Latest / THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together / Back to the Future, Part 2 (Revelation 11b–6) John MacArthur

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Back to the Future, Part 2 (Revelation 11b–6) John MacArthur · THE BELIEVER'S CHURCH | Let’s Build Our Faith Together

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  Speaker 1: And now we have that great privilege of going back
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  Speaker 1: to the future in our study of Revelation. Open your
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  Speaker 1: Bible again to chapter 1. Let me make a brief comment.
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  Speaker 1: Someone last week said there are 404 verses in the
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  Speaker 1: book of Revelation. You covered half of the first one.
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  Speaker 1: We calculate that's 808 messages. At 50 messages a year,
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  Speaker 1: that is a long, long time. So, I want you
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  Speaker 1: to know that we will move more rapidly, we will
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  Speaker 1: move exceedingly more rapidly, taking larger chunks, but in the
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  Speaker 1: introduction it is necessary for us to set the stage
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  Speaker 1: for all of these messages to come. When we get
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  Speaker 1: into the narrative portions of the book, It does move
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  Speaker 1: rapidly and we will do just that, but we need
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  Speaker 1: to deal with the issues in this opening section that
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  Speaker 1: are foundational to our understanding of this great book. Now
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  Speaker 1: no book in the Bible reveals more of the glory
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  Speaker 1: of God or more of the splendor of Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: than this book. And though it is so singularly blessed,
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  Speaker 1: it is still misunderstood, misinterpreted and neglected more than any
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  Speaker 1: other book in the New Testament surely. To many, it
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  Speaker 1: is a closed book. It is a sealed book. And
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  Speaker 1: that is exactly what God wanted it not to be.
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  Speaker 1: Some things God intends to be sealed. Back in Daniel 12, 9,
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  Speaker 1: the Scripture says, these words are sealed up until the
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  Speaker 1: end times. But this book is not to be sealed up.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation chapter 22 and verse 10 says, It says,
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  Speaker 1: and he said to me, do not seal up the
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  Speaker 1: words of the prophecy of this book, for the time
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  Speaker 1: is near. Don't lock it up. Don't hide it away.
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  Speaker 1: Don't cover it. Don't seal it. Furthermore, it is the
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  Speaker 1: only book in the Bible that opens and closes with
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  Speaker 1: a blessing on the reader, the only one. It is
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  Speaker 1: not to be sealed and it is a blessing. Revelation
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  Speaker 1: also is the last book in the divine library. It
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  Speaker 1: is God's last word. What began in Genesis ends in Revelation.
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis you have the commencement of heaven and earth.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation the consummation of heaven and earth. In Genesis
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  Speaker 1: you have the entrance of sin and the curse. In
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  Speaker 1: Revelation you have the end of sin and the curse.
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis you have the dawn of Satan and his activities.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation you have the doom of Satan and his activities.
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  Speaker 1: In Genesis you have the tree of life relinquished. In
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  Speaker 1: Revelation the tree of life regained. In Genesis death enters.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation death exits. In Genesis sorrow begins. In Revelation
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  Speaker 1: sorrow is banished. In Genesis, paradise is lost. In Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: paradise is regained. But most central, in Genesis, the Savior
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  Speaker 1: is promised. In Revelation, the Savior is preeminent. And so
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  Speaker 1: we are in for the journey of our lives back
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  Speaker 1: to the future to see the glory of what is
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  Speaker 1: to come as God brings all of redemptive history to
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  Speaker 1: its great climax. Now to help us in our orientation
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  Speaker 1: in the book, I have tried to break this introductory
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  Speaker 1: section from verses 1 through 6 into several component parts.
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  Speaker 1: I'm not really struggling here to make a a memorable
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  Speaker 1: homiletical outline, but just to sort of segment these things
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  Speaker 1: so that we can grasp them and the richness of
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  Speaker 1: them piece by piece. First of all, we noted in
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  Speaker 1: looking at the book of Revelation, its essential nature. In
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  Speaker 1: verse 1, it is the revelation. That is, it is
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  Speaker 1: the apocalypsis, the unveiling. It takes the cover off. It
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  Speaker 1: is not a hiding. It is a revealing. Then we
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  Speaker 1: noted its central theme. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: It is about Jesus Christ. It is Jesus Christ in
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  Speaker 1: future glory, unveiled, uncovered, and made manifest. Then we noted
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  Speaker 1: its divine source, which God gave him. And I mentioned
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  Speaker 1: to you that God is the source of this book
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  Speaker 1: and that this book was primarily given by God to
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ. Because Christ had humbled Himself and because He
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  Speaker 1: had suffered as a reward for His perfect submission, His
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  Speaker 1: perfect humility, His perfect suffering and perfect atonement, God now
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  Speaker 1: gives to Him the great record of His future glory.
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  Speaker 1: We noted next its specific recipients, and that is God
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  Speaker 1: gave it to Christ to show to His bondservants. That
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  Speaker 1: refers to Christians, those who are the servants of Jesus Christ.
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  Speaker 1: God gave it to Christ to give to us. Fifthly,
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  Speaker 1: we noted its prophetic character. It is the revelation of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show to His
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  Speaker 1: bondservants the things which must shortly take place. Now in
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  Speaker 1: that sense, we are reminded that it is a future prediction.
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  Speaker 1: This book looks ahead It takes us into the future.
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  Speaker 1: There are elements of it that are in the past tense,
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  Speaker 1: as we note in verse 19, the things which you
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  Speaker 1: have seen. There are elements of it which in John's
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  Speaker 1: time were in the present tense, the things which are.
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  Speaker 1: But the majority of this book is about the things
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  Speaker 1: which shall take place after these things. It focuses on
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  Speaker 1: the return of Jesus Christ in all His glory and
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  Speaker 1: all of the attendant events and circumstances. So we're going
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  Speaker 1: on a journey into the future. We're going to see
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  Speaker 1: things shocking. We're going to see things thrilling. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to see things troubling. We're going to see things joyful.
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  Speaker 1: We're going to see things painful. We're going to see
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  Speaker 1: things encouraging. We're going to see things disturbing. We're going
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  Speaker 1: to see things blessed. And what we're going to see
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  Speaker 1: could never be known if it weren't for this book.
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  Speaker 1: Now this is not an evangelistic book. It is not
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  Speaker 1: designed really for unbelievers, though its power will impact unbelievers
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  Speaker 1: who hear its truths. God will use it to save,
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  Speaker 1: but it is a book of hope for Christians. It
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  Speaker 1: was given first of all to Christ for Him to
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  Speaker 1: know fully and for the record to be laid down
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  Speaker 1: before the eyes of His children, His people, the future
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  Speaker 1: glory that will belong to Him. But it fascinates everybody
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  Speaker 1: because everybody is fascinated about the future. Everyone wants to
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  Speaker 1: know the future. That's why they go and read their horoscopes.
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  Speaker 1: That's why they fumble around with their fortune cookies in
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  Speaker 1: the Chinese restaurant. That's why they go to people who
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  Speaker 1: supposedly read tarot cards and tell fortunes. But only one
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  Speaker 1: knows the future. That one is God. And in this book,
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  Speaker 1: He gives it to us. Now you'll notice in verse 1,
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  Speaker 1: in this particular point on the prophetic character of the book,
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  Speaker 1: there's one word there that I want to draw to
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  Speaker 1: your attention. It's the word shortly, takos, shortly. Now I
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  Speaker 1: want you to grasp the meaning of this because it
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  Speaker 1: does come into play in your understanding of the book.
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  Speaker 1: It can mean in a brief time, or to put
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  Speaker 1: it another way, it can mean quickly. It is the
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  Speaker 1: word from which we get the English word tachometer. Some
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  Speaker 1: of you have on your car a tachometer. It measures velocity.
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  Speaker 1: It measures the velocity of your engine, the revolutions per
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  Speaker 1: minute we call RPMs. And we could see the word
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  Speaker 1: in that sense as a word that speaks about the
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  Speaker 1: velocity of this book. In other words, when you hit
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  Speaker 1: the future part in chapter 6, what comes, comes very fast.
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  Speaker 1: Within seven years, an unbelievable spectacle of judgments take place
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  Speaker 1: that sweep the earth apart. And then in a thousand-year
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  Speaker 1: period called the Kingdom, some amazing things take place until
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  Speaker 1: the whole of the universe is destroyed and a new
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  Speaker 1: heaven and a new earth is created. There is a
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  Speaker 1: certain brevity about these events. There is a certain velocity
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  Speaker 1: with which they happen. And once we get into that
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  Speaker 1: future part, hitting into chapter 6, you're going to feel
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  Speaker 1: like you are moving at about the speed of light
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  Speaker 1: because it goes so fast. In just seven years, the
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  Speaker 1: whole world system of man and Satan is deluged with
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  Speaker 1: the horrific wrath of God. And then a kingdom, brief really,
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  Speaker 1: a thousand years yet one day in the mind of Satan.
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  Speaker 1: of God. But that really isn't the main intent of
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  Speaker 1: this word. It could mean that, and perhaps the Spirit
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  Speaker 1: of God uses this word with some of that implication
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  Speaker 1: in it because that indeed is true. But the main
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  Speaker 1: meaning of this word is the idea of soon, soon.
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  Speaker 1: If we go to the end of Revelation, it helps
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  Speaker 1: us to make this interpretation. In Revelation 22, 12, Jesus says, Behold,
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  Speaker 1: I am coming quickly. Now, here you have taku, same
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  Speaker 1: word group. But it would seem here that He's not
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  Speaker 1: talking about the velocity with which He comes, but the
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  Speaker 1: nearness of His return. Down in verse 20, Yes, He
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  Speaker 1: says again, I am coming quickly. And again, we wouldn't
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  Speaker 1: assume that He is speaking about the velocity of His coming,
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  Speaker 1: but rather He's speaking about the nearness or the soonness
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  Speaker 1: of it. This is borne out by other uses of
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  Speaker 1: the word. In chapter 2, for example, look at verse 5,
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  Speaker 1: writing to the angel of the church at Ephesus, the
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  Speaker 1: minister in that church, the Lord speaks to the church.
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  Speaker 1: Down in verse 5, He says, Remember therefore from where
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  Speaker 1: you have fallen, and repent, and do the deeds you
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  Speaker 1: did at first, or else I am coming to you,
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  Speaker 1: and will remove your lampstand out of its place, unless
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  Speaker 1: you repent. And He did come, and He did remove
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  Speaker 1: the lampstand. And here again is the emphasis on the
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  Speaker 1: nearness of His coming. It's a soon coming. Go down
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  Speaker 1: to verse 16, same chapter. Repent, he writes to the
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  Speaker 1: church at Pergamum, or else I am coming to you quickly. Again,
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  Speaker 1: it isn't the velocity of His coming, it is the
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  Speaker 1: nearness of it. It is impending. It is, to use
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  Speaker 1: the word we like to use, imminent. It's next. It's near.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 3, The letters to the churches continue, and
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  Speaker 1: we find in verse 11 the same statement, this time
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  Speaker 1: to the church at Philadelphia, I am coming quickly. Again,
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  Speaker 1: the emphasis is on the soon coming of Christ. And
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  Speaker 1: if you were to follow this use of the same
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  Speaker 1: word through Revelation, you would see it again in chapter 11,
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  Speaker 1: verse 14. The second woe is past, the third woe
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  Speaker 1: is coming quickly. And so it goes. It seems then
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  Speaker 1: best to see this word as a designation of the
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  Speaker 1: nearness of the coming of Christ and not the velocity
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  Speaker 1: with which He comes. Now the velocity with which He
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  Speaker 1: comes in the rapture is amazing because He comes and
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  Speaker 1: takes His church in what amount of time? The twinkling
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  Speaker 1: of what? Of an eye. That's fast. But when you
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  Speaker 1: compare the use of takos and its other forms throughout
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  Speaker 1: the book of Revelation, it seems best to see it
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  Speaker 1: as the nearness rather than the quickness. For example, in
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  Speaker 1: 2 Timothy 4, to go outside the book of Revelation,
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  Speaker 1: we find the same word used. And Paul, writing to Timothy, says,'
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  Speaker 1: Make every effort to come to me soon.' Same word.
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  Speaker 1: And I don't think he is saying to Timothy,' Could
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  Speaker 1: you please sprint?' I think he's just saying, because you
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  Speaker 1: get here as quickly as possible, not the velocity with
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  Speaker 1: which you move, but the soonness with which you come.
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  Speaker 1: So what we have then here, back in Revelation chapter 1,
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  Speaker 1: is this idea of imminence. This idea that the next
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  Speaker 1: event on God's redemptive schedule is the coming of Christ. Soonness. Imminence.
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  Speaker 1: It doesn't necessarily mean that He's coming in a brief
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  Speaker 1: period of time. It means this is the next on
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  Speaker 1: the schedule of events. It does not preclude a waiting time.
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  Speaker 1: In chapter 6, verse 10, we find some saints under
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  Speaker 1: the altar in the midst of the tribulation, the seven-year period,
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  Speaker 1: and they are saying,' How long, O Lord, holy and true,
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  Speaker 1: wilt Thou refrain from judging and avenging our blood on
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  Speaker 1: those who dwell on the earth?' And there was given
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  Speaker 1: to each of them a white robe, and they were
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  Speaker 1: told that they should rest for a little while longer.
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  Speaker 1: So the fact that He is coming soon, that His
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  Speaker 1: coming is near, does not necessarily preclude a waiting time.
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  Speaker 1: The church has always lived in this expectancy. The apostle Paul,
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  Speaker 1: you remember from our study of 1 Thessalonians, assumed that
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  Speaker 1: Jesus could come in His lifetime. He uses the plural
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  Speaker 1: pronoun we and us and our to speak of those
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  Speaker 1: who would be taken in the rapture. And so the
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  Speaker 1: church has always lived in this expectancy. Peter, no less
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  Speaker 1: expectant in 1 Peter. Chapter 4, verse 7 said, the
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  Speaker 1: end of all things is near. He was living in
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  Speaker 1: the sense of imminency. You go back to Acts chapter
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  Speaker 1: 1 and you find Jesus having ascended into heaven. And
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  Speaker 1: the angel says to the men who are watching him
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  Speaker 1: go into heaven, this same Jesus who has taken up
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  Speaker 1: from you shall so come in like manner as you
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  Speaker 1: have seen him go into heaven. And so they were
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  Speaker 1: always living in that sense of expectancy. 1 Corinthians 15,
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  Speaker 1: in the moment in the twinkling of an eye, the
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  Speaker 1: dead in Christ shall rise, the same thing that's in
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  Speaker 1: 1 Thessalonians 4. Hebrews 10 says, we are not to
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  Speaker 1: forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner of
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  Speaker 1: some is, and much the more as you see the
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  Speaker 1: day approaching. And so the church has always lived in
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  Speaker 1: the anticipation of this event. Now, we don't know when
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  Speaker 1: it's going to happen because in Acts 1-7, Jesus said
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  Speaker 1: it very clearly, it is not for you to know
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  Speaker 1: times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His
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  Speaker 1: own authority. Basically, that means in plain English, it isn't
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  Speaker 1: any of your business. It's God's. And so we live
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  Speaker 1: in ongoing expectancy, knowing that the next great messianic event
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  Speaker 1: is the coming of Jesus Christ in glory. And people
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  Speaker 1: are reminded. For example, in Luke 12, be dressed in readiness.
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  Speaker 1: Keep your lamps so lit. Be like men waiting for
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  Speaker 1: their master when he returns from the wedding feast so
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  Speaker 1: that they may immediately open the door to him when
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  Speaker 1: he comes and knocks. In other words, be ready all
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  Speaker 1: the time. Verse 40, the Son of Man is coming
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  Speaker 1: in an hour that you don't expect it. And that
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  Speaker 1: looks ahead to the whole event of the second coming
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  Speaker 1: with all its component parts and says we don't know
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  Speaker 1: when that is going to happen, so we all live
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  Speaker 1: in continual expectancy all the time. So, what are we
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  Speaker 1: learning in this wonderful opening section? One, the essential nature
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  Speaker 1: of the book, the central theme, the divine source, the
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  Speaker 1: specific recipients, and the prophetic character. Let's look at a
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  Speaker 1: sixth point, all right? Let's call it the supernatural delivery,
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  Speaker 1: the supernatural delivery. We note then in verse 1, and
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  Speaker 1: this is a marvelous point, the revelation of Jesus Christ
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  Speaker 1: which God gave Him to show to His bondservants the
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  Speaker 1: things which must shortly take place, listen now, and He
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  Speaker 1: sent and communicated it by His angel. Here is its
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  Speaker 1: supernatural delivery. Now this has got to intensify my interest. My,
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  Speaker 1: this is very, very unusual. Do you know something? This
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  Speaker 1: is the only book in the whole New Testament that
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  Speaker 1: was delivered and transmitted by angels. This is wonderful. This
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  Speaker 1: sets this thing apart. This is a very unusual situation.
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  Speaker 1: But the Lord has chosen to bring the message of
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  Speaker 1: this book down to us by means of angels. Now,
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  Speaker 1: what other great... bit of revelation was delivered by angels.
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  Speaker 1: What was it? It was the law of Moses, wasn't it?
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  Speaker 1: Acts 7.53, you have received the law as ordained by angels.
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  Speaker 1: And now we have this incredible book delivered by angels.
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  Speaker 1: In Revelation 22, 16, as it closes out, we read, I, Jesus,
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  Speaker 1: have sent my angel to testify to you these things
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  Speaker 1: for the churches. Now, this book is sent by an angel.
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  Speaker 1: The word sent, apostelos, from which we get apostle, has
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  Speaker 1: the idea of a commissioned representative with authority on a mission.
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  Speaker 1: So there is angelic mission here, an angelic ministry. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: there's more angelic ministry in this book than any other
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  Speaker 1: book in the Bible. By the time we're done with
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  Speaker 1: this thing, you're going to be really acquainted with the angels.
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  Speaker 1: God turns loose angelic beings to bring this revelation of
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  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ to John, to his pen, and now to us.
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  Speaker 1: He sent and communicated it by His angels. Angels appear
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  Speaker 1: in almost every chapter. Just listen to this. They're in
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  Speaker 1: chapter 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
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  Speaker 1: and 20. They're all over the place, 67 times in
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  Speaker 1: this book. We're going to get closely acquainted with the angels.
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  Speaker 1: Then we meet number seven in our little list, kind
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  Speaker 1: of breaking up this introduction. It's human agent. To whom
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  Speaker 1: do the angels bring the message to be written down?
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  Speaker 1: To whom do the angels give the vision? To whom
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  Speaker 1: do the angels give the revelation? It says, communicated by
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  Speaker 1: his angel to his bond servant, John. By the angel
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  Speaker 1: who belongs to Christ to the bondservant who belongs to Christ,
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  Speaker 1: namely John. And John is absolutely overwhelmed. He never stops
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  Speaker 1: being overwhelmed. Look at chapter 1, verse 9. I, John. I, John.
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  Speaker 1: It's almost like he says, can you believe this? I, John,
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  Speaker 1: am getting this stuff. It's almost like he can't say,
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  Speaker 1: and I have received. I, and he has to say, John.
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  Speaker 1: It's me getting this. Unthinkable. In chapter 21, he's still
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  Speaker 1: kind of overwhelmed. He says, and I saw the holy city.
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  Speaker 1: As if to say, can you believe that? Chapter 22,
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  Speaker 1: verse 8. And I, John, am the one who heard
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  Speaker 1: and saw these things. Now tell me something about John's gospel.
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  Speaker 1: Do you remember something when you studied John's gospel? In
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  Speaker 1: the entire gospel, how many times does John refer to himself? None.
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  Speaker 1: But he's a humble guy. But here, that's why he
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  Speaker 1: does refer to himself. Because he's in shock that he's
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  Speaker 1: getting all this. He's also... about 80 years old or better.
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  Speaker 1: It's 96 A.D. He was a teenager at the Last
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  Speaker 1: Supper in 33 A.D. We're a long time later, 63
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  Speaker 1: years later. He's got to be in his 80s and
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  Speaker 1: he's exiled on the island of Patmos. He's an old
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  Speaker 1: man on Patmos all by himself and he just cannot
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  Speaker 1: believe what he is getting. Verse 2 tells us about
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  Speaker 1: Him who bore witness to the Word of God and
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  Speaker 1: to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that
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  Speaker 1: He saw. I'll tell you one thing about John. When
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  Speaker 1: he was young and when he was old, he was
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  Speaker 1: a faithful witness. Do you remember when he wrote 1 John,
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  Speaker 1: how he started it? What was from the beginning? What
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  Speaker 1: we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes,
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  Speaker 1: what we beheld and our hands handled concerning the word
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: of life and the life was manifested and we have
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: seen and bear witness. He said, I'm writing it and
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: I'm talking about it exactly the way I saw it
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: and exactly the way I heard it and exactly the
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: way it felt when I touched it. This is a
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: true witness. You know what a witness is? Somebody who
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: saw something happen tells about it. That's what a witness is.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: I've been a witness. I saw attempted murder one time.
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: They took me to court. They said, you're a witness.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Tell us what you saw, heard, and felt. And I did.
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: That's what a witness is. And John was a faithful witness.
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: He bore witness to the Word of God. He saw
• 23:44
  Speaker 1: the Word of God coming to him through these visions
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: brought by angels and And he bore witness secondly to
• 23:51
  Speaker 1: the testimony from Jesus Christ. By the way, those are synonyms.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: The best I can discern, you go through the book
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: of Revelation, you'll find these two together several times. Chapter 1,
• 24:03
  Speaker 1: verse 9, the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: Over in chapter 12, verse 17. Over in chapter 19,
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: verse 10. They go together and they seem to mean
• 24:13
  Speaker 1: really the same thing because the Word of God is
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: the testimony from Jesus. It's the testimony from Jesus Christ
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: to His church. And it's the other revelation that comes
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: in the rest of the book from chapter 4 to
• 24:31
  Speaker 1: the end. All of this comes from Jesus Christ. You say,
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: are you sure about that? Yes. Verse 16, chapter 22, I, Jesus,
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: have sent my angel to testify to you these things
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: for the churches. And so it comes from God, but
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: it also comes from Christ. And wouldn't we expect that
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: the Trinity would be mingled? So John bore witness to
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: the Word of God and to the testimony coming from
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, and exactly what he saw in these visions
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: brought to him by angels is exactly what he wrote down.
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: He is a faithful witness. Now we come to the
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: personal impact of all of this. The next point, number
• 25:11
  Speaker 1: eight in our little list as we break this up,
• 25:14
  Speaker 1: it's spiritual blessedness. It's spiritual blessedness. This is so wonderful.
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: Verse 3, This really ought to get you here every week. Right?
• 25:24
  Speaker 1: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: words of the prophecy and heed the things which are
• 25:31
  Speaker 1: written in it. Blessed. Blessed. If you listen to this
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: being read and explained and you hear it with obedient
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: ears and you heed it in your life, you're going
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: to be blessed. That is the promise of God in
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: this book. Look at the end of the book, chapter 22,
• 25:55
  Speaker 1: verse 7, and I want to show you a similar promise.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Verse 7, Behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he
• 26:05
  Speaker 1: who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book.
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: At the beginning is the blessing. At the end is
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: the blessing. Both from the beginning to the end, the
• 26:17
  Speaker 1: promise that we are blessed. Now, let me take it
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: a step further, all right? You will, if you stay
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: tuned through this whole series, note many such blessings. Chapter 1,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: blessed is the one who reads. Chapter 14, blessed are
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: the dead who die in the Lord. Chapter 16, blessed
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes on.
• 26:40
  Speaker 1: We'll explain that when we get there. Chapter 19, blessed
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: are those invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Chapter 20, blessed and holy are those who have part
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: in the first resurrection. Chapter 22, blessed is he who
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Chapter 22, again,
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: blessed are those who wash their robes. Lots of blessing.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: In fact, I just read you seven blessings in this book. Now,
• 27:08
  Speaker 1: notice the three verbs here in verse 3. Reads, hears,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: heed all present participles continuous action and it really depicts
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: a church service it really does somebody reads somebody hears
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: and then they apply that's what he's asking you to
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: do I'll give you the reading which includes the explanation
• 27:38
  Speaker 1: You've got to hear it, and you will hear the
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: little phrase, let him that has ears, what? Hear over
• 27:44
  Speaker 1: and over again in chapter 2 and 3. You need
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: to learn to listen. I'll read it to you and
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: give you the explanation which is included in the reading.
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: You must hear it, and you must heed it. It's
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: so precious. It's God's last word. We don't have anything
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: beyond this. We don't have anything beyond this of revelations. Now,
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: I want to give you a little footnote here. You
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: just listen to this. Throughout the book of Revelation, you
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: find a lot of things that come in sevens. I
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: just read you seven blessings that are in it. There
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: are a lot of things that come in sevens. And
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: that is a very important thing for us to note.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: There are seven churches, seven spirits, seven candlesticks, seven stars,
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: seven lamps, and seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven angels,
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven thousands, seven heads, seven crowns,
• 28:44
  Speaker 1: seven angels, seven plagues, seven vials or bowls, seven mountains,
• 28:48
  Speaker 1: and seven kings. And then, not with the number seven,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: there are other sevens. As I told you, seven beatitudes, blessed,
• 28:58
  Speaker 1: seven years of judgment, seven divisions of each of the
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: letters to the seven churches, seven I am's about Christ,
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: and there are seven doxologies in heaven. And when you
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: get through the book and you look at all that,
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: you say, there's got to be a reason for this, right?
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: All these sevens. What is sevens? Well you can go
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: all the way back to the book of Genesis and
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: find out. I'll just read it to you. Genesis 2, 3,
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it because in
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: it He rested from all His work which God had
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: created and made. If seven means nothing else, seven means
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: it's over. Seven is the number of completion. Seven is
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: the number of fullness. And all the sevens in this
• 29:44
  Speaker 1: book tell me that this is the completion. That's why
• 29:48
  Speaker 1: in 22, chapter 22, look at verses 18 and 19.
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: I testify to everyone who hears the words of the
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them, God
• 30:00
  Speaker 1: shall add to him the plagues which are written in
• 30:05
  Speaker 1: this book. Don't add to it. This is the book
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: of sevens. This is the book of fullness. This is
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: the end when God is finished. So what have we learned?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: The essential nature of the book, it is the revelation.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: The central theme, Jesus Christ. The divine source, God. The
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: specific recipients, His bondservants, namely believers. The prophetic character, things
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: which must shortly take place. Its supernatural delivery comes through angels.
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: Its human agent is John. Its spiritual blessedness is indicated
• 30:44
  Speaker 1: to us there in verse 3, for those who hear
• 30:49
  Speaker 1: and heed. And all of that is joined by a
• 30:52
  Speaker 1: next point. It's compelling urgency. It's compelling urgency. The end
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: of verse 3, for the time is near. The time
• 31:06
  Speaker 1: is near. The word time here, not chronos, that's clock time,
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: calendar time. The word is kairos, that's epical time. Eras, epics, seasons.
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: The word near, engus, simply means the next great epoch
• 31:26
  Speaker 1: of God's redemptive history is near. It's on the horizon.
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: It's imminent. Chapter 22, verse 6 reiterates this. He said
• 31:41
  Speaker 1: to me, these words are faithful and true. And the Lord,
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: angel to show to His bondservants the things which must
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: shortly take place. There we are. It's near. It's going
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: to happen shortly. Verse 10 of chapter 22 says, the
• 31:56
  Speaker 1: time is near. Now, you see, what the Holy Spirit
• 32:01
  Speaker 1: is endeavoring to do is to force everybody in the
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: church from the time this was written on to live
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: in the light of the fact that this is the
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: next event. And since we don't know when it's going
• 32:12
  Speaker 1: to happen, we have to live as if it were
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: going to happen in the immediate future. This is not
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: a concept unfamiliar to Scripture. God can say it's near
• 32:25
  Speaker 1: and yet Somebody's going to say, well, 2,000 years have passed.
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: Does God really mean what He says? Yes, if you
• 32:30
  Speaker 1: understand that near means next. And you understand, secondly, that
• 32:36
  Speaker 1: what might seem a long time to you is very
• 32:39
  Speaker 1: brief to God. Since with Him a day is as 1,000 years, 1,000
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: years is a day. And James 5.8 uses the same word, engus,
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: the same word for near. Be patient. Be patient. Strengthen
• 32:52
  Speaker 1: your hearts. The coming of the Lord is near. James
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: said it too. Two thousand years have passed. It's still near.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: In fact, it's nearer now than it ever was. Romans 16, 20.
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: You remember that. That is one of the great promises.
• 33:09
  Speaker 1: Romans 16, 20 says,' The God of peace will soon
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: crush Satan under your feet.' Takas again. Soon. Well, you
• 33:21
  Speaker 1: say 2,000 years have passed. Yeah, but it's next. It's next.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: And yet, even though it's next, and even though it's near,
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: in Luke 18, we have an interesting note. The Lord
• 33:41
  Speaker 1: says in Luke 18, verse 7 and 8, Hear what
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: the unrighteous judge said, now shall not God bring about
• 33:48
  Speaker 1: justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night,
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: and will He delay long over them? In other words,
• 33:53
  Speaker 1: all the godly people are crying about persecution and injustice. Lord,
• 33:57
  Speaker 1: please come. Lord, please come. Lord, please come. In verse 8,
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Jesus said, I'll tell you that He will bring about
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: justice for them speedily. There's that same concept. Next, quickly, soon, however.
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith
• 34:17
  Speaker 1: in the earth? What does that mean? It means the
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: delay could be so long that people will begin to
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: believe He's not coming at all. It's near. It's next.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: But it could be delayed so long people will question
• 34:36
  Speaker 1: whether He's ever going to come. Boy, did the scoffers
• 34:40
  Speaker 1: ever pick up that, didn't they? It wasn't but just
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: a matter of a very few months and they were saying,
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: where is the sign of His coming? He hasn't come,
• 34:50
  Speaker 1: 2 Peter. But He's coming. There is no question about it.
• 34:58
  Speaker 1: And His coming is next in redemptive planning. And don't
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: you let this one fact escape your notice that with
• 35:07
  Speaker 1: the Lord one day is as a thousand years and
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: a thousand years as one day. It's been 2,000 years.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: That's two days to God. He's coming. And that brings
• 35:20
  Speaker 1: us to a tenth point. This is wonderful. Still in
• 35:26
  Speaker 1: the introduction. It's Trinitarian benediction. Frankly, this is so overwhelming
• 35:39
  Speaker 1: that there needs to be some note of praise at
• 35:43
  Speaker 1: the very beginning. And we're going to see that in
• 35:47
  Speaker 1: a moment. But before the praise comes, we may have
• 35:51
  Speaker 1: to wait until next week to get into it actually,
• 35:53
  Speaker 1: we need to look at the benediction that comes in
• 35:57
  Speaker 1: verses 4, 5, and 6. This takes this great truth
• 36:06
  Speaker 1: of the coming of Christ and and presses it to
• 36:10
  Speaker 1: us again as verse 3 did with the idea of blessedness.
• 36:16
  Speaker 1: Verse 4, John, to the seven churches that are in Asia,
• 36:23
  Speaker 1: that's Asia Minor, modern Turkey, seven churches located there in
• 36:28
  Speaker 1: the western half of Asia Minor, they're named in verse 11.
• 36:31
  Speaker 1: Do you see them there? Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: and Laodicea. They were the direct earthly recipients of this letter,
• 36:41
  Speaker 1: and we'll study those seven cities and those seven churches
• 36:44
  Speaker 1: in detail as we get into chapters 2 and 3.
• 36:46
  Speaker 1: Then the standard greeting to them, grace to you and peace,
• 36:51
  Speaker 1: and here comes the unbelievable Trinitarian benediction. This is just
• 36:59
  Speaker 1: God pouring out on us His love. Grace... Peace from
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: Him who is and who was and who is to come,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: and from the seven spirits who are before His throne,
• 37:14
  Speaker 1: and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of
• 37:17
  Speaker 1: the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth,
• 37:20
  Speaker 1: to Him who loves us and released us from our
• 37:23
  Speaker 1: sins by His blood, and He has made us to
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: be a kingdom priest to His God and Father. Stop
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: right there. This is the Trinity, folks. This thing begins.
• 37:37
  Speaker 1: with an unbelievable benediction from the Trinity. Benediction means blessing.
• 37:46
  Speaker 1: Here comes grace and here comes peace from the whole
• 37:50
  Speaker 1: Trinity to these seven churches and the true believers in
• 37:56
  Speaker 1: them and all true believers. So this is a love letter.
• 38:01
  Speaker 1: God's sending you His blessing. The Holy Spirit is sending
• 38:04
  Speaker 1: you His blessing. Jesus Christ is sending you His blessing.
• 38:08
  Speaker 1: All three members of the Trinity are sending you grace
• 38:10
  Speaker 1: and sending you peace. Listen, it's their wish for you
• 38:17
  Speaker 1: that you have grace. It's God's wish. It's the Spirit's wish.
• 38:21
  Speaker 1: It's the Son's wish. It's their wish that you have peace.
• 38:25
  Speaker 1: It's God's wish. It's the Spirit's wish. It's the Son's wish.
• 38:30
  Speaker 1: I'll promise you one thing. If they wish it, you'll
• 38:33
  Speaker 1: get it. blessedness of this. First, God is identified from
• 38:43
  Speaker 1: Him who is and who was and who is to come.
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: That's the eternal God. The source of all blessing, all grace,
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: and all peace, and I cannot resist showing you something
• 38:56
  Speaker 1: very fascinating. It sees God in time dimensions, though He
• 39:01
  Speaker 1: is timeless, because that's the only way we can understand Him.
• 39:04
  Speaker 1: He is eternal. He was. He is. He is to come,
• 39:08
  Speaker 1: looking at the past, the present, and the future. This
• 39:11
  Speaker 1: title is used many times. Look at verse 8. Again,
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: God is described as the one who is, who was,
• 39:18
  Speaker 1: and who is to come, the Almighty. Look at chapter 4,
• 39:22
  Speaker 1: verse 8. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the
• 39:30
  Speaker 1: Almighty who was and who is and who is to come.
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: Chapter 11 verse 17, second part of the verse, we
• 39:42
  Speaker 1: give thanks to the O Lord God the Almighty who
• 39:45
  Speaker 1: art and who wast. What? Something missing. What is it?
• 39:54
  Speaker 1: Who is to come is missing. Why? Because by the
• 40:00
  Speaker 1: time you get here, guess what? He's come. Chapter 16.
• 40:05
  Speaker 1: It's not future anymore. Chapter 16, similarly. Verse 5, I
• 40:18
  Speaker 1: heard the angel of the water saying, Righteous art thou
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: who art and who wast, O Holy One. Isn't that great?
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: He's come, so we don't have to say who is
• 40:29
  Speaker 1: to come anymore. This is the eternal God who is
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: sending us grace and peace. Then John moves to the
• 40:42
  Speaker 1: second member of the Trinity. Verse 4, And from the
• 40:46
  Speaker 1: seven spirits who are before His throne, you say, wait
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: a minute, I thought there was one Holy Spirit. There is.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: There is. You say, well, why is it seven spirits here? Well,
• 41:00
  Speaker 1: several possible answers to that. One is that seven is
• 41:05
  Speaker 1: the number of fullness, and so He is identifying the
• 41:10
  Speaker 1: fullness of the Holy Spirit. Another is that back in
• 41:14
  Speaker 1: Isaiah chapter 11 and verse 2, there is a wonderful
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: statement about the Holy Spirit there. It says, And the
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength,
• 41:32
  Speaker 1: the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
• 41:36
  Speaker 1: There you have it. seven aspects of the Holy Spirit.
• 41:47
  Speaker 1: That's seven-fold ministry of
• 41:53
  Speaker 1: the Spirit. It is also possible that Zechariah could be
• 42:00
  Speaker 1: in the mind of God as this greeting is sent
• 42:05
  Speaker 1: and Zechariah chapter 4, and I won't take time to
• 42:08
  Speaker 1: go into it in detail, but it is possible that
• 42:11
  Speaker 1: the idea of the seven spirits goes back to Zechariah
• 42:15
  Speaker 1: chapter 4 verses 1 to 10. In verse 2, what
• 42:19
  Speaker 1: do you see? And I said, I see and behold
• 42:21
  Speaker 1: a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the
• 42:23
  Speaker 1: top of it, and its seven lamps on it with
• 42:26
  Speaker 1: seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps that are
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: on the top of it. Now here is the seven lamps.
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: Have you ever seen a Jewish menorah? With the curves,
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: there are seven candles, one in the middle, three on
• 42:40
  Speaker 1: each side. They have one out in front of the Knesset,
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: a huge one in Jerusalem. That's the parliament. In verse 10, again,
• 42:47
  Speaker 1: the similar idea, the seven are the eyes of the
• 42:53
  Speaker 1: Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth. You say, well, now,
• 43:00
  Speaker 1: could this be a reference to the Holy Spirit? Yes,
• 43:03
  Speaker 1: it could be, because right in the middle of this
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: passage is this statement, not by might nor by power,
• 43:10
  Speaker 1: but what? By my Spirit, verse 6. Revelation 4 and 5, frankly,
• 43:17
  Speaker 1: carry very similar symbolism to Zechariah 4, and the Holy
• 43:21
  Speaker 1: Spirit's work is very prominent in Zechariah chapter 4. And
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: so there is a connection there. If you look at
• 43:29
  Speaker 1: Revelation 5, 6, it talks about the seven eyes, which
• 43:34
  Speaker 1: are the seven spirits. That's almost an interpretation of Zechariah 4.
• 43:38
  Speaker 1: Zechariah talks about seven lamps, that is the light of God,
• 43:43
  Speaker 1: talks about seven eyes, which are the spirit. You see
• 43:46
  Speaker 1: almost the same thing in chapter 5, and so it
• 43:49
  Speaker 1: might be that the best connection is to Zechariah chapter 4.
• 43:52
  Speaker 1: In any case, whether it is the fullness of the spirit,
• 43:55
  Speaker 1: the sevenfold spirit of Isaiah 11, or that... Seven lamps,
• 44:00
  Speaker 1: seven eyes concept of Zechariah 4 repeated in Revelation 5.
• 44:04
  Speaker 1: This refers to the Holy Spirit. And so, wonder of
• 44:08
  Speaker 1: wonders again we say, it is the Holy Spirit in
• 44:11
  Speaker 1: all His glory, the Holy Spirit in all His fullness
• 44:14
  Speaker 1: who sends us grace and who sends us peace. Isn't
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: this wonderful? If we belong to the church, if we
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: belong to God, if we belong to Christ, the Father
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: and the Spirit are sending us their wishes for grace
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: and and peace. And then John moves into the remaining
• 44:33
  Speaker 1: member of the Trinity. Grace and peace from Jesus Christ.
• 44:42
  Speaker 1: Verse 5. The faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead,
• 44:48
  Speaker 1: and the ruler of the kings of the earth. What
• 44:51
  Speaker 1: a glorious description. Absolutely thrilling. And he takes a little
• 44:59
  Speaker 1: more time with Christ than he did with the Spirit
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: or with the Father because after all, Jesus Christ is
• 45:04
  Speaker 1: the theme. He does dominate the book. The entire book
• 45:08
  Speaker 1: is a vision of Christ sent to the persecuted, disheartened
• 45:12
  Speaker 1: Christians in Asia Minor who were suffering immensely. And this
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: was to encourage them about the future. And the first
• 45:21
  Speaker 1: thing that would encourage them would be that God, the
• 45:23
  Speaker 1: Eternal One, hadn't forgotten them but sends them grace and peace.
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: The second thing that would encourage them would be that God,
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: the Holy Spirit, loves them and sends them grace and peace.
• 45:35
  Speaker 1: He hasn't forgotten them either. And the third and most wonderful,
• 45:38
  Speaker 1: that the Son, Jesus Christ, hasn't forgotten them. He too
• 45:43
  Speaker 1: sends them grace and peace. And who is He? John
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: says He is the faithful witness. The faithful witness. Isaiah 55,
• 45:52
  Speaker 1: 4 prophesied that the Messiah would be a witness to
• 45:55
  Speaker 1: the people. A faithful witness is one who always speaks
• 45:58
  Speaker 1: the truth, and Christ always speaks the truth, always the
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  Speaker 1: faithful witness, never deviates from what is true. In fact,
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: in chapter 3, verse 14, He is called the Amen,
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  Speaker 1: the faithful and true witness. To this end I was born,
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: said Jesus, John 18, 37. For this cause came I
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  Speaker 1: into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.
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  Speaker 1: Jesus is sending us His testimony here in this book,
• 46:32
  Speaker 1: and He is a faithful witness. The second title He
• 46:37
  Speaker 1: gives Him is the firstborn of the dead. What does
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  Speaker 1: He mean? Firstborn doesn't mean He's the first one ever
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  Speaker 1: to be raised from the dead. No, others had been
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  Speaker 1: raised in time before Him. But it means of all
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  Speaker 1: those who were ever raised, He is the preeminent one. Firstborn, prototokos,
• 46:53
  Speaker 1: means preeminent. That of all who've ever been raised before
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  Speaker 1: or after, He is the preeminent One. Again, that's from
• 47:03
  Speaker 1: Psalm 89 verse 27. I shall make Him my firstborn.
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  Speaker 1: That is my inheritor. This book is the story of
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  Speaker 1: that event. This book is the testimony of a faithful witness.
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  Speaker 1: This book is the story of God exalting the prototokos,
• 47:24
  Speaker 1: the chief of all who have ever been or ever
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  Speaker 1: will be raised from the dead. Then he gives him
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  Speaker 1: a third title, the ruler of the kings of the earth.
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  Speaker 1: The word ruler is archon. It means ruler. Some translations
• 47:37
  Speaker 1: are prince, but ruler, a more generic term, is better.
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  Speaker 1: He will make him the ruler of the kings of
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  Speaker 1: the earth. In fact, in Revelation 19, 16, he will
• 47:46
  Speaker 1: be king of kings and lord of lords. And what
• 47:50
  Speaker 1: a king he is, oh my. Daniel 4.37 calls him
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  Speaker 1: the king of heaven. Matthew 2.2, the king of the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: John 1.49, the king of Israel. 1 Timothy 1.17, the
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  Speaker 1: king of ages. Psalm 24.7, the king of glory. Revelation 15.3,
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  Speaker 1: the king of the saints. And finally, the king of kings.
• 48:08
  Speaker 1: Now look at those three. Faithful witness speaks of his past.
• 48:12
  Speaker 1: to what God has to say in the past, He
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: gives faithful witness. Resurrected Lord, that is the prototokos, the
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: chief of all who have ever been raised, is His
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  Speaker 1: present role and ruler of the kings of the earth,
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  Speaker 1: His future. He witnesses faithfully to the truth of God
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  Speaker 1: and so His witness is true. He presently In resurrection,
• 48:44
  Speaker 1: glory is the chief of all who have ever been
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  Speaker 1: raised and therefore sits at the right hand of the
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  Speaker 1: Father and someday in the future will be the ruler
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  Speaker 1: of all the kings of the earth. And we shall
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  Speaker 1: see all of that future glory unfold. It is also
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  Speaker 1: true that he will become that ruler because he is
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  Speaker 1: the chief of all who have ever been raised and
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  Speaker 1: And he will become that ruler because he has been
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: a faithful witness. This is remarkable. for in this wonderful letter,
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  Speaker 1: the Trinity sends us a benediction. And that leads us
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  Speaker 1: to a last perception. We have seen the essential nature
• 49:38
  Speaker 1: of the book, the central theme, the divine source, the
• 49:40
  Speaker 1: specific recipients, the prophetic character, the supernatural delivery, the human agent,
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: the spiritual blessedness, the compelling urgency, the Trinitarian benediction. Here's
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: the last one. It's exalted doxology. John can't contain himself.
• 49:57
  Speaker 1: He just can't. I mean, he's only into this thing
• 49:59
  Speaker 1: six verses, and he can't contain himself. And how does
• 50:03
  Speaker 1: he wrap up verse 6?' To Him be the glory.'
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  Speaker 1: and the dominion forever and ever. Why does he say that?
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  Speaker 1: Because Jesus Christ, look at it, is the one who
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  Speaker 1: loves us and released us from our sins by his blood,
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  Speaker 1: and he has made us to be a kingdom, priests
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  Speaker 1: to his God and Father, and thus to him be
• 50:28
  Speaker 1: the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. This
• 50:34
  Speaker 1: is an exalted hymn of praise. It is unto Him
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: who loves us. Present tense, please. Present tense. Abiding love.
• 50:48
  Speaker 1: Paul said nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.
• 50:51
  Speaker 1: God's love is not a past experience. It is a
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  Speaker 1: present reality. And His love for us at this present
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: moment is in as full a force as it was
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  Speaker 1: when Jesus died on Calvary. He loved us when we
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  Speaker 1: hated Him, and He keeps on loving us now that
• 51:09
  Speaker 1: we belong to Him. He loves us. And in the past,
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  Speaker 1: at the cross, released us from our sins by His blood.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: Blood there, a term referring to His entire atoning work.
• 51:28
  Speaker 1: When you see the reference to the blood of Christ
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: in Scripture, it is a reference to His full atonement.
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: Blood signifies death, and in the case of Christ, sacrificial
• 51:40
  Speaker 1: substitutionary death for sin. Through His death, His atoning work
• 51:46
  Speaker 1: on the cross, He released us from our sins. My,
• 51:51
  Speaker 1: what a great truth. It wasn't just a negative thing.
• 51:56
  Speaker 1: It wasn't just what He saved us from. But look
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: at the positive in verse 6. Made us to be
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  Speaker 1: a kingdom. What does John mean by that? Well, we
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  Speaker 1: constitute a kingdom now. We have a king, and we
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  Speaker 1: have a common life under that king, under his authority.
• 52:12
  Speaker 1: This is a collective designation for all believers. We who
• 52:16
  Speaker 1: believe are all in the sphere of God's rule through Christ,
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: and that kingdom is entered by faith in Jesus Christ.
• 52:26
  Speaker 1: He loves us. He loves us so much that He
• 52:29
  Speaker 1: released us from our sins through His blood, through His
• 52:32
  Speaker 1: atonement on the cross. He loves us so much that
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  Speaker 1: He made us into a community of saints forever bound
• 52:38
  Speaker 1: together in the confines of a kingdom over which He rules,
• 52:43
  Speaker 1: and we enjoy His loving rule and His loving, sovereign,
• 52:47
  Speaker 1: almighty protection. He has given us, as it were, the
• 52:54
  Speaker 1: privilege of being ruled in by the king of kings
• 52:59
  Speaker 1: and reigning with him. Furthermore, says John, he made us
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  Speaker 1: priests to his God and Father. Having been released from
• 53:08
  Speaker 1: our sins, we have become a kingdom, a part of
• 53:11
  Speaker 1: a kingdom. We've entered by faith. We're under his rule.
• 53:13
  Speaker 1: We have also become priests. What does that mean? We
• 53:18
  Speaker 1: now have direct access to God, do we not? A
• 53:21
  Speaker 1: priest is one who had the right to enter God's presence.
• 53:24
  Speaker 1: In Israel, the priest and the priest alone could go
• 53:27
  Speaker 1: into the holy place. And once a year, the high
• 53:31
  Speaker 1: priest into the holy of holies where God was. We
• 53:36
  Speaker 1: now are all priests. That's why we say we believe
• 53:39
  Speaker 1: in the priesthood of believers. We all enter into the
• 53:42
  Speaker 1: holy place. We all have access to God. Oh, what
• 53:47
  Speaker 1: a Savior we have. No wonder John says, to him
• 53:52
  Speaker 1: who loves us and who released us from our sins
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: by his blood and then made us to be a
• 53:58
  Speaker 1: kingdom over which he rules and made us priests who
• 54:02
  Speaker 1: have immediate and direct access to God the Father. To
• 54:07
  Speaker 1: him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.
• 54:13
  Speaker 1: What does he mean? He means this one who has
• 54:15
  Speaker 1: given us all of this has the right to everlasting praise,
• 54:20
  Speaker 1: everlasting glory, everlasting sovereignty. That's what the word dominion means.
• 54:28
  Speaker 1: In fact, it would be an eternal injustice if he
• 54:32
  Speaker 1: didn't get the glory and he didn't get the dominion
• 54:35
  Speaker 1: forever and ever. And then he adds that wonderful solemn response, amen.
• 54:44
  Speaker 1: That means let it be, let it be. And so
• 54:51
  Speaker 1: does John conclude his introduction. And so does he sweep
• 54:55
  Speaker 1: us into the future to grasp the richness of this
• 54:59
  Speaker 1: incredible book. And he can't even get out of his
• 55:02
  Speaker 1: introduction without being lost in praise. This book, beloved, will
• 55:10
  Speaker 1: give to the one who loves us and the one
• 55:13
  Speaker 1: who released us from our sins by His blood, the
• 55:16
  Speaker 1: one who made us into a kingdom and made us
• 55:19
  Speaker 1: priests before God, this book will give to Him the
• 55:23
  Speaker 1: glory and the dominion that He deserves forever and ever.
• 55:29
  Speaker 1: And I believe that having understood it, we will all
• 55:34
  Speaker 1: reach a brand new and exalted level of capability to
• 55:38
  Speaker 1: praise Christ. And so we can say with John a
• 55:45
  Speaker 1: hearty amen. Father, we thank you for opening the door
• 55:53
  Speaker 1: to this book tonight. We are ready to go through.
• 55:58
  Speaker 1: We are ready to enter. We are already singing the
• 56:02
  Speaker 1: praises of Christ. We are all ready to say he
• 56:06
  Speaker 1: deserves the glory and he deserves the dominion. We are
• 56:10
  Speaker 1: ready to sing. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
• 56:13
  Speaker 1: to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and
• 56:16
  Speaker 1: honor and glory and blessing. We're ready to do all
• 56:20
  Speaker 1: of that, and we've only just begun. Fill our hearts, Father,
• 56:25
  Speaker 1: with anticipation of what we shall learn when we see
• 56:33
  Speaker 1: the glory of Christ to come. And we pray in
• 56:36
  Speaker 1: His name. Amen. You've been listening to John MacArthur, Bible
• 56:42
  Speaker 1: teacher with Grace to You. For free access to all
• 56:45
  Speaker 1: of John's lessons and a listing of study Bibles and
• 56:48
  Speaker 1: books available for sale, visit Grace to You's website at gty.org.
• 56:55
  Speaker 1: John MacArthur and Grace to You reserve all copyright protection
• 56:58
  Speaker 1: under applicable law. Our copyright policy is available at gty.org,
• 57:04
  Speaker 1: and it includes instructions for and limitations on duplicating this
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: digital file.