It’s Not as Hard as You Think: Revelation Revealed
Introduction
Today we are starting a sermon series from the Book of Revelation. Right up front I am summarizing the theme of the book: We Win! Hopefully you will see that as we go through the book.
But in the meantime, why in the world would we want to study Revelation? Everybody seems to have their own reason. Some say, “I want to find out what the end times are going to be like.” Some say, “I want to try and figure out what all the beasts and bizarre scenes mean.” Others say, “I don’t want to study it at all because it just scares me and doesn’t make sense.” Well, let me give you a good reason for studying the book, in fact it is the best reason but I never hear anybody giving this reason. Listen to these amazing words:
Rev 1:1-3 1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. NIV
The best reason for studying Revelation is to be blessed by God. That blessing will come if we listen to His message and obeys what it says. The last phrase also reminds us of a very important point – the time is near.
What does that mean? This life as we know it is not all there is. There will come a day when Jesus will return and God will usher in eternity. When will that happen? We don’t know but ever since Jesus ascended into heaven, after His resurrection, we have been living in the last days. John tells the Christians in the first century and he tells us. Be ready, be faithful, because each day brings us closer to the return of Jesus.
So today, I want to introduce Revelation by laying a foundation and presenting some big picture stuff. There are different ways to approach a study of Revelation. The way I approach it has been influenced by my education. I wouldn’t normally share this but it is relevant to my approach. I graduated from Lincoln Christian Seminary with a Master of Divinity Degree in New Testament Theology. My major professor was a leading expert on Revelation. He has one book out and unfortunately passed away with cancer before he could write more. I took several classes under him and wrote a couple of papers on Revelation.
Having said all of that, let me assure you that I will not answer all the questions that you have about Revelation. In fact, I may just raise a few more you have never thought of – but in the end I want to claim the promise of verse 3 that God will bless us for hearing His words to us and take them to heart. The big picture message, no matter on the details or approach of your interpretation – God is in control and His plan will be carried out. One day this earth will pass away and He will usher in eternity.
So, let’s begin this journey together with the prayer on our hearts that God will teach us what we need to know so that we will be ready when that day comes.
1. Revelation was not written to confuse people
a. But it is confusing to us because:
i. In the pages of Revelation you will find bizarre images and strange creatures.
1. There is a beast with 10 horns and bronze claws and stars falling from the heavens and a great red dragon with 7 heads.
2. There’s the mark of the beast – 666
3. There’s bowls of sulfur and bowls of wrath and the bottomless pit.
4. There’s the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. It is full of strange stuff and images that are foreign to us.
ii. One of two things usually happen when people read Revelation – they run away from it or they fixate on the details of it.
1. They run because it scares them – it is easier just not to think about it or deal with it.
2. Fixation can lead to trying to interpret details to the “nth” degree and try to place a spiritual meaning to everything. There are passages in Revelation that interpret themselves and the interpretation gives the meaning of the big picture, not all the details of the scene.
3. Some only look for something that relates to the latest thing in their culture or the latest headline.
4. We need to understand that John was using images that the people in those days would have understood much better than us.
5. Hopefully as we go through this we can understand some of these images easier.
b. John uses language and symbols to communicate a message just like we do today, without even realizing it.
i. It is a different style of writing than the gospels or one of the letters. It is called Apocalyptic Literature – meaning it is prophecy, which many times uses images and visions to communicate its message. In the OT we have Ezekiel and Daniel.
ii. But what seems strange to us may not have been all that strange to the people of the day. The language and images used may have been common to them.
iii. Without thinking about it, we do the same thing in our culture.
iv. Is it unusual for you to think of America when you see a picture of a bald eagle or the red, white, and blue of the American flag? That imagery is very familiar to us.
v. Do you think of good and beautiful things when you see a picture of a serpent surrounded by darkness and red glowing eyes? You probably think of evil.
c. Our challenge then is to seek to understand the images that John is using in the context of the time and culture from which they came.
d. I take a historical and contextual approach to Revelation. Meaning, as we go through Revelation I want us to look at the context in which it was written and see some of the imagery and history of the day that it was written. By doing that we can get a better understanding of the message that God wants to communicate to His people throughout the ages.
2. Revelation was written with a purpose
a. Some people think the book was written just to tell us when Jesus will come back.
b. John does address the topic but that is not all he is doing in writing the book.
c. His purpose was to encourage and give hope. Christians who were going through an uncertain times and giving them encouragement to remain faithful in their faith until the day Jesus returns.
d. Does it give us times and dates for the end times? No, but neither did Jesus.
e. The teaching of Jesus in the Gospels, as well as His words in Revelation, teach us that we need to live our lives every day like it could be our last.
f. He wants us to be found walking and living out our Christian faith, even when it gets tough.
3. Revelation was written to real people, real churches, who were facing real problems.
a. We are going to look at those people and churches in chapters two and three. These will be some of the easiest chapters to go through.
b. From an historical context, the people John was writing to were facing persecution from an evil Roman ruler.
i. It was written during Rule of Domitian, 81-96 AD. He brought about the second major persecution of Christians. The first was from Nero in 64 AD.
ii. What he did and who he proclaimed to be played a major role in Revelation’s depiction of the beast that wanted to worship. Dio Cassius, in his Roman History, wrote:
iii. “For he even insisted upon being regarded as a god and took vast pride in being called ‘master’ and god.”
iv. He was hated by even the Romans. After his death the Roman Senate passed a decree that his inscriptions should everywhere be erased, and all record of him obliterated
c. It was during this time that God led John to write the book of Revelation to answer the question on the hearts of the Christians then, “Is there any hope?”
d. It was written to encourage the believers to hang in there – to give them hope.
e. It is believed that some of the images and language John uses would have been understood by the Christians but not necessarily the Romans who opposed them. This may have been important in a world that opposed Christianity to the point of putting Christians to death. John uses the phrase “lamb that was slain” for example. Who do we know that refers to? Jesus. But to a Roman official it wouldn’t have communicated that.
4. Revelation is written to Help Us See Jesus Better
a. How do you see Jesus?
b. These pictures, and many others, show a kind, gentle Jesus: long flowing robe, long brown hair, kind, polite, and proper. In some ways we get an image of a meek and mild Jesus, almost a Mr. Rogers Jesus. He went around teaching people to be nice to each other.
c. I remember growing up knowing what a tough guy looked like.
i. In movies there was John Wayne. Rough and rugged and always came out on top.
ii. In cartoons there was Popeye the Sailor Man. Crazy big arms and when he ate his spinach he could beat up anyone!
iii. There were guys like – Chuck Norris as Texas Ranger, Sylvester Stallone as Rocky or Rambo, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator, and Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry – “Go ahead and Make My Day.”
iv. So, if someone was to come along and ask me to name the top five most fearsome guys I could think of, I probably would not have mentioned Jesus.
v. I don’t think I am alone in that. Not too many other Christians would either.
e. But Jesus is more imposing that we sometimes think. Especially in the book of Revelation.
i. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying Jesus should be thought of as some divine “Dirty Harry”.
ii. But too often the church suffers from a condition that someone dubbed J.D.D. – Jesus Deficit Disorder. It’s not that we don’t think about Jesus; it’s that we don’t think big enough about Jesus.
iii. It’s like we’re seeing him through the wrong end of the telescope – He looks smaller and farther away than He really is.
iv. My fear is that too many of us have settled for a Flannel graph Jesus.
5. Revelation presents a powerful picture of Jesus
a. After some words of introduction and an explanation that he is exiled on the island of Patmos for preaching the gospel, John then begins to write down what was happening to him.
b. Rev 1:10-19 John,To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." 9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 It was the Lord's Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet blast. 11 It said, "Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." 12 When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. 13 And standing in the middle of the lampstands was someone like the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. 14 His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance. 17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. 19 "Write down what you have seen—both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen.
c. That doesn’t describe a Flannel Graph Jesus. It depicts a powerful Jesus.
i. He is standing among the lampstands – which John interprets for us and tells us those were the churches. Jesus wasn’t floating around on a cloud playing a harp, He was in the midst of His people.
ii. He was dressed in a robe with a gold sash – clothing of a king
iii. His head was white like wool – not a mark of frailty or aging, but a symbol of his deity and dignity.
iv. His eyes “like blazing fire” piercing through the layers of stuff we try to hide behind
v. His feet like polished bronze, representing strength and stability.
vi. His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves – voice of power and majesty
vii. A sharp two edged sword came out of His mouth. When He spoke, He spoke with authority and finality.
viii. His face was like the sun in its brilliance – the glory of God poured out of him.
ix. Does that describe a weak Mr. Rogers, Flannel graph Jesus to you?
d. Jesus is Lord.
i. The point is clear: be warned!
ii. Jesus is not a kindly grandfather who tussles our hair when we misbehave and says, “Well, boys will be boys.”
iii. Jesus is not a smiling buddy who winks at our sin and lets us do what we want.
iv. He is a towering and powerful figure who will not be managed.
v. He is Lord. He is in the midst of His church,
1. He knows our shortcomings,
2. He knows our needs,
3. He knows our sin, and
4. He is big enough to do something about them.
e. The real question we need to ask of this passage is not, “I wonder what the third star in His right hands stands for?” The question we need to ask is, “How do I see Jesus?”
i. When we are in the presence of someone we deem important, we get a little nervous. Our hearts beats faster, our palms sweat, our tongue gets tied, and we might not be sure of what to do.
ii. Let me ask you this: When you walk into the sanctuary on a Sunday morning, does your pulse quicken? Do you catch your breath? Do your palms get sweaty? Do you get a little nervous?
iii. You should, because when you enter into worship you are in the presence of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
f. Did you catch what John’s reaction was to all of this?
i. He was scared to death. “17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead.”
ii. How did Jesus react? “That right, you vermin, you worthless being, bow to me!”
iii. No, this is what He did: vs. 17 – 18 “But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don't be afraid! I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the living one. I died, but look—I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave.”
iv. How reassuring! This great big Jesus is imposing, but He is also comforting.
v. As He stands among His church – as imperfect as it is – He says, “I’ve got you”
Conclusion
Maybe that’s the word you need to hear today. If you are afraid, if you are facing some things you don’t know how to handle, if you are struggling with a sin that is keeping you from being all you can be in Christ - here is the good news:
It is not a flannel graph Jesus looking out for you. It is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and one day He is coming back for you.
With Him – We Win!
Introduction to Revelation Study Sheet
The best reason for studying Revelation is to be blessed by God. That blessing will come if we listen to His message and obey what it says.
1. Revelation was not written to _____________ people
a. It can be confusing
b. As we go through Revelation, look at the culture and context in which it was written.
2. Revelation was written with a _________________.
a. His purpose is to encourage Christians who are going through uncertain times and give us encouragement and hope to remain faithful to the end.
b. Does it address the end of the world?
c. What does Jesus want to find us doing when He returns?
3. Revelation was written to real ____________, real ______________, who were facing real __________________. a. Who was the book written to?
b. Christians were facing persecution from an evil Roman ruler – Domitian, 81-96 AD.
c. What does God want His believers to gain from the message?
4. Revelation is written to Help Us See Jesus Better.
How do you see Jesus?
a. What does a tough guy look like in your mind?
b. Jesus is more powerful than we sometimes think.
5. Revelation presents a __________________ picture of Jesus
a. Rev 1:10-20
i. Jesus among the lampstands
ii. Jesus in a robe
iii. His hair was white like wool
iv. His eyes “like blazing fire”
v. His feet like polished bronze
vi. His voice thundered like mighty ocean waves
vii. A sharp two edged sword came out of His mouth
viii. His face was like the sun in its brilliance
b. Jesus is Lord.
i. The real question we need to ask of this passage is not, “I wonder what the third star in His right hands stands for?” The question we need to ask is, “How do I see Jesus?”
c. What was John’s reaction to all of this?
d. What should our reaction to all of this be?
General Study Guidelines
1. Pray, asking God to give you understanding
2. Look for the “Big Picture” message rather than trying to visualize all the images. What is happening? Is God receiving glory? Are believers being attacked? The message for us might be to give God glory during rough times.
3. There are different ideas and different ways of interpreting Revelation. If someone’s interpretation is different than yours, don’t make it a test of faith.
4. Write down questions and don’t be afraid to ask questions. second major persecution of Christians in the Roman empire – the first being