God has never considered the Revelation a closed book, and many have.
Well, the very name revelation means it's not closed. It's open. It's being revealed. Which is another reason why the book is such a blessing. It is also a blessing because it leads the reader to Read other books of the Bible.
You say, well, I don't understand what's going on. Maybe you have a Bible that has references to it, so you start looking those cross-references up. And you start figuring out it's all connected because it's all coming from the same God. 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. What John Saw is the title of Pastor Rick's message, and today he'll begin in Matthew chapter 24. Matthew's Gospel chapter 24. For as lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so will The coming of the Son of Man be.
See that rapid nature to things that is going to surround the end times. And so the language is not misleading. The language is there. But there are other parts of the puzzle that are very helpful in getting closer to its true meaning. We came across this incidentally back in Romans 16.
And the God of peace will crush Satan. under your feet shortly.
Well, there's that same Tacos word used, and it does not mean that when you get this letter and you read it two days from now, he's going to crush Satan. That's never what he intended to mean. But he does mean when it does happen, It will be over. Do you know? Satan cannot touch you.
Once you die, Neither can temptation. The flesh, the world. None of those things. will be able to get to you. Satan will be crushed ultimately in that sense and in the most literal sense.
And so you may say, well, Lord, please return today. exercise that shortly on us right now. And he says, I cannot. Because I'm long suffering. willing that none should perish.
There are still people to be saved. And if people who were saved 10 years before you who prayed to me to come back today, Had I answered those prayers, you would have been stuck.
So I am delaying. And I need you to be inspired nonetheless. I need you to be moved by spiritual things. I need to use you. to move others to be Moved by spiritual things.
So don't go getting kooky and crazy and passing snakes around and other things in your congregation. Anybody here want to vote on doing that? Actually, there might be some, but not for religious reasons. I just like snakes.
Well, uh anyway, uh There's that about the delay, and he sent it and signified it.
Now, signified, the Greek word is. Same meaning as ours to indicate something, to mark something. It shows up in the Old Testament. God speaking through Hosea the prophet, I have also spoken by the prophets and Have multiplied visions. I have given symbols through the witness of the prophets.
And Hosea was writing to an apostate kingdom. and very few heeded his warnings. Behind all the Bible's metaphor, parables, illustrations, visions, and symbols. There is a greater reality. Just like when you drive to the airport and you see signs that say the airport, there's a greater reality.
The sign is not going to help you get to your next destination. Unless that is your destination. I just want to drive up to the sign that says Anyway, symbols Why? Why the symbols?
Well, I covered that a little bit, but just to review it, symbols tend not to fade. as words do, or change in meaning as words do. Therefore, they are very useful to God. They are preserved. And vital to make his point.
As we said, the nature of a lion is always viewed as one that is fierce. The nature of a lamb is always one that is viewed as docile, as we see them metaphorically. You know, a sheep. A male sheep. It could be pretty Pretty s serious trouble.
They're not very docile. if uh they want to ram into you a ram. There you go. Anyway. Therefore, We're moving forward at a glance of the cross as a symbol.
Is that not often a deterrent to sin? Because it convicts you. For some, It excites them to rage because they know what that speaks of. In fact, in the Vampire stories. The vampires are afraid of what?
Well, the cross. And that's just making the point that symbols are effective. I'm not saying we should go out and watch those kind of movies. Anyway, I mean, if a rampire is coming at you, isn't it wise to bust him in the mouth? He won't have the fangs anymore, and then you can just have your way with them.
Anyway, you add context to the symbol. And the literal merge. a powerful point. This is what Solomon was saying in Ecclesiastes at the end of it all. The words of the wise are like well-driven nails.
Those are the points of Scripture. They are supposed to convict, to rebuke, to exhort. as the pastors are told to do to their congregations. He says, by his angel.
Now, notice this is the angel that belongs to Christ. If you wanted to say my angels, well, you could say that there have been angels. You know, the angels took Lazarus to the bosom of Abraham in that sense, but you don't own them. They're not yours. You didn't create them.
This is possession here. They belong to Christ. They are his angels. Matthew chapter 13, verse 41: the Son of Man will send out his angels. And they will gather out of his kingdom all things that offend.
and those who practice lawlessness. I don't know how.
So many people know about this verse and just... dismiss it and want to hold on to the salvation part of the scripture, but have little interest in the performance. Of their duties as believers. You, younger Christians, I hope you're paying attention to that. As has been said before, the world is waiting for you.
It's licking its chops for you. It has brought down many a church going. young individual and is going to want to find out if you are any different. And you should prevail. This angel that will be guiding John shows up again in chapters 17, 19, and 22.
But there are appearances of others that are also going to be interacting with John, Jesus Himself, and then there are the elders in the church that will interact with him.
So it is this angel who will be guiding John through the Revelation.
So to His servant John, it says: Now, John did not write the Revelation, He wrote it down. He's not authoring it, he's copying down what he saw. The only living apostle At this point, more than likely, No need to introduce himself. Hey, I'm John, the son of Zebedee. He doesn't have to do that.
They knew who he was, they knew very well who he was. And he did not have to distinguish himself from anybody else named John. Like Big Bad.
Okay. Yeah. Mm-hmm.
So from God to Jesus. From Jesus to the angel. From the angel to John. And from John. to the servants of Jesus That's how this revelation is unfolding.
All the writers of the New Testament As I Alluded to are likely gone at this point in time. From the body and present with the Lord. John still here, last man standing, at least the last man writing, that's for sure, of the original apostles.
Now we know Moses served the Lord. late in his life, very late. Caleb, of course, is another hero Yeah. older saints as well as Daniel. Daniel was in his nineties, maybe uh more as he served.
And so here is John still hoisting the sails. For the Lord. What an encouragement. for the saints that are getting older is that you can still serve. John, as He got to see things.
many decades ago. He asked to see them. And he got to because the Lord allowed him, and he really never did stop. And that story begins. for us in John's Gospel in chapter one.
And verse Yes, but do you 37.
Well, no, let's start at 35. Can I get 34? Anyone?
Well, 35 will work. Again, the next day John, this is the Baptist, John the Baptist, stood with two of his disciples. and looking at Jesus, He walked and said, Behold the Lamb of God. The two disciples heard him speak, And they follow Jesus.
So, John is talking about Jesus. He says, There's the Lamb of God, the two disciples. Go follow him. Then Jesus turned, seeing them following, said to them, What do you seek? They said to him, Rabbi, which is to say when translated teacher.
Where are you staying? He said to them, Come and see. And they came and saw where he was staying, and remained with him that day.
Now, It was about the tenth hour. There's nothing in that 39th Verse. That it is worth ignoring. All of it is worth paying attention to. Jesus said, Come and see.
And they saw. And John never stopped seeing. He's the one chosen to see the revelation. It was so powerful on that day long ago that John remembers the time of day it was. That's why he adds.
It was about the tenth hour. I remember it like it was yesterday. It didn't have wristwatches or any other kind of watch and So they it was really a guess unless they were by a sundial. And that's the closest he could narrow it down to. And so as Paul got to see Heaven in a vision.
He didn't see as much as John saw. Paul writes about it. He said he was caught up to paradise. and heard inexpressible words. Which is not lawful for a man to utter.
I heard things that would be a crime if I tried to tell you what they were, they were so amazing. And John said, I got caught up. And let me tell you what I saw.
Now, granted, there will be one point here where the Lord says, okay, that you can't write. But everything else, have at it.
Now we get to the second verse. For those of you who didn't think we'd make it Who bore witness to the word of God. And that's what we're all supposed to do. And to the testimony of Jesus Christ. to all things That he saw.
Later, he's going to talk about: I was on the isle of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. This got me on the isle of Patmos.
So John says that he knew Jesus according to the flesh, personally. I knew him personally. I walked with him. I heard his teaching. I saw his miracles.
He knew me by name. He spoke to me. He chose me. That's what he's saying when he says he bore witness to the testimony.
Well, what about that testimony?
Well, if you want to know it, you read the Gospel of John. There it is. No one questioned that John the Apostle gave us the revelation until some 250 years after the apostles. There's always one. Yes, like seeking to be, professing to be wise, they became fools.
And to this day there are those that I'd pull this and we shouldn't be surprised, but it still is annoying. The testimony of Christ, as I mentioned, read the gospel and find out to all things that he saw.
Well, that's what witnesses do. They attest to what they saw. They don't try to change what they saw, they just tell you what. Was before them, what they witnessed. And now Verse three Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it.
But the time is near. What's with this near again?
Well This is the first of seven Beatitudes. Blessed are That show up in The Revelation. Not only Are those who Read, promise to be blessed. But he says here, those who hear what is read will be blessed also. Then, when he gets to chapter 22, and he says, Those who read and hear and keep.
will be blessed. John's Gospel chapter 6. Jesus speaking. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit. and they are alive.
Well, coming from God, that's pretty powerful. Coming from God. Incarnate As a man, who allowed himself to be crucified is astounding. Take heed to what you hear, Jesus said. And then, as in Mark chapter 4, and then in Luke chapter 8, he said, take heed how you hear.
Pay attention to what's going on. It's not enough to be aware of your surroundings. You need to be aware of the spiritual realm. And what God is doing according to what God has said. God has never considered the revelation a closed book, and many have.
Well, the very name revelation means it's not closed. It's open. It's being revealed. Which is another reason why the book is such a blessing. It is also a blessing because it leads the reader to Read other books of the Bible.
You say, well, I don't understand what's going on. Maybe you have a Bible that has references to it, so you'll start looking those cross-references up. And you start figuring out it's all connected because it's all coming from the same God. And When you think about The prophecies of Ezekiel. It will lead you there.
Daniel, for sure. How about Matthew chapter 24? What about 1 Thessalonians 4 when he talks about the rapture? 1 Corinthians 15.
So, reading the Revelation is going to move you to other parts of the scripture. How can it not be a blessing? It's not all about, ooh, what happens?
Well, we want to know what happens. But what are you going to do with it? Suppose you were a carpenter and you had the best tools in the world, and the wood shows up, and you don't know what to do with it.
Well then you're not a carpenter. You're just playing dress up.
Well, I don't want to be that kind of a Christian. I want to know what to do with these things. I want to learn to submit, tune in to God, turn off the. transmitter and turn on the receiver.
Sometimes. There's a spiritual chain reaction. That's what we're being told. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy. Because there is a spiritual chain reaction.
You will be praying as you read. You will be looking up things. You will ponder what you read. you will hopefully apply some apply. When we get to the seven churches, Shouldn't churches apply the lessons?
Shouldn't a church say, I do not want to be like Thyatira? I do not want to be a Pergamus with a Jezebel running loose. I do not want to be the church at Laodicea that sickens the Lord. How can you watch Kenneth Hagan and not be sickened by what you see? Remember some of you, Robert Tyndall, I think his name?
I don't know if any of you remember that guy. He was Oh, it's disgusting how he begged people and told them to give money, and they gave. Takes two to tango. Anyway, these lessons are for us to do something with, and that's why we're going to scrutinize what the Lord said to the seven churches because He said it, and we better listen. of this prophecy.
This book was considered scripture from the very beginning. The other, the letters, they sort of work their way into this acceptance. But this one, this revelation Out the starting gate was part of the canon. And to keep those things which are written.
Well, God never trivializes obedience. And nor should we And I know it's difficult because we've got this carnality thing, this fleshly nature that just fights us all the time.
Well, he said these things to the persecuted Christians in the part of the world where those seven churches were.
Some of the churches experienced a little heavier persecution than others, but all of it.
So at least caught some of the mist. from what was happening in that area. For the time is near.
Well here. My understanding of this verse, when I look at the scripture in its entirety, is God is saying. The end is at my fingertips. Right here. There really is What remains to be fulfilled?
Well, when Peter lived, Everybody should have known in the church that there could be no rapture till he died. Because Peter was told, he was the only Christian that could not be raptured. Even Elijah the Prophet, you could say, I guess was raptured, right? 2 Peter chapter 1, he talks about it. We're almost done.
Knowing that shortly I must put off this tent just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.
So Peter knew he was going to die a martyr's death.
Now, what remains?
Well, the only thing that remains is for Antichrist to be able. to tag everybody on earth.
So that nobody on earth can buy or sell without his knowing it, the mark of the beast.
Well, I don't think that's too much of a stretch to see that happening. That's going to happen very quickly when it does happen. We'll get to some of that as we move forward. But coming back to finishing up this section. Nothing is overlooked by God.
He is abundant in mercy. I want to close, I want to make a comment. Mm-hmm.
That's how you extend your time. First Corinthians 2.
However, we seek wisdom among those who are mature. Yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. And the revelation is going to show that. This world's going to end. and it's not going to land on its feet.
Well, where I want to go back to, and this should only take about. 70 words or so. I mentioned in the introduction that narcissism was on the rise. And I thought later. I don't want that to be a sub-point or missed.
How important. This is to what's coming. How it turns people to themselves. and not to Christ. Making Jesus even more unappealing.
to the flesh. Negatively. They are affected by social media. and they are playing into the hands of the Antichrist. Speaking of one of the pastors today, what is, we found out somebody has an Instagram account in our name.
We never knew this until last night.
So anyhow, well what is Instagram? And he was told, because he must use it all the time. No, I don't think he does. But anyway, he said, well, it was a very good answer. At least, help me.
What Twitter is to words, Instagram is to pictures. You can just post pictures.
Well, if you're a narcissist. Whose pictures you gonna be posting? Your own.
Well My understanding of Instagram is that's what's happening. Most they're not doing, maybe they're doing pets and stuff like that too. There's some decent people in there, I'm sure. But I'm sure there's a lot of there's a younger generation that is so me centred. That Christ is not going to appeal to them.
But Antichrist will. A narcissist society without shame. To be a narcissist, I don't even like using that word, but it serves my purpose. They have no shame, no conscience. 2 Timothy 3, speaking about these who have this conscience seared with a hot iron.
For men will be lovers of themselves. That's mankind. Lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy. It will be the leading ingredient found in the behavior of anti-Christian sentiment when they rejoice when the two. Witnesses are killed and their bodies are left in the street.
They're going to send presents to each other, they're going to snap. pictures of them and send them out. This explains, I think. This behavior, this attitude, it's always been around. It's just going to be a lot more now.
Incompetent people seeking the highest office of the land. They have no right. A decent person would say, I'm not going to do that, I'm not qualified for that. But these end time characters They won't think that way. Zephaniah chapter 3, verse 5: The unjust know no shame.
They have no conscience. You can't shame a dirty politician into behaving themselves. You can catch them doing the crime. They won't even be affaised by it. They just continue to do what they're doing.
Until Something else gives. Anyway. All of this is to mainly our younger believers. What the Bible preaches is fat. Reality is fact.
There is a reality. And as you go through the revelation and you see that it is fact, You no longer will have an excuse to become an apostate, not like you ever did. But in a very special way, you have no justification to doubt God's word. And this will pay off for you. When you are tempted through drugs or some substance.
Through sex. through silver or money. Fame. Or some other foolish godly cause that Satan is going to throw at you. Because of the revelation of Jesus Christ, because of the prophecy of the Scripture, you are expected to stand face to face with these things and not cave in.
You should be able to say, I know my Redeemer lives. Yeah. 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. Hello.
