Transcript

God In A Godless World-Part One

Though some date the book of Revelation in the late 60's of the first century, it was most likely written in the early 90's. The author according to the opening verses is a man named John. There is every reason to believe this was the same John, the "beloved disciple," one of our Lord's twelve Apostles that composed the Gospel of John and three short epistles that bear his name.

With the other eleven Apostles now martyred for their faith, John was banished because of his love for Jesus to a small rocky island named Patmos located 40 miles southwest of Ephesus in the Aegean Sea (Rev. 1:9). As an old man it was there that John, as he tells us (Rev. 1:10ff), received this vision, a revelation, literally an apocalypse if you will from the Lord that we call the book of Revelation.

If we date the vision in the early 90's of the first century, the leader of the Roman world was an Emperor named, "Domitian." Though the historical accounts are debatable, most would agree that he was not as vicious on the church as Nero, one of his predecessors nor as vicious as some of his successors to the likes of Decius and Diocletian. Nevertheless, the historian Pliny called Domitian the "beast from hell who sat in its den, licking blood." He liked to watch gladiator fights and was very suspicious of plots against his life.

Domitian was the first emperor to have himself officially titled in Rome as "God the Lord." He insisted that other people hail his greatness with acclamations like "Lord of the earth," "Invincible," "Glory," "Holy," and "Thou Alone." When he ordered people to give him divine honors, Christians refused and often paid for it with their lives. John even refers to many contemporary Christians in the book of Revelation that were martyred for their faith. Most historians agree. The persecution on the church was rough at this time, and it was about to significantly increase after the turn of the first century.

Revelation was written to prepare its original readers for very tough times that they would be facing. Their faith would be significantly tested and the question stated throughout the book is whether or not they would be "faithful until death." The hope for faithfully persevering to the end would not be in their moral resolve or personal determination. It would be in understanding the glory of the Risen Christ who not only provides sufficient grace and superior promises, but is ultimately worthy to be worshipped far above the gods of this world, even above losing our own lives if necessary.

Revelation was primarily written not to satisfy the curious or debate our eschatological positions. Revelation was written to strengthen the church. It was written to remind the church that there are only two teams. It was written to remind the church that the true Christian is on the winning team. It was written to remind the church that all people >will face wrath. The question is whether you want it to be Satan's wrath or God's wrath?

And as our world turns further away from God and persecution increases for the Christian, we too need to hear from God's word in Revelation during our time. I think the most I've been inconvenienced for Jesus was stay up until 2 o'clock this weekend for our seven-hour "Secret Church" simulcast! We are living in the last days. The Lord's return could be around the corner. When everything around us shakes our faith, will we retreat, will be backslide, will we fall or will we stand with and for Christ as faithful soldiers who bear His name up until the very end? Contrary to the nightly news that presents a world spinning out of control, the teaching in Revelation will give us the hope that we need and the focus on a sovereign God in total control that we must maintain.

Let's being our study in Revelation with a look at verses 1-3 in chapter 1.

1. PROLOGUE (verses 1-3)

We begin with the Prologue in verse 1. "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John."

It is important to see from the very beginning that the Apostle John is very concerned for us to understand how this revelation was transmitted. The opening words could better be translated, "The Revelation [not of, but from] Jesus Christ." The following words say "God [that is the Father] gave to Him [that is the Son]" this Revelation. The end of verse 1 says it was transmitted then from the Son to "His angel." Obviously this was a noted and special angel. Then from the angel (and at times Jesus Himself), the Revelation was given to John and from John, verse 1 tells us it was to be shared with the bond-servants of God, that is, the church. So here is the progression of the material: A Revelation originating with the Father, given to the Son, given to the angel, given to John and then lastly passed along to us.

I mention this because explaining this order was obviously very significant to John. Not only does he open this fabulous book with this information, but he also emphasizes this pattern of transmission and authority frequently in his Gospel. This important theme must be noted. The Son is always submissive to the Father. The Son does as the Father pleases. The Son's food is to the will of the Father. And with John in verse 1 referring to both himself and the church as "bond-servants" of God, John is expecting the same attitude of submissiveness amongst God's people. As the Son always obeyed the Father, we ought to follow Christ's example as well. We are to be people of obedience.

Note that the words in this book are not just for anyone. They are directed toward those redeemed by the blood of the Lamb who give evidence of their salvation by this very desire and ability to submit to the will of God the Father. John in verse 1 refers to us as "bond-servants." Literally we are God's "slaves." It is not a derogatory title, but rather a title of honor, a title of ultimate allegiance. With no rights of our own, we trust, follow and obey our Master and do so with great eagerness and delight, knowing that He loves us and cares for us which is reflected in His commandments and thus follow with joy and eagerness.

This is the theme of Revelation - follow God with ultimate allegiance because regardless of the cost He is worthy. So when the world masters both then (in the first century) and now (in our present day) are calling us to disobey our ultimate Commander in Chief, we have an overarching obligation to faithfully obey our rightful King regardless of the cost. Persecution is always the test to reveal who is really in allegiance to the true God of gods and Lord of Lords. During persecution the imposters and bond-servants of the world often show their true colors. The primary purpose of Revelation is to reveal Jesus Christ as the supreme cosmic Judge in whom we reject to the great detriment of our soul.

John tells us also in verse 1 that the book will reveal "the things which must soon take place." Interpreters differ greatly on exactly what this means and often land in one of four camps based on the hermeneutic which they use to understand Revelation. Since we are just getting into this book, now is perhaps a good time to present these four primary views very briefly.

The Idealist View believes the book of Revelation teaches nothing particular in terms of timetables or the literal unfolding of world history or specific events. According to this view, the goal of Revelation is to teach a Christian philosophy of history. John's purpose they say was to use symbolism to teach the conflict of good versus evil (in which good wins out) that occurs throughout the history of the church.

The Historical View looks at Revelation in a macro view, a rolling history of the church from the beginning to the end. The different prophecies in the Book could be applied to different church ages. Bible interpreters will often find a passage to explain their own contemporary issues. For example, it was using this model that the Reformers after they faced significant persecution from the Catholic Church began to see the Pope as the prophesied antichrist. Another example, the churches in Revelation 2-3 are not so much literal descriptions or current churches at the time of writing, but rather symbolic descriptions of the entire church age. As you know, the final church described is Laodicea, the "lukewarm church," which they say will describe the church at the end of the age just prior to Christ's returns. "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" (Lk. 18:8).

A third view is called the Preterist View. This position teaches that virtually everything in Revelation took place during the time and shortly after the time of John's writing. If you take an early writing of the book, the wrath spoken of looks toward the fall of Jerusalem. If you take a later writing of the book, the wrath spoken of looks toward the fall of Rome. Therefore proponents of this view say we should read the book of Revelation now as a historical book no different than the way we would read Kings, Chronicles or Acts. This position really emphasizes the phrases found throughout the book such as "the time is near" (Rev. 1:3; 22:10) and "shortly take place" (Rev. 1:1; 22:6). Some Preterists also believe the Lord in one sense has already returned.

Finally there is the Futurist View. This view believes much of Revelation describes the events that are beyond John's day and events that have still yet to transpire in our time as well. Revelation to a Futurist primarily outlines (especially after chapter 3) that which will happen at the end of the world as we know it - just before, during and immediately after the Return of Christ.

If I were forced to choose a camp, I find myself predominantly with the Futurists. I believe some of Revelation is contemporary to John's day, but the majority of the biblical information included in this Book described through symbols reveals how the church age will come to a close.

In verse 2 John describes himself as one "who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw."

Here John is stating his reliability as a witness of the revelation he is now about to present. He wants his readership to know that he can be trusted. This courtroom-type language in a prologue was common for him. Remember his prologue in 1 John? "What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life - and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us - what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3).

John is here saying that he saw this revelation and thus is now giving testimony as a witness. Frequently in his Gospel he speaks of the testimony given by Jesus. In verse 5 of Revelation he calls Jesus, "the faithful witness." The testimony, the witness of Jesus - both the same Greek word - "martureo." Jesus was and is a faithful "martereo." Likewise in verse 2, John says he is a good witness too. He says he "testified" to the word of God and to the "testimony" of Jesus Christ."

And because testifying for Jesus Christ as a faithful witness became so dangerous, eventually the Greek word "martureo" began to take on a new meaning. It is where we get our English word, "martyr." Jesus was a martyr for His testimony and as John will say in verse 9, he was left stranded on a rock named Patmos in the middle of the ocean because of his testimony, "because (verse 9) of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." That is why in that verse he calls himself "a fellow partaker in the tribulation."

It wasn't easy to follow Jesus back then and many around the world even today know exactly what I am talking about. Remember on Friday night David Platt said that there is significant persecution for Christians right now in sixty countries and at least over one-hundred Christians are martyred each month for the faith. Presently there are thousands of Christians that are being punished, tortured and killed merely because of their faith, merely because of their witness and testimony for Jesus Christ.

Consider just this past week the twelve Christians on a migrant ship traveling from Libya to Italy who were thrown overboard by a gang of Muslims and left to drown in the sea simply because they were seen praying to Jesus.

On Monday this past week, there was more horrifying news: ISIS terrorists released a video purporting to show more of their religiously motivated killing. According to one report, before beheading and shooting two groups of Christians in Libya, a speaker said, "The Islamic State has offered the Christian community (the opportunity to convert to Islam or pay a tax for being Christian) many times and set a deadline for this, but the Christians never cooperated." So they kill them for their testimony (Kirsten Powers: Christians thrown overboard left to drown by Obama, USA Today, April 21, 2015).

This should bother us. The worldwide church needs to speak up and pray much more than we do for the persecuted lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. Yet ultimately, the teaching in Revelation is the direct counsel from God of what the world needs during these times and what we in America may need to take more seriously now because of future events ourselves.

According to the Bible, the persecution of Christians is expected to intensify prior to the return of Jesus Christ. Some believe the church will be raptured prior to what is referred to as the seven year "Great Tribulation." I am one in the minority that does not believe this. I personally believe in a rapture, but not until the church has also passed, with our faith protected by God, through this tribulation.

Either way, tribulation on every other level is a reality for the church. As we study Revelation we'll see from God's Word exactly what will take place. Will we be ready if we are called to make a courageous stand for Christ? The answer as to how and why we should is contained in this marvelous book. The warnings are not there to scare us. The warnings are there to prepare us, strengthen us and enable us to emerge victoriously. This Book is intended to be a blessing to the church!

That is why John says in verse 3, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near."

Could John be any more specific? The goal of giving the church the book of Revelation (called here a "prophecy") is ultimately for our blessing! Blessed is the one who "hears" and "reads" these words verse 3 tells us. However, if we simply allow these words to be merely intellectual information the blessing will be nonexistent. We must go on to another step. The hearing and reading is necessary for understanding, but the understanding must then translate from our minds into action. Hearing and reading are important, but the blessing is received when one will, verse 3, "heed the things which are written in it." We are only blessed to the degree in which we obey what this Book contains.

Again we see that Revelation was not written to tantalize the intellect the way many approach this fascinating book, but rather drive us to obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ to which we are His bond-servants. And why? Because as verse 3 concludes, "The time is near." This was the reality for the original readers. Heavier persecution was about to hit the church and it would separate the true and the false believers. The time was near for them. And in a sense, that "the time is near" for us as well.

The reason being is that from the time of the Resurrection of Christ we have been living in the "last days." The next event of God's timetable is the return of our Savior. Are we prepared to meet Him? Are we living in steadfast loyalty to His name as His faithful bond-servants? May these words encourage and strengthen our hearts.

As the Lord permits we will conclude verses 1-8 next week, but let me conclude this sermon with a story.

So a traffic accident outside of Miami at rush hour causes Natalie and I to miss our flight home out of Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday morning. With it being spring break everything is booked. The only hope was to fly to Tampa, then from Tampa to Nashville, then from Nashville to St. Louis and then from St. Louis to LaGuardia. You can meet some interesting people when you hang out in the airport and make four flights in one day!

So I start engaging the guy sitting next to me on the way to Nashville from Clarksville, Tennessee. It's just the two of us in the very back row of the plane separated by an open seat. After some small talk he asks the common question: "So what do you do?" I said, "I'm a pastor." Immediately he's totally engaged and starts repeatedly remarking, "That's strange." Now I'm thinking this conversation is going to get very strange! I said, "What's so strange about that?" He gets increasingly choked up. First he says, "When I say you sitting down I said to myself, I hope this guy is not a minister." He cries a little longer, totally unable to speak. After a long pause he says, "My daughter just died three weeks ago and I know I need to talk with you about it, but it's too painful to discuss."

I asked him what's getting him through. And he said apart from my faith in God I'd be a bitter man, engulfed in deep depression, tempted to blow away with my AR-15 the people who gave her those drugs. I know He's in control and even when things don't make sense, I can have peace because I know things always happen for a reason.

I asked him, "So where do we go from here." He said "You'll be seeing me on television. He said he and his wife have made it their life ambition to prevent this from happening to other people. The legacy of his daughter will live on through their passion to save other lives from the often hidden dangers of prescription narcotics.

So I close you with this thought. Are you leaving a legacy behind for your present or potential children and grandchildren of genuine devotion to Christ above all things? Is there a legacy you are leaving behind for other Christians in this church to encourage their faith? When people look at you, do they see the supremacy of Jesus Christ? It's easy to casually call ourselves a Christian in America. Would you still do it if you lived in Libya or Iraq? Is Jesus worth your total allegiance? Do you prove yourself to be His bond-servant by hearing, reading and heeding His words? Are you prepared for tribulation - to whatever degree you might face it? Is your family prepared? Are you strong in the faith? Are you really on God's team?