Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Back to the Future, Part 1 (Revelation 11a) John MacArthur

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Back to the Future, Part 1 (Revelation 11a) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Let's turn in our Bibles to the book of Revelation.
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  Speaker 2: We are beginning with our study tonight, an examination of
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  Speaker 2: the great truths of this marvelous book. As I began
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: my study sometime back, I was contemplating how I might
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: be able to introduce the book. I thought of perhaps
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  Speaker 2: going back and beginning with some notes taken from the
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  Speaker 2: book of Ezekiel. or perhaps some notes taken from the
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  Speaker 2: book of Daniel, or perhaps some anticipatory teaching from the
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  Speaker 2: book of Zechariah, all of which touch in one way
• 0:39
  Speaker 2: or another on this great book. I thought about going
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  Speaker 2: back and beginning maybe in the Olivet Discourse of our Lord.
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  Speaker 2: That is His discussion of His own second coming in
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  Speaker 2: Matthew 24 and 25, also in Luke's gospel. And then
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  Speaker 2: I thought of perhaps looking into the epistles of Paul
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  Speaker 2: or into the epistles of Peter, for there are many
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  Speaker 2: places where themes related to the second coming of Jesus
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  Speaker 2: Christ are dealt with. But after all of that consideration,
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  Speaker 2: as I began to read over the first chapter and
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  Speaker 2: just read it and reread it and meditate on it,
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  Speaker 2: I realized that for me to concoct an introduction, even
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  Speaker 2: though it be an Old Testament one or a New
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  Speaker 2: Testament one, would somehow be to step, as it were,
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  Speaker 2: on the territory which John had reserved for his own introduction.
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  Speaker 2: And as I began to read and think about the
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  Speaker 2: beginning of this book, it became very obvious to me
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  Speaker 2: that verses 1 to 3 is in fact John's own
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  Speaker 2: Holy Spirit-inspired introduction to this monumental work. And I realized
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  Speaker 2: that I don't need to introduce this study because John
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  Speaker 2: has done that. And the first three verses do it perfectly.
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  Speaker 2: Let's look at them. Revelation chapter 1, verses 1 through 3.
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  Speaker 2: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
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  Speaker 2: show to His bondservants the things which must shortly take place.
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  Speaker 2: And He sent and communicated it by His angel to
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  Speaker 2: His bondservant John, who bore witness to the Word of
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  Speaker 2: God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to
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  Speaker 2: all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and
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  Speaker 2: those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed
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  Speaker 2: the things which are written in.
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  Speaker 1: It, for the time is near.
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  Speaker 2: And then in verse 4, he really begins to write
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  Speaker 2: when he says, John to the seven churches. But before
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  Speaker 2: that letter, which begins in verse 4, is this wonderful
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  Speaker 2: introduction in the first three verses. And as I began
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  Speaker 2: to study these three verses, it became apparent to me
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  Speaker 2: that everything we need to prepare us for the unforgettable
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  Speaker 2: and life-transforming experience we're going to have in Revelation is
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  Speaker 2: tucked into those three verses someplace. And so what I
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  Speaker 2: want to do to help us with our orientation, and
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  Speaker 2: it's very important, it's it's very essential, is to look
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  Speaker 2: into those three verses and see the components of that
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  Speaker 2: introduction which put us in touch with the great matters
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  Speaker 2: and the great issues of this book. Now, in order
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  Speaker 2: to do that, I want to break the introduction down
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  Speaker 2: into several components and share them with you one at
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  Speaker 2: a time. And as we look at them, they will
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  Speaker 2: introduce us to this wonderfully rich book. First of all,
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  Speaker 2: in his introduction, John speaks with regard to the book
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  Speaker 2: of Revelation of its essential nature. Its essential nature. Verse
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  Speaker 2: 1 says, the revelation. Now we have to stop there.
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  Speaker 2: I knew you knew I'd do that. But we have
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  Speaker 2: to do that. The nature of this book is that
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  Speaker 2: it is a revelation. It is the revelation. This is
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  Speaker 2: the key to everything that follows. Here are truths that
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  Speaker 2: have been concealed and are now revealed. There are truths
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  Speaker 2: in the book of Revelation that were carried on the
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  Speaker 2: back of symbols, carried on the back of figures of
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  Speaker 2: speech in the Old Testament. There are truths in the
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  Speaker 2: book of Revelation that were veiled in prophetic language in
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  Speaker 2: the Old Testament. Though there are no, I'll say it again,
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  Speaker 2: there are no direct quotes from the Old Testament in
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  Speaker 2: this entire book, there are no direct quotes out of
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  Speaker 2: 404 verses. There are no less than 275 of them
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  Speaker 2: that have some reference to or connection with Old Testament
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  Speaker 2: prophetic truth. The relationships are not in terms of quotations,
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  Speaker 2: but in terms of connections and references rather than direct quotations.
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  Speaker 1: It is a book that.
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  Speaker 2: Is filled with the unveiling of that which was only
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  Speaker 2: initially suggested in the Old Testament. Furthermore, it is obvious
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  Speaker 2: to any reader of the book of Revelation that John
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  Speaker 2: must have had in his own mind, as he wrote
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  Speaker 2: under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the teaching of
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  Speaker 2: Jesus in the Olivet Discourse of Matthew 24 and 25.
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  Speaker 2: As we shall see moving through the book, there are many,
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  Speaker 2: many parallels to the teaching of our Lord in that
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  Speaker 2: great discourse which is recorded in Matthew 24 and 25.
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  Speaker 2: So much has been revealed about the return of Christ
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  Speaker 2: in the Old Testament and in the New Testament.
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  Speaker 1: Through the teaching of the Lord Jesus Himself.
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  Speaker 2: It is also true that Paul had much to say
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  Speaker 2: about the coming of Christ, both in the rapture of
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  Speaker 2: the church and then in the judgment that he would
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  Speaker 2: bring upon the ungodly. It is also important to note
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  Speaker 2: that Peter had much to say about the coming of
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  Speaker 2: Christ in his epistles as he looks forward to that
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  Speaker 2: great event. It must also be noted that even in
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  Speaker 2: the epistles of John, there is anticipation of the return
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  Speaker 2: of Christ. It is also true in the epistle of
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  Speaker 2: James that he tells the believer to be patient and
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  Speaker 2: endure until the coming of the Lord. So there has
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  Speaker 2: been much said about it. And again I say, some
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  Speaker 2: of it in figures and some of it in symbols
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  Speaker 2: and some of it in veiled prophecies and generalizations in
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  Speaker 2: prophetic literature of the Old Testament, some of it very
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  Speaker 2: specific also, and then again in the New Testament. But
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  Speaker 2: here in Revelation, there is an explosion of detail about
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  Speaker 2: the return of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: And so this is the revelation. This is the revealing.
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  Speaker 2: The word is apokalupsis, from which we get the word apocalypse.
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  Speaker 2: That means literally to take the cover off, to take
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  Speaker 2: the cover off, to uncover, to unveil, to reveal. That
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  Speaker 2: word is used 18 times in the New Testament. And
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  Speaker 2: when it is used of a person, it always indicates
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  Speaker 2: that he becomes visible. Whenever that word is used of
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  Speaker 2: a person, it means that person becomes visible. And so
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  Speaker 2: what you have here is truth becoming clearly visible. The
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  Speaker 2: word apokalupsis is first used in Luke 2. And I
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  Speaker 2: need to just show it to you so you'll get
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  Speaker 2: a feeling for how it is used. because that needs
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  Speaker 2: to be in your mind as you think about it
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  Speaker 2: in relation to the book of Revelation. In Luke chapter
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  Speaker 2: 2 and verse 28, we have here the parents of
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  Speaker 2: the Lord bringing Him into the temple and the baby Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: where he is met by a man named Simeon, verse
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  Speaker 2: 25 says, a righteous, devout man looking for the consolation
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  Speaker 2: of Israel, looking for the Messiah.
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  Speaker 1: The Holy Spirit was on him.
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  Speaker 2: And he takes the baby, in verse 28, into his arms.
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  Speaker 2: And with the baby Jesus in His arms, He blessed
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  Speaker 2: God and said, Now, Lord, Thou dost let Thy bondservant
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  Speaker 2: depart in peace according.
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  Speaker 1: To Thy word. That is, I can die now.
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  Speaker 2: I've seen the Messiah. For my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
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  Speaker 2: which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples,
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  Speaker 2: a light of revelation to the Gentiles and the glory
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  Speaker 2: of Thy people Israel. There is the word apocalypse, a
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  Speaker 2: light of apocalypsis. an unveiling, an uncovering, literally in this case,
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  Speaker 2: a person made visible. Now the Messiah, the Christ, the
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  Speaker 2: Savior has been made visible, and it speaks of the
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  Speaker 2: shining forth of a person. In 1 Peter 1.7, the
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  Speaker 2: word is translated appearing. In 1 Corinthians 1, 7, it
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  Speaker 2: is translated coming or arrival.
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  Speaker 1: In Romans 8, 19, manifestation.
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  Speaker 2: So it means all those, an unveiling, an uncovering, someone
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  Speaker 2: made visible, the shining forth of a person for all
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  Speaker 2: to see, the appearing, the arrival, the manifestation. That is
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  Speaker 2: its essence. Now there is truth in the statement that
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  Speaker 2: all Scripture is revelation.
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  Speaker 1: That is true.
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  Speaker 2: But in a very special way, this book is the revelation.
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  Speaker 2: It is the revelation, notice it, of Jesus Christ. It
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  Speaker 2: reveals Jesus Christ shining forth. Here we see the blazing
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  Speaker 2: glory of Christ revealed. Now many people assume, and I
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  Speaker 2: need to comment on this, that this book hides things.
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  Speaker 2: People read this book and are absolutely confused by it.
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  Speaker 2: People read it and assume that it is some kind
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  Speaker 2: of mysterious, strange, exotic, unsolvable riddle, some puzzle that man
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  Speaker 2: could never understand. They assume it is vague or obscure
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  Speaker 2: or complex or incomprehensible and confusing. But this book is
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  Speaker 2: not the hiding, this book is the revelation. Important to
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  Speaker 2: note that. It is not the covering, it is the uncovering.
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  Speaker 2: And what does it reveal? What does it uncover?
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  Speaker 1: Well, many things, many things.
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  Speaker 2: As we look at this book, we will find that
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  Speaker 2: it reveals warnings to the church about its besetting sins.
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  Speaker 2: It reveals instruction to the church about the need for holiness.
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  Speaker 2: It reveals the amazing power and glorious overcoming strength of
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  Speaker 2: Christ and the Christian over sin and Satan. It reveals
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  Speaker 2: the ultimate triumph of believers who are killed for the
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  Speaker 2: cause of Christ. It reveals the glory of worship. It
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  Speaker 2: reveals the end of human history. It reveals the final
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  Speaker 2: political setup of the world. It reveals the triumph of
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  Speaker 2: God's saving purpose. It reveals the career of Antichrist and
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  Speaker 2: the final battle of Armageddon and the alignment of the
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  Speaker 2: nations of the world. It reveals the need to fight
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  Speaker 2: the forces of evil patiently. It reveals the glories of
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  Speaker 2: Christ's kingdom on earth and in the new heaven and
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  Speaker 2: the new earth. It reveals the triumph ultimately of God's
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  Speaker 2: saving purposes no matter what Satan endeavors to do. It
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  Speaker 2: reveals the victory of Christ over all powers, human and demonic.
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  Speaker 2: It reveals the final end of Satan and the final
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  Speaker 2: end of sin. It is the opposite of a puzzle.
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  Speaker 2: It is the opposite of a mystery. It is not
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  Speaker 2: a covering. It is not a hiding.
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  Speaker 1: It is an unveiling.
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  Speaker 2: And so we say its essential nature is that it
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  Speaker 2: is the revelation. And that word is chosen very carefully
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  Speaker 2: by John.
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  Speaker 1: It is the apocalypse, the unveiling, the.
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  Speaker 2: Disclosure of details heretofore hidden from human.
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  Speaker 1: View, the history of the end of the universe and
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  Speaker 1: how it will take place and what will come after that.
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  Speaker 2: In fact, the best way to say it is, It
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  Speaker 2: is a front page story of the future of the
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  Speaker 2: world written by someone who was there.
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  Speaker 1: Who was there.
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  Speaker 2: If I could title the study of Revelation in a
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  Speaker 2: contemporary concept, I would title it, Back to the Future.
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  Speaker 2: So that is its essential nature. It is revelation. Second
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  Speaker 2: point that I want you to note as we consider
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  Speaker 2: John's introduction is its central theme.
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  Speaker 1: Its central theme. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 2: I am halted as I go through this by every
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  Speaker 2: term because they're so literally filled with meaning.
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  Speaker 1: It is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 2: Now some people think that that means the book is
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  Speaker 2: from Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: Well, that certainly in a sense is true.
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  Speaker 2: In Revelation 22, 16, the last chapter, I, Jesus, have
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  Speaker 2: sent My angel to testify to.
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  Speaker 1: You these things for the churches.
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  Speaker 2: It is true that this revelation comes from God and
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  Speaker 2: certainly from Jesus Christ. But it is not best to
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  Speaker 2: understand John's statement in that regard. It is not so
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  Speaker 2: much the revelation from Jesus Christ as it is the
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  Speaker 2: revelation about Jesus Christ. It is Christ who is unveiled here.
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  Speaker 2: It doesn't really take very long. In fact, as soon
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  Speaker 2: as you get into verses 4, 5, and 6, Christ
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  Speaker 2: begins to be unveiled. And then you get into 7
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  Speaker 2: and 8 and you see Him in all.
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  Speaker 1: His blazing glory.
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  Speaker 2: And then you get Him in chapter 2 and 3
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  Speaker 2: as He scrutinizes His church. And then in chapter 4
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  Speaker 2: through 22, the whole theme of it is the unveiling
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  Speaker 2: of the glory of Christ in His second coming as
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  Speaker 2: He takes back the earth from the usurper Satan and
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  Speaker 2: establishes His kingdom, both the kingdom in this world and
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  Speaker 2: the kingdom in the world to come. It is Christ
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  Speaker 2: who is unveiled. It is Christ who is manifest. It
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  Speaker 2: is Christ who is uncovered. It is Christ presented in glory,
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  Speaker 2: Christ presented in majesty. Now in that sense, perhaps you'll
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  Speaker 2: understand what I mean if I tell you it is
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  Speaker 2: very much like the Gospels, Matthew.
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  Speaker 1: Mark, Luke, and John, only in this great distinction.
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  Speaker 2: The Gospels unveiled Christ in His first coming in humiliation.
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  Speaker 2: The book of Revelation unveils Christ in His second coming
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  Speaker 2: in exaltation. The theme of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, and
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  Speaker 2: John is Jesus Christ in His humiliation. The theme of
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  Speaker 2: Revelation is Jesus Christ in His exaltation. But He is
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  Speaker 2: the theme. This is the apocalypse. It is the apocalypsis
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  Speaker 2: Iesu Christu.
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  Speaker 1: It is the.
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  Speaker 2: Unveiling of Jesus Christ. By the way, that phrase is
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  Speaker 2: used other places in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 1,
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  Speaker 2: verse 7, says we are awaiting eagerly the Apokalupsis Jesu Christi,
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  Speaker 2: the apocalypse, the unveiling of Jesus Christ. In 2 Thessalonians
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  Speaker 2: chapter 1 and verse 7, it says, the Lord Jesus
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  Speaker 2: Christ shall be revealed. There is that same phrase, the
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  Speaker 2: Apokalupsis Jesu Christi. We find it there in that same text,
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  Speaker 2: 2 Thessalonians chapter 1.
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  Speaker 1: Peter even uses the same phrase.
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  Speaker 2: 1 Peter 1, 7, he says, we will be found
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  Speaker 2: in praise and glory and honor at the Apocalypse Jesu Christu,
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  Speaker 2: the coming of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: The same words.
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  Speaker 2: Appear in one other text, and I want you to
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  Speaker 2: look at it, Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1, and
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  Speaker 2: here I think is a very important note so that
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  Speaker 2: we don't misunderstand its meaning. In Galatians chapter 1, Paul
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  Speaker 2: is talking about how He now preaches the gospel. And
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  Speaker 2: in verse 11, he says, I would have you know, brother,
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  Speaker 2: in the gospel which was preached by me is not
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  Speaker 2: according to man. It's not according to man. He said,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't get my message from a human source. Verse 12,
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  Speaker 2: for I neither received it from man, nor was I
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  Speaker 2: taught it, but I received it through an apocalypsis Jesu Christu.
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  Speaker 2: And he means here not a revelation from Christ, but
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  Speaker 2: a revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, I got
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  Speaker 2: my gospel when God delivered to me the truth about Christ.
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  Speaker 2: To see that that's what he means, you only need
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  Speaker 2: to read further. Verse 13, for you have heard of
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  Speaker 2: my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used
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  Speaker 2: to persecute the church of God. beyond measure and tried
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  Speaker 2: to destroy it. I was advancing in Judaism beyond many
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  Speaker 2: of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous
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  Speaker 2: for my ancestral traditions. But when He who had set
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  Speaker 2: me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me
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  Speaker 2: through His grace, that is God, was pleased to reveal
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  Speaker 2: His Son in me that I might preach Him among
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  Speaker 2: the Gentiles, I didn't immediately consult with flesh and blood
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  Speaker 2: and so forth.
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  Speaker 1: He says, I.
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  Speaker 2: Received a revelation of Jesus Christ from the God who
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  Speaker 2: called me through His grace and was pleased to reveal
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  Speaker 2: His Son. So each of these uses of this same phrase,
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  Speaker 2: Apocalypse Jesu Christi, are consistent with the idea that it
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  Speaker 2: is a revelation about Jesus Christ, not a revelation from
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  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ that.
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  Speaker 1: The writer has in mind. Now back to the book
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  Speaker 1: of Revelation.
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  Speaker 2: What he is saying here is that Jesus Christ is
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  Speaker 2: the great central theme of this book which closes the Bible.
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  Speaker 2: One of my favorite preachers on the book of Revelation
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  Speaker 2: is W.A. Criswell, for many years the very honored pastor
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  Speaker 2: of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, where I
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  Speaker 2: have preached on several occasions, much to my own delight
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  Speaker 2: and blessing. In commenting on the book of Revelation, he
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  Speaker 2: said this, The first time our Lord came into this world,
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  Speaker 2: He came in the veil of our flesh. His deity
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  Speaker 2: was covered over with His manhood. His godhood was hidden
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  Speaker 2: by His humanity. Just once in a while did His
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  Speaker 2: deity shine through as on the Mount of Transfiguration or
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  Speaker 2: as in His miraculous works. But most of the time,
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  Speaker 2: the glory, the majesty, the deity, the wonder, and the
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  Speaker 2: marvel of the Son of God, the second person of
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  Speaker 2: the Holy Trinity, were veiled. These attributes were covered over
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  Speaker 2: in flesh. He was born in a stable. He grew
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  Speaker 2: up in poverty. He knew what it was to hunger
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  Speaker 2: and to thirst. He was buffeted and beaten and bruised.
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  Speaker 2: He was crucified and raised up as a felon before
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  Speaker 2: the scoffing gaze of the whole earth. The last time
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  Speaker 2: this world saw Jesus was when it saw Him hanging
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  Speaker 2: in shame, misery, and anguish upon the cross.
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  Speaker 1: He later appeared to a few of His believing disciples.
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  Speaker 2: But the last time that this unbelieving world ever saw
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  Speaker 2: Jesus was when it saw Him die as a malefactor,
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  Speaker 2: as a criminal crucified on a Roman cross. That was
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  Speaker 2: a part of the plan of God, a part of
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  Speaker 2: the immeasurable, illuminatable grace and love of our Lord.
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  Speaker 1: By His stripes we are healed. Then He says this, but.
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  Speaker 2: Then is that all the world is ever to see
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  Speaker 2: of our Savior, dying in shame on a cross? No.
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  Speaker 2: It is also a part of the plan of God
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  Speaker 2: that someday this unbelieving, this blasphemous, this godless world shall
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  Speaker 2: see the Son of God in His full character, in glory,
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  Speaker 2: in majesty, in the full-orbed wonder and marvel of His Godhead.
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  Speaker 2: Then all men shall look upon Him as He really is.
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  Speaker 2: They shall see Him holding in His hands the title
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  Speaker 2: deed to the universe, holding in His hands the authority
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  Speaker 2: of all creation in the universe above us, in the
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  Speaker 2: universe around us, and in the universe beneath us, holding
• 22:02
  Speaker 2: this world and its destiny in His pierced and loving hands,
• 22:06
  Speaker 2: end quote. Once you traverse this book, it will become
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: apparent that you are seeing the main central theme is
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ. In fact, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ appears
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: in seven chief images. He is the risen glorified Son
• 22:29
  Speaker 2: of God among the churches. He is the Lamb in
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: heaven publicly invested with authority to carry out the determined
• 22:35
  Speaker 2: preliminary judgments on men. He comes to earth as the
• 22:40
  Speaker 2: King of kings and Lord of lords. Fourthly, He is Christ. Fifthly,
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: He is the judge on the great white throne. Sixthly,
• 22:47
  Speaker 2: He is the Lamb upon the throne of God and
• 22:50
  Speaker 2: of the Lamb. Seventh, He is I, Jesus, the root
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: and offspring of David, the bright and morning star. Lest
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: you think that there are only seven times in this
• 23:01
  Speaker 2: book when He is spoken of, I will give you
• 23:04
  Speaker 2: a list of other titles that He bears. In this book,
• 23:07
  Speaker 2: He is the faithful witness. He is the firstborn from
• 23:10
  Speaker 2: the dead. He is the ruler over the kings of
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: the earth. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: the beginning and the end. He is the one who
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: is and who was and who is to come. He
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: is the Almighty. He is the first and last. He
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: is the Son of Man. He is He who lives.
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: He who holds the seven stars in His right hand,
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: who walks amidst the seven golden lampstands. He who has
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: the sharp two-edged sword, He is Son of God. He
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: is He who has eyes like a flame of fire
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: and feet like fine brass. He is He who has
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. He
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: is He who is holy, He who is true, He
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: who has the key of David, He who is the Amen,
• 23:50
  Speaker 2: the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation
• 23:53
  Speaker 2: of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: Lord holy and true, the Lord God Almighty, the King
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: of the saints and the Word of God. All of
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: that in this book. He is the center of the
• 24:06
  Speaker 2: book and He is the circumference of the book. He
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: is the beginning and the end. He is the top
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: and the bottom. He is the inside and the outside.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: He is the over and the under. The heavens are
• 24:18
  Speaker 2: opened in this book and you are going to see
• 24:22
  Speaker 2: a vision of Jesus Christ not in humility.
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: not in human form.
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: You are going to see a vision of Jesus Christ
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: in His sovereign majesty and eternal glory, and it will
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: flash before your eyes over a prolonged period of time
• 24:39
  Speaker 2: as it did for a split second in the vision
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: of Stephen.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: You remember that?
• 24:43
  Speaker 2: He saw the Son of God in heaven when He
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: was dying as a martyr in Acts 7.56. What flashed
• 24:51
  Speaker 2: across His eyes in a moment shall be prolonged in
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: your visions.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: As we go from.
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: Chapter 1 to chapter 22, Jesus Christ always seen in
• 25:03
  Speaker 2: majestic glory, never in humiliation. The essential nature of the book,
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: it is an unveiling, an uncovering of things heretofore not known,
• 25:15
  Speaker 2: details of the end of the universe and the coming
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: of Christ. The central theme, Jesus Christ. Look back at
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: verse 1, let's go further. The revelation of Jesus Christ
• 25:26
  Speaker 2: which God gave Him. That leads me to discuss the
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: divine source, the divine source of this book. Who is
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: the divine source?
• 25:37
  Speaker 1: God.
• 25:38
  Speaker 2: Which God gave Him. This is a wonderful aspect of
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: this book, by the way. Let me ask you a question.
• 25:45
  Speaker 2: This is what struck me. which God gave Him. You'll
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: notice it's capitalized in your Bible. It's referring back to
• 25:50
  Speaker 2: the antecedent, Jesus Christ. What that says is, now listen
• 25:54
  Speaker 2: to this, God gave this book to whom?
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: To Jesus Christ. That's an interesting thought, isn't it?
• 26:05
  Speaker 2: And I suppose you could ask yourself the question that
• 26:08
  Speaker 2: I ask myself, what does Christ need God to give Him? Well,
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: there have been some interesting suggestions about that. Some people say, well,
• 26:19
  Speaker 2: let's go back to Mark 13, 32. You don't have
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: to turn to it. You'll remember it as soon as
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: I read it. Mark 13, 32 says these familiar words.
• 26:29
  Speaker 2: And you remember this is a startling statement coming from Jesus.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: But of that day or hour, that is of the
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: return of the Son of Man, but of that day
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven,
• 26:42
  Speaker 2: nor the Son, but the Father alone.
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: Remember that?
• 26:45
  Speaker 2: And many times we've asked, how is it that Jesus,
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: if He is God, doesn't know that? How is it
• 26:53
  Speaker 2: that He doesn't know the time of His return? The
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: angels don't know, He said, and I don't know, only
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: the Father knows. But that's what He said. in his humiliation.
• 27:05
  Speaker 2: When he came in as a servant into this world
• 27:08
  Speaker 2: and humbled himself and took on the form of a
• 27:10
  Speaker 2: man and restricted the free exercise of his attributes, he
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: limited his own knowledge.
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: And when he said, I don't know, that's exactly what
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: he meant.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: Some have suggested then that the reason it says here
• 27:23
  Speaker 2: the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave him was
• 27:26
  Speaker 2: to give him the information that he up to this
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: point didn't know. In other words, God is saying, I
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: am now going to tell you what you haven't up
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: to this moment known. In your self-limiting condescension, you didn't
• 27:43
  Speaker 2: know the day or the hour, but in this book
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: I'm going to tell you the details of the end.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: That's an interesting observation, but the facts are this book
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: doesn't even tell us the exact day or the hour either.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: So this really doesn't answer that question. And I think
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: it would be a fair assumption for us to make
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: that now that the Son of God is glorified and
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: back at the right hand of the throne of God,
• 28:08
  Speaker 2: He has entered into the full exercise of all His attributes,
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: including His omniscience, and He now knows anyway and didn't
• 28:15
  Speaker 2: have to wait until 96 A.D. when this book was
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: written to find out. Well, then in what sense is
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: this book given to Christ? In another sense, a wonderful sense.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: God made a promise to exalt Jesus Christ. God made
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: a promise that Jesus Christ would be King of kings
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: and Lord of lords, that He would be King of
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: the earth. God made a promise that Jesus Christ would
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: be the heir to everything that the Father possesses. And
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: because Jesus humbled Himself and because He became flesh, And
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: because He served the Father obediently, perfectly, because He suffered
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: and because He died, God has given to Him this
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: great revelation of the glory to come. There isn't the
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: time of His coming in here. That's not what He's
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: giving Him. He is giving Him the full disclosure of
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: what will happen in His glorification when He returns. This
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: is His reward for such perfect, humble, faithful, holy service.
• 29:25
  Speaker 2: It would be like a father saying to his son,
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: you've been a good son, you've been a wonderful son,
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: you've been an obedient son, you've been a dutiful son,
• 29:32
  Speaker 2: and in your faithfulness to me as your father, I
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: have promised you that if you were faithful and you
• 29:37
  Speaker 2: did what I asked and you accomplished the goals that
• 29:40
  Speaker 2: I established for you, that.
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: I would give you my inheritance.
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: And the father then says, now, son, here it is.
• 29:46
  Speaker 1: I have it all written up in full and I
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: hand it to you. It is now yours.
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: In a sense, that is exactly what God has done
• 29:53
  Speaker 2: with the book of Revelation. Beloved, can you handle this?
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: We are eavesdropping on.
• 29:58
  Speaker 2: The gift of this book which God the Father gave
• 30:01
  Speaker 2: to His Son.
• 30:03
  Speaker 1: It is for Him.
• 30:05
  Speaker 2: God the source, the primary recipient being Jesus Christ, and
• 30:10
  Speaker 2: it tells the awesome, glorious, wonderful story of what's going
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: to happen in the future when the obedient Son comes
• 30:20
  Speaker 2: back in full glory. Think of it this way. The
• 30:27
  Speaker 2: resurrection was the Father's first down payment on the inheritance.
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: The first token, evident token of the inheritance was the resurrection.
• 30:38
  Speaker 2: God raised Him.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: From the dead.
• 30:40
  Speaker 2: The second evident token of the Father's pleasure was the ascension.
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: He took Him to heaven and sat Him where? At
• 30:48
  Speaker 1: His right hand.
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: The third token of the Father's pleasure over the Son's
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: obedience was the sending of the Holy Spirit. Because the
• 30:59
  Speaker 2: Spirit was sent to indwell the church which Christ redeemed
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: and loved. And here is the last token. This gift
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: of this book which outlines in detail the coming glory
• 31:16
  Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ so that not only will He live
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: in full anticipation, but all who love Him can enjoy
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: knowing all of this that will come to pass for
• 31:27
  Speaker 2: the purpose that we may praise Him and glorify Him
• 31:30
  Speaker 2: and honor Him in anticipation. I guess you could sum
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: that whole discussion up with the words of Philippians chapter 2.
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: It says, though Jesus Christ existed in the form of God.
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: He.
• 31:45
  Speaker 2: Didn't regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,
• 31:49
  Speaker 2: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bondservant and
• 31:52
  Speaker 2: being made in the likeness of men and being found
• 31:54
  Speaker 2: in appearance as a man. He humbled Himself by becoming
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: There's His humiliation.
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: Then immediately in verse 9, therefore God highly exalted Him
• 32:06
  Speaker 2: and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name.
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: That is, by the way, the name Lord.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: of those who are in heaven and on earth and
• 32:18
  Speaker 2: under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
• 32:20
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
• 32:24
  Speaker 2: Those last three verses, 9, 10, and 11, are played
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: out in detail in the book of Revelation. You were
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: faithful in your humiliation, and I will be faithful to
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: fulfill my promise in your glorification. The essential nature of
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: this book, it is the revelation, the uncovering. The central
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: theme of this book, it is the uncovering of Jesus Christ.
• 32:49
  Speaker 2: The divine source of this book, it is God who
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: gave it and who gave it to Christ as a
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: testimony of the future glory.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: Which He will enjoy.
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: And we are really privileged, are we not, to be
• 33:05
  Speaker 2: able to look at this and see it. Very often
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: when a father leaves an inheritance to his son, and
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: marks it out in the will and lays out everything
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: and how it's going to be and how it's precisely
• 33:16
  Speaker 2: to be given to the Son.
• 33:18
  Speaker 1: That is a sealed document. That is a document we're
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: not allowed to look at. Nobody is allowed to look
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: at it. It is sealed.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: It is put away safely where it can't be tampered with.
• 33:27
  Speaker 2: How wonderfully true it is, however, that this book has
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: been opened for us.
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: In fact, in chapter 6, we.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: See the title deed of the inheritance unrolled and seven
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: seals are broken and they are all unveiled for us
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: to understand. Now that takes us to the next point
• 33:45
  Speaker 2: in his introduction. God is the divine author of this
• 33:50
  Speaker 2: revelation of Jesus Christ which is given to Him, but
• 33:55
  Speaker 2: who are its human recipients? Who are its human recipients?
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: Please note the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: Him to show to His bondservants. John takes us another
• 34:09
  Speaker 2: step in comprehending this book. It is to be shown
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: to His bondservants. It is not just for Christ to
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: see and understand and anticipate, but it is to be
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: shown to us. It wasn't written for us. God gave
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: it to Him, and He has given us the right
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: to see it.
• 34:32
  Speaker 1: What's the word bondservant? Doulas. Slaves. That's what it means. Slaves.
• 34:39
  Speaker 1: May I note something for you here?
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: Here is one clear reason why non-Christians find this book incomprehensible.
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: It was never intended for them, right?
• 34:54
  Speaker 2: It was to be shown to people who are the
• 34:57
  Speaker 2: willing slaves of Christ. And if He is not your Lord,
• 35:04
  Speaker 2: you wouldn't be expected to comprehend this. Now, the doulos,
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: or the bond slave, is different, say, than the huparetes,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: or different than the diakonia.
• 35:15
  Speaker 1: There were six different Greek words for servants. This one
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: was a unique slave.
• 35:20
  Speaker 2: When we say bond slave, we're talking about a slave
• 35:24
  Speaker 2: who served out of love and devotion.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: Way back in the Old Testament, the Jews had a custom.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: If a servant said, look, I love you, to his master,
• 35:33
  Speaker 2: I love you, I want to serve you, I don't
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: serve you out of duty.
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: I don't serve you out of fear. I serve you
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: out of love. I want to be your.
• 35:41
  Speaker 2: Servant for life out of love. The master would take
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: that servant over to the doorway where there was a
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: wood frame, and he would pull his ear and push
• 35:52
  Speaker 2: it up against the doorway, and through the lobe of
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: his ear, he would pound and.
• 35:56
  Speaker 1: All, and he would make a hole in his ear.
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: His ear was punched with that hole and any slave
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: who had his ear punched was making a statement, I
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: serve out of love, not duty. I am a bond slave.
• 36:12
  Speaker 2: I am bonded willingly to my master. And it is
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: only those kinds of people who will understand this book.
• 36:21
  Speaker 1: I never cease to be.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: Amazed when I read liberal theological literature about the book
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: of Revelation.
• 36:27
  Speaker 1: It is bizarre.
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: You pick up some liberal book about Revelation sometime, if
• 36:33
  Speaker 2: you can find one in a library.
• 36:35
  Speaker 1: Don't check it out. Just glance through it. It's not
• 36:37
  Speaker 1: worth the effort.
• 36:39
  Speaker 2: But you'll find that they are hopelessly lost in a
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: maze which they cannot unscramble. Why? Because the natural man
• 36:48
  Speaker 2: understandeth not the things of God. They are foolishness to him.
• 36:53
  Speaker 2: Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: To the unbeliever?
• 36:59
  Speaker 2: To the hypocrite in the church, the book is chaos,
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: the book is confusion. But to the loving, willing slave
• 37:07
  Speaker 2: of Jesus Christ, it is an unveiling, it is an
• 37:10
  Speaker 2: uncovering that makes things very clear. And so I have
• 37:16
  Speaker 2: to say to you at the very outset, if you're
• 37:17
  Speaker 2: not a Christian, these truths are closed to you. Oh,
• 37:21
  Speaker 2: you may understand the words that I say. And as
• 37:24
  Speaker 2: I go through, if you listen carefully to my explanation,
• 37:28
  Speaker 2: it may make sense to you in terms of the
• 37:31
  Speaker 2: data on the page, but it can never grip your life.
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: It can never become real to you in your heart.
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: You will never.
• 37:39
  Speaker 2: Comprehend its significance fully and its meaning in terms of
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: its real depth because you're not a bond slave. You
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: remember back in Matthew 13 when Jesus was teaching in parables,
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: He said to His own disciples, I speak to them
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: in parables. Because while seeing, they do not see, and
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: while hearing, they do not hear, nor do they understand.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: You may see the page, you may hear the words,
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: but you will not see with spiritual eyes, you will
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: not comprehend. And then He says to His disciples in
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: verse 16, blessed are your eyes because they see, and
• 38:22
  Speaker 2: your ears because they hear. Because your bond slaves. This
• 38:29
  Speaker 2: is a book for Christians, and no one else can
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: understand it. So it is the revelation of Jesus Christ
• 38:40
  Speaker 2: from God, given to the Son, which He shows to us. Fifthly,
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: and we'll stop at this point, it's prophetic character. It's
• 38:55
  Speaker 2: prophetic character. Verse 1 again, it is the revelation of
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show to His bondservants,
• 39:05
  Speaker 2: here it is, the things which must shortly take place.
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: It's prophetic character. It is a prophecy about things which
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: must shortly take place. That is a very important phrase.
• 39:27
  Speaker 2: This book differs from all other New Testament books.
• 39:32
  Speaker 1: It does.
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: The gospels tell us what took place, right? Jesus came
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: and lived and died and rose and ascended. And while
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: there are references to the future, the theme of the
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: gospels is what happened in the past. The book of
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: Acts follows. What is the book of Acts about? It's
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: the history of the church. What are the epistles of
• 39:55
  Speaker 2: Paul and James and Peter and John and Jude and the.
• 40:01
  Speaker 1: Writer of Hebrews?
• 40:03
  Speaker 2: Well, they're all about explaining the meaning of the death
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: and resurrection of Christ and its application to the life
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: of the church. And so they take the history of
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: the Gospels and Acts and move them into the present
• 40:20
  Speaker 2: life of the church and the life of the believer.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: And so we could say the first five books of
• 40:26
  Speaker 2: the New Testament are about the past, and the next
• 40:31
  Speaker 2: group of books, 21 of them, are all about the
• 40:35
  Speaker 2: present and how we are to apply the realities of
• 40:39
  Speaker 2: the work of Christ now, and the last book.
• 40:43
  Speaker 1: Is about the future. This is about the.
• 40:46
  Speaker 2: Things which must shortly take place. It is a book
• 40:52
  Speaker 2: made up of prophecy about the future. And that is
• 40:56
  Speaker 2: its fascination. The outline of the future consideration of this
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: book is in verse 19.
• 41:04
  Speaker 1: Look at it.
• 41:04
  Speaker 2: Here's the outline of the whole book. John is told,' Write,'
• 41:11
  Speaker 2: and here's what you write,' the things which you have seen.'
• 41:17
  Speaker 2: the things which are, and the things which shall take
• 41:22
  Speaker 2: place after these things. Hmm.
• 41:27
  Speaker 1: Three things.
• 41:29
  Speaker 2: The things you have seen past, the things which are present,
• 41:34
  Speaker 2: the things which shall take place after these things. That's
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: the outline of the book. Chapter 1 is what John saw.
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: Chapter 2 and 3 is what is, and chapters 4
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: through 22 is the things which shall take place after
• 41:54
  Speaker 2: these things.
• 41:55
  Speaker 1: So prophecy starts in chapter.
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: 4 and extends all the way through chapter 22. So
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: this is a prophecy book. This is a prophetic book
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: in the future sense of prophecy. It is prophetic literature.
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: And I need to mention to you a very important note.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: In all prophetic literature, there's a two-sided emphasis, okay?
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: Always a two-sided emphasis.
• 42:24
  Speaker 2: There is coming future glory for Christ in which the
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: saints will participate. But there's always that other side of
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: coming future judgment on the wicked. And so as we
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: flow through this, And we say Jesus Christ is the
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: theme and future glory is the main emphasis. We will
• 42:47
  Speaker 2: also see, running along with the future unveiling of the
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: glory of Christ, the destruction of sin, Satan, demons, and sinners.
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: While it surely predicts with detail the coming glory of
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: Jesus Christ and the way the saints will share in
• 43:08
  Speaker 2: that glory, It also predicts the damnation of sinners. And
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: so its truths, as John notes in chapter 10, are bittersweet, bittersweet.
• 43:19
  Speaker 2: It is a book of judgment. It is a book
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: of doom. It tells the end of the world, the
• 43:24
  Speaker 2: end of human history, the end of sinners. And the
• 43:27
  Speaker 2: darker side of the picture is never for one moment concealed.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: It too is fully revealed. God is just, as we know.
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: Sin must be punished. Impenitence and rebellion will issue ultimately
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: in misery and defeat, disaster, death, and eternal judgment. This
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: is no sentimental book. It is a serious book. It
• 43:49
  Speaker 2: is a compelling book. It is a heart-wrenching book. It
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: is a disturbing book. There is no weak tolerance of evil.
• 43:58
  Speaker 2: There is a lamb who has been slain, but there
• 44:01
  Speaker 2: is the wrath of the lamb also. There is a
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: river of the water of life, but there is a
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: lake of fire as well.
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: Here we find a.
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: God of love who will dwell among men and wipe
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: away all tears and abolish death and abolish sorrow and
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: abolish pain.
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: But before that, He.
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: Will send His enemies into a place of sorrow and
• 44:25
  Speaker 2: pain and death and tears that is unimaginable. And so
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: there is no hiding of the dark side of the
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: glory of Christ. A brighter day is to come, yes,
• 44:44
  Speaker 2: but there is thunder before the dawn. And so we
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: will look at the future. It will be back to
• 44:53
  Speaker 2: the future as we go back to this ancient book
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: written in 96 A.D. and see in it the future
• 45:00
  Speaker 2: written by a man who was there. For John the
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: Apostle was there, transported by visions.
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: It is prophecy.
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: Now, there are some people who don't think this is true.
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: Liberal theologians say this. They say, well, it is a
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: look back. No, the book of Revelation is a look
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: back and it describes the events fulfilled in the reign
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: of Nero from 54 to 68 A.D. It describes the
• 45:34
  Speaker 2: time in which Paul and Peter were martyred. Some say, no,
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: it looks back from the time of Emperor Domitian from
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: 81 to 96 A.D. when all these things recorded occurred.
• 45:47
  Speaker 2: This is called the preterist view.
• 45:49
  Speaker 1: You may have heard that word.
• 45:50
  Speaker 2: Preter is the Latin word for past. People who say, no,
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: there's nothing prophetic. It's not supernatural. It's not the future.
• 45:57
  Speaker 2: It's just a look back and it's describing what happened
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: under Nero or describing what happened under Domitian.
• 46:05
  Speaker 1: By the way, that's absolutely impossible. Absolutely impossible.
• 46:10
  Speaker 2: As we go through the book, it will become apparent
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: that the things described did not happen then.
• 46:14
  Speaker 1: If they did, nobody would be here.
• 46:20
  Speaker 2: Now there are other people who say, no, it actually
• 46:24
  Speaker 2: is a panorama starting at the time John wrote and
• 46:30
  Speaker 2: just describing all of church history until the Second Coming.
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: So there are some who will go into this book
• 46:36
  Speaker 2: and they'll find the Roman Catholic Church. They'll find a
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: whole lot of different popes. They'll find Constantine in here.
• 46:43
  Speaker 2: They'll find Muhammad in here. They'll even find the French
• 46:47
  Speaker 2: Revolution in here. They'll find the Goths. They'll even find
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: the Jesuits.
• 46:57
  Speaker 1: That's impossible.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: You can't take this period of events. this massive list
• 47:03
  Speaker 2: of events and string it out over all of church
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: history because if you read the book of Revelation carefully,
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: most of all of the drama happens in a period
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: of three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days.
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: It's impossible to string it out over all of church history.
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: That's what's called the historicist view. There's a third group
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: that come along and they say, well, it doesn't really
• 47:29
  Speaker 2: speak about real people. It doesn't speak about real events.
• 47:33
  Speaker 2: It doesn't speak about real acts or real wars, or
• 47:36
  Speaker 2: it's just allegorical. It's just all about spiritual battle and
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: spiritual warfare, and we just need to spiritualize it. And
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: what that means is you can make it mean absolutely
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: anything you want it to mean. There's no rules to
• 47:50
  Speaker 2: that game because if it doesn't mean what it says,
• 47:53
  Speaker 2: but it means what you think it says, then what
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: you think it says is the authority. And so what
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: everybody thinks it says would be what it means, and
• 48:00
  Speaker 2: since everybody would think it said something different, it wouldn't
• 48:03
  Speaker 2: mean anything.
• 48:07
  Speaker 1: That's called the idealist view. It's really the idiotic view.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: That leaves us with only one other option, and that
• 48:16
  Speaker 2: is that it's future. You say, well, why do you
• 48:20
  Speaker 2: believe it talks about the future? Because it says the
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: things which must shortly take place. And if you read it,
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: it's obvious that these things haven't happened. How about massive resurrections?
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: Have they happened? How about, you can check the cemeteries
• 48:36
  Speaker 2: just to be sure. How about holocausts of unheard of
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: proportions where a third of the entire world is killed?
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: Has that occurred?
• 48:50
  Speaker 2: What about the destruction of the whole human system as
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: we know it?
• 48:55
  Speaker 1: And the building of a new heaven and a new earth.
• 48:57
  Speaker 1: Has that happened? Absurd.
• 49:00
  Speaker 2: There's only one way to look at this, and that
• 49:04
  Speaker 2: is that it is future prophecy. So we're embarking on
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: a revelation of Jesus Christ from God to Christians about
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: the future, the time of the coming of Christ. And
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: as Walter Scott said long ago, prophecy annihilates time. prophecy
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: annihilates time and all intervening circumstances and sets one down
• 49:29
  Speaker 2: on the threshold of accomplishment and we're literally going to
• 49:34
  Speaker 2: get transported back to the future And we're just going
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: to land at the end.
• 49:44
  Speaker 1: That's what we can anticipate.
• 49:47
  Speaker 2: Now notice that verse again, verse 1.
• 49:50
  Speaker 1: The things which must shortly take place. Now wait a minute. Shortly?
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: When John wrote that, that was 2,000 years ago. What
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: does that mean, shortly? You come back next week.
• 50:07
  Speaker 1: And find out because I don't have time to get
• 50:11
  Speaker 1: into it.
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: It is a tremendous, tremendous truth.
• 50:17
  Speaker 1: Let's pray.
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: Father, as we have begun this study, already we are
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: filled with excitement, enthusiasm, and anticipation. To be able to
• 50:30
  Speaker 2: see and understand the revelation of Jesus Christ, which You
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: gave to Him through which He now shows to us
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: about the future is so thrilling. I pray for every
• 50:46
  Speaker 2: person here that they would have eyes to see and
• 50:51
  Speaker 2: ears to hear and a heart to understand because they
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: are bondservants of Jesus Christ. Lord, tonight we've heard such
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: wonderful testimonies in the waters of baptism about the joy
• 51:05
  Speaker 2: of knowing Christ. about the blessing of sins forgiven, about
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: the thrill of the hope of heaven. And now, Lord,
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: we can add this. One of the great benedictions, one
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: of the great blessings, one of the great riches of
• 51:21
  Speaker 2: being a Christian is to be able to comprehend truth,
• 51:27
  Speaker 2: to be able to understand the revelation of Jesus Christ,
• 51:32
  Speaker 2: which you gave him to show to us.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: What a thrill.
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: That the Lord Jesus would open this to us, which
• 51:44
  Speaker 2: was meant for Him, and let us share in its
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: truths so that we know the future before it comes,
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: so that we can read the history before it happens
• 51:57
  Speaker 2: and live in the.
• 51:58
  Speaker 1: Light of it.
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: Thank you, Lord, for this great unveiling. And may it
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: enrich us far beyond our wildest expectations so that we might,
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: until Jesus comes, serve you more faithfully. In his precious
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: name we ask. Amen.
• 52:21
  Speaker 1: You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible teacher with Grace
• 52:25
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• 52:25
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• 52:28
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• 52:42
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