John is probably in his 90s at this point. But would God have laid out such a detailed revelation of the future if He were coming in a month after revealing? Nobody would have time to read it and understand it. And so, sort of a veiled indication in the unveiling. of what's coming.
There are two hints that God gave to the church that his delay would be longer than what maybe they thought, and yet he encouraged them to be inspired at the thought of his return. Nonetheless, This is Cross Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation chapter 1. As he begins his message called, What John Saw. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, chapter 1. Verses one through three. Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants.
things which must shortly take place, And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God. And to the testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he He saw. Blessed is he. Who reads? And those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it Well, the time is near.
What John Saw, that's the title. Came up there in verse 2. It shows up again in a little slightly modified form in verse 11. And what John saw, he is. Showing us.
No one can read the Revelation without being touched. By the Old Testament. John has embedded Old Testament material In this document somewhere between 400 and 700 times. You say, well.
Well, can't you get it a little bit closer? Uh 200 to 210 times.
Well, there's a reason for that. Only twice does he give us a direct quote of Scripture from the Old Testament. It shows up in verse 7, for example. There he is quoting directly from Zechariah twelve, verse ten. And I'm not going to read the verse because we've got so much to cover.
I've given you the references if you need to. look into it further. But for those readers who are familiar with the Old Testament, They will repeatedly recognize Old Testament influences, and they're very subtle sometimes, but unmistakable nonetheless. Without using these direct quotations. For example, here, reference tribes.
And of course, we think right away of the tribes of Israel, the golden lampstand.
Well, you can't miss that, that is connected to the temple that Moses was instructed to give to the people. And so the Old Testament is all over the place, and it just kind of flows into or out of, however you want to look at it, the Revelation. There is vital doctrine in these first three verses. I had hoped to do the first eight verses, but. We cannot rush past these important points.
Some of them raise some serious questions. As we go through at minimum, hopefully we'll get a paragraph per chapter at minimum. This morning I'll spend a lot of time. on verse 1. And hopefully it will.
be a blessing to you. I should also point out That all of the revelation is important, it is inspiring, it is intriguing. But some sections are more so. And by that I mean from chapter one through five, we really have the most important part. If you took it out of the Revelation, you'd be scratching your head.
It has everything to do with the saints right now. into heaven. But the most intriguing section comes from chapters six through nineteen. Where everybody wants to get to that section. That's where the future is, that's where all of the gore is.
And of course the judgment on evil. But then the last two chapters, 20 through 22, well, that's three chapters. They are the most inspiring. Because we get to heaven. That is what's coming.
And right now, as a Christian, I am supposed to live. Keeping the major things major, not majoring in minors. But the most important things, that stabilizes everything. That allows me to be intrigued, and that intrigue causes me to grow. I look into things.
I have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. And out of that should flow inspiration. But I have to add that Inspiration is not guaranteed Nor Is its absence an excuse to not serve diligently? Just because you don't feel it. doesn't mean you can't do it.
And I think sadly, there are many people, Christians, that love the Lord. but they want to go to a church where they can feel the beat, never mind what's coming out of the pulpit. That is very bad.
So it's ideal, of course, to have them both. to have inspiration and To be intrigued. but always to keep the important things first. Don't we train our children that way? And training requires repetition.
Drill If they're gonna get it.
Well, we look at the first verse, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants. Things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his. his angel to his servant John. There really is no definite article in the Greek. It starts off Revelation.
That's not wrong to have it there, of course, it makes it flow in our language, but that word revelation, the Greek word is apocalypse. It is God in forming us of last things and things to come. Paul mentions three ways when he wrote to the Romans in the first chapter. He said, you know, he doesn't say it like this, but it comes out this way. There's three ways to Learn about God.
One is by nature. It's not enough, but we do learn about God. The heavens declare His glory. The other is through men.
Well, God speaks to men so that He can speak through men, and that's what He's doing to John. And then, of course, there is that direct revelation from God. Or you might want to say special revelation, which John is getting here. Right now. We do not receive special revelation in the sense anymore, in the sense that we're not giving things That are of private interpretation for us to write a new gospel or a new book of the Bible.
We have all we need, and it's hard enough to keep this up. And so we're very grateful for that. Foolishly, as a new Christian, when I finished the Revelation after finishing the Bible, I said, boy, I wish there were more. I have regretted that statement many times.
Well, Yeah. John apparently received the revelation in one sitting. This is background information, but I think it's intriguing. and important and hopefully inspiring. If he did not receive it at one sitting, then it would have been Revelations plural.
But it's revelation singular, and I think that's the reason why. a telling of the future. Connected events. With extraordinary detail. No one's got this, no one else.
The Quran doesn't have it, the Vedas doesn't have it of the Hindus. No one else has got this. Mormonism. and their prophecies are act quite silly. It won't stand up.
to a serious investigation. nor will Nostradamus. General Prognostications come close to what we're getting from the revelation and seeing in our lifetime. come to pass. Especially as we move into the future, prophecies.
after chapter six.
Well, It would have been odd to reveal such an intense future to come. and to be back next month. What do I mean by that?
Well It was sort of a clue hidden in the revelation to the church. It comes late. Late in the beginning of the church history. John is probably in his 90s at this point. But would God have laid out such a detailed revelation of the future if He were coming in a month after revealing?
Nobody would have time to read it and understand it. And so it was sort of a veiled indication in the unveiling. of what's coming. There are two hints that God gave to the church that His delay would be longer than what maybe they thought, and yet He encouraged them to be inspired at the thought of His return. Nonetheless, So the hidden future is now published through this Apostle.
It is not an exhaustive heads-up, but it is intense nonetheless, and when you walk away with it, With a little bit more pep in your step It tells us about God's control. It tells us about the key players. in the ancient times, Where would we know about the Antichrist as we do?
Well, Daniel tells us some things about him. He's not the only one, but he is one of them that give us information. Concerning this beast that is to come, but John really tunes it in for us. as the last days are upon Us, it's hard to imagine a New Testament without revelation.
So we do live. In the end times, in the end of the end times. You say, well, where do you get that from? I don't have to tell you. Yeah, they do actually.
Hebrews chapter 9. But now, once at the end of the ages, he has appeared to put away sin. By the sacrifice of himself, the end of the ages, at the end times. 1 Corinthians 10, we read this one a lot, but do we miss what it has to do with these last days?
Now all these things happen to them as examples. When they were written for our admonition? upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Since the coming of Christ, the end of the ages have begun. We're in the last of the last days because It's not sustainable.
Well the technology is making Humanity unsustainable. if it continues on this course, which will come out in Revelation. It says of Jesus Christ The revelation of Jesus Christ, He is not incidental. to the revelation. It's not like I'm going to show you the end times, oh, and by the way.
It comes from Jesus Christ. That's not how it is. He is its supreme and sovereign subject, On our behalf, The revelation is on the behalf of believers. He is the glorious one of the cross. The empty tomb?
The ascension and this Apocalypse. And as the second person of the Godhead, It is his place, according to the Godhead, to show us what's coming.
so of Jesus Christ which God gave him.
Now the wording may disturb some of us. As though it refers to his God somehow rendering him. Inferior to God. This is why we can't rush through this. Prologue.
of the Revelation. This does not disqualify him from being equal with the Father. Just because it says which God gave him. It doesn't mean which God gave to him because he's not God. Jehovah's Witnesses would interpret it that way.
They'd be wrong as they are. The Mormons would, as they plunge into their blasphemy on this topic of downsizing the glory of the Christ. The Bible has spoken on this. In the Old Testament and New Testament alike, and it does not rescind its comments about the Christ being equal with the Father. No part of his being equal with God has been taken back.
or reduced Equal means equal. And Again, this is something that not only should the believer sit, listen to, and learn, but be able to articulate. to repeat it. Such also is the language concerning the Father and other places of Scripture. For example, verse 3.
Thessalonians. Chapter 3, verse 11.
Now may our God. And Father Himself and our Lord Jesus Christ direct our way to you.
So, according to the verbiage of that verse, when it says, Our God. And Father Himself, it doesn't mean there's God, or then there's the Father, or then there's the Son. And rank is diminishing as you're going along. That's not what it means. What it means is, God is the Father, and so is the Lord Jesus Christ, and that's why He says, Now may our God and Father, because that's what He is.
He is our God and He is our Father. And our God, well, he continues, and our Lord Jesus Christ. direct our way to you. There is Christ. with the attributes of the Father.
Sitting with him in that verse as he sits beside him on his throne. And here is why the language of his glory occasionally. Occasionally is restrained to some degree. First off, He never operated. He was never, never.
a rogue operator. And the apostles were very careful about that. They wanted no one to think he gets too big for his britches, and he starts doing things apart from the Godhead. Jesus' position is one of co-action with the Father. Not independence, never.
And Jesus was quick to point that out when he walked the earth. The unity was They were unseparable. And so the New Testament writers wanted no doubts about the origin of his unity between the Father. and Himself the Incarnate Son, Glorifying him. That is the sun.
As they moved along in their experiences, Christ would let them see things that no one else would see. For example, there was the transfiguration. Of course, the resurrection. And the ascension. Never usurping his father, but wholly or entirely.
in fellowship with the Godhead. Making it clear that we don't worship three gods, but one God. one God coexisting in three distinct persons. That's one of the main reasons why the language is a little toned down from time to time, because they did not want people to think we have three gods. You know, God is not one of them, and then we have the Holy Spirit, He's one of the other gods.
One God. Three persons in that God. In the early church, really had to fight to protect that doctrine. The Father is made of none, neither created nor begotten, said Athanasius. The Son is of the Father alone, not made.
nor created. But begotten. John 17:3, Jesus saying to the Father, Return me to the glory I had before. Foundations of the world. The Holy Spirit is of the Father.
And of the Son. Neither made nor created nor begotten. But proceeding, they're all self-existent. They're all together. but manifested to us.
on our behalf. For us. And so God gave him. This comes through Jesus Christ. This comes through the one that died on the cross.
That's where this revelation is coming from, and that's what John is saying. John's Gospel, he wrote this. Christ speaking. I have many things to say to you and j to judge concerning you. That singles that individual out, whoever listening to this, But he who sent me is true, and I speak to the world.
Those things which I heard from him. Is there the commitment to the unity, the co-action? Never rogue. John 16, 12, I still have many things to say to you. But you cannot bear them now.
And then he looked at John and whispered, I'll tell you later. No, he did. He didn't, but that's what happened, right? Jesus is the mediator between God and man, and that's what we see in action right here. That's the doctrine, 1 Timothy 2.
Verse 5. But there is one God, not three of them. And one mediator between God and men. The man Jesus Christ. According to his humanity they knew him According to his humanity, we know him no more.
Which it's It's gone higher. We still know because we study and we have the information. But we have a fuller picture. than when he showed up at the wedding at Cana.
So here is his mediation. We can't deny his deity, as do the cult. Never does the Bible. Give the impression. that the Messiah The Jewish Messiah.
the world's Christ. They never gives the impression of operating We're starting a separate religion or operating alone. Never a hint. Not even a possibility. of his action outside of what we call the Trinity.
what the Bible also says as the Godhead. Instead, we find as that creation That rhythm. Pure allegiance, thus Christ is presented. as the submitted servant. And that's what we see him doing.
I'm the servant. On your behalf. to the point of death and resurrection. Just as the Old Testament prophets said. Isaiah chapter 42, verse 1.
Behold, My servant. whom I uphold My elect one in whom my soul delights, I have put my spirit in him. He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.
Well, he's speaking about Christ. fulfilled in Christ. All of that is on the superlative level. None of that can be reduced and applied to one of his prophets or his angels or any created being. Only the self-existent Son who comes from the Father.
is worthy of such words. And so, even though he is God the Son, he is a servant. We're very familiar with that. To show his servants, it says here in verse one.
Well, he's shown to show. This is the only place in all of Scripture where the actual process of revelation. is Explained. It is a four stage movement and it's right here. The father?
to the sun The sun to the angels. to mediate it. To John. Who wrote it down? for the churches.
and for all Christianity. all who would avail themselves of it. We saints Are slaves of Christ. It is a special New Testament term. for Christians.
as special property of God.
Now we're not enslaved. But we are slaves. The difference, that's why that's why when you come to that Greek word dolos, slave, the translators usually say bond slave because they're adding that Old Testament touch to it. It says we're willing to do this. We want to be servants of the Christ.
He doesn't force us to be. We are willful. Galatians chapter 4. Therefore, you also no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, than an heir of God through Christ. They've got a contradiction.
We're more than servants. In this life, we are. We're total bondservants. But we're family. And there's an inheritance for us.
And that is, of course, the heaven and the glory and the lamb's table and all the things that await us. Many servants have gone to their graves without this fuller revelation in total loyalty to the king. We should remember. We are a special generation in that sense. Paul and Peter did not have the revelation of Jesus Christ as we have in front of us.
We got it. What are we gonna do with it?
Well, I hope to make more comments on that as we move forward. 1 Thessalonians again, chapter 5. But you brethren are not in darkness, so that this day should overtake you as a thief. Do something with the revelations you've been getting. And Paul is saying at that time, I've told you enough about how this is all going to wrap up.
And John comes along and tells even more. 1 Thessalonians again 5, verse 9: For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. You would think, anyone who would say, well, the church is going to go through the great tribulation period, you would think. that they would remember that verse. The Great Tribulation period, all of it is a time of wrath, some more intense, some sections more intense than others.
But it is a time of wrath. And the scripture tells us God did not appoint us to that. We're not scheduled for that. We are scheduled to dodge this. That wrath of the Lamb.
that is coming on all the earth. Such as has not been seen, nor will ever be again. I think those who have that doctrine carry guilt. They think the church should somehow be punished. The church is pretty clumsy overall.
But hell still fears it. Because of its link. to the sun. And you and I are part of that. Things which must shortly take place.
See, you've got another problem here. What's this shortly? Lord, how does 2,000 years become shortly?
Well You can say, well, John was wrong, if you want to be wrong, with him. But according to your law. You can say, Well, a year with the Lord's like a thousand years. I think you know not the answer. I think the answer is going to be in the Greek.
Uh This has been Cross-Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreferenceradio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube.
There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Yeah.
