Revelation 1:1-3

Subject: Revelation
Scripture: Revelation 1:1-3
Sermon: “Introduction & Prologue”

Introduction:
A.  Morris: “The revelation is by common consent one of the most difficult of all the books of the Bible. It is full of strange symbolism. There are curious beasts with unusual numbers of heads and horns. There are extraordinary phenomena, like the turning of one-third of the sea into blood (8:8), which are impossible to envision. Modern readers find it strange. They are moreover not usually attracted by the fantastic schemes of prophecy which some exegetes find in it, and whose ingenuity is matched only by their improbability.
The result is that for many, Revelation remains a closed book. Except for one or two passages, like the vision of the redeemed in chapter 7, or that of the heavenly Jerusalem in the final two chapters, it remains largely unread. We recognize that it is part of the canon of Scripture and therefore we accord it formal recognition. But we remain uneasy and we do not make use of it. We turn our back on its mysteries and luxuriate in John’s Gospel or the Epistle to the Romans.
This is a great pity. This book has much to teach us in the twentieth century. . . .
[J. B. Phillips writes] For in this book the translator is carried into another dimension—he has but the slightest foot-hold in the time-and-space world with which he is familiar. He is carried, not into some never-never land of fancy, but into the Ever-ever land of God’s eternal Values and Judgments.”

ILL Robert Macfarlane in a sermon (Nov. I0, 1992): The church speaks the language of the End, so that we will know just how high the stakes are in the present.

B.  Pre-test

Bible Background:

A.  Denials:  Luther who denied it had the character of an apostolic witness; Zwingli denied that it was a biblical book; Calvin passed over it in silence in his Bible commentary

B.  Title: The Revelation of Jesus Christ  1:1

C.  Author: The Apostle John  1:1, 4

D.  Purpose: 1:1 “to show things which must shortly come to pass”
1.  To portray the ultimate triumph of the glorified Christ over all the enemies of god and His people with a view to encourage and strengthen God’s people in the face of persecution of an ungodly world
2.  To attack the religious cult of the emperors of the Roman empire – esp. the worship of Domitian
3.  To motivate the believer to perseverance in the areas of we looked at last week (suffering, sanctification, service, against seduction, and sacrificial worship
4.  Consummation and climax of God’s revelation – John was ordered by God not to seal it (not to keep it hidden) = given to clarify not to mystify

E.  Promise: To show . . . things which must shortly come to pass” 1:1

F.  Outline: 1:19

G.  Date:  Gospel of John written between AD 85-90, epistles 90-95 and Revelation 95

H.  Problems: some have tried to make Babylon in Rev 14 and 16-18 a code-word for Rom, but Rev 16:12 puts the city on the Euphrates River! Rome never has and never could be the great commercial city described in Rev 18 – Babylon did eventually become a code-word for Rom, but not during the period of the NT’s composition and “Babylon” in 1 Pet 5:13 is not an exception to this generalization

I.  Semitic influence upon the Greek of Revelation – of the 404 verses of Revelation 278 allude to the OT Scriptures (no other NT book uses the OT more than this) yet there are no formal quotations from the OT – alludes to Daniel the most, then Isaiah, Ezekiel and Psalms and is familiar with other NT books (knew Matthew, Luke, 1 Thes, 1 & 2 Cor, Col, Eph, Gal, 1 Pet, and Jas)

I.  The Method of Revelation  Revelation 1:1-2

A.  Divine Disclosure   Rev 1:1
1.  “revelation of Jesus Christ”
(a)   apokaluyi" = lit. apo “away from” and kalypsi" “a cover” = an uncovering or a laying bare = a disclosure of what has been concealed – here it is the supernatural revelation of some divine truth otherwise unknown, the great manifestations which are to take place with the coming of the Last Days
(b)  Disclosure by Jesus Christ about Jesus Christ – “Jesus Christ” is found 3 times in the book in vs. 1-5 but nowhere else
(c)  The first chapter of the Apocalypse describes how God prepared John to receive subsequent portions of the revelation that were to constitute the book
(d)  Right in line with the rest of the NT: Rom 8:19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.; 1 Cor 1:7 awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ; 1 Pet 1:13 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 5:1 THEREFORE, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed; 2 Thes 2:8 And then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming
2.  Channels of the communication of revelation
(a)  God the Father gave to Jesus, His Son this information – purpose: to make know to His slaves = all believers – Jesus said that He didn’t know the day nor the hour (Mark 13:32; Acts 1:6-7) so the Father had to reveal it to Him!
(b)  Sent through His angel – probably an archangel like Michael or Gabriel – angel of God appears as an intermediary between Christ and John
(c)  Communicated to His slave, John
(1)  John just says his name = mere mention of his name is enough to get an audience
(2)  Point: = Jesus speaks, and we had better listen
3.  Content of the revelation – lit. “what is necessary to happen in haste” – what will happen cannot be changed and when it begins it will take place “in haste” or “quickly” or “speedily”
(a)  Rooted in Dan 2:28 However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days = refers to the great statue which represented four kingdoms – Jesus refers to the same thing in Matt 24:6 (they must happen)
(b)  Word for communicated is the Greek word from which we get signs – esemanen = signs used and symbolism throughout book
(c)  “In haste” = tacei = get tachometer = instrument for measuring velocity = when the time for judgment comes there will be no delay in its execution! – the time may seem distant but when it starts the evens will transpire rapidly
ILL R. Geoffrey Brown, “Look! A Great White Horse!”:  Some will tell you that triumph will come by the development of human beings--the gradual evolution of their potentialities. We should just give it time, wait and see. Everything’s coming up roses. World War I dealt that theory the cutting blow. World War II broke its spirit. Vietnam laid it in its grave. The takeovers of Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan shoveled the dirt of interment on it. Will human progress stop people and nations from sinning? Will human progress and achievement ever wipe away all tears from our eyes or heal our broken hearts? To ask these questions is to answer them.
       No, the final victory will not come through some natural progress of human development, nor through the religious forces that are operative in the world right now. The victory will come not by an improvement of the present order but through its complete overthrow and supercession. The high point of human history will be the sudden appearance on the field of battle of the captain of our salvation. And he will come in glory, and it will be comparable to what John beheld: Look, I see a great white horse. And there is a rider on that horse whose name is Faithful and True, and there are many crowns upon his head.

B.  Discipleship of John  Rev 1:2
1.  Not a secret writing open only to a select few
2.  Witness = legal term – you can be a witness for Jesus only if you are prepared to be shaped by Jesus’ own witness = taking the road of suffering obedience for the sake of Jesus’ cause – uncompromisingly and even to death = genuine witness demands death (marturia is the word from which we get martyr)
3.  Prophetic process: This was prior to the revelation being given now – not his other letters, but his other visions – witness = any declaration, revelation, or truth coming from God – John proved faithful in his life so God entrusted him to receive the revelation of Christ
4.  This revelation is not human speculation but the Word of God = spoken rather than written word – Word of God is not merely a means of communicating truth, but is an active dynamic entity (Ps 33:9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.; Isa 55:11 So shall My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.) and is the only weapon of the conquering Christ (Rev 19:15 And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.)

II.  The Blessing of Revelation  Rev 1:3 – first of 7 beatitudes in Revelation  (Rev 1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14)

A.  Recognition of the Revelation  Rev 1:3a
1.  anaginoskw = know again, know certainly, recognize – refers to the practice of public reading which comes from the Jews
2.  This may refer to the person who takes the text and reads it – anyone could read, but if a priest or Levite were present, they were given the honor
3.  The prophecy must be protected from threatening falsifications
ILL William Law in Christian Perfection: If you attempt to talk with a dying man about sports or business, he is no longer interested. He now sees other things as more important. People who are dying recognize what we often forget, that we are standing on the brink of another world.

B.  Response to the Revelation  Rev 1:3b
1.  Hear the words
2.  Keep the things in it – cannot be hearers only but doers of the word of God – that the church was to keep the word means it was moral in its outlook and not merely predictive
3.  Luke 11:28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it.”
4.  Practical purpose of the revelation: blessing distinguishes this from other prophetic writings of the time = offers something by way of incentive (Tenney) and draws upon the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:3-12) of promising special blessing to the reader and to the ones hearing and complying with the moral and ethical standards to be advocated in the following chapters
ILL Soren Kierkegaard: Christian truth itself has eyes to see with. In fact it is all eye. That’s very disquieting. Think of looking at a painting and discovering that the painting was looking at you. Precisely such is the case with Christian truth. It is looking back at me to see whether I do what it says I should do.

Conclusion:  Rev 1:3c “for the time is near” = kairo;" ejggu;"
A.  kairo" = time = used as “end times” in Acts 1:7; 3:20 so refers to the last critical epoch-making periods foreordained of God and God declares it near

B.  The time is near =  impending or at hand
1.  Qualify this with 2 Pet 3:8 But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
2.  Hope in the midst of distress and for constant heed to warning