A Beautiful Prologue

Introduction

Opening Illustration: For the last two thousand years of human history, Christians have been fascinated by the last book in the Bible, Revelation. The book has gone by different names. Our Bibles have it titled as Revelation. It has been called the Revelation of St. John. It has been the Apocalypse. This book is so fascinating because in it, the Apostle John speaks about events that are going to happen in his future, using remarkable and fantastic imagery. We find events involving the stars, and mountains, and plagues of locusts destroying large percentages of the world. We read of beasts rising out of the sea. We read of prophets being killed and coming back to life. Pastors and politicians often speak about end times, and Armageddon, in reference to this book and the events we see laid out inside of it.

Personal Confession: I confess that I love this book, and I have great trepidation in preaching through this book. My trepidation is not that I cannot teach a class on all the different views and how people intrerpret these chapters. As my theological studies have grown over the last twenty years, I have held at various points a number of the major views of interpretation of this book. My trepidation, is specifically Revelation 22:18 which reads

Revelation 22:18 “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book,”

I think I understand the weight of preaching. And because there are so many symbols to interpret and images to understand, and context to consider, there are many ways to stray. But I trust the Lord, and I believe in the preaching of God’s Word. And I believe his Holy Spirit is at work in this Church. And I believe has much to teach us.

Invitation: And so I want to invite you into our Revelation study. Many Christians just don’t know what to do with this book, feeling that it is somehow largely irrelevant to their life today. And that could not be further from the truth.

Context: Today we look at the Prologue to the entire book of Revelation. This is part of a two-part introduction to the book, that we will pick up again next week when we look at verses 4-8. Today, we have three short little verses at the start of the book that give us an entryway into understanding everything we are going to encounter.

Revelation 1:1–3 “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, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 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.”

Meaning & Application

Here in John’s prologue, I want to draw out three core attributes of this book, that can guide our entire study.

THE CONTENT OF REVELATION

Opening Phrase: The opening phrase of this book tells us a great deal about what we should expect to find inside.

Revelation 1:1 “The revelation of Jesus Christ…”

Revelation: That word “revelation” has the literal meaning of “an uncovering of what is hidden.” And so revelation is a “revealing” or an “uncovering.” This is important. It is true there are fantastice and remarkable images that are used in this book that the greatest scholars often disagree on how to best interpret them. But Revelation is not supposed to leave us being more confused. Revelation is a revealing. It’s not supposed to be obscure or enigmatic. When the Christian puts this book down, while they may have many questions, they ought to have received a wonderful word from God that ministers to them in their circumstance.

Of Jesus Christ: But it’s not just any revelation. This is the revelation “of Jesus Christ.” That little phrase can be interpreted in one of two ways. On the one hand, grammatically it could mean “the revelation that came from Jesus.” It’s Jesus’s revelation. This is true. The very next sentence tells that Christ gave this revelation through angels to the Apostle John. And so it is proper to say this is Jesus’s revelation. On the other hand however, “of Jesus Christ” could be read “about Jesus Christ.” In that sense, the entire revelation is about Jesus Christ. Everything we see, tells us something about Jesus Christ. Which one is it? Grammatically, there is a third option, and it is the correct option. It has both meanings. This revelation comes from Jesus and this revelation is about Jesus Christ.

Big Picture: When I say it is “about Jesus”, what do I mean. I have a sentence that is a bit lengthy but it captures what this entire book is all about.

In Revelation we discover Christ our exalted King, ruling over his eternal kingdom, defeating all of his enemies, guiding world history according to his purposes, blessing and sustaining his beloved Church, and preparing the world for his return.

This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. We must be very careful when we read and we interpret this book that we keep that purpose at the center of all we do. We must not turn this into something it is not meant to be. Revelation is not a horoscope that we should be using to predict specific future events. I believe that is a misuse of the book. We may discover some of those things in this book, but that is secondary. This is a Revelation of Jesus Christ, not a Revelation of earthly events.

Other Themes We Discover: Of course, throughout this book we discover all kinds of themes and images. But these themes and images always serve the main theme. What are some of those themes we’ll discover.

The Nations: Over and over again we discover the nations, and God’s heart and concern to win the nations to Christ.

Politics: Over and over again we discover the nature of politics, and the decisions of kings, and reality of who is really in control of the movement of nations.

Spiritual Warfare & Persecution: Over and over again we discover the serious reality of spirtitual warfare and the serious reality of persecution that Christians of all ages, including our own, should expect to be a part of their reality.

Final Judgment: And over and over again we have images of the final judgment, when Christ will take his seat upon his throne and separate those who are in Christ from those who are not in Christ. And those who are not in Christ will be destined for Hell, and those who are in Christ will be granted eternity in heaven with Christ.

These, and many more, are sub themes. Each of them serving the one theme, the one great theme, Jesus Christ.

Illustration - 3D Glasses: All of these themes are presented to us through fantastic imagery: beasts, and dragons, and stars, and plagues. Why? Reading Revelation is a bit like going to 3d movie theater. When you walk into a 3D movie, you’re given special glasses with colored lenses on them. If you watch the movie without the glasses on, you can follow along just fine. You can see the images, and hear the storyline. But if you put those glasses on, a new depth is added to the entire story. Elements of the picture now stand out to you in ways they couldn’t without the glasses on. New things are revealed that you would never had scene had you not a new lens. Revelation is like those 3D glasses. They’re helping you see and interpret the world around you, seeing things you wouldn’t have seen otherwise.

So What: So here is the practical counsel I want to give you as we begin this book. When you open Revelation, do not come first asking, “What events does this predict?” Come asking, “What does this reveal about my King?” We must read this book on your knees before you read it with a timeline in your hand. If Revelation is meant to uncover Jesus Christ, then the primary question is not curiosity about the future, but confidence in the Christ who rules it.

The Content of Revelation

THE ESSENCE OF REVELATION

Our second core attribute to consider is the essence of Revelation.

Revelation is Apocalyptic Literature: First, Revelation is a mixture of two different genres of writing: prophecy and apocalyptic literature. Now when we think of the word apocalypse, we tend to think of the end of the world, some kind of world ending catastrophe. That’s not necessarily what is meant here. Our English word “apocalypse” is derived from the Greek word apokalupsis. That Greek word is translated correctly in our bibles as “revelation.” What is Apocalyptic Literature. Apocalyptic Literature is a genre of writing. And we have to understand that genre to make sense of what we’re reading.

Genre Matters: Genre Matters, and genre helps us understand how we’re supposed to interpret what we read. We can’t read the Gospel of Matthew the same way we read the book of Psalms. Psalms are meant to be prayed and internalized into our emotional life. The Gospel of Matthew, on the other hand, is an accurate account of the life of Jesus meant to inform us. That is read more like a linear story. And again, Leviticus is an entirely genre. Leviticus is largely legal code. If you approach Leviticus the same way you approach the Gospel of Matthew, you’re going to be very confused. Well Revelation is apocalypitc literature. And one of the reasons its tough to interpret is because we don’t really have anything quite like this as a genre we’re familiar with anymore. But it was a genre that John’s original audience was familiar with.

Illustration - Dr. Strangelove: This is a bit of an embarrasing story. But there is an old classic comedy movie known as Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. I’m guessing few in this room have seen that movie. But that movie is dark political satire abot the insanity of nuclear war. It’s funny if you know its supposed to be funny. When I was much younger, I had heard that this was quite a famous film, and so I sat down one night to watch it, thinking it was a deep drama. As the movie unfolded I was totally confused. The film is hysterically funny, if you know its a comedy. But much of the comedic humor is subtle and hidden. One of the famous lines happens when world leaders are gathered in the war room deciding what to do. A few of them get into a fist fight. And someone yells “There’s no fighting in the war room.” That’s a hysterically funny line. But because I thought it was a drama, I withheld my laughter. It wasn’t until the very last scene, when an atomic is dropped and a man is riding it like a horse, that I thought “You know, I don’t think I understood that movie.” If you get the genre wrong, you miss it. And many I’m afraid, have missed Revelation entirely, because they don’t know what they’re reading.

About Apocalyptic Literature: What do we know about this genre of writing. I’ll give three essential tools to understand apocalyptic literature:

Saturated with Symbols: Apocalyptic literature is saturated symbols, figures, and metaphors. So, in the book of Revelation we will encounter the “beast rising out of the sea.” We’ll encounter an angel who has “the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit.” We’ll encounter locusts who swarm the earth and torment people who have faces “like human faces with golden crowns.” We’ll encounter fire coming out of prophet’s mouths. I believe one of the great errors or modern interpretrations of revelation is that all these things are taken very literally, when that’s just not what apocalyptic literature. A wise reader of of apocalyptic literature asks what these symbols represent about our reality.

Interconnectedness of Earth & Heaven: A second essential understanding is that apocalyptic literature typically depicts earthly realities and earthly events in light of heavenly realities. It is essentially gives you a different way to view the events happening around you as not just earthly events, but as first and foremost heavenly movements, and only secondly events happening here on earth.

Not Necessarily Linear: Third, and particularly important for Revelation, is that apocalyptic literature is not necessarily linear, meaning movign from beginning to end. Revelation is actually quite cyclical. In fact, if you read Revelation carefully, you see that its repeating itself at times, only from different angles, and with different images. It’s as if you’re getting the same story told from insanely different angles.

Revelation is Prophecy: I said that Revelation is a mixture of two genres. It is both apocalyptic literature and prophecy. We read in verse 3

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy…

There are many prophetic books in the Bible, particularly in the Old Testament. Prophecy has a few major features.

Call to Repentance: Prophets call us to repentance before a holy God. THey invite us to understand our sinfulness, and to see our need of a savior. And Revelation makes clear there is only savior between God and man, Jesus Christ.

Godliness & Courage: One, the main work of a prophet is similar to the work of a preacher. A prophet is calling God’s people to faithfulness despite their circumstances. He’s calling them to godliness and courage in the Lord. We see language like this all through Revelation.

Revelation 13:10 “… Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints.”

The Future: The second aspect of prophetic literature is that it tells events that will happen in the future. John tells us this right out of the gate.

Revelation 1:3 “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.”

Ways to Interpret Revelation: Underneath this heading of prophecy I want to give you a brief overview of some of the different ways people have interpreted revelation in the past, and where I land and how I’m going to be preaching this series. Everyone agrees that John, in this book, is describing events that would happen in his future. The question becomes “Have the events described in Revelation already happened in our past, or are they still going to happen in our future?” There are a number of ways to answer that question.

Preterist Approach: Some folks take what is called the Preterist approach. The preterist approach believes that the events described in Revelation all occurred shortly after John wrote the book. Which means for us, that the events have already been fulfilled. In other words, preterists would say the events were in John’s future, but in our past. Given the historical context, and the events that happened in the first century, especially with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem, this is a very possible approach.

Historicist: Some folks take what is called the Historicist approach, believing that all of church history is unfolding according to the chapters in Revelation. And so during the Reformation, many of the theologians of the time believed they were living through the days of chapter 13, and chapters 14-21 were yet to come.

Futurist: The next view is what is called the futurist view. By the title you can guess what it means. Futurists believe that everything from chapters 4-22 will happen in our future. This view is the most common view among American evangelicals. It was highly popularized by DL Moody in the early 20th century. And indeed, many of the events that are described in Revelation, it seems like they haven’t happened yet.

Idealist: Fourth is the idealist view. The idealist view avoids the question of timing altogether. The idealist view says that Revelation is not about specific events, but Revelation is discussing timeless truths about the Church and the battle between good and evil. This is an attractive view, because certainly, we see echoes of all of the themes discussed in Revelation all throughout history in one degree or another.

Eclectic: Fifth, and finally, is what’s called the Eclectic View. This view acknowledges that there are strengths and weaknesses of all of the four other views. Many of these events do seem to have been fulfilled in 70AD at the destruction of the temple and the persecution of Christians (preterist). And yet, some events seem like they’re still in our future (futurist). Yet there does seem to resounding echoes of the major them that echo throughout history (idealist). While this is helpful, the challenge is that it becomes tricky to determine when a certain approach is to be used.

My Approach: So what do we do? Over the years of my fascination with the book of Revelation I have held to a few of these views. I was originaly a futurist who strongly believed that all of the events in Revelation would happen in the future. I read the Left Behind book series and the study notes which came out with it. In more recent years, I have been very keen on the Preterist approach, as indeed many of the symbols of Revelation are rightly understood in their initial 1st century context. The approach I will use in this series is somethign like the eclectic approach. I’m going to be pulling, where appropriate from each of these camps, and doing my best to anchor us in timeless principles and truths that we can apply into our life today, while honoring the text that John wrote as he intended to be read and understood.

Wrap Up: As we think about the essence of Revelation, how do we put this together. This book is not given in order for us satisfy speculation, but it is given to form saints. It uses symbols and metaphors and images not to confuse us, but to strengthen us. It pulls back the curtain on heaven for a reason, so that we can endure the challenges of living faithfully for Christ in this world. Revelation tells us that behind everything we see in this life, is a sovereign God, a reigning Christ, and a certain end. The goal is not to ask, “Can I figure this out?” but instead each week we must ask, “How should I live in light of this?”

The Essence of Revelation

THE PURPOSE OF REVELATION

Lastly, our opening prologue today informs us about the purpose of Revelation. One of the key purposes of the book of Revelation is that we, Christ’s church, might be blessed.

Revelation 1:3 “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.”

Blessed: “Blessed” Don’t you want to be blessed? Do you know what that word means? It means happy, satisfied, fortunate, privileged. In this context, specifically it refers to a person on whom divine favor is given. Who does this text say is “blessed?”

Me: First, me! And I’m feeling blessed today.

Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy…”

We have to remember, when this was originally written, there were no books. They had scrolls. And what would happen is that those scrolls containing John’s written words, when get copied by a scribe and then sent out to various church leaders. Typically, only the elders of a local congregation were able to handle those scrolls and read them aloud. This language of “reading aloud” in context likely does not only mean reading the text, but then means explaining the text, in other words “preaching.” So here in the beginning of Revelation, we have a call to faithfully preach the word of God, and a promise that God will bless his faithful preachers. Amen!

You: Second, you are blessed, under one condition. You are blessed if you “hear and keep the words.” You will not be blessed by simply sitting in the seat and listenign to the sermon. You are blessed when you hear the words and obey the words. When you hear the words and treasure them in your heart as if they are the very words of life. The greatest tragedy that could ever befall a person, is that they go to church week in and week out. They hear countless sermons. But they only ever hear, and they end up in Hell because they never really believe and are changed by the Word of God through repentance.

Applications: There are some very clear applications for us as we think about the purpose of our time in Revelation together.

1) Is Christ Being Formed in Me? First, every week when we come to this text we need to ask the question “Is Christ being formed in me?” Remember, this is a Revelation of Jesus Christ. What did we say in the beginning “In Revelation we discover Christ our exalted King, ruling over his eternal kingdom, systematically defeating all of his enemies, guiding world history according to his purposes, blessing and sustaining his beloved Church, and preparing the world for his return.” Every time we open this text, Christ ought to magnified in our lives. This book should make us behold the cross with new eyes, understanding what it means to be saved by the blood of Christ, for an eternal purpose of glory.

2) Am I Approaching this Text With a Heart of Worship? Second, we can ask ourselves “Am I approaching this text with a heart of worship? To behold Christ is to learn to worship, to give your heart and your life to. This book is going to call us to cling to Christ when its difficult, to face persecution head on for the glory of God, to hunger for the nations to know Christ, to see Christ’s providential hand guiding history. And in all of that, the humble Christian is left with a heart of intense white hot worship for the glory of God.

3) Is this text causing me to live with a greater Christian urgency? Third, we can ask ourselves “Is this text causing me to live with a greater Christian urgency? What are the last words of this opening prologue? “… for the time is near.” One of the greatest tragedies is that can ever happen to a person, is that they delay placing their faith in Christ and learning to walk with him through this life and the next. We cannot delay. This book reveals that the stakes are far too high. The world that we experience, with nations at war, and politicians at play, and the church battling for truth, there is far more going on than meets the eye. Beneath all you can see is a sovereign hand of history guiding towards the glorious final end. Because one day, very soon, Christ will return. A trumpet will sound, and when that trumpet sounds, not one ear on this planet will be confused about what it means, the end has come. Christ is returning for his bride. And on that day there will be no more excuses. You will either be found in Christ, or you will be found an enemy of Christ. That is the urgency before you today. And John wrote many years ago, the time is short.

Conclusion

Remember what this book is about. In Revelation we discover Christ our exalted King, ruling over his eternal kingdom, defeating all of his enemies, guiding world history according to his purposes, blessing and sustaining his beloved Church, and preparing the world for his return. May Christ get the glory, and may we get all the joy as we study his word together.