A study in Revelation
Message 1
An Introduction to the Revelation
Rev. 1:1-3
Introduction: We could just jump right into a study of the seven churches. If we did I would not be doing you any favors, nor would I be doing what God called me to do, teach His word. To understand the seven churches we must understand what comes before them, God put this scripture first for a reason and we must understand it before we can follow the rest of the story. Tonight is the first of many studies on the seven churches. Let’s take a few minutes tonight to look at the introduction of Revelation in order to be prepared for the study of the seven churches.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave unto him, (1:1a)
Jesus came to
earth the first time as a lamb, He will come the second time as the Lion of the
Tribe of Judah.
to shew unto his servants things which must
shortly come to pass;
(1:1b)
Gods has a plan
and it is interwoven throughout the Bible in what we call prophecy. The book of
Revelation takes all of these threads and weaves them into one plan, given to
us through the apostle John.
and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (1:1c)
The word
signified literally means to give a sign or signal. Reminding us the Revelation
is a book of signs and symbols. How important are signs and symbols, well words
tend to change over time depending upon their usage and definition but symbols
and signs stay constant over time. Symbols are fixed.
Who bare record of the word of God, and of
the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
The expression
“the word of God” bears the uniqueness of this communication.
The expression
“the testimony of Jesus” bears the uniformity of this communication.
Blessed is
he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those
things which are written therein
This is the first
of seven beatitudes found in Revelation, the next two (14:3, 15:15) relate to
the great tribulation, the fourth (19:9) relates to Armageddon, the fifth
(20:6) relates to the millennium, the last two (22:7,14) relate to the
celestial city.
FYI beatitude
means The declaration of blessedness made by our Savior to particular virtues.
: for the time is
at hand.
Concerning the
coming of Christ, the Bible never tells us it is immediate, be we are told it is immanent.
The Bible is not
to be put aside.
Revelation tells
us many things about history as well as prophecy.
Conclusion: These first three verses have significance, a signature and a singleness that must be accepted and understood before we move forward. Only through this understanding can we see the Revelation for what it really is the unveiling of things to come as given by Jesus Christ to the apostle John and passed along to us as directed by the Lord for a testimony of the days that lie ahead.