A Daily Walk

Guest (Male): If you're wondering what is the Book of Revelation really about, Pastor John Randall has this to say.

John Randall: What's the Book of Revelation about? Jesus! If someone says, "Man, we're studying the Book of Revelation at church." "No way! What is it about?" Jesus! Very simply put.

And friends, I do believe that one thing the church needs right now in this season, at this moment, is a greater revelation and understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ revealed in the Word of God. That's what we need today.

Guest (Male): Well, you picked a good day to join us here at A Daily Walk as we begin a new book of the Bible, Revelation. Some of us share the experience of reading a book in school, doing a homework assignment, and then having the teacher tell us that we totally missed the point of the book.

Let's make sure we're not one of them by tuning in for the first of many studies here in Revelation with Pastor John Randall.

John Randall: We are starting a brand new book study in the Bible. It's actually the last book of the Bible. It's the Book of Revelation. I'm so excited to study it with you. So, if you have your Bible, and I pray that you do because I encourage you to bring it, let's open up then to Revelation chapter one.

Revelation chapter one. Again, it's the very last book of the Bible. Revelation chapter one, and this morning we're going to consider together the blessing of Revelation. Revelation chapter one beginning in verse one.

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things that are written in it, for the time is near."

Amen to that. No other book of the Bible has provoked greater interest or led to more controversy than the Book of Revelation. And it's because of this that it's perhaps the one book that is most avoided by believers and even pastors alike.

The apprehension stems from the prophetic nature of the book. It's filled with powerful predictions, colorful symbolism, and intriguing language that you don't often find in other parts of Scripture. Someone referred to the Book of Revelation in this way. They said the Book of Revelation is like a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.

Revelation is a book that has puzzled and confused and even frustrated the minds of many scholars. Sadly, some have assumed that the Book of Revelation is a closed book that cannot be understood. Yet on the contrary, the Book of Revelation is an open book that provides a full disclosure and the unveiling of the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Found within its 404 verses are 285 Old Testament citations and as many as 550 Old Testament allusions. We have here not a closed book, but an open book. It's in this book that the Holy Spirit pulls back the curtain and gives us the privilege of seeing the glorified Christ in heaven and the fulfillment of His sovereign purposes within the world.

It's the only book in the Bible containing a direct promise of blessing to those who read it, listen to it, and apply it to their lives. The overriding theme of the Book of Revelation is the return of Jesus Christ to defeat all evil and to establish His reign. It is definitely a book of victory, and His people are seen as overcomers.

As we go through this amazing book of the Bible, I want to encourage you: prepare to be blessed. Because that's what the Bible says happens when you read and study this book. First of all, the author of the book is none other than the Apostle John. He wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second, and Third John.

He had a very close relationship with Jesus. In fact, in his Gospel account, he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. John was given the responsibility to care for Mary, the mother of Jesus, when Jesus gave him that opportunity there at His crucifixion.

What we will discover, when John wrote the Book of Revelation, it had been some 60 years since the ascension of Jesus. John is now the last living apostle. He's in his 90s, and persecution began to intensify under the reign of Emperor Domitian. Unwilling to worship the emperor, church history says that Domitian attempted to boil the Apostle John in scalding oil. However, he survived.

He was then banished to the island of Patmos. While he was there, he received this glorious and powerful revelation of Jesus Christ. Now, seeing that this is our first study in the Book of Revelation, I want you to understand how we will approach it from an interpretive standpoint. There have been several different interpretations of the Book of Revelation that go from very uplifting to extremely fanatical and weird.

It's very important, when we study this book, how we approach it. In what way will we interpret it? There are at least four conservative ways to approach this book, and I want to mention them to you. First of all, there is the non-literal or allegorical approach, which looks at the Book of Revelation simply as one great allegory, going far beyond natural symbolism that's found in the book. Those who approach it this way say nothing should be taken literally and that the Book of Revelation, when presented in a symbolic way, represents the total conflict between Christianity and evil.

A second way to approach this book is what is called the preterist approach, and it even has its own variations. But it maintains that Revelation is just simply a record of conflicts of the early church with Judaism and paganism. Revelation chapters 4 through 20 are viewed just as a description of the Jewish war, its culmination with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. In other words, they say it's already happened; it doesn't apply today.

Then there is the historical approach to the book, which looks at the Book of Revelation as a symbolic presentation of the total of church history that ends in the Second Coming. Finally, there is the futuristic approach. Under this system of interpretation, we believe that from chapter four to the very end of the Book of Revelation relates to future events that have yet to occur and that will culminate with the Lord's Second Coming.

There is a literal interpretation of specific prophecies in the book. This is the interpretive way that we will approach this book together and how we will study it. There is something called biblical hermeneutics. It's the study principles that are applied when interpreting the Bible, where you diligently present yourself as a worker that doesn't need to be ashamed in order that you can rightly divide the word of truth.

You don't just come up with ideas on your own that sound good to you. We study the Scriptures from a historical, grammatical, and contextual way so that we understand what it is that we're reading. Here's the golden rule of interpretation when studying through the Bible: when the plain sense of Scripture makes common sense, seek no other sense.

Because that'll be nonsense. You understand? That's how you approach it. In other words, we take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, literal meaning unless the facts of fundamental truth indicate something else. Most of the Book of Revelation, except for chapters 12 and 17, move chronologically in order. Here's the big picture view of Revelation: it's God's final message to humanity.

In the end, good will triumph over evil, wickedness will be judged, and the righteous will receive their rewards. That's the big picture. So as we begin this journey together, in verse one, we come to the theme and the ultimate subject of the Book of Revelation. Look at verse one in your Bible: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ."

What's the Book of Revelation about? Jesus! If someone says, "Man, we're studying the Book of Revelation at church." "No way! What is it about?" Jesus! Very simply put. The word "revelation," make a note of it in your Bible, maybe you want to underline that word "revelation," and maybe in the margin write the Greek word "apokalypsis." It's where we get our English word "apocalypse." It's found 18 times in the New Testament.

It's a word that means the unveiling. It means the disclosure. It means bringing something to light that was formerly hidden or kept secret. This book is a revelation, an unveiling, a disclosure of Jesus, and it comes from Jesus. Jesus is the central theme and subject of Revelation. In fact, the entire Bible points to the person and work of Jesus.

In the volume of the book, it's written concerning Him. In addition to an unveiling of Jesus, there is an unveiling and a disclosure of future events that will take place: the future of the nation of Israel, the future judgment upon a Christ-rejected world, the Second Coming of Christ and His rule and reign throughout eternity. But ultimately, Revelation is about Jesus. That's what the book is about, the person and work of Jesus.

Jesus is revealed in the Book of Revelation as the exalted king and priest over His church. He's revealed in heaven as the glorified Lamb of God. He's revealed as the judge over all of the earth. And He's also seen returning and reigning as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

When you go through the Book of Revelation, why do you say Jesus is the theme? Because John uses several ways of describing Jesus, several names to describe Jesus. Here are the ones that he names. He says Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth, the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the Almighty, the first and the last, the Son of Man, He who lives, Son of God, the Amen, faithful and true witness, Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, the Lamb of God, the Word of God, the bright and morning star, the Lord Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. That's what's revealed in this book.

That's what the Book of Revelation talks about. And friends, I do believe that one thing the church needs right now in this season, at this moment, is a greater revelation and understanding of the person and work of Jesus Christ revealed in the Word of God. That's what we need today. That's what's going to bring revival and an awakening within the church.

See, here's the problem: the great fault of many today is that Jesus is nothing more than a character on a piece of paper. More than a myth, but some people see Him as a person of the dim past, a historical figure who lived many years ago and did good deeds by which we are saved, but who is far from being a living, present, bright reality. And that's what the Book of Revelation does for us, friends. It presents Jesus in a present, bright reality.

Now that we know that Jesus is the subject and the theme of the Book of Revelation, consider with me now the transmission of this book. That is how we received the Book of Revelation. Again, notice what it says: "God gave him to show his servants things which must shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John." The human author of Revelation, as I said, is the Apostle John.

John was given this privilege of receiving this revelation. But the progression and the transmission of this revelation came from God the Father through Christ the Son to an angel who communicated it to John the Apostle. John was shown this revelation of Jesus. Notice this in verse one, concerning the things that would, this phrase is important, "shortly take place."

It means the things in Revelation must quickly or soon take place. This phrase occurs seven times in Revelation, and it emphasizes imminence or expectancy. It's an indication of rapid progression of events once they begin to occur. The idea is when these events begin to take place, they will happen suddenly and quickly, rapidly.

When John says these things must shortly take place, we can't help but wonder, well, what does he mean? What is short and what is near? It seems to be relative terms because this is God's timetable and not man's. For 2,000 years, history has been on the brink of the consumption of all things, running parallel to the edge, not running toward a distant brink. Let me give you an example of what John means.

If today you were to leave the parking lot, let's say for example Disneyland was open, you would get in your car and you would start driving down the freeway heading toward Anaheim. As you got closer, you would see a promotional freeway sign and you would know you're getting close to the happiest place on earth. The closer you get, the more signs you see. Why? Because you're getting closer, you're almost there.

In the same way with the prophetic calendar of God, a sign takes place. An example of this would be the nation of Israel coming back into their homeland. Suddenly a nation that had been dispersed for hundreds of years now comes back together. That's a sign. And then you go years down the road and then you see another sign.

Now we're living in a time when you can't keep up with it. It just keeps happening, and we're moving closer and closer and closer. I believe we're closer to the return of Jesus than we've ever been. We can't keep up with it. It's just happening so fast, more than we've ever seen before.

We also find out that the Apostle John received the revelation from an angel or a messenger. Angels are mentioned 67 times in the Book of Revelation, which accounts for one-quarter of the references in the entire Bible. But through these created beings, the Lord made His message known to John. He signified it by signs and symbols and visions and revelations to the Apostle.

The Bible tells us that John received this vision while he was on the island of Patmos. It says here that he "bore witness to the word of God," verse two, "and to the testimony of Jesus Christ and to all things that he saw." When John received this message, he was bearing witness to the Word of God. The Word of God is another word for Jesus and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Keep this in mind: John had ministered alongside of Jesus for three years. He'd been called by Jesus. He walked with Jesus. He heard the teachings of Jesus. He saw the miracles of Jesus, the death of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, and the ascension of Jesus back to glory. John bore witness. He had a testimony concerning Jesus because he had been with Him.

In fact, in his first epistle, John put it this way: he shares his testimony concerning Jesus. He said, "That which was from the beginning, that which we've heard, which we've seen with our eyes and looked upon, that our hands have handled concerning the word of life. The life was manifested. We've seen him and bear witness and declare to you the eternal life which is in the Father was manifested to us. That which we have seen and heard we declare to you that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ."

In other words, John is saying, "I have a personal eyewitness account of what I saw. I walked with Him, I heard Him, I was with Him." And that's what I'm going to share with you. Here in Revelation once again, John has this unveiling, this greater revelation of Jesus, and he reveals it as it's given to him. But not only is there an unveiling of the person of Jesus, a disclosure of the Savior, but we also see a blessing.

A blessing to every person who reads the Book of Revelation. Don't miss this, verse three: "Blessed is he who reads, those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near." The Book of Revelation both begins and ends with a blessing. There are seven proclamations of blessing throughout the book.

You often think of Revelation as containing nothing but death, destruction, suffering, and judgment. Yet in reality, Revelation actually contains blessings that are designed to provide hope and encouragement for believers in the midst of trial. That's what this book provides for us. And so John says those that hear it, those who read it, those who apply it, there is a blessing for them.

And can I just say to you this morning, listen carefully to this, this is really important: there is a blessing in reading, in studying, and applying God's Word to your life. It provides encouragement, spiritual nourishment, direction, conviction, motivation to live a Christian life. I'm always amazed at someone who's been a Christian for so many years and they've never read through the entire Bible. I wonder, well, what are you doing?

This is the Bible: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth. This is really important. You want to understand this. So I would encourage if you've never read through the entire Bible, start, just keep going. Because there's a blessing attached to it. One thing when you're hearing it, it's going into your ears, it's making its way into your heart, into your mind.

And then once you hear it, and then you seek to apply it, not just being a hearer of the Word, but also a doer of the Word, lest you be deceived. You know it's possible to hear the Word and think because I've heard it, I've done it? But it's something quite different when you hear it and then you actually apply it. That's what makes the change in your life.

The blessing attached to the Word of God. We want to be a people of the Book, that is the Book, the Bible. And the reason why this is critical, why we need to be in the Word of God like never before, you know why? Because here John says the time is near. The time is near.

Again, that phrase, the time is near, is similar to what must soon take place. The word for "time," you might want to circle that word "time," and it's translated not time on a clock or a calendar, but it's the Greek word "kairos." It refers to seasons, to epochs, or to eras. The next great era of God's redemptive history is near, is what John is saying. It's at the door. It's getting close.

In writing to the Romans, the Apostle Paul said it this way in Romans chapter 13, make a note of this verse: Romans 13, verses 11 and 13. It says, "And do this, knowing the time, that it is now high time to awake out of sleep." Are you asleep today spiritually? Listen, the Bible says it's time to awake out of your sleep. And why is that? Because your salvation is nearer than when you first believed.

The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Friends, listen, this is not the time to go to sleep either in church or in life. This is the time you need to be awake. Things are happening around us all the time, and it's just coming so quickly. And therefore you don't get caught up in works of darkness, you cast off the works of darkness. This isn't the time to be living a carnal life, a sinful life. This is the time to be living a holy life. Jesus is coming. The time is near.

Guest (Male): Yes, the time is near. And all the more reason to be awake spiritually, ready for the soon return of Jesus. Today on A Daily Walk with John Randall, we introduced our new study of Revelation. In the coming weeks, we look forward to going through each chapter and verse with you.

Hear this message in Revelation online at adailywalk.org. Catch what you may have missed in the series too, at adailywalk.org or at oneplace.com. Well, how's your devotional life these days? We'd like to recommend Oswald Chambers' devotional My Utmost for His Highest. For a cost of $18, you'll receive the updated language gift edition.

These rather brief Scripture-based readings will both comfort and challenge you in your daily walk. Discover what it means to offer God your very best for His greatest purpose. Call us at 877-242-0828 or go to adailywalk.org.

And if the Lord is leading you to take an active role in this ministry through a one-time gift or ongoing support, allow me to direct you to our website. That's a good way to donate to the ministry, and it's super convenient as well. You can donate safely and securely at adailywalk.org.

And while we're on the subject of devotionals, I should mention the A Daily Walk devotional. A great way to start the day. These short videos are released each day at adailywalk.org, and I think you'll find them encouraging. The unveiling of Jesus Christ through the Book of Revelation continues next time on A Daily Walk with Pastor John Randall.