Rev 1-22 Jesus is Coming, Are you Ready?

Revelation 1:1–3 ESV

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

God has given information in the past that has helped people escape the coming fire, and there have been times when people have made powerful use of what God revealed about the future. Society turned back to God even at the darkest moments. Why couldn’t something like that happen today?

In Moses’ day the Lord revealed himself to Israel, creating them as a nation, reshaping their lives around his word. We have something greater. We have the Bible. We have Jesus. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Why not today?

Samuel faithfully proclaimed the word of God for twenty years, and then revival came. The Bible was rediscovered in Josiah’s day. The priest Hilkiah found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord, and once again society was reshaped around the Word of God. We have something greater. We have the Bible. We have Jesus. We have the indwelling Holy Spirit. Why not today?

In Ezra’s day he faithfully proclaimed the word of God for thirteen years. Nehemiah came on the scene, and the people turned their hearts to the word of the Lord proclaimed by Ezra. The society was reshaped around the word of God.

We could go on and on giving examples of times when things were awful, and then people got serious about God’s revelation of himself, and so many lives were changed that society was transformed. It happened in Luther’s day, in Whitefield’s day, and in some places it is happening today.

Why do we need to study Revelation?

Because we have been lulled to sleep by the ordinariness of our lives. Our senses have been dulled by the humdrum of one day after another. We need to see God as he is. In the book of Revelation, God unveils the world as it really is. We need to be convinced that Jesus is reigning as the risen King. We need to have him speak to the situation in our churches. We need to know that God is right now on his throne, in control in Heaven, worshiped by myriads upon myriads of the heavenly host. We need to see the way that God will pulverize wickedness, obliterate those who oppose him, and set up his kingdom. The book of Revelation has exactly what we need today.

Today we will have a brief overview of the whole letter, and then the next time we will dive into chapter 1. But, today will have a bird’s eye view of this book.

Broadly speaking, we can break the whole book of Revelation down into three parts:

Revelation 1:1–8 The Opening

Revelation 1:9–22:9 The Vision: John’s Vision on the Lord’s Day

Revelation 22:10–21 The Closing

The Lord gives us this “revelation of Jesus Christ” and of what will “soon take place” (1:1) so that we can know and enjoy him by living in light of reality and in light of the way history will be brought to its consummation. More specifically, God wants us to know the glory of his mercy and his justice, and that is what we see in Revelation: history culminates in climactic demonstrations of the glory of God in salvation through judgment.

To say it another way, God has given us the book of Revelation so we can know him in his glorious justice and mercy and live worshipfully by faith.

As we begin, we ask our Lord Jesus to use this book to fire us with the same urgency we would have if it were September 10, 2001, and we had just learned what was going to happen the next morning. You would not rest with that information. So may it be with this information. This is not just information and we will gain nothing if we only increase in knowledge without a transforming life. God gave us this book so our lives would be transformed.

Let’s dive into our brief overview of this whole letter starting with:

Revelation 1:1–8: The Opening

One of the most important things to do when trying to understand any piece of writing is to understand the genre of what it is we are reading. We know what to expect from comic strips, blogs, novels, and nonfiction books. So it’s important to understand the genre of Revelation to know what to expect.

The opening words of the book identify it, literally, as an “Apocalypse of Jesus Christ” (1:1). An apocalypse typically concerns itself with what will take place at the end of history, whereas prophecy usually deals with what will take place in the flow of history before it reaches its consummation. That the book of Revelation is an apocalypse, then, leads us to expect that it will “unveil” (reveal)—which is the etymological meaning of the term “apocalypse”—what will take place at the end of history. This Bible book claims to “uncover” how history will be concluded.

John also pronounces a blessing in 1:3 on those who read, hear, and keep what is written in “this prophecy.” So John not only describes his book as an apocalypse, he also tells us that it is a prophecy. Revelation, then, is an apocalyptic prophecy.

The book of Revelation is also a circular letter addressed to Christians in churches. That means it is written to encourage Christians. The whole book was probably intended to be read aloud, in one sitting, in a worship gathering of the local church. In writing to seven churches, seven being a number of completion and wholeness, John writes to all the churches.

Being an apocalyptic prophecy, this letter reveals the future to us; it pulls back the veil and lets us see the world as it truly is. The book of Revelation is meant to help us see reality. And the truth about this world is that it is a world in which the glory of God will be seen in his justice, which in turn will highlight the gracious and free character of his mercy. Knowing that it is God’s purpose to display his glory in these ways is one of the blessings of reading and studying this book.

Next from Revelation 1:9–22:9 we see John’s Vision on the Lord’s Day

Revelation 1:9–22:9: John’s Vision on the Lord’s Day

Beginning in 1:9, John recounts the way that Jesus appeared to him in glory (1:9–20), dictated to him specific letters addressing the seven churches (2:1–3:22), and called him up into the heavenly throne room to see the worship of God there (4:1–5:14).

In the throne room, John sees Jesus take a scroll from the Father, and from what happens when the scroll is opened, we know that the writing on the scroll describes the events that will bring history to its appointed consummation. Jesus opens the seals on the scroll (6:1–8:1); then seven angels blow seven trumpets (8:2–11:19).

John describes the conflict between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent in cosmic terms in chapters 12–14. Then the final seven bowls of God’s wrath are poured out in chapters 15, 16.

In chapters 17–22 we have a harlot, the King, and his bride. Revelation 17:1–19:10 personifies the wicked world system as a prostitute named Babylon, and the outpouring of God’s wrath results in her fall. King Jesus then comes and sets up his kingdom in 19:11–21:8. His coming is followed by the description of the people of God personified as the pure bride of the Lamb, the new Jerusalem, descending from Heaven for the marriage supper of the Lamb (21:9–22:9).

Revelation 22:10–21 The Closing

Let’s look more closely at each of these sections to see the overarching point of each part of the body of Revelation.

Revelation 1:9–3:22: Jesus and the Letters

There is a striking contrast between the obvious glory and authority of the risen Christ in 1:9–20 and the stressed, persecuted, oppressed, sinful, unimpressive, insignificant state of the churches addressed in chapters 2, 3. Five of the seven churches are rebuked for some specific sin and called to repentance. The two churches that are not rebuked are opposed by the “synagogue of Satan” (2:9; 3:9) and are told that they will suffer (2:10). Jesus promises to preserve them through suffering (3:10).

As the churches are compelled by the glory of Christ (1:9–20) to obey what he calls them to (2:1–3:22), we see that in spite of the way things seem now, God is the central reality of life. He is going to save the righteous and judge the wicked. And the righteous are those who have been freed from their sins by the blood of Jesus (1:5).

The promises to the churches are amazing. We see in 2:7 that the overcomers will eat of the tree of life; in 2:11 they will not be hurt by the second death; in 2:17 they are promised hidden manna and a new name on a white stone; in 2:26 they are promised authority over the nations; in 3:5 they are promised white garments and Jesus’ acknowledgment before the Father; in 3:12 they are promised the right to a place in God’s temple with the name of God and Jesus written on them; in 3:21 they are promised the right to sit with Jesus on his throne.

Revelation 4:1–16:21: The Throne and the Judgments

Just as there is a stark contrast between the exalted Christ in chapter 1 and the lowly churches in chapters 2, 3, there is a similar contrast between the lukewarm, sinful churches in chapters 2, 3 and the throne room of Heaven in chapters 4, 5. This contrast is intended to jolt the churches out of lukewarmness into the same passionate worship of God that is happening even now in Heaven. The description of the radiant glory of God in chapter 4 is meant to put the spotlight on the beauty of holiness and the wretchedness of sin, and this is meant to purify the churches.

Flowing out of the heavenly worship scene are the judgments of the seals, the trumpets, and the bowls. When we feel the magnetic force of temptation, we need to visualize the inescapable judgment of God described in chapters 6–16. We need to pray that God will use the revelation of his wrath to bulldoze the wickedness that is enticing us.

Interspersed through these chapters are also several sections that show God’s ability to preserve his people. Between the opening of the sixth seal in 6:12–17 and the seventh seal in 8:1, chapter 7 describes the saints of God being sealed (7:1–8) and worshiping God in Heaven (7:9–17).

God’s protection of his people is also dramatically illustrated in chapters 12–14 where the cosmic conflict between Satan and the people of God is described. Satan presents a cheap imitation of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lamb of God in the form of a seven-headed beast with one head that was mortally wounded and then healed (13:1–3). Everyone worships the beast, the fake Christ (13:3)—everyone, that is, except those whose names God wrote in the Lamb’s book of life before the foundation of the world (13:8). God protects his people from all Satan’s schemes.

Satan then counterfeits the Trinity (cf. 12:17; 13:1, 11; 16:13). He has faked the crucifixion, and now he produces a cheap imitation of the Holy Spirit (13:11–14). This beastly fake holy spirit then produces a cheap imitation of the sealing of God’s saints when he compels the world to receive the number of the beast (13:16–18). Satan is a fake. Don’t be taken in by his schemes. Don’t be tempted by his false offers. See him for what he is—for what Revelation reveals him to be: a perverse twister of the beauties of God.

As we proceed through chapters 6–16, the judgments get progressively worse. The seals affect one-fourth of the world (6:8), the trumpets affect one-third of the world (9:18), and the outpouring of the bowls will complete God’s wrath as no one escapes his judgment (16:1–21).

God’s justice is perfect. He is holy. All deserve to be consumed by it. But again and again in Revelation we see that God spares some, and we see them declaring in 7:10, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” In 5:9 we see that Jesus “ransomed people for God.” In 14:4 we read that they “follow the Lamb wherever he goes” and were “redeemed from mankind.” So we must ask: is it possible to join the ranks of those described in 7:3, who receive the seal of God on the forehead? Is it possible to become one who is redeemed, as 1:5 describes, one who is freed from sin by the blood of Jesus?

First, let’s look at what Revelation shows us not to do. We should not be like those who see the outpouring of God’s wrath and refuse to repent. After the sixth trumpet, we read in 9:20, “The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent.” After the fourth bowl is poured out, we see in 16:9, “They did not repent and give him glory.” After the fifth bowl is poured out, in 16:11, “They did not repent of their deeds.” And after the seventh bowl, in 16:21, “they cursed God.”

Those who refused to repent failed to see the mercy God folded into his judgment. The outpouring of God’s wrath is meant to condemn everything else that you trust. God’s judgment is actually his kindness in disguise. He uses it, while we live, to lead us to repentance and salvation. God judges us so that he can save us.

We who believe are the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan wants to make us common prostitutes. He wants to lure us into spiritual adultery with his cheap imitations of true pleasure. The book of Revelation shows us that these pleasures will not satisfy and do not last. They will be destroyed with the wicked world system ranged against God.

Jesus cleanses his bride with the water of the Word. He laid down his life for his bride (cf. Ephesians 5:22–33). Fix your heart on the glory of that wedding day. Point your whole life toward that glorious consummation, and let everything you do between now and then be informed by that moment when Jesus will come. Live for him now so that you will enjoy him then.

Meditate on these texts until the blazing purity of the Lord Jesus is more desirable to you than the filthy pleasures that are nothing more than twisted parodies of his good gifts. And do everything you can to make sure that your day-to-day activities are done in a way that honors the King. God has given the book of Revelation to us so that we will live in light of the punishing and rewarding Jesus will do when he comes.

We want everyone we know to enjoy Jesus with us. We want everyone we know to escape the judgment of God. We want everyone we know to realize that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2). Something worse than 9/11 could happen to them at any moment. Is your heart hardened to what could happen to people you know? If it was September 10, 2001, and someone you knew worked at the World Trade Center or was scheduled to be on one of those planes, you would tell them? Would you urge them not to fly that day? Any minute now something worse could happen to every unbelieving person you know.

Is there anyone too difficult for God to save? Could God save our friends and family? Could we see thousands of people coming to faith in Jesus? God’s arm is not too short to save.

Is our imagination too small? Is our love too little? Is our Bible reading too infrequent? Are our evangelistic efforts too seldom? Are our prayers too self-centered? God’s arm is not too short to save!

Hell is real, and it never ends. The Savior has been slain, and he rose from the dead. God warns you of judgment to come. Faith in Christ saves. Jesus is King.

Our task is to live in a way that matches what the unveiling, the book of Revelation, has shown us about the way things really are. Jesus is coming quickly, bringing his recompense (22:12).

“Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” (1:7). Every knee will bow and every tongue confess him as Lord (Philippians 2:10, 11).

Every action, word, and thought will be measured by the standard of God’s glory. Every transgression or disobedience will receive just retribution (cf. Hebrews 2:2). You will either be among those praising God for saving you from his wrath through the judgment of Jesus on the cross, or you will be judged to display the eternal, almighty justice of God.

Trust in Jesus. He is humanity’s only hope. If you trust him, live for him. He is coming soon. Jesus is Coming soon, are you ready?

Pray