Revelation 1:1-8

It's the last book in your Bible, so it shouldn't be too hard to find.

We are starting a series in this book.

We won't be going through the whole book.

We might do that some other time.

This summer we'll be looking at the first few chapters

and at least getting, digging into it,

starting to look into its message.

So let me read Revelation chapter 1,

Revelation 1:1–8

verses 1 to 8,

and we're looking at tonight.

Revelation chapter 1, starting verse 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

The revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God...

...by sending his angel to his servant John,

who bore witness to the word of God

and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that he saw.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud

the words of this prophecy,

and blessed are those who hear

and who keep what is written in it,

for the time is near.

John,

to the seven churches...

...do 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,

firstborn of the dead

and the ruler of kings on earth.

...

kingdom,

priests to his God and Father,

to him be glory.

Behold,

even though

all tribes of the...

...one of him...

...the Alpha

and the Omega,

says the Lord God,

who is and who was

and who is to come.

Well, ever since the early church,

we have had, I think,

two opposite reactions

to the book of Revelation.

On the one hand,

some Christians have been fascinated

by this book.

And on the other hand,

other Christians have kept

their distance from it.

So back in the second century,

early church history,

there was this group of Christians

called the Montanists

who were really into

the book of Revelation.

And they had their own

really special interpretation

of what it meant.

They believed

that the new Jerusalem

was going to come down from heaven

in western Turkey

in two cities

where they set up

their sort of headquarters.

And they were known

for prophesying,

speaking in tongues,

having visions

and ecstatic experiences,

or so they claimed.

Now, other Christians

at the time

didn't like these guys at all.

They sort of looked at them

and they're like,

we don't want to be like that.

And they said,

you know,

these guys are giving Christianity

a bad name

because of their weird behavior.

And so many other Christians

weren't that excited

about the book of Revelation

and some people at that time

even questioned,

should it really be included

in the Bible?

And the same pattern

has sort of continued

throughout history.

Back in the 1970s,

my wife's aunt and uncle

became Christians

here in Connecticut

and they joined this group

called The Move.

and they lived on a farm

in Massachusetts

and they were waiting

for Jesus to come again.

And then they decided

that they should

really go off the grid

and so they went

to the Alaskan wilderness

and went to the middle of nowhere

and lived off the land

and they survived.

I mean,

it was pretty amazing.

Like,

they were able to do it.

They worked really hard

and,

but eventually

the group that started

as sort of an intentional

Christian community

coming out of the Jesus movement,

stuff like that,

sort of turned into something

a little more like a cult

and so thankfully

my wife's aunt and uncle left.

And,

now many of us

look at groups like that

and say,

you know,

we don't want to be like that.

Right?

Revelation's full of

weird imagery

and confusing symbols

and scary visions

and the people

who really get into the book

seem to become weird

and confusing and scary.

And so we sort of

keep our distance,

right?

Now,

Christians have basically

agreed that Revelation

is part of the inspired

word of God.

You know,

yes,

there were a couple,

there were people

who raised questions

about it at the beginning,

but the church has,

I think,

rightly understood

that the Holy Spirit

was inspiring John

and it should be included

in the Bible.

But I think many of us

just don't dig deep

into it.

Right?

You're fascinated

or you're sort of

hesitant.

So I don't know

what you are,

if you fit into

one of those categories

or not.

But tonight,

we're going to dig

into it.

Because we believe

here at Trinity,

we believe that God

did inspire John

to write this book.

And in the Bible

it says,

all scripture

is useful,

is inspired by God

and useful

for teaching,

correcting,

rebuking,

and training in righteousness

so that the man

or woman of God

may be equipped

for every good work.

And we think

the revelation

is part of that.

What God has given us

to equip us

for every good work

that he wants us

to accomplish.

So,

tonight we're looking

at the opening verses

of the book

and I want to ask

three basic questions.

First,

who is this book for?

Second,

who is this book from?

And third,

what's this book about?

Each of these questions

are addressed

in these opening verses.

So first,

who is this book for?

Verse one,

the revelation

of Jesus Christ

which God gave him

to show to his servants

the things

that must soon take place.

So this book is for

the servants of Jesus.

That means everyone

who belongs to Jesus

and who knows him

as Savior and Lord.

Now,

if you're here tonight,

if you're not a Christian,

if you're just

exploring Christianity,

I hope that you'll see

more about who this Jesus is.

But you know,

if you have a friend

who's interested

in exploring Christianity,

don't tell them

to start with this book.

Okay?

Start with a book like

the Gospel of John

or the Gospel of Mark

which were actually written

in order,

partly in order

to introduce people

to Jesus

for the first time

and actually explain

who he was,

what he did,

and the central message

of his life.

So start there

and then

when you read the Gospels

and then read the Old Testament,

then you'll be able

to understand

this last book of the Bible

a bit better.

You need some background.

You know,

one of the things

about Revelation

is it has over

300 references

to the Old Testament

in it.

and none of them

are actual quotes.

So that's what makes

it even more challenging.

Okay?

You can't just look

and say,

oh,

here's the quotation

from the Old Testament.

No,

it's just woven

into the language

of the book.

But the way

that you'll understand

what this book means

is by understanding

what he's referring back to.

Right?

Sort of like,

well,

I can't give a good example.

Someone who's,

I was trying to think

of like a song

that quotes another song.

Maybe if you know,

you can give a good example

of that.

But I can't think

of a good one right now.

Anyway,

so,

this book is for

the servants of Jesus.

More specifically,

verse 4 says,

John was writing to

the seven churches

that are in Asia.

Now,

that's not what we think

of as Asia.

It's the Roman province

of Asia Minor,

which is today

Western Turkey.

Now,

chapter 2 through 3,

we have specific messages

for each of these

seven churches.

We'll be looking

at each of those

one by one.

But at the end,

of each of those

messages,

so if you look down

like in chapter 2,

verse 7,

it says,

he who has an ear,

let him hear

what the Spirit

says to the churches.

In other words,

there's a book

for each church,

but we're all

supposed to listen

to all the messages.

In other words,

the messages are relevant.

Jesus wants

all of his servants

to listen to

all the messages.

And, you know,

you might ask,

well,

why does John

write to seven

churches in Asia?

There are actually

more than seven cities

in Asia that had churches.

For example,

we know the city

of Colossae.

Paul actually wrote

a letter,

Colossians,

to that church.

That's also

in that same province.

John doesn't mention

it in Revelation.

Well,

I think he writes

to seven churches

because seven

was the number

throughout the Bible

and especially

in Revelation

that symbolizes

completion.

And so the seven

churches in Asia,

they're sort of

representing all

Christians and all

churches everywhere.

And so, again,

it reinforces that message.

This book is for all

the servants of Jesus

wherever they are

scattered throughout

the world.

And this book is also

for the benefit

of Jesus' servants.

It's not primarily

intended to be

weird and confusing.

In fact,

the Bible says

God is not a God

of confusion

but of order

and peace.

Now, it's true

that Revelation

can be confusing

for a whole bunch

of reasons.

Partly it's written

in a style

that we're,

for the most part,

not familiar with.

Partly it has

some symbols

that we might not

always understand

at the first read.

But God has given

us this book

for our good.

And he's given

us this book

not to just

make things

really mysterious

and unclear

but actually

to show us

something important.

Verse 1 says,

this is

the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

And that word

means

unveiling

or unfolding.

Right?

Opening up.

Disclosing.

God gave

Jesus this revelation

in order to show

something to

his servants.

In order to make

it known to us.

Keep us in the dark.

Not to hide

himself from us.

Not to just

make us

confused and

wondering what

in the world

does it mean.

But actually

he knows our needs

and he's given

us this book

for our benefit.

And verse 3

specifically

reminds us of that.

Verse 3

gives a blessing

to those who

read this book

aloud and those

who hear it

and keep it

or hear and obey.

You might wonder

why does it say

read aloud.

Well most

Christians in the

ancient world

didn't own books.

Books were very

expensive.

You had to copy

them by hand.

You had to preserve

them in the midst

of all kinds of

difficult weather

and leaky roofs

and houses that

weren't as stable

as those that we

have today.

And so most people

didn't own books.

And so the way

that Christians

came together

the way that

Christians read

the Bible

was they met

together and

read it aloud

to one another.

And that's still

even today when

you can read

your Bible on

your phone

or in your

own room

or almost

anywhere in the

world there's

still something

unique and

there's a blessing

that God bestows

on us when we

come together

and read his

word aloud

and hear it

and take it

to heart.

So this book

is for Jesus'

servants and

for our benefit.

second, who

is this book

from?

Well, on a

human level

it's from

John who

introduces himself

as a servant

of Jesus Christ.

Most likely

this was the

Apostle John,

the Gospel of

John and the

Three Letters

of John.

Now it's true

John doesn't

call himself an

apostle right

here, but he

writes as someone

who would have

been well known

to his readers.

And it seems

to be this

that, you

know, this

John who

would introduce

himself without

really clarifying

who he is

would have been

already most

well known to

them because he

was that

apostle.

So it's from

John, but in

the bigger picture

it's ultimately

from God.

And verses

four to five

elaborate more

on this.

So look down

at those verses.

He says,

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

of the dead

and the ruler

of kings

on earth.

So there's

three clauses

here.

From, from,

from.

Right?

First, from

he who is

and who was

and who is

to come.

And again,

here's one of

these echoes

of the Old

Testament.

It's not a

quotation.

But what do

you think of

the God who

is and who

was?

You might

think back to

when God

revealed himself

to Moses.

And how did

God reveal

himself to

Moses?

In the burning

bush he said,

I am who

I am.

Or it could

be translated,

I will be

what I will

be.

Right?

This God

who has

always

existed

and who

always is.

And who

is eternal.

Glorious.

Who's not

limited by

our space

or time.

And the

one who

is to

come.

So he

emphasizes

just as

God has

come to

his people

in the

past,

he will

come

again.

So,

from God,

who is and

who was and

who is to

come.

Second,

from the

seven spirits

who are

before his

throne.

Now,

here's a

phrase that

you might

read and

you might

say,

hmm,

what does

that mean?

Seven spirits

who are

before God's

throne.

You know,

you might

say,

well,

is that

seven angels

who are

before God's

throne?

There are

seven angels

who come

later in

Revelation,

who blow

the trumpets

and pour

out the

bowls of

God's

judgment

and carry

out God's

judgment on

the earth.

You might

say,

is it that?

Or is it

something else?

So,

let me use

this as an

example,

and I want

to try to

show you

how you can

figure out

what a

confusing

phrase means,

or what a

phrase that

you read it

at first and

you say,

seven spirits

before God's

throne,

what does

that mean?

Let me show

you how to

figure that

out.

And sometimes

you'll have a

clearer answer

than others,

but here's a

few questions

you can ask.

Number one,

does the

book of

Revelation

explain what

this phrase

means directly

somewhere?

So,

look down at

verse 12,

here's another

example.

Verse 12,

John says,

then I turned

to see the

voice that

was speaking

to me.

On turning,

I saw seven

golden lampstands.

You might

wonder,

okay,

what are the

seven golden

lampstands?

Well,

verse 19,

sorry,

verse 20,

gives you the

answer.

The end of

verse 20,

the end of

the chapter,

says,

the seven

lampstands are

the seven

churches.

So,

there are some

symbols in

the book of

Revelation that

the book actually

directly explains

what they mean.

The seven

lampstands are

the seven

churches.

So,

you say,

okay,

that's clear.

Now,

what about the

seven spirits

before God's

throne?

Well,

the same

phrase appears

in two other

places in

Revelation.

Okay,

and if you

want to find

it,

if you have

a computer,

you have a

phone,

go online,

go to

Bible Gateway,

and type

in the

phrase.

It's called

a keyword

search,

and you'll

find the

places that

that same

phrase appears

elsewhere.

So,

if you do

that with

seven spirits,

you'll find

that it

appears in

chapter 4,

verse 5.

So,

look at

chapter 4,

verse 5.

It says,

before the

throne of

God,

there were

burning seven

torches of

fire,

or other

translations say

seven blazing

lamps,

which are

the seven

spirits of

God.

And then

look at

chapter 5,

verse 6,

which is the

other reference.

Now you

might say,

this just

seems to get

more confusing.

What are the

seven spirits?

Are they the

seven eyes of

God sent out

into all the

earth,

or are they

the seven

blazing lamps?

And what does

that mean?

Okay,

see,

so it's not

giving us a

direct answer,

but it's

making a

connection

between three

symbols.

Spirits,

lamps,

eyes.

So,

the first

question is,

does the

book of

Revelation

explain what

it means?

And so we've

seen it makes

this connection,

but we might

say, hmm,

not totally

sure what to

make of that.

Second

question,

does this

phrase appear

somewhere in

the Old

Testament?

Now if you

type in

seven spirits,

it doesn't.

But if you

type in

seven eyes,

or seven

lamps,

it does.

So go to

Zach 4.

Because that

is the

reference.

It is page

794.

A few

Bible.

So Zachariah

chapter 4,

verse 2.

So Zachariah

chapter 4,

it's a

vision.

Okay,

Zachariah's

having a

vision,

just like

John is

having a

vision.

And he

says,

the angel

who talked

with me,

I'll start

at chapter

4,

verse 1,

the angel

woke me up

like a man

who's awakened

out of his

sleep,

and he

said to

me,

what do

you see?

I said,

I see and

behold a

lampstand,

all of gold,

with a bowl

on top of it

and seven

lamps on it.

Okay,

so we have

seven lamps.

So he's

with seven

lamps.

In other

words,

seven

torches

of fire.

Then as

you go

through the

chapter,

verse 4,

he says,

well,

what are

these?

And the

angel doesn't

answer directly

at first.

He at first

says,

don't you

know?

He says,

nope.

Verse 6,

then he

said to

me,

this is

the word

of the

Lord,

not by

might nor

by power,

but by

my

spirit,

says the

Lord of

hosts.

And he

goes on to

promise that

by the

power of

the Holy

Spirit,

God's

temple will

be rebuilt

and God's

people will

be renewed

and God's

grace will

be poured

out.

Now look

down at

verse 10.

And this

is where

it might

start to

come together

for you.

Verse 10,

he says,

these seven

are the

eyes of

the Lord

which range

through the

whole earth.

Aha!

Right?

So in

Zechariah we

have,

so right,

Revelation,

we have seven

lamps,

seven

spirits,

seven

eyes.

In

Zechariah we

have seven

lamps,

seven

eyes,

and by

my

spirit.

The

spirit of

God.

The

Holy

Spirit of

God.

So that

would seem

to indicate

that the

seven

spirits could

be a

reference to

the Holy

Spirit of

God who

renews God's

people and

pours out

his grace

upon them.

And that

also makes

sense,

if you go

back to

Revelation,

in verse

four and

five.

Because you

have grace

and peace

from God

who is and

was and

will be,

and from the

seven spirits

and from

Jesus Christ.

So you have

God the

Father,

Jesus Christ the

Son,

and God the

Holy Spirit,

so that would

seem to make

sense.

But then you

might say,

well, why does

he say seven

spirits?

Right?

Why does he

make it confusing

for us?

Why doesn't

he just say

from the

Holy Spirit?

Well, look

at verse

four.

John, to

the seven

churches that

are in

Asia.

Right?

The seven

churches are

the servants

of Jesus

Christ gathered

together everywhere.

The seven

spirits, I

think is a

reference to

the spirit of

Jesus powerfully

at work among

his people

everywhere.

the seven

churches

represent God's

people everywhere.

The seven

spirits, it's

sort of an

image of God's

Holy Spirit

resting upon

his people

everywhere as

they gather

together.

Right?

And it goes

along with the

lampstand imagery,

right?

If the seven

lampstands are

the seven

churches, think

of that, think

of our church,

our group of

people who

gather together,

right?

We're a

lampstand.

And on

top of it is

that blazing

torch of the

Holy Spirit's

presence who's

among us.

So that's what

he's saying.

And I think

that's a little

bit of how we

can sort of

figure out some

of these phrases

in Revelation

that seem a

little confusing

at first.

And again, it

takes a little

while, right?

Sometimes you've

got to dig deep

into the Old

Testament and put

some things

together.

But it makes

sense.

that the

Holy Spirit

is that

burning lamp,

that shining

light who

comes among

us, who

descends upon

us, and who

empowers us to

shine with

God's glory as

we faithfully

witness to Jesus

Christ throughout

the world.

So that's the

spirits.

The Holy

Spirit upon

God's

churches.

All right,

going on.

Verse 5,

from Jesus

Christ, Jesus

is described as

the faithful

witness, the

firstborn of the

dead, and the

ruler of the

kings on earth.

And all these

three titles of

Jesus,

characteristics of

who he is,

are going to

come back.

We'll see them

more as we go

through Revelation.

So Jesus is the

faithful witness.

He was faithful to

the point of

death.

And he's the

one who

strengthens us

to faithfully

witness to him

wherever we go.

Jesus is the

firstborn from

the dead.

He's the one

who's the first

one who has

triumphed over

death in his

resurrection, and

he's the one who

promises and

guarantees that

we who believe

in him will be

raised with him

forever.

And the ruler of

the kings on

earth, Revelation

was written to

people who were

persecuted under

the Roman Empire.

And he says to

them, Jesus

Christ is the

ruler of the

kings on earth.

He is more

powerful and

more enduring, and

his authority will

endure forever more

than any human

government, more than

any human leader,

more than any

regime that's

persecuting you.

So it's, it's, he's

giving a word of

comfort, but also a

call to be faithfully

and unswervingly loyal

to Jesus above

everything else.

All right.

So who's this book

for?

It's for all the

servants of Jesus

everywhere.

Who's this book

from?

God the Father, Son,

and Holy Spirit.

And third, what's

this book about?

All right.

Now, verse one

says, God gave

Jesus this revelation

to show to his

servants the things

that must soon take

place.

Now this is sort of

one of the big

debates in the book

of Revelation is,

what are these things

that must soon take

place?

And what does that

mean since John was

writing almost 2,000

years ago?

I mean, he said it

was supposed to be

soon.

As he, you know, so

some people say,

some people say,

John was talking

mostly about events

that were just about

to happen in his

time, in the first

century.

In the book, we

really have to

understand the

ancient context and

ancient history and

the world that John

lived in.

So that's the main

interpretation of

Revelation.

Most people, I

think, take another

view and say

Revelation is mostly

about future events

and particularly about

the things that are

going to happen

immediately leading up

to the return of

Jesus.

Right?

We all agree how it

ends, right, with

Jesus comes again.

Right?

But many people say

most of Revelation is

about those things

that are in the

generation or so

before Jesus returns.

And so people often

try to be guessing,

and people have

always done this

throughout history,

is try to say,

hmm, maybe the

beast is this.

Or maybe 666 is,

you know, this

political leader today.

Other people say

Revelation is more

symbolic.

And it sort of

reflects patterns that

often happen throughout

history.

And so it's not

meant to be a sort

of chronological thing

and it's not to be

only for one time

or another.

So you might say,

well, what one of

those views is the

best one?

In some sense, I'm

going to say there's

some truth in all

three of them, right?

John was writing to

people in the first

century.

And God inspired him

to write a letter

that would be

encouraging them to

stand firm and

stand fast despite

persecution and

hardship.

And so whatever

Revelation means,

it has to be

something that

would have meant

something to the

people back then

and that would

have encouraged

them and pointed

them to be

faithful to Jesus.

And so that's the

truth in the first

view.

Truth in the second

view is

Revelation, it has

to be not only for

the first century but

also for God's people

throughout history.

Right?

Not only in

John's time, not

only in the last

generation before

Jesus returns, but

for all God's

people throughout

history.

And of course it

will be for the

last generation of

Christians who see

Jesus return in

person.

So some of you

are like, ah, he's

avoiding the question.

He's just saying

there's some truth in

all three views.

We'll get into this

more.

You can ask in the

we'll have Q&A

tonight so you can

ask more questions.

But again, there's a

verse from the Old

Testament that sheds a

little bit more light

on this.

So John talks about

the things that must

soon take place, or

if you look at

chapter 4 verse 1, he

uses a similar

phrase.

I will show you

what must take

place after this.

If you go back to

Daniel chapter 2,

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

I'm just going to do

this as the last

Old Testament

reference.

But Daniel is

pretty key in a lot

of things.

Daniel chapter 2,

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

page 739, if you're

looking at a few

Bible.

So basically, King

Nebuchadnezzar has a

dream about four

successive world

empires.

His own, the

Babylonian, and then

the Persians, and then

the Greeks, and the

Romans.

And if you look at

verse 44, it says,

in the days of those

kings, particularly the

fourth kingdom, the

God will break in

pieces all these

kingdoms, and bring

them to an end, and

it shall stand forever.

And then at the end

of verse 45, it says,

a great God has made

known to the king

what shall be after

this.

So what he's talking

about, first of all,

he's talking about the

coming of Jesus Christ.

Christ came into this

world, 2000, at the

time of the Roman

Empire.

And so Daniel was

prophesying and looking

forward to the coming

of Jesus Christ, who

established God's

kingdom on earth.

But he also says that

that kingdom that Jesus

established is going to

endure forever, and

that it will bring all

other kingdoms to an

end, and it will stand

forever.

forever.

And verse 45 uses that

phrase, what shall be,

God has made known to

the king, what shall be

after this.

And that's the same

phrase that John uses in

the book of Revelation.

So you might say, well,

what's the connection, and

why does he make that

connection?

Why does he use that?

Well, he's using that

phrase because what he

wants to say is, first of

all, Daniel's prophecy has

come true.

That Jesus Christ is the

Messiah, he's come into

the world, and by his

life and death and

resurrection, he's

established God's kingdom

on earth among his

people.

And John's also saying

that that kingdom that

Jesus established, where

he rules and reigns and

brings life and healing

and salvation to his

people, that kingdom is

going to remain forever,

and it's going to be

established in his

fullness when he comes

again.

And right now, we're

living between that

first coming of Jesus,

and that second coming

of Jesus.

And what John is saying

is, it's sort of like

we're living in sudden

death over time.

Okay, I grew up playing

ice hockey.

The way it goes in the

playoffs of ice hockey is

you play, and if you're

tied, you go into sudden

death over time.

And sudden death over time

could actually go on for a

long time, but the minute

somebody scores a goal, it's

all over.

The game's over.

And it could be over at

any time.

And so whenever you go out

there, you play your

hardest, because you know

that the end could come

any time, and the end is

near, and you're in sudden

death.

And that's basically what

John is saying.

All right, at the end of

verse 1, he says the time

is near.

In 1 John, John's first

epistle, 1 John 2, 18, he

says, children, this is the

last hour.

He doesn't even say it's the

last day or year.

He says this is the last

hour.

And he says, as you've heard

that Antichrist is coming,

so now many Antichrists have

come, therefore we know it's

the last hour.

So he sort of, you know,

there's going to be a lot of

things that are going to be

happen sort of in this,

between Jesus' first coming

and his second coming, but

the end is always near.

And we need to live knowing

that that's true.

And live giving our full

allegiance to Jesus, and

trusting that he's in

control, and living our lives

fully and unreservedly for

him.

And that's, you know, that's

sort of the main point of

Revelation.

He's saying, things are in

God's hands, and Jesus is

going to win, so stand firm,

and don't waver.

And don't grab onto something

else as your ultimate hope.

But stand firm and hold onto

Jesus, because he's going to

win.

And he says he's brought us

into his kingdom.

This is verse 5 in Jesus.

He's freed us from our sins by

his blood.

He's that ultimate Passover lamb

who's the sacrifice, who's paid

the price for us.

He's made us a kingdom and

priests, just like God made

Israel in the Old Testament a

kingdom and priests, just as

God called Adam and Eve to be

rulers and priests, rulers over

his creation, and priests

worshiping before his throne.

Christ has come and through him,

we can fulfill that.

And verse 7, so again, verse 6

talks about what Christ has done in

establishing his kingdom.

Verse 7 talks about that he's going

to come again.

He'll come with the clouds, every

eye will see him, even those who

pierce him.

All tribes of the earth will wail on

account of him.

He will reign over the nations, and

the response is, even so, amen.

Amen.

So what's Revelation about?

It's about the time between Jesus'

first and second coming.

But it's not just about a time, or

about events, or about things that

are going to happen, it's about the

person of Jesus himself.

It's about the person of God, the

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And that's what shines through, right,

in this introduction, and really

throughout the book.

And so I want to encourage you, you

know, if you're someone who's

fascinated by Revelation, maybe you're

sort of wondering, ooh, what does he

think about the rapture?

What does he think about the

tribulation?

What does he think about the

millennium, and the mark of the beast,

and 666, and let me remind you, this

book is primarily not about the

details, but the book is primarily

about King Jesus.

And it's meant to lead us to worship

at his throne.

So we can talk about the details, but

don't lose the forest for the trees.

It's about King Jesus, and leading us

to worship at his throne, and to say

praise and glory be to the only God who

is and was and who is to come, to him

be glory and dominion forever and ever,

amen and amen.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Father, we thank you for this book.

Lord, we thank you that for how you've

revealed yourself to us in your word, and

how this book just wraps up your great

revelation throughout the Bible, and how it

shows us your glory.

Lord, we pray that you would open our

eyes as we study it.

Lord, we pray that we would not shy away

from it out of fear, or out of past

confusion, or even bad experiences, or...

But Lord, we pray that we would not be

fascinated in an unhealthy way with the

details, and miss the main point.

As our Savior, as our great God.

Lord, we pray that we would also see your work

more fully, the work of the Father, and the

Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the way that you

work in harmony, as one God in three persons.

And Lord, we pray all these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.