Vaughn, okay, please open your Bibles to the inerrant, holy, sufficient, life-giving word of truth to Revelation chapter one. I'm gonna read verses one through three. Revelation one, one through three. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Let's pray. Father, Focus your church through your word on Jesus. Fortify your church. Equip your church. Strengthen your church through these words. Embolden your church. Purify your church through these words. We thank you for giving us such a vision to show us the face of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, be seated. So today we begin our journey verse by verse through the book of Revelation. The last time I preached verse by verse through the book of Revelation was about 45 years ago. And it was a delight. Over the years I've held various views on some of the particulars of the book of Revelation. One thing that I recognized when I preached on it 45 years ago, albeit with longer hair, that there's enough of Jesus Christ and His glory in every single page of Revelation, no matter what view you take of the book of Revelation. I knew that then in my early 20s, and I see it again now. It's thrilling to begin this journey. I'll have to tell you that. You know, at our weekly prayer meeting last Wednesday night, we sang this song, I love to tell the story. And it made me even more excited and thankful for the moment. Now, I've been so looking forward to it. The words of that song, I love to tell the story of unseen things above of Jesus and his glory of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story. And so that's what we will have in the book of Revelation. Revelation is one of the greatest gifts that God has given His church. And this book of Revelation brings to this church, to Hope Baptist Church, our greatest need. This testimony states what is the greatest need of the church. And the greatest need of the church of Jesus Christ is to have an accurate vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. In chapter 22 and verse 4, I think we find one of the helpful statements that really interprets all of what we read here, they shall see his face. The book of Revelation is designed to help you see the face of Jesus Christ here in this world and then for all eternity. And quite frankly, as we have thought of engaging this study at this moment in history where fear has absolutely gripped the nations, I want you to recognize this proposition. I believe it with all my heart. The only way to break the fear that has gripped our world is through a vision of Jesus Christ. It's the only way. And so we have that before us now. It brings us the greatest encouragement, the greatest hope, the greatest help for the church of Jesus Christ. Now, in the minutes ahead, I have two objectives. And first of all, I want to give a basic idea of what Revelation is about. in its overall message. And secondly, I want to examine verses 1 through 3 in detail. These verses tell us how to read the book. You need to understand how to read the book. And John, being filled with the Spirit, is telling us how to read this book. It's very pivotal that we read it correctly, that we read it through the right eyes. You know, if you listen to sermons that are supposedly about Revelation, many of them really aren't about Revelation at all. They jet from one issue to another. They're going to focus on the rapture or the trilateral commission or something like that, but we're going to walk through this book verse by verse, and I want us as a church to get very focused on the words of Scripture that are here. We will take it long and slow, and that'll be good for us all, to help us understand it. Next week, I plan to speak to the various interpretive methods or views that Christians use, but I will just have to say, no matter what view you have, I believe that you will see Jesus Christ in every message here, because there is enough of Jesus on every page of Revelation for every view. So first of all, what is Revelation about? Well, of course, the central focus of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ, and you have to understand that. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. In Acts chapter 2, we learn that the church lives in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation. We studied that just before we began Revelation. And we live in that kind of generation. And we need the book of Revelation to help us live through a world like this. And we're given a vision of the resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ who is ruling from heaven. In Revelation, in this book, the church of Jesus Christ is under attack. And you find lots of characters that illustrate it. I'll just tell you about four of them right now. First of all, behind all of it is the dragon, the serpent, the deceiver. He is Satan himself. And the forces of darkness that are upon what the Apostle Paul tells the Galatians is this evil present age. is from this dragon. Now Jesus prayed in John 17. Remember, we weren't in John 17 all that long ago. Jesus prayed that his disciples would not be taken out of the world. but that they would live in the world under the power of the Holy Spirit. So you have Satan, the dragon, the serpent, the liar, the accuser of the brethren. You also have the beast. He is the brutal persecutor of the church. He wages war. He's a liar. He speaks blasphemies. He tells the people of the earth who can buy and who can sell. And he'll be destroyed in the like of fire. Then you have third, the false prophet. This is the sidekick of the beast. He's the false teacher. The church is always grappling with false teaching. And he is the purveyor of it. Fourth, there's the harlot. She represents the magnet of worldliness and the seduction of the world and the sexual revolutionaries that we see now particularly in this world. Let me just read to you something from Revelation 17 verses 3 through 6 about this woman. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns, The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her head a name was written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement." Wait till we get to that point. There's so many dramatic tensions in this book, and I think you could sum them up by characterizing them of the devil's hatred of Jesus Christ and the followers of Jesus Christ. In chapter 17, verse 14, we read this, that these will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with him are called chosen and are faithful. This book constantly asks you, are you with him? Are you one of his? And we also find the believers sustaining grace, not only the devil's hatred and attack of the church, but also the sustaining power of God in Revelation 22 verses four and five. They shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." That light that they will experience in heaven is a light that they experienced when they believed that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, the light of the world. So before us here in this book are many very graphic representations, both of the beauty and the power of Jesus Christ, and also of the evil of the evil one in the world. Now, these graphical illustrations of the beauty and the power of Jesus Christ are of his person, of his presence, of his government, of history, and of his management. And he is managing the powers and the principalities until the end of the world. So let me illustrate. During our study, our three-year study of the Gospel of John, we saw Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He's full of grace and truth. He is the healer. He is the compassionate high priest. And that's the vision of Jesus Christ that you have in the Gospel of John. In Revelation, there's an expanded view of Jesus Christ. In Revelation, he's the unstoppable warrior. And we find that the Lamb is also a lion. and He has a sword, and He has fire, and He exerts His power, and He is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, and He is that today. So we encountered this rich theology of Jesus Christ. You know, John is really characterized as the Christological apex of the New Testament, and we saw the Lord Jesus Christ that way. In Revelation, we now see pictures. We saw the theology. Now we see the pictures of the theology. What Jesus says to John, he says to our church. Chapter one, verse 17. Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore, amen. And the keys of Hades and of death I have. So here we find that this book, it points to the central message of the Bible, and that is that Jesus Christ is the savior of the world. He was crucified, he died, he was buried, He was resurrected and he ascended to his father's right hand and he rules the world from his father's right hand. And you see this in graphic detail. The wonderful pictures, the amazing colors, the remarkable personalities that are characterized are just absolutely stunning. I hope you see the beauty of Jesus Christ in the pictures. and they are pictures. Christ's church can face all the forces of evil as long as they see the face of Jesus Christ. The church can face all the difficulties that she might experience during the church age by beholding the face of Jesus Christ. There will be reversals. There will be troubles. But the sustaining grace of the church is the face of Jesus Christ. They shall see His face. You know, Isaiah prophesied this. Isaiah 60 arise shine for your light has come for the glory of the Lord is risen upon you for behold the darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the people but the Lord will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you in the midst of a dark world the glory of the light of Jesus Christ shines and So, that's sort of a thumbnail sketch of the theological position, the primary position of the book of Revelation. That Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Jesus wins. That's the summary of the book. Now, second, I want to examine these verses, verses 1 through 3, in some detail. Now, what's helpful about these verses is that they actually tell you how to read this book. You need to know how to read it. And it's very pivotal that you understand how to read a book before you read it. And John tells us how to read this book. And there are eight things, you have them in your outline in front of you, to learn from these first three verses that teach us how to read the book of Revelation. You'll notice that I'm gonna cover every single phrase in the first three verses because these verses are so helpful and they're so detailed to help us to understand how to read this book. And of course, in verse four, we learn that you should read it like an epistle. It's an epistle. Read it as a picture of Christ's power. And my advice to all of us is to read it slowly, take time. You have time to understand this book. You don't have to understand every bit of it right this second. There are many things in it that I don't really understand. And when we get there, I hope to understand them a little bit better. But at the end of the day, there are many things in here we might not completely understand. And that's okay. If you understood everything, you would be God. But we won't understand everything. The question we should ask is, is the system in my head a scriptural system? Does it fit the narrative and the unfolding of the book? Does my system read the way this book reads? And we should just ask, are my previous thoughts about Revelation consistent with an accurate reading of the text? Does the text contradict my original understanding of the book? You may or may not find that. That's not really the greatest concern that I have in going through this book. I want us to kind of chill out a little bit on our views and just see the glory of Jesus Christ through this book. There are views that you will have to take to understand it, but just FYI, no one is going to be demonized by me from this pulpit for their view. As I said before, I've had different views over the years with longer and shorter hair. Okay, the first three verses. Now, I've stated this in propositions with a quote from the text. You can see that there in front of you. The first thing that you need to understand when you read it is that it is understandable. It's understandable. Don't get off on the jag that says, you just can't understand Revelation. That's ridiculous. The Bible begins, this book begins by saying it is understandable. It is the revelation, okay? And the word that John uses is the word apocalupsis, and it means to reveal. Apocalypse doesn't mean the end of the world. Apocalypse means you can see it. It's understandable. It is an uncovering, it is an unveiling. This speaks to the clarity of the book of Revelation. And Revelation is designed to help you say, there it is, I see it. It's not hidden, I get it. And it's actually meant to make you say, aha, so that's what's happening. And yes, you can understand the book of Revelation. Like I said, you won't be able to understand every single detail, and you might struggle. I like what Verne Porthra says. Yes, you can understand it. God rules history and will bring it to completion. So everything in the book of Revelation points to that. and the power of the Lord Jesus Christ in bringing it to pass. So it's not a hidden esoteric epistle. It is an unveiling according to this particular genre of literature. It is apocalyptic literature. It is symbolic literature. It is prophetic literature and you have to read a genre of literature the way that it was meant to read. You read narratives one way, you read didactic texts another way, you read history another way, and you read prophecy another way. So we have to be mature and wise in our understanding of how we read something. You don't read fantasy the same way that you read a didactic book. you read them differently and we have to recognize that. The language of seeing is here. John says, I saw, I saw. This is a picture book. So it is different than the other books. It's a book of pictures. And the question that you should be asking is, what do I see here? John was seeing things and these things that he saw, these images pointed to realities. of the world. And Revelation was written so that you would see Jesus. So here's the question. Have you seen him? Have you beheld his glory as of the only begotten of the Father? Full of grace and truth. Do you believe in him? Are you a follower of him? Has he changed your life? Has he changed the entire orientation of your life? Have you seen the kingdom of God? And in the book of Revelation, my prayer is always gonna be the prayer of the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 1, verse 17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened. The eyes of your understanding. That God would give us eyes. fresh eyes to see the glory of Jesus Christ. God desires to awaken your eyes to see the pictures that are there. So this also very clearly is an epistle. It is an unveiling in a particular way, but it is also an epistle. It is a letter to the churches. It's a letter to seven churches And it is much like the other epistles, and we should read it in some ways the way that we read Corinthians and Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians. And by the way, Revelation begins just like all the other epistles, and it ends that way as well. In verse four of chapter one, it begins with grace to you and peace. Well, that's how all the other epistles begin. And it ends the same way in chapter 22 verse 21. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. This is an epistle and you should read it that way. And it's very practical for your life in the church and in the world. And if you're able to read it like an epistle, you'll look for connections in your own life, just like you do in Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. And all of those books are timeless in their application. The book of Revelation is timeless in its application. They are relevant for every era of church history, just like the other epistles. In verse 3, we'll get to this in a minute, it's meant to be obeyed. In other words, it's a call to action. And you find that in the epistles. It's a common call of God to snap into action. By the way, this book is not designed primarily for you to engage in eschatological debate. It's really written so that you would see Jesus Christ and obey Him. That's why it's here. And so keep focused on that. This interpretive grid is very helpful. It is in Epistle. I'm gonna encourage us to just take our time. We're gonna be in this book for, who knows? Who knows how long we'll be in this book. Now I'm gonna try not to linger too long in it, But frankly, this book requires careful examination and tremendous drawing from the Old Testament because the Old Testament is all over this book. And to understand it, we're gonna go back there. Some have suggested this is a book for children. Verne Poythress, I really recommend his commentary on this book on Revelation. And he makes the observation that we want to turn Revelation into kind of a puzzle book. And we spend our time trying to arrange all the pieces of the puzzle to try to get it all together. And he says, that's a mistake. And he tells a story that when he preached through Revelation in his church, that he told the parents to read the book of Revelation to their children. And And he said to the children, and children, you need to read it too. And if you're too young and you don't know how to read, have your parents read the book of Revelation to you. We're gonna read half of it this afternoon. But he said, he told the children, you can understand it. And he told his children that they might be able to understand it better than their parents, because their parents aren't all, because they aren't all gobbled up with all kinds of grid to work through. And, So Verne Porthra says the children might understand it better than you adults do because they can see it. And he tells a story of running into somebody in a seminary class and said, yeah, my parents read this to me a long time ago and I understood it when I was a kid. So there you have it. So, It is a revelation of Jesus Christ, that's the focus. It is a revelation of Christ. This book is not about Hitler, it's not about Obama or Trump, it's not about Biden or the Trilateral Commission, and it's not about all of those kinds of things. It is about Jesus Christ. And he is the faithful witness. Chapter 1, verse 5, for the person who's been deceived. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth for those who are being intimidated by the rulers. He's the almighty for the weak. He's the first and the last for the unstable. He's the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand for the person who's been disappointed. in their pastors. He's the one who walks among the seven golden lampstands for the person who's worried about the church and its state. He's the one with the sharp two-edged sword for the person who longs for justice. He's the one with eyes like a flame of fire for the one who needs to know that Jesus sees everything. He's the lamb of God for the sinner. He's the line of the tribe of Judah and the king of kings and lord of lords for the fearful. He's the bright morning star for the depressed. He's the living one who died for those who are still dead in their sins. He's the ruler of creation for those who worry about the environment. He's the king of nations for those who fear the government. He's the almighty for the needy. He's the king of saints for those who are concerned. with authority. He's the holy and true one for those who wonder where everything is going. He's the Word of God. He's the Lord God Almighty. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He is the beginning and the end. He is the Amen. It's a vision of Jesus Christ. It's a revelation of Christ. That's the second thing that you will see. It's not just a revelation. It's a revelation of Jesus Christ. Here's a third interpretive help for how to read the book of Revelation. It's practical. It's practical. which God gave him to show his servants. They are things that needed to be shown. God gave this revelation of Jesus Christ to show us things and look for what he is showing you. This is the practicality of revelation. It was meant to be a resource for the servants of God, literally servants, the slaves of God. It's a vision of Jesus Christ for those who love Jesus Christ. This word servants is the word slave. A slave is a person who serves. And the slaves of Jesus serve out of love. Here's the fourth way to read Revelation. Fourth, it speaks of historical realities. The things which must shortly take place. There are things that will take place that are revealed here. It says shortly. Now, there are different ways that you can take that. What does shortly mean? And of the alternatives of what shortly can mean, you'll find me taking the track that these things will take place soon. And they will begin immediately and they will continue. They start right away, at least with John's writing. from then on. It's very interesting. The writer of the book of Hebrews acknowledges a long period of time until the second coming. For yet a little while, this is Hebrews 10, 37, for yet a little while, and he who is coming will come and will not tarry. A little while. Well, it's been 2,000 years. So a little while means something differently than a five-year-old. In Daniel 10.1, Daniel says, the message was true, but the time was long. That's Daniel 10.1. The message was true, but the time was long. So the images in Revelation point to real situations in history. They're not merely theoretical. You may not be able to name every event. connected to a particular verse, but you can know that these are the things that have happened or are happening or will happen between the resurrection and the second coming. So in this sense, my approach to this book is somewhat eclectic in the sense is that I think that there are things that the preterists say that fit within this grid, things that happened in 70 AD and the persecutions under the Roman Emperor Domitian, we can accept some of the historicist interpretations of what could be connected to various historical periods, and we can accept some of the futurist descriptions of things that will take place as well. Joel Beakey wrote a commentary on Revelation, and he has a statement in his commentary, I liked it. He said that an eclectic position is a safer position. So there you have it. These things must take place. And they will take place, and they are taking place, I believe. Here's the fifth way to read this book. It's filled with symbolism, full of symbolism. And he sent and signified it. Do you see that phrase? And he sent and signified it. Two things from this statement. The Lord has sent us a letter. This is a letter that has been sent to us, and we ought to regard it as a letter from the king of kings. and the Lord of Lords. If the President sent you a letter, you would hang on every word. This is a letter from the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and you ought to hang on every word as well. But notice, secondly, the type of communication. It is symbolism. He signified it and signified it. Do you see that? Now, this is what presents the mind-bending difficulties with Revelation is that it is a genre of symbols. This is characteristic of apocalyptic literature. Much of the symbolism comes out of the Old Testament. One of the reasons that Christians don't understand, can't understand Revelation, is they're not familiar with Ezekiel, and Daniel, and the Psalms, and Isaiah, and Jeremiah, and Joel. Now, I heard one commentator say that every single book of the Old Testament is alluded to in Revelation. But in these 404 verses, there are 500, some say well over 500 allusions to the Old Testament. And you have these brilliantly colored objects. astonishing animals. There are dragons and beasts and horses. There are unforgettable symbols. You might not know exactly what those refer to but what we're going to do is we're going to go back to where that symbol originated and we're going to try to discern it from there. There are numbers all over this book that the number seven is repeated over and over again just in this one chapter. In chapter one, it appears twice in verse four. It's in verse 11, verse 12, verse 16, and verse 20. It's six times in chapter one alone, and it continues to come up. Seven in the Bible indicates completeness, complete victory, complete glory, complete praise. Whatever number is more important than seven, there isn't one in the book of Revelation. except perhaps three, the Trinity, and you'll see threes throughout this book. But you have seven spirits, seven churches, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, 7,000, there are seven crowns, there are seven angels, there are seven plagues, there are seven I am's in Revelation. The number four also is significant. We'll talk about that. The number 12 is significant. There are 12 tribes, 12 apostles, 24 elders, 12 foundations, the tree of life at the end of the letter. There are 12 different kinds of fruit. There's a multiplication of 12 at 144,000. So you have these numbers that appear and they're meaningful. And many of them hearken back to the Old Testament. We saw that in the book of Acts when we saw the apostles being compelled to fulfill prophecy and appoint one more apostle to make 12. These numbers matter. These numbers are symbolic. Notice the sets of three in Revelation. In verse four, him who is and who was and who is to come, three. You find that pattern all over the book. In chapter three, verse 14, The amen, the faithful and true witness, and the beginning of the creation of God, three things. In chapter four, verse eight, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and is to come. Threes, sets of threes all over the book. It's thrilling to look at it. Now you might not understand every symbol, We will read the book of Revelation according to a hermeneutical principle. It's called by theologians the analogy of faith. Another way to say it is scripture interprets scripture. This is an approach to the interpretation of the word of God. Another related principle that you'll find me going back to from time to time is that the clear texts interpret the unclear texts. Don't take a clear text and make a massive theology out of it that seems to run crosswise with the clear texts. It's a much safer approach to do that. We will look to the Bible as the interpretive grid. We will not look to historians like Josephus to interpret this book. We will not look at our newspapers to interpret this book. We will look at the Bible. to interpret this book. That will be my default interpretive methodology throughout the book. And when we run across a picture that appears in the Old Testament, we're going back to the Old Testament. We're gonna hang out there until we beat our heads against the wall to try to figure it out. It's very important that we enter with the spirit of humility and submission, that we get our eyes fixed on the words of Jesus Christ for us. Here's the sixth method for reading. Sixth, it's method of delivery by his angel to his servant, John. So there's a way that this testimony was delivered to John by his angel to his servant, John. So, Revelation was written by John. He was on the island of Patmos. He was in exile. Later on in his life, well, you can debate the date of it, but there was an angel that delivered it to John. This is the only book of the Bible that was delivered by an angel. And there's this chain of communication from the father to the son to the angel to John. That's how this was delivered. And this is a testimony of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. There is no higher authority in the world. There is no higher authority in your life than God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the testimony of the Spirit. And this is a supreme gift from God the Father and God the Son and God the Spirit. Interestingly enough, this was delivered by an angel. Angels are all over the book of Revelation. You're going to get a PhD in angelology in the book of Revelation. We know that it was the angels that gave the law to Moses. We read about that in Acts chapter 7 and Galatians chapter 3 and Hebrews 2. We know that an angel assisted Daniel in Zechariah's prophecy, but angels appear in every single chapter of Revelation except chapter 4 and 13. In chapter 8, the angels take prayers to heaven and they destroy trees. They give diseases to people. In chapter 8, verse 5, lightnings. They're like lightning that strikes the earth. They bring the lightning. There are countless numbers of angels listed or alluded to. The angels fight the dragon in heaven under the leadership of Michael the Archangel, and he throws the dragon down. The angel announces the fall of Babylon. An angel preaches the gospel throughout the world. The angels witness the torment of the damned in hell along with Jesus Christ for all eternity. Angels calls for judgment they bind Satan and they reveal the prostitute to the Apostle John and There there are four main angels with names in Revelation there are two good angels and two evil angels by name you'll get to know them One good angel Gabriel appears and And when Gabriel shows up in the Bible, he's a very interesting character, he's always proclaiming something, he's always announcing something. He shows up and he's gonna announce an amazing message. And he's kind of like the announcer, he's the MC. And then you've got Michael. He's not announcing and proclaiming, he's fighting. And he's a warrior, he's a protector. You know, God sends him to take care of the bad guys. You see Michael, and he's gonna say, you touch my people, I take your head off. That's Michael. So you have these remarkable angels in the book of Revelation. See, the children already understand this book. The war broke out in heaven, Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. Not fantasy. And then the two evil angels, Lucifer and Apollyon, or Abaddon, these are the evil purveyors of wickedness in the world. And John saw these things. He saw. And I hope we can see the way that John saw. We have a tendency to approach this kind of intellectually. You need to approach it with eyes. To see the pictures that describe the principles of God. To see the pictures of the testimony. Jesus told parables for that reason. They were pictures to explain a truth. So it's not really uncommon so much. Here's the seventh instruction for how to read the book of Revelation. It promises blessings. Look for the blessings. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. So reading and hearing and obeying Revelation bears fruit. You'll see fruit in your life. I can't wait to see the fruit. It'll come. It comes every time we go through a book of the Bible. The fruit starts coming out. What fruit is gonna come from the obedience of this book? I am so excited about it, I really am. Happiness is promised, blessed. You get a happier church who look at Revelation. Blessed means happy. So much like John, John just cannot get over the goodness of God. He said, these things I have written to you that your joy might be made full. And he wrote Revelation with the same intent in mind. God wants to allure you with his delight. He wants to make you happier than you've ever been by banishing your fears in the midst of a wicked and perverse generation and fixing your eyes on Jesus Christ. These things are written that your joy might be made full. It's the only book in the Bible that begins and ends with a promise of blessing. We just read 1-3, blessed are those who read it. Chapter 22, verse 7, behold, I'm coming quickly. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. The reading and the hearing and the obeying breaks out in blessing and happiness in the church. I'm expecting a happier church. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, 1615. Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb, 1909. Blessed are those who do his commandments, 22 verse 14. And the blessing is pronounced only on those who do three things. So be found doing these three things. Read it. We should read it, hear it. Jesus said, be careful how you hear and keep it. It means to obey. These words are applicable to your life. It's not meant for an age in the past or an age in the far future. It's meant for you today and it's meant for your blessing. Interestingly enough, we talked about this a little bit at Bible study. You know, there aren't really very many commands in Revelation. You know, it's like Ephesians, you know, there's no commands until like chapter four. There's no commands, hardly. Well, there are a few commands, but it's not a book full of commands, but you're supposed to obey it. See it and obey it. Let the pictures grab your attention. Ask, what does this picture of Jesus Christ teach me? What does this picture of the forces of evil teach me? What should I do about it? Ponder it. Consider it. Like Mary, who treasured up the words of the prophecy in her heart. That's what you should do. Treasure up the words of the prophecy in your heart like Mary did. The Puritans used to say, chew the cud. You know, just keep chewing on it. and take your time. Don't be dull of hearing. Don't have a rebellious attitude toward the pictures. Don't throw up your hands and say, I don't get it. Be careful how you hear. Hear with a believing heart and a humble heart. God resists the proud, but he gives grace to the humble. Have a hearing heart, have an obedient heart when you read it. Don't slander this book. Don't say it's not understandable. Here's the eighth. It was delivered for a reason, for the time is near. For the time is near. Well, you already know what I mean by near. I think near means it starts right now and it rolls on until the second coming. That's what near is. Behold, I come quickly. Quickly is different in God's mind than ours. But the time is near and we should live that way. We should be full on for the Lord during this time. The time is near. This book is designed to make you happy, to cure your fears, to equip you for the work of the ministry, and to prepare you to love in the midst of a difficult generation. I am, at least at this point, I've broken this book out into seven sections. This is not my idea, it's not my creation. But these seven sections, I believe, speak of the victory of Jesus Christ through the various cycles of history that take place, that these are warnings to the unbeliever of coming judgment. And you have these seven parallel sections that describe the conflict and the victory of Jesus Christ. And you can see the outline in front of you about that. I believe that they are parallel. I believe that they run throughout the church age. I believe they are cyclical. And most of them end in the final judgment. So it's not linear history. They are pictures. And I think that they are pictures of escalating trouble in the world. Now you may not believe that, but that's okay, because you'll see Jesus on these pages. And that's what you should get focused in on. So let me summarize. It's understandable. After all, it is the revelation, the unveiling. It has a clear focus, Jesus Christ. Third, it's practical, which God gave him to show his servants. Fourth, it speaks to historical realities, things which might shortly take place. Fifth, it is filled with symbolism, and he sent and signified it. Sixth, it's method of delivery by his angel to his servant John. Seventh, it promises blessings. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep the things which are written in it, for the time is near. And eight, it was delivered for a reason. For the time is near. No one knows the day of the hour. He will come like a thief in the night. And every generation needs to understand that and live that way. So as we go through this book, let's keep our focus on the purpose of the book. It is to reveal Jesus Christ. Look for the glory of Jesus Christ in every section. I'm just gonna encourage us not to worry too much about the controversial questions that the book raises from our different backgrounds and positions. Enjoy the ride, don't get too wrapped up in the controversies. You know, a friend of mine preached through Revelation a while back. I was talking to him the other day, and he said when he finished his first sermon, he told the congregation that he just wanted them to see Jesus more than anything else. And then he said to them, He said, please don't come up to me after these sermons and argue with me about the millennium. So he closed the service, and the first person who walked up to him started arguing with him about the millennium. Okay, if anybody does that, I'm gonna call Michael the Archangel into this place. No, no, that's not true. We're gonna have to talk about this book. It's so remarkable. It's so helpful. But we'll have lots of time to discuss it. We will discuss it. And I hope it'll be very invigorating and we'll have a lot of mercy toward one another. Our church, the elders of this church particularly, have a specific position on eschatology. And it's actually very general. I like it. I love our statement on eschatology. The Baptist Confession speaks of it. I printed it out for you. It may be in your hand now or we may pass it out, I'm not sure, when we read it in the afternoon service. But you'll have time to think it through. Ponder it, study it, treasure it in your heart, look for Jesus. You know, read it without commentaries. Read it as a picture book. And ask God to help you to understand it. Okay, let me wind this up. People are constantly saying now, I've said it, that our times are times of uncertainty. We're all running around saying that we're living in unprecedented times. We're running around saying these are the most dangerous times. I think the book of Revelation will tell us not so. These are not unprecedented times. These are not times of uncertainty. Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. And he is ruling his world with an iron hand, with a sword and fire. And nothing can hold back his hand. And so I pray that God would just break out more and more happiness in this church than we have even today. The uncertainty is only in our own minds. So, this book is a book of hope for the people of hope. And the question is, are you part of the family that sees his face? Have you seen his face? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who saves sinners? Are you a follower of Jesus Christ? Do you love his words? Do you love his people? Do you love his laws? Have you had a revelation of Jesus Christ? And if you haven't, then, and you want to see his face, and you want to know him, and you want to follow him, then ask him, ask him to make you his child. Tell him you want to follow him. and tell him now that you want to be his disciple and that you believe that he is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the Alpha and the Omega, the Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for the beautiful pictures that are here, the colors, the animals, Amazing things. We thank you that the time is near. Lord, help us to live like that. We're so grateful that your timing is perfect and the time is near. And so, Lord, mobilize us for that. Show us your face. Amen.