6. A DEVOTED PERSON REV. 1:4 Part 6

THE MASTER                  Grace be unto you, and peace…

GOD THE SPIRIT       and from the seven Spirits

                                                   which are before his throne 

The San Jose mine, in Chile, trapped 33 miners beneath two thousand feet of solid rock. The main tunnel collapsed and for two months of desperation they sat confined in an earthen tomb.  They ate two spoons of tuna, a sip of milk, and a morsel of peaches every other day. For two months they hoped for deliverance.

On the surface above, the Chilean rescue team worked around the clock. They drilled, first a communication hole, then an excavation tunnel. There was no guarantee of success. No one had ever been trapped underground this long and lived to tell about it.

No one could rescue himself; nothing they did would get them out.  They were ensnared, entombed and hopeless.  Only outside help, assistance from above was all that could reach them.  They needed someone to penetrate their world and pull them out.

On October 13, 2010, rescue tunnel was finished.  A capsule was lowered and the men began to emerge.  They had been lost, ruined but now saved.

John is calling to the Churches, and John is calling to us in our trapped condition.  We constantly need daily release, we’re stuck in collapse and broken helplessness.

The call of help is Grace and Peace from God, the triune God.

Our trust in the trinity separates us from all other religions.  Islam rejects the trinity, Judaism rejects the trinity, and all cults and religions reject a triune God.

In the Athanasian Creed, it is declared “that we worship one God in trinity, and trinity in unity; neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance; for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the Godhead of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit is all one; the glory equal, the majesty coeternal. So the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God”

God the Spirit is one Spirit but here His symbolic name is “the seven Spirits before God’s throne”.   This isn’t some spooky reference to seven beings that are each spirits.  This is an allusion to His complete manifesting of God in all His persons perfectly and wholly or seven fold.  There’s no future on getting hung up on symbols as they are meant to form a picture and illustrate to our mind the multiple facets of truth.  Seven Spirits is a symbolic title expressing His perfection and complete deity.

Seven Spirits is a name that can also symbolize features and aspects of God the Spirit.  We don’t want to trip up from the oneness of God the Spirit, the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father.  The features and characteristics of God’s being are shared in each person in infinite triune harmony.  The Spirit works in a variety of operations and activities.

William Tyndale (1494-1536) writes: our problem is with our hearts, the Spirit gives us new birth into a new life precisely by giving us a new heart Ezek. 36:26; Jn. 3:3-8. The tool he uses is Scripture (1 Pet. 1:23; Jas. 1:18)

We are feeble in our understanding of the Spirit and shabby in identifying His constant presence.  We need constant reminders of His desire to fill and lead us in an uninterrupted relationship with Jesus.

There is no limit to God’s Spirit.  He is infinite, all-powerful, all knowing, and all-present.  His revelation of Himself is without limit of seven or any number.  In listing a few patterns of seven the intention is to share the activities of His person.

There are seven things revealed about the Spirit in Isaiah 11:2

And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.

1. The Spirit of the Lord. He manifests God for He is God.

2. The Spirit of Wisdom.  He is the source of all true wisdom.

3. The Spirit of Understanding. He gives comprehension.

4. The Spirit of Counsel.  He is our comforter and counselor.

5. The Spirit of Might. He empowers us in each challenge.

6. The Spirit of Knowledge.  He guides in relationships with God.

7. The Spirit of Fear of the Lord.  He guides our worship.

THERE ARE SEVEN SYMBOLS REVEALING THE SPIRITS INVOLVEMENT.

    1. He comes as Rain

Rain is for refreshing restoration.  His torrent is an outburst unrivaled in history. He brought new revelations to the Apostles and the New Testament was composed. Acts 2:16-17 this is what the prophet Joel speaks; I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh:

     2. He comes as Rivers of Living Water

The living water of the Spirit satisfies our inner thirst.  He is an overflowing stream of life, and love to touch others through our lives.  Psalm 42:1 as a deer pants after the water brooks, so pants my soul after thee, O God.

John 7:37-39 Jesus cried out, If anyone is thirsty…come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me…will have streams of living water flow from deep within him.  He said this about the Spirit

The satisfaction we crave is accessible, Jesus said, come to Me to drink, is believing.   The living water of His Spirit is our spiritual life.

   3. He Comes as Wind

Jesus said in John 3:8 the wind blows where it likes, John Phillips writes: “The wind has its own laws. It is not answerable to human demands and dictate. Its paths are mysterious, its direction apt to change without notice”.

We hear the sound of it, but can’t tell when it comes, and where it goes: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

The wind is invisible.  It can blow gently or with hurricane force.  The end results of the winds are that things move.  The Holy Spirit is dynamic, irresistible, and unstoppable.  He is forceful, overwhelming and relentless.  But He asks for our helpless response.  He wants us to recognize that we are trapped without His grace and peace constantly reaching us.

4. He Comes as Oil

He anoints our life like oil. 2 Cor. 1:21-22 Now he…has anointed us…Who has also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

His anointing makes us sensitive 1 John 2:20 But we have an anointing from the Holy One, and we know all things. He makes us perceptive to truth in His Word.  His oil makes the Word smoothly applicable and practical to us in the daily circumstances of life.  Oil encourages efficiency where there is friction.

The Spirit gives us an ability to speak words of comfort, sensitive counsel and even urgent appeals.  Oil lubricates from wear helping us to be fresh so we’re not stale, formal, and boring.  Oil loosens in the stress points allowing confident relationships to interact effectively with each other.  Where there is sorrow and grief we need the oil of rejoicing and refreshing.

Psalm 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my

enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.   

5. He Comes as Wine

Ephesians 5:8 be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit.  J.B. Phillips renders this: Don’t get your stimulus from wine (for there is always the danger of excessive drinking), but let the Spirit stimulate your souls.

Jesus taught in Luke 5:37-39 no man puts new wine into old wine skins; else the new wine will burst the wine skins, and be spilled, and the wine skins will perish.  But new wine must be put into wine skins; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine desires new: for he says, the old is better.

R. Kent Hughes writes: The new wine of life can’t be restrained by old, unyielding structures.  Old wine skins are brittle.  Their inflexible condition would cause them to burst, and both wine and wineskins would be lost.  New wine need new wine skins so their natural elasticity and strength would allow the new wine to expand. Donald G. Barnhouse calls this the expulsive power of a new affection.

When Christ fills our lives with His Spirit, the swelling life within expands us. The inner life expels unneeded things and fills every aspect of life. John 1:16 For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. 

Everyone receives common grace.  The only way anyone exists is by God’s common grace of air, sunlight, food and water.  But to receive special grace is grace upon grace.  This is the life of Christ Spirit poured into us.  Jesus Christ moves in when we receive Him, takes up residence in our life.  This expulsive power of His Spirit affects our thinking, our feelings and our decisions.  The Spirit, like fermenting wine increases our spiritual capacity. The more we receive, the more we are able to receive.

Those that drink old wine and don’t desire new wine are any who reject the new wine of the Spirit in Jesus Christ.  They want the old wine, it works for them and they don’t trust what is new.  They’re determined not to try it because what they have what they think works for them.

Bill MacDonald writes: this is the natural reluctance to abandon the old for the new, Judaism for Christianity, law for grace, shadows for substance. The natural tendency is to stay with the world’s way of doing things, stay with the flesh and don’t let the Spirit in.  We don’t allow Christ to make us a new person.  It is just easier to stay on the old juice.

To get new wine Jesus needs to change our person by a new birth spiritually.  The problem is not that various stimulants are wrong.  The solution is not being insulated from the world.  The reality is that the old is not the best source of stimulation, joy and peace.

So what does it take to excite our life?  The problem isn’t just alcohol; the issue is, how much of what the world offers does it take to get us going?  Acts 2:13 states that those that watched mocked saying: These men are full of new wine.

Wine is a source of tension release and even sensations of joy just like a number of other intoxicants.  The Spirit of Christ is the real wine and the real source of joy.  Nehemiah 8:10 remarks: This joy gives us strength for the joy of the Lord is our strength.

6. He Comes as Fire

Fire probes, penetrates and refines.  When the three in Daniel, were thrown into the furnace of fire, their lives were spared and their clothes didn’t burn. But the ropes holding them in bondage burned.

The Spirit comes like fire and burns away any binding grip that the Enemy has imposed on us.  The Spirit probes our inside nooks of life to refine us as gold is refined.  The fire that probes and flushes out the inner thoughts and motives of our life are not a relaxing thought.  We need grace and peace from the seven Spirits.

“He makes His ministers a flame of fire.  God deliver me from the dread asbestos of ‘other things.’ Saturate me with the oil of the Spirit that I may be aflame. But flame is transient, often short lived. Can you bear this, my soul – short life? … Make me thy fuel, Flame of God.” Jim Elliot

L. S. Chafer in Vol. 6 of Systematic Theology writes: Fire can represent God’s presence.  He was as a “pillar of fire” to the children of Israel for illumination and defense Ex. 13:21.  He promises to be a “wall of fire” about His people Zech. 2:5.

Fire is a simile of His discipline and testing. When the Lord purifies the sons of Levi, He does it as a refiner purifies gold, by the action of fire Mal. 3:3; and when Christ searches the seven churches, His eyes are described as “a flame of fire” Rev. 1:14

We are reminded “the trial of our faith” is “much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire” 1 Pet. 1:7 “Our God is a consuming fire” Heb. 12:29.

God’s Word is fire igniting and warming.  Jeremiah was told, “Behold I will make my words in thy mouth, fire”; when the prophet resolved not to speak the Word, he had to confess, “I said, I will not make mention of Him, or speak any more in His name. But His word was in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones…and I could not stay” Jer. 5:14; 20:9.

The Holy Spirit is compared to “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” Rev. 4:5

7. He Comes as a Dove

Does the dove find a place to rest in us?  The Spirit brooded over chaos in the beginning in Gen. 1:2. The allusion of a dove is a picture of gentle hovering in grace looking for a response of reception.  Noah released the dove after the devastation of judgment that took the world in a flood.  The dove will soon stop brooding over the world, as final judgment is about to be unleashed.

Doing something special does not attain Grace from the Spirit.  Its not gained by a set of steps taken or earned through any performance achievements.

God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.  Does that mean we earn grace by our attempts at humility?  No.  We are all like the miners in Chile.  We are caught deep in a total cave- in.  No attempt at digging, drilling or clawing will get us out of our tomb of hopeless impossibility.  Jesus has come to rescue us by placing His Spirit in us to fill us with His grace.

A DEVOTED PERSON REV. 1:4

THE MASTER

        GOD THE SOVEREIGN    grace and peace, from Him, which is,

                                                          and which was, and which is to come; 

The phrase “grace from Him, which is, and which was and which is to come” appears to be awkward, or is it?  Is God relevant?  When we are facing crisis, where is God?  Is God appropriate?  Is God applicable?  Is it wrong to question God?

The Psalmist questioned God over and over.

Psalms 10:1 why do You stand so far away, Lord? 

Psalms 44:24 why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression?

Psalms 74:1 O God, why have You cast us off forever?

Psalms 77:9 Has God forgotten to be gracious, has He in anger shut up His tender mercies?

We may feel insignificant in ourselves.  That was the problem Moses felt.  He was taking care of sheep in an obscure desert and a bush starts burning in the middle of nowhere.  The strange thing is the combustion in the bush doesn’t consume the bush.

When he stops to observe the burning bush, God talks to him and tells Him to do something unimaginable and impossible.  He is given an amazing task of releasing over a million slaves from a tyrant who ruled as a dictator of a massive empire.

God gave Moses a promise when he dispatched him on this impossible assignment.  Moses stressed that he felt like he was really just nobody.  He says, I feel like I’m unimportant and insignificant.  This isn’t an uncommon feeling.  Most of us feel small as far a making an impact in history.  But to be given what appears to be an unreasonable task could really stir our sense of puniness into view.  In Exodus 3:11 he asks, Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh?

God answers Moses objection with an interesting statement.  Certainly I will be with you. Exodus 3:12

Having God’s presence is a very special privilege.  The average person wouldn’t accept our sanity if we claimed God was walking around with us.  Moses now asks: what am I expected to say about Your name?  This appears to be a way of questioning God’s identity.  God says: “I am that I am” Now, this name God gives, actually seems odder then making claims that God always walks with us.

God’s identity disclosure in His name is to help Moses in his identity crisis.  There’s no excuse to feel insignificant now.  God is saying: I am the one who is, was and is to come.  I am God, who is unchanging.  I’m the One who has always existed.  I am the self-existent one, dependent on no one else.  Everyone and everything depends on Him for their being.  He is the Eternal God who has no beginning and no ending, who is independent of all.  It’s almost as if God is saying; do you think you, or anyone else, can challenge my existence and my all-powerful infinite abilities.

We may hoot around challenged in our own existence.  And we all live moment-by-moment by God’s mercy.  But to have grace and peace from the one “who is” is exceptional.

Ephesians 1:7 says: this grace is according to the riches of God’s grace.

John D. Rockefeller was the richest man in the world during the early 1900s, the richest man America had ever produced. If Rockefeller wished to give of his riches there were two ways he could achieve this.  He could do it according to his riches, or from his riches. History records that, as a great giver the best he contributed was always to give from his riches.

The most famous picture of Rockefeller shows him as a wizened old man, dressed in a top hat and cut-away coat giving a dime to some little ragamuffin. Rockefeller reportedly did this again and again for the press to be respectfully photographed. One wonders how many boys were truly set on the road to wealth and moral excellence by a wonderful gift from Rockefeller’s fortune.

But think what it would have been like had he given according to his riches. If he had done that, he would have perhaps given a grand home, say the famous Greystone Kykiut (Rockefeller estate on the Hudson) or his hamlet in Pocantico Hills, and for the living room a Gilbert Stuart or George Washington, a Rodin for the lawn, and a forest, and a Duisenberg for the carriage house.

When God gives “in accordance with the riches of His grace” He gives from his unlimited treasure house. Grace is unmerited favor “an overflowing abundance of unmerited love, inexhaustible in God and freely accessible through Christ,” Charles Hodge.

Our God is consistent, reliable, steady and dependable.  He’s never unswerving, never unfailing.  He is unshakable and unwavering.  He is the God who is, who was and who is to come, which means His grace and peace is constant and stable.

We not only live based on His amazing grace but we can come right up to His throne of grace and like a bush that isn’t consumed by fire, we can stand, next to God in our weak, dependent, fragile condition.

Grace is unearned and undeserved.  We can approach a throne of grace with all our needs and we can come with boldness.  To push into God’s presence, right into His throne room with every need.  This is an incredible invitation.

The Greek-English Lexicon defines boldly as a use of speech that conceals nothing and passes over nothing.  Coming boldly is being outspoken, frank, and plain.  We don’t have to dilly-dally around with God.  We can be honest and straightforward with Him.  He is always consistent, always the same yesterday, today and forever. He is even, accepting of every need and His storehouse of grace and mercy are exhaustless, measureless, limitless and endless.

Claims, about God being self-existent, and the source of our existence, right down to our every breath and micro-detail is not a popular position.   The rampant thing is to accuse God for all that is malfunctioning and broken in our world.  The custom is to blame God for every fault and flop in history.  Actually the things that have traumatized humanity over the centuries are a drop in the bucket to what is about to be unleashed in this Revelation of Christ.

In Tim Keller’s book, The Reason For God, its stated:

“Just because we can’t see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen, doesn’t mean there can’t be one”.

Where is our faith?  Is our faith in our brain?  Is our confidence in our cognitive abilities?  Is it in someone else’s thoughts?  Is our faith in America, liberal or conservative politics, our educational system?  Or is our faith in the God who is, was and is to come?

C.S. Lewis initially rejected God’s existence because of what he felt was the cruelty of life.  Then Lewis realized that suffering proved God’s existence.  Those who refuse God’s existence exalt the evolutionary process, which depends on the harmony of convergence through the emergence of decay.

Evolution depends on suffering and death.  You can’t be outraged with injustice if a true source of justice is non-existent.

God is our only source of life through His grace and peace by the forgiveness of sins through Jesus, and it is all according to the riches of his grace.

A DEVOTED PERSON REV. 1:4

THE MESSENGER    John

The name John means the grace of God in Hebrew.

THE MEETINGS         to the seven churches, which are in Asia

Numbers, in symbolic patterns, are a special part of Revelation. There is a repetitive significance to the number seven.  The menacing number six is the ominous mark of the beast.  The combination “666” falls infinitely short of seven.

Many see seven as the perfect number.  It is used fifty-four times in Revelation. There are the seven churches, seven spirits, seven candlesticks, seven stars, seven lamps, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, and other groupings of seven. Symbolically, the number seven stands for what is comprehensive and complete.

THE MEANS   Grace be unto you, and peace,

I had job where I flew weekly on a variety of Airlines.  I would drive new Paccar trucks to various places in the U S and Canada and then fly back home.  It was extra special to be moved to first class on a flight and get a meal and unlimited beverages instead of flying coach and getting a hand full of pretzels and peanuts.  It’s grace to be chosen to fly first class.  Actually it’s grace to have any privileges.  It’s infinite grace to be placed in Christ.

Grace is the undeserved and unearned favor of God.  Grace is also God’s gift of strength and ability that we need to live the Christian life each day.  What we deserve is extremely less then first class.  Peace is the results of growing in grace.  The greater our understanding of grace the deeper our peace.  It is through maturing in grace and peace that we are able to handle rejection, disappointment and trials.

I read a story about a man who became an instant multi-millionaire because natural gas was discovered on his property.  He told a pastor that even though he’d been giving 10 percent in the past, of his income, that he couldn’t increase his giving much, because he didn’t know how stable this new wealth would be.  He knew everyone at church was enthused that he had prospered, but he did not want new expectations put upon him.  The pastor said he would pray that his income would decrease so he would feel more stability.

We’ve been given every blessing in Jesus Christ and it’s tragic not to bless each other.  We’ve been forgiven for everything in Jesus. We have grace upon grace from the fullness of God, and it’s a disaster not to treat each other to our riches.  To be unforgiving and unmerciful or to be difficult and demanding cuts others off from all the good we’ve received.  We’re not only to receive God’s blessings of grace and peace but also to be channels of His kindness and forgiveness to others.

A DECISIVE PERSON Revelation 1:3 

A SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE  Blessed is he that reads, and

                   they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those

                   things, which are written therein for the time is at hand.

STUDENTS                              Blessed is he that reads, and they

SAVOR THE SYMBOLS   that hear the words of this prophecy

Reading the book of Revelation guarantees a positive result.  It is a circular letter.  The intent was that it was to be read out loud in the seven churches of chapters 2 and 3. (Symbolic of the entire church)

That may seem a daunting task.  Actually the 22 chapters take about 2 to 3 min. per chapter to read.  The assignment is not that overwhelming.  God wants us exposed to the words of His prophetic unveiling.

SURRENDER TO THE SUBJECT   and keep those things,

                                                                  which are written therein

Keeping is defined as placing each thought and word in front of our mind.  The sense is for us to value the integral fabric of Revelation and investigate it with alert contemplation.

To “keep those things” is to recognize with appreciation and respect this final drama of our Savior.  He’s paid an infinite price to bring us to Himself.  This is Christ’s triumph exposed.  Each detail can be viewed in admiration as we keep Him as our conscious treasure.

SECURE THE SEVERITY      for the time is at hand.

Admiration and respect of the themes of future events is not that trendy or popular.  To imply that God is in control of events and that He’s weaving His design is not a well-liked position.  There are scoffers who say:

Where is the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 2 Peter 3:4

The Lord assures: Every vision will be fulfilled Ezek. 12:23-25

The days are at hand, and the effect of every vision.  For there shall be no more any vain vision nor flattering divination within the house of Israel.  For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I speak will come to pass; it will be no more prolonged 

Every Israelite will return to Israel Ezek. 36:8-11 But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home.  For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.  And I will multiply people on you, the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt.  And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the Lord.

The day of the Lord will start Joel 3:14 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

This is the first of seven blessings Ron Mantoon calls these:

The Blessed Challenge Rev.1:3      The importance of the Word

The Blessed Comfort  Rev.14:13  The blessings of eternal life

The Blessed Cautiousness Rev.16:15 The anticipation of His return

The Blessed Calling  Rev. 19:9   The joy of Christ’s presence

The Blessed Conquest   Rev. 20:6    The participants in His Life

The Blessed Cherishing  Rev. 22:7    The joy of obedience to Him

The Blessed Conformity Rev. 22:14   Access to eternal nourishment

The Blessed Challenge Rev. 1:3

  Reading          Blessed is he that reads

  Retaining       and they that hear the words of this prophecy

  Responding   and keep those things which are written therein

  Recognizing   for the time is at hand

To be “Blessed” means to have God’s approval on us by His joy being in us.  We are favored not based on changed circumstances or because our surroundings are improved.  True blessing is opening to the transforming perspective of God through His Word decoding our conditions.  It is not matchless plenty but renewed perception.

“Blessed” means to lean on the intrinsic presence of God Spirit within. He has designs in everything, independent from what appears to be fading.  To need nothing but God is real blessing.  This is not a denigration of the physical things we have and could have.  This is a commendation of the spiritual things we have in Christ.

Read, hear and keep are action words, which are continuous action verbs.  Lange writes this is “the earnestness of delight where our intensity and industriousness centers in God’s Word”.

R.E. Gingrich writes: “The blessing is to those who keep on reading, keep on hearing, and keep on keeping”

John Phillips writes: “The blessing here relates to…the glimpses of Christ in glory, seeing God’s consistent outworking, His glorious ultimate consummation, and hearing the prophecies of this book.  This is a blessing in our troubled world. We are to “keep” what is written. To “keep” is “to watch over,” or “to observe attentively”

A DECISIVE PERSON Revelation 1:2  

A SPECIFIC ENDORSEMENT Who bare record of the word of God and of the

                                              testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw

OUR SUPPORT            Who bare record of the word of God

To “bare record” is all one word in the Greek.  The antidote “bare in mind” means we support an idea.  We hold a thought in our memory.  When we “bare record” we are confirming it as a fact by our voice or writing.  To “bare record” is to admit our personal conviction of the impact of, and our delight in God’s Word.

The Book of Revelation can look like a struggle to understand.  The exterior emerges as an intangible jungle of symbols and figures in a variety of representations.  Its complexity is not a reason to avoid it.  The difficulty and intricacy is a challenged to muse deeper into the riches that are expressed.  Like the entire Bible, Revelation is alive and powerful and a treasures for exploration.

We need a deeper encounter with the Lord.  We want His presence and need Him surrounding our consciousness.  Meditation on every Word is our spiritual food and life force.

His Word needs to become our Logos, our Ethos and our Pathos.  Aristotle used these three Greek terms in describing a relationship with philosophy.  These words are more fitting to a descriptive relationship of the Living and Written Word.

As we contemplate on His Word we’re asking Him to change our ethos (personality & character) our pathos (passions & feelings) with God’s Logos, the living power of His Word.

Life is full of drudgery but God’s Word defines the meaning of our daily grind.          

OUR SAVIOR               and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,

OUR SHOW                 and of all things that he saw.

Every day is a new opportunity to experience walking with Jesus Christ our Lord.  He reveals to us the attraction of His mystic of anticipation.  This vivid account of “all things that He” reveals is evidence of His special individual love in our lives.  It’s not a false expectation to look for His presence as our daily happening.  To expect His imminent return is a detail He encourages.

Is the “testimony of Jesus and all that John saw” appropriate in the context of our present times?  Things are rapidly changing around us.  Everything in our culture can appear so massive and binding.  But the testimony of Jesus is the power of God unto salvation.

The prayer in Ephesians 1:18 asks, “that we may know” the personal impact of “the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe”.  God gives us power.  He works in us and through us.

We are easily lulled to sleep by our sense of weakness and what appears to be the impossibility of our culture’s decline.  We can feel like Gulliver who falls asleep only to wake and find he has been tied down by the Lilliputians with thousands of tiny strands.

When they bound Samson with new rope in Judges 15 and delivered him to the Philistines, the Spirit of the Lord came on him and he broke the rope like straw in a fire.  Then he took a jawbone and killed 1000 Philistines.  Later on Samson compromised and was soothed into a deep sleep and separated from God’s power in his life.  He was tied down and captured until he called again to God’s power.  We are not to feel so incapable in our surroundings.  The testimony of Jesus is the power that overcomes.    

A DECISIVE PERSON Revelation 1:1-3

A Sovereign Encounter V.1

     The Subject His Unveiling        

     The Source His Undertaking

     The Show His Utterance

     The Specifics He’s Unshakable 

     The Sign His Unassuming  

     The Servant His Unction      

A SOVEREIGN ENCOUNTER V.1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him, to show unto His servants things, which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by His angel unto his servant John:  

THE SUBJECT HIS UNVEILING         The Revelation of Jesus Christ

It’s suspenseful to uncover something new, especially when it’s so gripping and dynamic.  I don’t know where I came up with the impression that Jesus is slow.  Maybe it’s my impatience and intolerance.  I feel immature and edgy about what is around the next bend in life.  Real faith is to step ahead in the confidence of the love and the reality of God’s presence.  It is a relying recognition that Jesus is really in charge of everything.  This is what we have uncovered so masterfully in Revelation and it is an incredible unveiling.

John has a sovereign encounter with Christ enthroned and ruling.  He gathers all the loose threads of the Bible together and in the power of the Spirit lifts us in Revelation to have the same sovereign confrontation.

To see Christ on the Throne exalted and dictating every event appears difficult when we look around at the present condition of things.  We hear nothing but a stir of the constant media.  They describe everything in ugly implications and tinged insinuations.  All appears as unharnessed confusion.  We want to demand quick results and clear solutions for our immediate perception.

Christ is mentioned on the throne 45 times in Revelation.  MSN, Fox and local news don’t inform us that Jesus is walking among the Churches and even knocking on their doors, attempting to get in our company to share His heart with us.

CNN doesn’t mention that the Lord Jesus is on the move behind the scenes of all occurrences with a purpose and plan in every happening.  We can only see Him in His expanding agenda in each current event through the blessing of Revelation.

Here is a Revelation of Jesus, exalted and in control of all incidents.  We know the Bible is about Jesus Christ, but when He came in His First Coming, as a man, it was in humility.  He was self-effacing and non-demanding.  He was mocked, rejected by most, and killed as a criminal and fraud to religion.

But now in Revelation we see Jesus raised, ascended and exalted.  He is relevant as the Head of His Church and involved in the scrutiny of every detail.  He’s going to return in a Second Coming. Every vision and description of Him in Revelation is significant of His majesty, power, and glory.

Has Jesus been unveiled and uncovered to us?  Do we see Him more clearly and are we exposing our self to Him.  Maybe that is what really discloses Christ to us is for us not to hide our selves.  He is seeking us out in Revelation and asking us to step into His light.

THE SOURCE HIS UNDERTAKING      which God gave unto him,

God is the great giver, but all that He provides is not always recognized.  He shows us in Revelation.  He gives His tactics and a strategy to His own and clarifies warnings for those that reject Him.

When Daniel wrote, he was to “shut up the words, and seal the book” Dan. 12:4; John was given opposite instructions: “Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book” Rev. 22:10.  This vision will be unsealed as we let His hands open the book to us and we release our hearts to Him?  John says “if we walk in the light as He is in the light” or live with our lives open to let Christ reveal Him self to us.  This will cause us to be closer to each other as we are living in the intimate presence of Jesus.  If we hide from Christ we become ambiguous in our relationships, living in an illusion of artificial misconceptions.

THE SHOW HIS UTTERANCE         to show unto his servants things

We’re inclined to want our own things and those things are not especially the things of Jesus Christ.  Isaiah writes there are things no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and the heart of man hasn’t imagined, and it’s what God has prepared for those who love him.

1 Cor. 2:10 magnifies, these things, God has revealed (his things) to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the deep things of God.

The only things that satisfy we hear described in what the men sought when they came to the disciples in John 12:21 and said, “we would see Jesus” There is no greater passion then to see Christ and have a deep bonding with Him.  Jesus says that the hour is coming when the Son of Man is to be glorified.  That hour is now for  Christ to be glorified and magnified in our lives.  He says that it’s by a seed being buried in the dirt in death that meaningful fruit is produced.  That sounds drastic, desperate and severe and it is.  Being self-protective is destructive.  The person that loves his life in this world is rejecting of Jesus and will end up destroyed.  The person who forgets and literally hates His life in this world finds real life in Jesus.

J.I. Packer writes “weakness is a state of inadequacy, or insufficiency…There is physical weakness, which keeps us from excelling in sports; there is weak health, which makes us vulnerable to all sorts of diseases; weak capacity limits us as employees, business people, and entrepreneurs; weakness of memory keeps us from becoming top-notch teachers or managers; weakness of character unfits us to be leaders, parents, trainers, team captains, and perhaps team members too; and so on.

But weakness is the way to life with Christ as our strength.”

To see Jesus we open our inadequacy and weakness as sinners to Him and He pours in His grace that allows us to be all He wants us to become in Him.

THE SPECIFICS HE’S UNSHAKABLE   which must shortly

                                                                               come to pass; 

The word “must” refers to the certainty of what’s happening and soon to happen, but “shortly come to pass” is a phrase of perspective.

There’s our perception of “shortly” and God’s angle on “shortly.”  We may feel that “shortly” means soon and abruptly but with God “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” 2 Peter 3:8

The reference of “shortly” scheduled is not a suggestion of when it will happen, but how it will happen.  The “how” is the events will happen rapidly with increasing catastrophe and tragic disaster.

We all would like to see certain things expedited.  To be able to climb up a steep hill without having to drop down to the lowest gear is a good feeling.  We want things accelerated and rushed.  We want to be on the fast track.

THE SIGN HIS UNASSUMING   and he sent and signified

                                                                it by his angel

THE SERVANT HIS UNCTION   unto his servant John: 

To signify means to declare, to make known and to make clear to show by signs.  His Angel is referred to here in the first verse and His Angel is mentioned the last chapter Rev. 22:16 I Jesus have sent my Angel.

Jesus Angel or messenger is His intermediary. W.W. Wiersbe writes: Sometimes Christ Himself conveyed information to John Rev. 1:10; sometimes it was an elder Rev. 7:13; and often it was an angel Rev. 17:1; 19:9–10.

Sometimes a “voice from heaven” told John what to say and do Rev. 10:4. The book came from God to John, no matter what the various means of communication were; God’s Spirit inspired it all.

The message of Revelation is made clear through the use of signs and symbols.  Revelation is a book of 348 symbols.  These aren’t random symbols with fanciful and novel explanations.  These are traceable images from the Old Testament.

A.G. Fruchtenbaum in his book The Footsteps of the Messiah writes: “While the Bible does use many symbols, it is consistent in its usage of symbols. A specific symbol will mean the same thing throughout the Old and New Testaments in the vast majority of cases”

The Book of Revelation has no direct quotations from the Old Testament, but it has about 550 references back to the Old Testament.

David Jeremiah writes: of these symbols, “some represent people. In the first chapter, Jesus is seen as a judge with a two-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Later, the Antichrist is presented as a beast; the great religious system is described as Babylon the Great.

Why is there so much symbolism in the Book of Revelation? To begin with, symbolism is not weakened by time. John was able to draw the great images in God’s revelation and write them into an exciting drama; symbols can stand the test of the years, without relating to one particular era or culture.

Symbols also impart values and arouse emotions. How much more graphic it is to speak of “beasts,” instead of “dictators.” There is more color in referring to “Babylon the Great” than the “world system.”

Symbols can be used as a secret code. Just as secret projects are given code names, so the prisoner of Patmos had a spiritual code, which was circulated to the churches.

The political climate of this period was not unlike that of the forties in Nazi Germany. A diabolically wicked leader, Domitian, believed in his own ability to rule his empire and establish himself with god-like powers.  He realized that these people who called themselves Christians had an allegiance to another God. Whereas Hitler annihilated the Jews, the emperor Domitian set out to abolish the influence of the followers of a man called Jesus.  Thousand’s of Christians were killed; others, like John, were imprisoned for their faith.

John wanted to encourage those believers, so he wrote letters to the churches, urging them to stand firm, not to waver in their faith. However, he had to disguise this message in such a way that the Roman authorities would not understand it. The Christians could decipher this secret code, but Domitian and his henchmen would be puzzled by it. It would be similar to POWs in our century tapping out codes on cell walls to encourage their fellow prisoners.

The first-century believers understood this symbolism, so it is equally vivid to Christians of every age. We can understand the symbolism in Revelation because each symbol is accompanied by its own interpretation. Throughout Scripture symbols occur as a vehicle for divine revelation, but Revelation contains more symbols than any other book in the Bible”, compiling from the entirety of the 65 books of God’s Word.

Symbols and figures of speech are not literal.  Psalms 23 informs us the Lord makes us to lie down in green pastures but not in a literal sense?  Literary figures of speech are styles of writing used to reveal a literal truth. David wrote of God riding on the wings of the wind coming in thick clouds of darkness in wrath Against David’s enemies.  This is poetic prophecy.

John didn’t make up the images. And we can’t interpret them using our own ingenuity. They’re carefully taken from the rest of the Bible.

Sensationalizing these symbols with strange associations is not anything but speculative fiction.  I’ve read a variety of speculative theories, which are a step above fortune telling craziness.  One writer predicted that lasers will be created that will melt modern weapons so that future warfare will be fought with stone age weapons with the only vehicles being horses.  Another wrote that when the calculator was devised that to own such a hand held devise was equal to taking the mark of the beast.  Another said the flying creature of Revelation with stings in their tails were a helicopter with intensely destructive weapons.  This makes for bazaar drama but lacks credible proofs.