Revelation 1:1-11
1 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 angel to His servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed [loosed] us from our sins in His own blood,
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
9 I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
11 saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." NKJV
How Do We Understand the Book of Revelation?
In the providence of God, our bulletin cover this morning states one of the most crucial issues in the correct understanding this Book. Of course everything that happens is in God’s providence [government] and yet circumstances are brought to our attention as this cover reads, “My Kingdom is not of this World”.
Perhaps the primary issue in the interpretation of this Book is the nature of the Kingdom of God. Is Christ ruling over His Kingdom from His throne in heaven as we speak, or must creation wait until Jesus returns before His “Kingdom” is established?
Is God’s Kingdom defined as a yet future reign of Christ on this earth for a literal thousand years or is God’s Kingdom defined as Christ reigning in the hearts and minds of His children chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world and in time born of the Holy Spirit and birthed into the Kingdom?
This is Part Two of the introduction to the Book of Revelation. Unless we lay down a foundation based on certain principles of interpretation there is simply no way to arrive at an exposition of this mysterious Book that will be in any way consistent with the entire Bible.
Again I must acknowledge that much of my exposition of the Book of Revelation is based on a series of studies by Charles D. Alexander that I received over 30 years ago.
In the first introductory message I said:
The Book of Revelation is prophecy and it graphically describes in advance the progressive march of events to a grand and eternally glorious conclusion. The trouble and turmoil, anguish and conflict lead unerringly to the goal which is the unity of God with redeemed man, in an eternal marriage in a state of joy realized in Christ, the Incarnate Deity, the God-Man, who has redeemed His Church by His own blood, and through death destroyed death forever.
The Book of Revelation is prophecy…and in prophecy God scans the future because He has fixed it.
“Known to God from eternity are all His works.” Acts 15:18
Jesus Christ has come in a vision to the Apostle John who is in exile on the Isle of Patmos – John is the Apostle to the Church and is “your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ…”
Jesus Christ speaks to the Church by the Holy Spirit through John and Jesus now stands ever in the midst of His people proclaiming:
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Rev 22:13
The Father has given a people to the Son [John 17:2] and the Son will bring every child of God unto Himself. Satan is defeated and now waits for the end of this present age when he will be cast into hell forever.
It is true that Satan goes about as a roaring lion in his rage and hate seeking whom he may devour but he is as bound as a dog on a chain. Satan can only do what God allows him to do. Satan was defeated at the cross of Christ.
The first prophecy of the Gospel was given to Satan in the Garden of Eden.
Genesis 3:14-15
14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: "Because you have done this,
You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field;
On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life.
15 And I will put enmity Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."
As the history of mankind in the world grew increasingly dark and vile and wicked, the prophetic word came progressively to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, and to David and to all of the prophets from Samuel till John the Baptist actually pointed to the Seed of the Woman, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”
John the Baptist points to the Lamb of God and thus announces the end of the sacrificial system and the Old Covenant. It is true that the offering of animal sacrifices continues for 40 years but ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple in A.D. 70.
Given the inspired interpretation of the OT prophets by the apostles we can now correctly understand that the promise made in Genesis to send a Seed is fulfilled in none other than the Word becoming flesh, and who in the weakness of true humanity bears the shame of the cross, because,
“You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” [Matthew 1:21]
When Jesus prayed, “Father, the hour has now come …” [John 17:1]; that was the hour for which all things were made, for the mystery of the Incarnation, without which there could be no atonement, is the reason why God created heaven and earth, angels and men.
This is the clue without which the historian and philosopher ponder in vain the confusion of events trying to find some answer as to why?
Only the prophetic word can answer and solve the problem and the mystery of evil. The meaning of history lies in the manger at Bethlehem, and is consummated 33 years later, and in the resurrection on the third day, according to the Scriptures, and the ascension to eternal glory and omnipotent reign forty days later.
The Book of Revelation is the answer to the suffering and trial of the Church. She struggles against error and counterfeit Christianity. There is no meaning in the last 2000 years of history unless we find it in the Book of Revelation.
But is the Book of Revelation for the Church? Some emphatically say, “No.”
If this Book is not for the Church then this the only age in which God has left His people without that light that shines in a dark place? Is this Age of the Church left without a prophecy, without a clear word to show her that her Lord is guiding her through the hostile ages till she reaches consummation in Him? We shall see.
As we continue in this introduction I will very briefly discuss the major lines of interpretation or eschatology [doctrine of last things].
The Preterist Interpretation
“Preterist” comes from a Latin word that means a past or completed action. Thus the Preterist theory views the Book as referring chiefly to events contemporary to that day, to comfort the then-persecuted church, written in symbols in a general sense intelligible to the saints of that period. This view holds that the events in the Book of Revelation are descriptive of the sufferings of the Church in the days of the Roman Caesars and ended with the fall of the Roman Empire.
This view says that Christ has already come in fulfillment of Matthew 24 and that most if not all of the prophecies are fulfilled in the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70.
There are two branches of the Preterist theory. One holds that the Book of Revelation is not inspired but belongs in the category of Jewish apocryphal writings and not in our Bible.
Continuous Historical Interpretation
Somewhat akin to the Preterist, but extends some events into the whole age of the Church leading up to the end of the world.
This view considers the Book as forecasting the entire period of church history from the revelator’s time to the present, in which the chief phases of the church’s struggle to final victory are set forth.
The Futuristic Interpretation
This view is almost the exact opposite of the Preterist theory which says everything in this Book is in the past. The Futurist view construes the bulk of the Book as future to John’s day. Yes and the events are yet future to our day some 1900 years after John writes them in a book. It accepts as the divinely given key of interpretation in Rev 1:19 and interprets the “things which you have seen” as embracing 1:9-20; the “things which are,” chaps. 2-3, referring to the church period; and the “things which shall be after these things”, as referring to the yet future period after the glorification of the church and its removal from the earthly scene, with chaps. 4 to the end concerning chiefly a restored national Israel and the Gentile nations in the still-future period preceding the second coming of Christ.
This is the most popular theory among evangelical people today and holds such authority that you are considered a heretic and a disturber of the peace if you do not subscribe to it. The Futurists holds that the Book of Revelation deals almost entirely with history which has not yet begun, and may be reckoned as being about due in our time, and when it does begin will have no relevance to the Church at all; by that time the Church will have ceased to exist on the earth, having been removed [the rapture] to the eternal world, this lower earth having been given over to terrible and horrible judgments chiefly affecting the Jewish people who once again move into the center of the prophetic picture after a lapse of over 2000 years. In this theory the Church and national Israel are forever separate.
The Spiritual Interpretation
This view separates the symbolism of the book from any historical revelation and regards the book as a pictorial representation of the great principles of divine government for all-time application.
This theory holds that the Book of Revelation is for the people of God in all ages, that the ‘history’ in the Book is subordinate to the overruling consideration that the book can never be confined in any of its parts to the exclusive use of any age or people, but its message is to all who read, who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the sayings written in the Book for the time is always at hand [1:3].
So now in full disclosure, I intend to give you the Spiritual interpretation of this most wonderful book.
THE KEY IS THE CHURCH
The key to all the mysteries of the Book of Revelation is found in the first chapter, where the occasion of the writing of the Book, by whom dictated, and for whom intended is made crystal clear. The theory so widely held today that the Book has no relevance to the Church apart from the first three chapters, is so utterly at variance with the opening address that the wonder is how that view ever gained credence. Against this extraordinary conclusion the following comments apply:
1. 
The blessing pronounced upon all who read this Book, who hear its words and who keep its sayings [3].
2.The events of the Book were imminent at the time of writing; “The things which must shortly come to pass” and “The time is at hand” [1, 3].
3.The Book as a whole, not in part, is dedicated to ‘the seven churches which are in Asia’ – which we will see, can only mean the sevenfold or complete Church of our Lord then existing and to exist to the end of time [4].
4.The special relationship which John the apostle bore to the universal Church as her brother and companion in tribulation [9].
5.The vision of Christ as the Guardian, Guide, and Avenger of the Church in all her conflicts and tribulations in the world [12-20].
We will expand on these five proofs; the first four in this message, and the fifth in the next message.
1.THE BOOK IS FOR ALL WHO READ, HEAR AND KEEP ITS WORDS.
How can it be said that the contents of this Book are to last only seven years at the end of the “Church Age” when there will [they say] be no longer a Church on the earth? From what do they find such an extraction of this Book?
The reading and hearing of the Book implies that the people of God must give themselves to mastering and understanding its contents. To keep its sayings indicates, as Hengstenberg points out, the practical nature of its contents being applicable to the daily life of the Christian. No one can ‘keep’ sayings that have no relevance to one’s day and age, and this alone rules out limiting its application to only a future age. It also rules out the strict ‘historical’ theory which makes the Book of no practical value except as to those parts at which the individual reader may have arrived in the course of historic time.
Bengel writes: “According to the diversity of the things which are written in it, to the keeping belong repentance, faith, patience, obedience, prayer, watching, and steadfastness.”
There must be an overall value of every word to all Christians at all times, and it is our duty to fathom and understand whatever that may be.
2.THE EVENTS OF THE BOOK WERE IMMINENT [I.E., ABOUT TO TAKE PLACE] AT THE TIME JOHN RECEIVED THE BOOK FROM THE LORD.
John states in chapter 1 and repeats in chapter 22 that ‘the time is at hand {near} [1:3]’ and the Book consists of ‘things which must shortly be done.
Revelation 22:6-11
6 Then he said to me, "These words are faithful and true." And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.
7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 Then he said to me, "See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God."
10 And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
11 He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still." NKJV
It should be obvious that Jesus warns against ‘sealing’ or removing any part of this Book as to its relevance to the Church.
3.THE BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE CHURCH
John is instructed to ‘write in a book’ [1:11], i.e., the whole of a book, not just the first three chapters, and send it to “the seven churches which are in Asia”. Do you suppose that only the first three chapters were sent out to be circulated among the Seven Churches”? No, it was sent to all the Church for her use in every age, for that is the meaning of ‘The Seven Churches which are in Asia’ [1:4, 11].
We will see in good time that in no way can this Book be limited to these Seven Churches, which actually existed by name at the time, but are symbolic of the universal Church. One might as well try to say that Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians was only intended for the local church that existed at Ephesus at that time as to suppose that John’s message to the same church was intended only for that church.
If the Seven Churches represent the universal Church in all ages, then the Book was written just as much for the universal Church which lives on earth today.
Note again the warning in 22:10
“And he said to me, "Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.”
You cannot seriously believe that this caution is exclusive of all that lies between the third chapter and the last.
4. JOHN’S SUFFERING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CHURCH REQUIRES THAT THE BOOK BE INTERPRETED AS THE BOOK OF THE CHURCH’S SUFFERINGS, CONFLICTS, AND TRIUMPHS IN THIS WORLD.
John is exiled on the Isle of Patmos under the first great persecution of the Church. Emperor Domitian has determined to overthrow and destroy Christianity, so it is in this context of suffering that this Book is given to prepare the Church in advance for her long conflict against the power of this world organized by Satan.
Ephesians 6:12
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
John is the last apostle alive and the last one to write down what the Holy Spirit gives to the Church in our written Bible. It is true that the Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirit but it is through the Word of God and there is no further Word to be given to be included in our Bible. Further, there is no extra-biblical revelation [Book of Mormon, et al] needed to contradict and override the Bible that you hold before you.
John is our ‘brother and companion in tribulation’. He is captive on Patmos where Rome sent convicts to work the ore mines until they died.
So the aged John was ‘in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day’ [Judgment Day] when what he saw was like the sun in all its brilliance as he looked upon the Resurrection and the Life.
The name, Patmos, means “mortal” and comes from a root that means crushed or squeezed. The name has significance for the Church as it suffers through the ages.
The redemption of the Church is the end of all history and she will never be removed or replaced by any other order or institution and John is writing to give her that assurance of victory in Jesus Christ.
We need to understand a little more about John.
The Disciple Whom Jesus Loved
John is the ‘disciple whom Jesus loved’ and this is a prophetic love as John is the apostle to the Church. It is not that Jesus loved John more than the others but John represents the Church and ‘Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her’. Ephesians 5:25
John’s Gospel gives the Church the spiritual interpretation of many OT prophecies fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth who is the Christ.
It is highly significant that John’s Gospel is the only one that does not describe the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper. In the message on John 6:53 we explained what Jesus meant when He said:
Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you….”
Then Jesus explained the spiritual meaning of what He said in John 6:60-63:
Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"
61 When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?
62 What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
Would that the literalists could learn what this means.
63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
In the Gospel, by omitting the record of the Lord’s Supper John emphasizes the entirely spiritual nature of salvation. You do not turn literal bread into His body or literal wine into His blood. If you are saved you abide in Christ’s teaching and thus eat His flesh and drink His blood in the Spirit!
John 8:31-32
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Dear friends, John chapter 6 is not about the Lord’s Supper at all, it is about abiding in the Word of God and feasting on its spiritual lessons.
It is in this same spiritual mode of interpretation that John represents the Church and is given the Revelation of Jesus Christ as He speaks to the ‘Seven Churches which are in Asia’ and which in due time we will see represent the universal Church.
What I realized after preaching through John’s Gospel was that all of John’s writings must be considered together.
John writes at the time of the first general persecution of the Church. The time is A.D. 95 and the Roman Emperor is Domitian.
There are two great enemies of the Church: Satan and false doctrine.
The Book of Revelation was the answer to the attacks of Satan:
The Gospel and General Epistles were the answer to false doctrine.
Let’s take one more example of the NT giving the spiritual interpretation of the OT. Paul writes to the Galatians and once and for all time explains the spiritual meaning of the two sons of Abraham and Sarah.
Galatians 4:21-31
21 Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the law?
22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons: the one by a bondwoman, the other by a freewoman.
23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born according to the flesh, and he of the freewoman through promise,
24 which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar —
25 for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children —
26 but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all.
27 For it is written [Isaiah 54:1]:
"Rejoice, O barren,
You who do not bear!
Break forth and shout,
You who are not in labor!
For the desolate has many more children
Than she who has a husband."
28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise.
29 But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now.
30 Nevertheless what does the Scripture say? "Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman."
31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman but of the free.
Now you may recall from the previous message we saw that when you read Amos 9: 11-15 you would rightly conclude that Amos is prophesying the restoration of national Israel. But in Acts 15:13-18, James, under Holy Spirit inspiration, says that Amos is prophesying about Gentiles and Jews together in the Church.
Here in Galatians 4:21-31 Paul writes that the two sons of Abraham and Sarah were an allegory of “Jerusalem which now is…” [National Israel] and “the Jerusalem above…” [The Church].
It is not my purpose at this time to give a full exposition of Galatians 4:21-31 but I can offer you a copy of my sermon on this passage or you can find it on
www.allbygrace.com or www.vinelandparkbaptist.org
What Galatians 4:21-31 proves beyond all reasonable dispute is that the Church is indeed found in the OT and that the Church is one – a unity – in OT and NT, and that the Church is the final form of “Israel”, to whom all of the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Kingdom which Messiah came to establish and did in fact establish,
John and Mary
John was the only one of the twelve at the cross, at the side of his Savior, and John saw and heard it all. John records the Third Word from the cross and it intimately involved John.
John 19:25-27
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.
26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, "Woman, behold your son!"
27 Then He said to the disciple, "Behold your mother!" And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
Thus was Mary committed into John’s loving care and after Acts 1:14 nothing more is heard from her. False religion has built a system of worship of the Virgin Mary. She is “blessed among women” but she is not the “Mother of the Church.”
Mary’s part in history as the mother of Jesus and His growth to manhood is now ended. She ceased to have any significance as His mother. Jesus has tenderly discharged her into the care of John by appointing John to be her son, to whom she must now look to for shelter and provision.
And it is to John that the Church is committed in her helplessness and affliction.
It was John who saw the Roman soldier push the spear into Jesus’ side.
John 19:34-37
34 But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out.
35 And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.
36 For these things were done that the Scripture should be fulfilled, "Not one of His bones shall be broken."
37 And again another Scripture says, "They shall look on Him whom they pierced."
It is John who tells us that this was prophesied in Zachariah 12:10:
"And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
That interpretation settles for all time the matter of prophetic interpretation by giving to the Church, the word of Zachariah, which the Jewish rabbis, followed slavishly by modern expositors, who say Zachariah is not for the Church at all.
John is the apostle to the church, “your brother and companion in tribulation”.
And it is given to John to send forth these words of encouragement to the Church in “this present age” until the Lord Jesus Christ returns.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Amen
