01. Introduction To Revelation

Revelation 1:1–3 KJV 1900

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: 2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. 3 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.

Series Introduction:  

*** The Revelation Of Jesus Christ is a Exciting book

*** It has been misunderstood, misrepresented and misinterpreted.                   

*** Often avoided due to lack of understanding 

*** Revelation will only be unclear to the unbeliever,  

      1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

*** Jesus Christ is more clearly revealed here than anywhere else in the Word of God.  

      Title: The Revelation of Jesus Christ. (Not “Revelations”)  

Revelation translates the Greek word {ap-ok-al'-oop-sis} which means “an unveiling”.

This is not a book to be avoided; it is a book to be read and studied.

     I want to briefly mention the four methods of interpretation people take when they approach the book of Revelation.  How you approach this book will determine how you interpret it; and how you interpret it will determine what you will receive from it.  

     There are four primary interpretations of the book of Revelation.  

1. The Pret-er-ist Interpretation holds that the events recorded in Revelation are a historical account of the first century. Consequently, they belief that Jesus has already returned to Earth. However, it overlooks the fact that Revelation explicitly states that much of its content is clearly prophetic, as evidenced by passages like 1:3, 22:7, 10, 18-19.

2. The Idealist Interpretation – They believe Revelation as a collection of allegories and stories designed to depict the struggle between good and evil. 

    They do not see the events as actual events, but as mere myths and fables.

3.  The Hist-or-icist Interpretation – They believe Revelation to be a sweeping overview of church history.  

      It sees this book as a timeline of church history from the apostolic era down to this present day.  

    Most of the events in the book are considered to be past events.  

This view ignores the book’s claims to be prophecy and offers odd interpretation and strange applications of the text.

4.  The Futurist Interpretation – This view looks at the book of Revelation and sees most of the events as being future in nature.  

     This view holds that the book of Revelation is mostly prophetic in nature.  

    This view takes a literal approach to interpretation.  

It allows all of the events of the Revelation to be actual events.  

     The people, places, and events are not spiritualized and relegated to the realm of allegory and myth.  

   Everything to book says from the rapture of the church to the second coming of the Lord Jesus to a literal millennial kingdom is seen as a real, actual, future event.  

    This is the path of interpretation that we will follow for our study.

   Date: 95 AD – Many liberals try to date it later, but there is no evidence for their claims and strong evidence to date this book in the first century.

   Author: John the Beloved, the same Apostle who penned the Gospel and the three epistles that bear his name.  

    This is stated clearly several times: 1:1, 4, 9; 22:8.

   Key Verse: Revelation 1:19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter; 

     This verse offers a clear, three-point outline to the events of the Revelation.  

     This verse is also the key to understanding the book.  

The Revelation is the only book in the Bible to contain its own divinely inspired outline. That outline is as follows:

  I.  The Things Which Thou Hast Seen – Chapter 1

 II.  The Things Which Are – Chapter 2-3

III.  The Things Which Shall Be Hereafter – Chapters 4-22

   Background: This book was written during some dark days for the early church.  suffering terrible persecution under the iron hand of the Roman Emperors.  

    This book was written to give them hope and encouragement in the struggles they faced.  This book was also given to them to let them know how the plan of God would eventually play out.  

    God has a plan for the future, and that His plan includes the end of Satan, sin and this fallen world; and the redemption of creation and God’s Own people, and the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

      This great plan will take shape far more clearly as we move through the book.

     The Basics You Need To Know:  This book is a book of prophecy. 

It speaks of future events in what is often symbolic language.  

That language, however, is clearly defined and explained. 

      This is a book closely tied to the OT.  

Of the 404 verses in Revelation, 278 refer to the OT in some way.  

Of those 278 verses, there are over 800 thoughts that call to mind OT events.  

       So, a working knowledge of the entire Bible is necessary to understand all that is taking place in this book.

      The book of Revelation and the book of Genesis stand like the great bookends of God’s creation.  

     Many things that have their commencement in Genesis have their conclusion in Revelation.  

Things like sin, Satan, creation, the curse, Heaven, earth, redemption, etc, come full circle by the time you reach Revelation.

I.  THE MAN OF THE REVELATION

    A.  This book is a book about Jesus!  the real title of this book is given in v1. It is called “the revelation of Jesus Christ.”  

   B.  Jesus Christ is the theme of the Bible.  It is a “revelation” or an “unveiling” of the Person, Purposes, Plans, and Power, of the Lord Jesus.

   C.  When Jesus was here the first time, He was veiled.  He was not recognized by most people as God, even though He was 

    1 Corinthians 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

     The world saw Jesus in poverty, In His humanity.  The last view the world had of Jesus was as a convicted criminal dying in sorrow, shame.

    D.  The book of Revelation tells us that the world has not seen the last of Jesus!  

      He is coming again not for a cross, but for a crown.  

He is not coming as a suffering Lamb, but as a Sovereign King.  

   He is not coming in shame and poverty, but in splendor and power.  

He is coming back on borrowed donkey but on a raging white stallion.        

    There is coming a day when Jesus Christ will come and be revealed to the whole world.  They will see Him as He truly is.  

This is the clear teaching of the Scriptures, 

1 Corinthians 1:7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ:(The word “coming” is “apokalupsis”.)

2 Thessalonians 1:7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

(The word “revealed” is “apokalupsis”.)  

1 Peter 1:7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

(The word “appearing” is “apokalupsis”.)  Do you get the picture?

    Jesus is coming and the world will see Him as He really is, Rev. 1:7.

We are about to see that the solution to all the worlds problems is Jesus.  

II. THE MISSION OF THE REVELATION

    1. v1, “to shew unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”  

It's God’s master plan for the future. 

    2. v3 reminds us that this book is a book of “prophecy”. 

2 types of prophecy.

    1. “forth tell”.  To make public or tell. That is what I am doing right now.  I am taking the Word of God and I am “forth telling” that Word.  

    There is a sense in which preaching is prophecy.  

    2. “fore telling”.  That is, of revealing truths and events before they occur.  

Both of these types of prophecy occur in the book of Revelation.  

     Revelation 1-3 are “forth telling” chapters. 

     Revelation 4-22 are “fore telling” chapters.

This revelation of Jesus is given to “His servants”.  The word servant is “one who gives himself up to another's will; a slave”.  

    Idea of the bondservant in Ex 21:1-6.  

If a man became indebted to another, he was to work off that debt through seven years of servitude.  At the end of the 7 years, the debt was considered paid and the servant could go free.  If, however, he wished to remain with his master and spend his life serving him, then a hole would be bored through his ear and he would become a bond slave.  

     The hole in his ear would mark him as one who served the master by choice, out of love……This book is for the people of God!  

     The lost will have real trouble grasping the truths contained in this book because they are words intended for those who serve the Lord from a heart of love.

    3. “things which must shortly come to pass”.  Many people read this and think of shortness of time.  

     If that is the case, then we have a problem.  It has been 2,000 since these things were written and most of them have yet to be fulfilled.  

     This phrase simply means that when these events begin to take place, they will happen in a short period of time.  

    So, the events of the Revelation were made clear 2,000 years ago, but once the events begin to unfold; one will follow the other in rapid succession.  

    The word “shortly” translates two Greek words. “en” and “tachos” which means “quickness; swiftness”.  (We get our word “taxi” from this )

     4. “sent and signified it by His angel”. .. “angel” simply refers to a “messenger”.  

    But, the word “signified” is very important to understand...means “to give sign”.  

    In other words, the Lord is letting us know that He will be speaking in symbolic language and word pictures in the Revelation.  

Why would the Lord use signs and symbols? :

1.  These symbols are a spiritual code.  The church in that day was under intense persecution.  The language used would have been clear to the redeemed, but a riddle to the lost who might desire to use the message of the book to attack the saints.

2.  Languages change, symbols do not.  John was trying to write about events, images and people far into the distant future.  

    He did not possess the vocabulary to describe it.  He used the language of his day to describe events in our day and beyond.  

     That is why the Lord sent this message in signs and symbols.  As the language has changed the symbols have retained their power and they still speak today.

     Don’t worry about the signs and symbols  Remember, this is not a hidden book; it is a revelation,.

III. THE MESSAGE OF THE REVELATION

    This is the only book in the Bible that comes with a built in promise. God promises a special blessing to those who spend time in this blessed book.

There are three present tense words used to describe who can expect to receive this blessing. 

1.  He that readeth – This refers to the one who would read these words in the public gatherings.  In those days, copies of the Scriptures were rare.  Usually there was one copy per congregation and one person would stand and read so that all could hear the words.  The one who reads the book is promised a blessing.

2.  They that hear – This refers to the congregation that is hearing the words as they are read.  There is a special blessing attached to hearing this book read.

3.  They that keep – This speaks to those who will take this message to heart.  

     Those who hear it, believe it, and live it can expect the Lord to bless them for their efforts in this book.

      We can expect the Lord to feed us and teach us as we move through this great book.

      Conc: Now, we are told why this book is so important in the last phrase of v3.  

    It says, “for the time is at hand”.  

“time” in this verse does not refer to time on a clock; it means “due time; a season; an era of time”.  

   God is telling us that we are nearing the end of this things and this book will give us help and hope as we see the end approaching.

If the time was near 2,000 years ago, why haven’t these things come to pass? 

*** 1st, God’s clock does not operate like our clock. Ill. 2 Pet. 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”