His Perfect Love

Guest (Male): As we begin a study of Revelation today on His Perfect Love, Pastor Matt says it's really all about Jesus.

Matt VanderVen: What if in the book of Revelation he no longer wants us to see—it's not that we don't acknowledge him anymore, of course we do—but our focus needs to be placed now not only on the conquering king, but the king in all his glory.

You see, that's what the whole book of Revelation is actually about. It's not what so many people have been led to believe, that it's just about futuristic aspects. As we're going to read here in a little bit, that's only one-third of the book. The real understanding of Revelation is it's all about Jesus and who he was, who he would be, and now what I would like to call his next mission. And we're part of that, too.

Larry: Hello and welcome to His Perfect Love. You've picked a good day to join us as we begin our new series in Revelation. Revelation is an often sometimes misunderstood book. It can be daunting to say the least, but as we go verse by verse through all 22 chapters, I think you'll come away with a new-found knowledge and appreciation for this amazing book of our Bible. Pastor Matt VanderVen says it's really a revealing of Jesus, and you can expect to be blessed as you study and apply it.

Matt VanderVen: Well, I'd like to read chapter one of Revelation with you this morning. Again, we'll go through one verse, but I want us in its entirety of chapter one to understand what is Jesus Christ speaking to your heart and my heart in regards to this revelation that he wants to give.

And I want you to think about this very critically. We have the Gospels, we have the Pauline Epistles, we have Peter's writings, we have John's writings, we have Jude's writings. Why did the Lord come and give us a new revelation? He says he's the Alpha and the Omega. He gave us this last book that was given to us again many, many years later, AD 95.

It was given to us during a time of severe persecution within the church. What more did he want to reveal to us or show us that he wanted us to see differently than what we read in the Gospels, what we read in the epistles and letters? There's something here he wanted us to see differently. He doesn't waste his time; he's not grammatically challenged.

So, if we understand that he's trying to do something new when he gave us this book, we might come at it a little different than just taking it as part of the collection of letters or scriptures that we have. He's leaving us with this last note that's supposed to sustain us until the time we either meet him face to face or the rapture of the church. That's very, very important.

Look with me at chapter one, verse one: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him, Jesus, 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 to 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 which are written in it; for the time is near. John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

To him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him. Even so, Amen.

'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.' I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,' and, 'What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.'

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire.

His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.

But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. I am he who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.'"

So as we read this here this morning, again, it's important for us to look and understand who is John writing this to? We don't get very far within the letter, the revelation, that he says he's writing—again chapter one, verse one—"the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show his servants."

And then if you look at verse 18, he said, "I am he who lives, right? Well, and who was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death." And he's telling us and trying to communicate some things to us that maybe we didn't understand completely when we read the Gospels or the Pauline Epistles or when we look at these things.

He says, "I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." He wants to communicate that to the church. "Amen," he says, that means that's the truth, so be it. "And I have the keys of Hades and of death." Now, please, it's important. Notice the four statements that Jesus makes concerning himself. I'm alive. I was dead. I'm alive forevermore. And I have the keys of hell, the grave, and of death.

And then in verse 19, he's very specific. He goes to John and says, "Look, John, I'm going to give you the outline to this book. I'm going to do something I haven't done in any of the other 65 books. There's 66 total books of your Bible." He says, "I am going to be very specific in this book. I don't want a single jot and tittle to move away. It's very, very important. I'm going to give you an outline. I want you to write the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after this."

Now, this is really important because it's not the Revelation of John, yet he's telling John to write these things because it's inspired by the Holy Spirit to John. But he wants us to understand very clearly that God is sovereign. Jesus Christ was given this because it says the Revelation of Jesus Christ which God—God the Father—gave to him to show his servants.

So what is this revelation that he's talking about? This is a Greek word. It's *apokalupsis*. It's the word we use in the English and we understand as apocalypse. It's G602 if you look in your Greek lexicon. It's used 18 times in your New Testament, and it literally means an uncovering or unveiling. And how do we know that? Because *apo* means "from." *Kalupto* means "to hide or cover."

So it denotes a revelation or it can mean an appearing. Now, it's clearly not being used to say that Jesus is appearing to us right now. While I understand some might want to take it that way, if we look at 1 Peter 1:7, we can get an example just a few books back here in your Bible, if you wouldn't mind turning back to 1 Peter.

1 Peter chapter one, look at verse seven with me, please. It says, "that the genuineness of your faith"—Peter the apostle was given this letter, he's writing this, he's describing that the genuineness of your faith—"being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it's been tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

See, that's this word again, apocalypse. But you see how it's used there? At the revelation. That translation actually has more to do with "at the appearing." So clearly it makes sense in context where you could see that "at the appearing" of Jesus Christ. However, back to Revelation chapter one, verse one, that's not how he's using it here.

He says, "the Revelation," with the definite article first, "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." He's not saying "the appearing" of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is coming again, but he's saying that this is an unveiling. It's a uncovering. It's something that was not previously seen that was a mystery that is now being unveiled.

That means that what he's going to share with us, as we read the Gospels, as we read the Old Testament scriptures, there's something that he's going to pull together and he's going to allow us to see that we would have never seen before had Jesus Christ himself not brought it together for this, like this. Not that it wasn't there, but he's bringing it and he's uncovering it. Because it says "from," right? *Apo* from *kalupto*, a hidden thing. From something that was hidden that is now been made visible.

So it's an uncovering or unveiling of Jesus Christ. It actually says he's unveiling himself. Not just his work, not just the things he's going to do, past, present, and future, but we're actually learning more about him. Because he says "the Revelation of Jesus, the Christ," right? The Savior, the *Christos*, the Greek, the Hebrew is certainly the Messiah. So he wants us to understand this is something he's going to present to us about himself, not just about current events.

This is very important. If you read the book of Revelation and you miss Jesus, you have truly missed the whole thing. Next, we read right in verse one, we can't get very far, he said, "which God." Now, when we look at that word, there's a lot of words that you can use in the Greek to speak of God. This word here is *Theos*.

It literally means, and this is so significant, the one true God. And it's really important because historically it has a purpose. The Jews used this word often and it was retained by the Christians, but it's meant to denote the one true God specifically. And in the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the New and Old Testament, *Theos* translate—and again with only few exceptions—the Hebrew word or name of Elohim and Jehovah.

He took both and brought that in here: the one true God. And this is the word he chose to use for us. Elohim, you know, is the plurality of God: the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. It's the very first introduction we get in Genesis: *Elohim bara*, right? Created *ex nihilo* out of nothing right in the beginning of Genesis, he teaches us. It's the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the triune God that is over everything and has always existed.

And this is important because that term for God always speaks to his power and his prominence. So when he turns around and uses *Theos*, he is telling us God the Father—he says, "I am speaking through power and prominence and what I am about to share with you." But then also by using that word *Theos*, it denotes Jehovah or Jehovah, right? Which is another name, and that latter has more to do with its unoriginated, it's immutable, it's eternal, it's self-sustaining in its existence.

So by using *Theos*, he's also trying to teach us that not only is he the all-powerful God, but he's also God that's eternal, that's self-sustaining, and that's immutable. He says, "This is the God that gave him, Jesus Christ, our Savior, this revelation that was put on his heart to give." And he says, "to his servants."

So God gave to Jesus to show his willing slaves, bondslaves, that's the word *doulos*. And you can see that in the Greek as well. It's a born-again believer. The things he says which must shortly take place. Now, you might be thinking, I don't understand, Pastor. I thought the Gospels clearly uncovered and unveiled Jesus at his incarnation.

Isn't that what we begin with in the book of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? We are told about God, Immanuel. What does that word mean? Every Christmas we sing songs, we write it on our cards, Christmas cards, we send it out as the birth of Christ. What does it mean? God with us. It's very interesting here. That actually comes from the Latin, not the Greek.

The idea is the Latin word *caro* means flesh. So the incarnation, *incaro*, he's telling us that Jesus, God in human or flesh form. And this refers to the moment very specifically, theologically, the union that happened between the divine Jesus Christ, the God that is perfect without sin that always existed—we already read about that, right? The *Theos*—and also with the human nature that becomes operative in the womb of the Virgin Mary.

That is the miraculous birth. It's what we call the incarnation. Well, the Gospel of John tells us that the Word became flesh and that is, it assumed human nature. Now, this is important because this is the same apostle John who is going to give us Revelation—at least writing it as a vessel through the Holy Spirit.

So let's turn to John for a moment here, just the Gospel of John, and let's look at that again. Because he was given revelation there as well. Why again did Jesus tell us more and give us this book of Revelation to understand more about who he is in a way that we would study these things and see these things in a way we have never seen them before? After all, he inspired a whole book about himself in regards to this.

And yet he's revealed so much to us in the Gospels. Is it possible that what he's given us in the book of Revelation is entirely different? In other words, how many of us understand that Jesus Christ came as the suffering servant? Almost all of us here. But what if in the book of Revelation he no longer wants us to see—it's not that we don't acknowledge him anymore, of course we do—but our focus needs to be placed now not only on the conquering king, but the king in all his glory.

You see, that's what the whole book of Revelation is actually about. It's not what so many people have been led to believe, that it's just about futuristic aspects. As we're going to read here in a little bit, that's only one-third of the book. The real understanding of Revelation is it's all about Jesus and who he was, who he would be, and now what I would like to call his next mission. And we're part of that, too.

But look what he's already revealed because I don't want this just to be my opinion or what I believe. I want you to see this from the scriptures yourself and see if you come to that same understanding here. In John chapter one, this is a revelation because how else would John have known this? I mean, certainly Jesus Christ could have said this when he was physically with him on earth and walking with him. Because John says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God and all things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot comprehend it. There was a man sent from God whose name was John." He's talking about John the Baptist now. "This man came for a witness, for a specific purpose, to bear witness of the Light"—Jesus being the Light—"that all through him might believe."

Believe what? "He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light, of Jesus, that was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world," illuminating every man that he can see. "And he was in the world, and the world was made through him, and the world did not know him. He came to his own"—speaking of when he came to the nation of Israel—"and his own did not receive him.

But as many as received them, he gave"—and this is who the Light illuminated, Jesus Christ, this is what he came to do—"he gave the right to become the children of God. To those who believe in his name, to those who receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Who were born not of blood"—this is not about physical birth, but the spiritual birth—"nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." Again, speaking to the spiritual aspect.

"And the Word," here it is, verse 14, the *incaro*, *caro* being in Latin, incarnation, "and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld his glory." Isn't that interesting? His glory. "The glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." But how many celebrated his glory at his first coming?

"John bore witness of him and cried out saying, 'This was he of whom I said, he who comes after me is preferred before me, for he was before me.' And of his fullness we have all received, and grace for grace, *charis* for *charis*. For the law was given," very important, "through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." The Old Covenant was the law through Moses; the New Covenant only through Jesus Christ, grace and truth. "No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him."

So again, as we look through John 1:1-18, the question is: is the unveiling that we read in this Gospel the same as the unveiling we read in the book of Revelation? Because he just told us he's going to give us an unveiling of himself. I would suggest they're two different things. Both prophesied, however, in the Old Testament.

Now, this is really important. To understand this revelation, this apocalypse, to understand this, we need to have a foundation in the Old Testament scriptures. That's truly why I've never understood why churches, pastors, people don't study the Old Testament. And really, why on Wednesday nights we have dedicated our entire Wednesdays to make sure throughout years that we go line by line and verse by verse on Wednesday nights through the Old Testament passages.

It's for this very purpose. Let me be specific about this so you don't think I'm just ranting on. The book of Revelation has 404 verses. 404. Out of 404 verses, 278 verses specifically reference Old Testament passages. That means that more than 50% of the book of Revelation is referencing Old Testament scripture.

And if we don't know the Old Testament scripture, we have no illustration, no picture, no understanding of what Jesus Christ is trying to communicate to you and I that he's using that was foundational and pivotal. Because he's trying to tell us, "Here's who I am. This is my revelation. This is my unveiling. I want you to see it for all its glory. But if you don't know who I am, you're never going to see it. It's going to be like half-dim. You're only going to see parts of it."

If all you focus on is what's going to happen in the future, you're really not getting what I want to show you. That's what Jesus was telling us here. And he made it clear because again, just mathematically, 404 verses, 278 of them all focused on Old Testament scripture. That's not a coincidence. And again, without a careful study of the Old Testament, we're going to be clueless as to what Jesus is trying to communicate through the book of Revelation, through his uncovering, unveiling.

Larry: Pastor Matt VanderVen making the connection between the Old Testament and what we find in Revelation. We need a good understanding of both if we're to understand what's being communicated to us here in the last book of our Bibles. Today on His Perfect Love, we're introducing our new study of Revelation. And Pastor Matt, you underscored today that this book isn't just about what's going to happen in the future. The primary focus is on Jesus. So why do we need to keep that in mind as we go through this series?

Matt VanderVen: Larry, yes. The primary focus of the book of Revelation is on Jesus. It's not a letter of John, maybe version four. No. This is the unveiling of Jesus' heart and character. It's a must-read. It answers so many of life's questions about why God is long-suffering, why it appears that evil is having its day.

You're correct; it's not just about future events. It's one of the only books in our Bible that gives us a biblical outline. Revelation chapter one, verse 19 tells us that John is the inspired author and that he was given direct revelation by Jesus Christ to write about the things which you have seen—that's the past to you and I, Larry—but the things which are—our current and present church age—and the things which will take place after this, the future.

So much of what we learn about in our study of Revelation is Jesus' role in heaven, his heart for his bride, the church, and his desire for intimacy and relationship. You know, we need to keep Jesus in the foreground of this study lest we forget it began with a desire for relationship with God, and it's all about the love relationship with God and how the Lord will bring that to a perfect culmination with him in eternity.

Larry: Thanks, Pastor Matt. And friend, I'll remind you that these studies in Revelation are accessible at hisperfectlove.org, oneplace.com, and wherever you get your podcasts. You can also listen through the Calvary Chapel Harrisburg app. If you live in the Mechanicsburg, PA area, we hope you'll stop by for a visit.

Just like you hear on the radio, Pastor Matt teaches verse by verse through the Bible here at Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Sunday morning services begin at 8:30 and 10:30. We have a midweek gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 PM. We're located at 28 North Locust Point Road in Mechanicsburg, PA. Go to ccharrisburg.org for more information. And then join us next time when Pastor Matt will pick up where we left off in Revelation here on His Perfect Love.

Guest (Male): His Perfect Love is brought to you by Calvary Chapel Harrisburg West Shore. Let the word go out, the perfect love of Christ to shine. Our lives will shout. I am my beloved's and he is mine. Every heart is in his hands, we'll never stop reaching out. This is his perfect love. This is what real love looks like in truth and grace. This is his perfect love.