter 1, look at verse 3. I love how verse 3 starts. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed. Blessed is he that readeth and
they that hear the words of this prophecy. You're being blessed
by God right now by reading the Word of God, by hearing the Word
of God. And blessed is that man who reads
the Word, who hears the Word of this prophecy. And the Word
of this prophecy is Christ. And we keep those things which
are written therein For, what he says there, boy it's time.
It's time that we read the Word of God, that we hear the Word
of God, that we receive it as such as it is the Word of God,
that effectually worketh in you that believe. For, let's think
of it this way, for our time is at hand, or we could put it
this way, our times are in His hands. We're in His hand. Our
time, whatever time we have here, we're all creatures of time.
But our time, as the psalmist said in Psalm 31, our times are
in His hand. The time is at hand. The time
is at hand. The Lord promises a blessing
to those who read, hear, and study and believe the Word of
God. Blessing, blessing. They're also
given a warning, turn to Revelation 22, the last chapter. There's also given a warning
about those who will not take the Word of God, believe the
Word of God. Revelation 22, look at verse 18. For I testify unto
every man that heareth the words of this book, if ye shall add
unto these things. God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book. So we don't want to add to the
Word of God. 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, out of the Holy City, from the
things which are written therein. He which testifieth these things
saith, Surely I come quickly, Amen. Even so come, Lord Jesus
Christ. So we don't want to add to the
Word of God. We don't want to take away from
the Word of God. We want to declare what's in the Word of God. You
remember Paul in prison, his last word of instruction to young
Timothy, 2 Timothy chapter 4, was what? Preach the Word. Preach
the Word. Be in season, out of season,
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
Preach the Word. Preach the Word. It's very important
in our worship service of the Lord to read His Word. That's why we take the Word of
God, we go book by book, verse by verse, word by word. That's
why we make much of the Word of God, much of the preaching
of the Word of God. The Lord will bless the Word
to the hearts of His people. It will be a savor of life unto
life. He will send out His Word, and
He will prosper His Word wherever He is pleased to send it. We
know from reading the Word of God that faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by what? The Word of God. James put it
this way, of His own will begat He us with the what? Word of
truth. So blessed is he that readeth
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and we're talking
about the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, and keep those things
which are written therein. How do you keep those things?
Well, you don't let them run out as a leaking vessel. Have you ever tried to pour water
in a bucket that had a hole? You just pour the water in and
it runs right out. Don't let the Word of God be
poured into you and then let it leak out. Hold it. Retain it. Keep it. Believe it. Receive it. Meditate upon it. It'll bless you. It'll bless
you abundantly. Abundantly. This is one of the,
verse 3 there, where it says, Blessed is he that readeth. This
is one of the seven places in the Word of God that it uses
this word, blessed. Let's look at some of them, and
I'll let you go home with this. Look at Revelation 14, verse
13. We read this quite often about
those who are blessed. Blessed is the man that readeth
and heareth the Word. Look at Revelation 14, 13. I heard a voice from heaven saying
unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. From henceforth, yea, sayeth
the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors, and their
works do follow them. Another place, find chapter 16,
verse 15. Well, I've got it written down
here, Revelation 16. Well, I've got a bad reference
there. You'll have to excuse my oversight
there. Let's find chapter 19 verse 9. Revelation 19, verse 9. He saith
unto me, Write, blessed are they which are called unto the marriage
supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are
the true sayings of God. Blessed is that man. Blessed
is that man. Revelation 16, verse 15. Turn there. I had 15-16. That's just like me. Revelation
16, 15. Behold, I come at the feet. Blessed is he that watcheth
and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they shall
see his shame. So God's people are blessed.
They're blessed. Look at Revelation 20. Revelation
20 verse Six. This is interesting. Revelation
20, verse 6. I brought a message from the
book of Psalms one time about the blessed man. Who is the blessed
man? But the revelation has a lot
to say about those who are blessed. Revelation 20, verse 6. Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. What
is that? That's the new birth. That's
the new birth, being born again. On such as second death hath
no power, that they shall be But they shall be priests of
God and of Christ, and they shall reign with Him forever and ever
a thousand years, which is forever and ever. Revelation 22, verse
7. Revelation 22, verse 7. Behold,
I come quickly, blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the
prophecy of this book. Would you be a blessed man? hear
and receive the Word of Truth, the Word of God. Revelation 22
verse 14. Blessed are they that do His
commandments that they may have right to the tree of life and
may enter in through the gate into the city that do his commandments. What is that? Believing the gospel.
Believing the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says,
the time is at hand. All things are appointed by God
for us personally and will come to pass in due time. Our birth
The time of our death are all appointments by God, right? The
time is at hand. Our time is in His hand. All our disappointments in this
life... I thought about this a lot. And
this thought came to me the other day, and I can't remember who
I heard say this at first. All our disappointments in this
life are His appointments for us. Our time is in his hand. The scriptures bear that out.
All things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are called according to his purpose. For of him and
through him and to him are all things to whom be glory both
now and forever. All our disappointments. Have
you ever had any disappointments? We all have disappointments,
don't we? They're all his appointments for us. They're for our good
and for his glory. Okay, we'll end with that. Next
time we'll look at verse 4. John, to the seven churches which
are in Asia. Grace be unto you and peace from
Him which is, which was, and is to come.