God's Plan Unveiled to God's People

number one. You know we've been in taking the past few weeks to study different approaches

to Revelation as well as different views of the end times so that we would have this framework

for how to actually interpret the book of Revelation. And I think now we're ready to

begin our verse by verse study through the book. We talked about possibly talking about

the mark of the beast this evening, but we're going to save that for when we actually encounter

it in the book. So I think we've done at least an adequate job setting the framework and

the foundation for actually studying this book. And so when we come to Revelation, you

have all sorts of questions and it's interesting throughout all time. I think everybody knows

God has always been at work in the world, right? We know that God is up to something.

God's doing something He's always working. We don't always know what it is or why He's

doing the things He's doing or what's taking Him so long from our perspective to accomplish

what He wants to accomplish. And so we are filled with all of these types of questions

and you come to Revelation and you realize that there were all these Old Testament prophecies

that were talking about what was going to happen in the last days, right? You might think

about Daniel in Daniel chapter 2 specifically and the visions that He received where He

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

said there were visions about what's going to happen in the last days. And then you come

to Revelation and you're like, okay, God, we got all that, but can we get a better picture?

Please, like, can we get a clearer idea of what's going to happen? Can you maybe tell

us what the plan is? We've been waiting for this big reveal to take place. And it kind

of reminded me, I don't know, have y'all seen the show Fixer Upper? Anybody in here?

Yeah, we got a couple people. Okay, right? So Anna and I, we used to watch that show

a good bit when we have time and we don't anymore, so we don't watch that show anymore.

But when you did, what I always found interesting, right, is you have Chip and Joanna and they

would take couples to see these houses and stuff, typically like three houses and they're

in this buying process and they have to decide on one house, but all of them have their problems,

right? Like, there's not a house that's perfect. And when they are in this buying process,

it's always interesting if you watch their faces because the couple is like, I'm about

to spend a lot of money to buy a house and this is not the house that I want necessarily.

And they're walking through and they see all the problems with the house, right? They're

like, okay, it's got foundation issues. This is going to have to be replaced. We're going

to have to tear down this one. Like, they look at the house and all they see are all the

problems and they're wondering, how are you going to do anything with this house, right?

Like, this house should not be sold to anyone. I don't know how you're going to do something

with this house, but I'm going to trust that you are going to do something. And then they

get to the part of the show where Joanna sits down with them and she brings out her

tablet and what does she do? It's the big reveal, right? She shows them this virtual

image of what she's going to do to the house. This is the plan. This is how we're going

to fix this. This is what we're going to do in this area. This is all the plans going

forward and when the people see the plans, what happens? Oh, their face just lights up,

right? Like, this is great. Like, I didn't think you could do anything with this house

and yet now we have this clear understanding of what's going to take place and how it's

going to look and what the final product is going to be like. It's the big reveal. And

that's what we get when we come to the book of Revelation. God has spent the entire Bible

giving us hints and kind of glimpses and pictures and these ideas and he gets to Revelation

and he says, okay, you want to know what the plan is? Here it is. Now, it's not necessarily

revealed in the way that we want it to be revealed, right? I think one theologian said

something along the lines of when he was asked his faults in the book of Revelation or the

purpose or meaning of Revelation, he said, the book of Revelation is where the Apostle

John concealed everything that he knew. And so that's what it can feel like sometimes,

right? You come to Revelation and it's the big reveal, but it's not exactly the reveal

that we were hoping for. And yet, we see all the problems in our world, right? We know

that this is the big reveal, but what happens? You look at the world and you go, this world

is filled with sin. This world is broken. The governments are corrupt. People are really

evil today. People are doing unspeakable things to one another and you just, you get this

picture of the world and you look at it and you go, God, what on earth are you going to

do with this place? Right? Like, I don't know if anything can be done at this point, which

is why some people say, God, just burn it all, bring the fire from heaven, let's be done

with this place, you know? Like, you look at it and you're like, what on earth could

you possibly do? And God says in Revelation, I'll show you. And we get this really cool

unveiling. And I really like the way that this theologian, Vern Poithris, put it. He

said, Revelation isn't meant to tickle our fancies, it's meant to strengthen our hearts.

And I think that's a good quote to remember as we study Revelation, even with how confusing

it can be sometimes and how we might not always understand everything in it, that it's not

meant to tickle our fancies, it's meant to strengthen our hearts as believers in Christ.

And that's really the whole point of the first three verses, which is probably as far as

we're going to get this evening. But it's the unveiling of God's plan is meant to strengthen

and assure His people throughout all of life's circumstances. That's the whole point of the

first three verses. The unveiling of God's plan is meant to strengthen and assure His

people throughout all of life's circumstances. And so I want to just start by reading verse

1. This is what the Bible says in Revelation 1.1. It says, the revelation of Jesus Christ,

which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. And

He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John. And when you remember the Greek

word for revelation here that you see up there is the Greek word apocalypse, which is why

this is sometimes referred to as the apocalypse of John. So if you find an older Bible, especially

a KJV, many times it'll just be called the apocalypse of John. And it's an interesting

word. We've talked about it already some, but it's the word revelation or apocalypse.

It literally just means an unveiling or a revelation, right? A revealing. And it's,

you think about maybe a bride on her wedding day walking down the aisle and she's covered

with a veil and you can't really make out her face that clearly at all. But then what

happens? You lift the veil and then you see her. And it's this beautiful image of a bride

being unveiled for the groom to take her in. That's what we have in the book of Revelation.

Here is God's plan for the future and for redemptive history. And it is being unveiled

for God's people so that we can behold it and appreciate it. And so it's the idea that

something was hidden, but now it has been revealed to God's people. And this word is

highly connected to the book of Daniel, right? We talked about Daniel a little bit earlier

because it's the same Greek word that is used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament

for the visions and the revelation that God gave to Daniel. So if you remember Daniel

chapter two, and I'm sure all of you do, all right, do you remember Nebuchadnezzar has

a problem? What's his problem? He has a dream, right? He has a dream. And his problem is

he doesn't understand it. And he gets all his wise men together and all of his magicians

and people, and they don't understand it. But then God comes to Daniel after Daniel

prays to the Lord and God reveals or gives Daniel this apocalypse, this understanding

of what the dream actually is. And if you remember the dream, what did he dream of? Anybody

remember? Yeah, the statue, an image, right? So it's an image, its head is gold, its chest

and arms were silver, the middle and thighs were bronze, its legs were iron, and its feet

were partly iron and partly clay. And then what did he see? It was a stone, right? This

stone not cut by human hands that comes and it strikes the feet of the image and they

begin to crumble and then the whole image comes down and it breaks into little pieces

and the wind comes and drives away the pieces so they're never found again. And then something

really, really interesting happens, what happens to the stone? Anybody remember? That's my,

right, that's my interpretive dance of the stone, became a mountain and that mountain

began to encompass the whole world, right? So that's what Nebuchadnezzar saw and that's

what Daniel saw. It sounds a lot like the visions you encounter in Revelation, right?

It's stuff that on the surface it doesn't make a lot of sense because if you're thinking

literally you're like, okay, I've got to wait for this statue and it's got to have all these

different parts and then a stone and all this kind of stuff and that's just not how Daniel

interpreted it, right? Like he comes along and he doesn't give a literal interpretation.

He literally says that this dream pertains to what must take place in the last days,

in the end times and he interprets the dream symbolically. He says that the different materials

represent different kingdoms and the stone actually represents the kingdom of God that's

going to crush all other kingdoms and then grow to encompass the whole world. And that's

a really cool interpretation. There's a really cool revelation that God gives to Daniel.

And so revelation in apocalyptic writing refers to visions that are primarily communicated

through pictures and symbols, right? And that's interesting to think about because when we're

reading the majority of the Bible we should be interpreting it literally unless we come

to something and we have to ask the question, is there a reason to interpret it symbolically,

right? That's how we would, if you're reading first or second kings, you're not going to

interpret that symbolically, right? Like very straightforward, very literal and if there

ever comes a time you're like, okay, maybe this needs to be interpreted symbolically.

Well, it's just the opposite when you come to revelation. As you read Revelation you

should have preference towards a symbolic interpretation unless there comes a time when

you ask the question, is there a reason to interpret literally? So it's kind of this

paradigm shift of how we interpret the Bible and we should be interpreting it symbolically

through these pictures because that's how it's revealed, right? It's really interesting

that God would do this because we have all these expectations of what we want from God.

Like, hey God, I just want a roadmap. If you could just very clearly line by line tell

me what's going to happen, how it's going to happen. A timeline would be really nice,

what to expect, all that kind of stuff. That's what we want and God says, okay, I'm going

to write like a fantasy novel for you basically and he gives us all these pictures and cool

ideas and symbols that we are then to try to piece together in terms of the story of

the Bible. And it's something that really interesting here where John is actually changing

the Daniel quote. Did you notice that in verse one? It's still on the screen. But God gave

Daniel a revelation of the things that must take place in the latter days or in the last

days. Well, you come to Revelation and the Bible says here that this is the revelation

of Jesus Christ which he gave eventually to John which must soon take place. And we'll

actually see that in just a little bit. But it's what soon must take place. So he changes

that phrase the latter days to what must soon take place. And so we have to ask the question,

well, is there a reason to believe that we are now as Christians currently living in

the last days? Because how many times have you encountered someone as a Christian and

they're like, I want to talk about the end times? Yeah, a lot? A lot for me. It gets

asked a lot or people want to know, hey, when are the last days coming? And I think they're

typically surprised when my answer is we're in them. These are the last days and this

is actually what the New Testament says time and time again. It'll be on the screen. First

John 2 18 says children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that anti Christ is

coming so now many anti Christ have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.

Hebrews one two, but in these last days. Now he has spoken to us by a son whom he appointed

the heir of all things through whom also he created the world. And then you come to Jude

one 17 through 21. And this is what Jude says. He says, but you must remember, beloved, the

predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you in the last time,

there will be scoffers following their own ungodly passions. It is these who calls divisions

worldly people devoid of the spirit. He seems to be indicating that these people are this

ungodly people following their ungodly passions. They are present now creating divisions now

and he says, but you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in

the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus

Christ that leads to eternal life. And then 1 Corinthians 10 11 says, Now these things

happen to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction on whom who's

the on whom there first to the hour. On whom the end of the ages has come. So what does

this mean when you put all this together? What's the conclusion? We're living in the

end times. People want to know when they're coming. They're here. They actually started

with Jesus's ascension back into heaven. As soon as Jesus did that last hour started,

we are in the last days living in the end times. But there's a common objection, right?

There's this common objection and people will sometimes say, well, we can't be living in

the last days. We can't be living in the end times because John specifically said that

these things must soon take place. And he wrote this in the first century. So it's been

over 2000 years. And because it's been over 2000 years, that kind of disqualifies the

idea that we're living in the last days because that's not necessarily soon. Right? So that's

the objection. John says these things must soon take place, but it's been 2000 years.

That's not very soon. Is it? No, it's not very soon. You can agree with that. That's

fine. But there are two responses. Right? So the first one that I would point you to,

and you're just going to have to stick with our study for this, is I want to show you

as we go through Revelation that the events foretold in Revelation have been going on

repeatedly since the time of its writing. That these aren't always far off prophecies

about what's going to happen in the future. It's actually this cyclical cycle, which is

redundant, but it's this cycle that continues to happen repeatedly throughout all time.

And so I would say that many of the things written in there have already taken place

repeatedly throughout history. But the other thing to remember is that the Bible specifically

says that one day with the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like

one day. So it's been over 2000 years since Christ ascended back into heaven. Therefore,

in the mind of God, two days have taken place. That's still pretty soon, all things consider.

Right? Like if you say, hey, I'm coming to visit you soon and you're not there within

two days, I'm still thinking, that's still pretty soon. You know? You show up day three,

that falls within that timeline. So we have to understand that from our perspective, no,

it might not be soon how we define soon, but from the perspective of God, it's still very

soon and very early. About two days, metaphorically, symbolically, have passed by in the mind of

God. And so that's what this is referring to here when it's talking about soon. And

we need to understand that that doesn't mean that God is hiding his plans from us. He's

not like, oh, it says soon, but it means this. That's not the idea here. He's not trying

to confuse us or turn us into some like enigma decoders or anything like that. He's making

known to us his plans for the future through the use of pictures and symbols. And he's

doing it in such a way that everybody can understand it, because you see there in verse

one, I don't know if we can go back to verse one, but you have your Bibles in front of

you hopefully, but it says in verse one that this was shown and given to the servants.

Not to the scholars, not to the super intelligent people who have an IQ above this number, right?

This isn't if you have a PhD or have gone to seminary, this book is for you. He gives

it to his servants. Meaning the good news for us is that everyone can understand the

book of Revelation and everyone is intended to understand the book of Revelation. In fact,

I think I've told you this kind of in passing before, but it's been shown that children

often understand the book of Revelation better than adults, which is really interesting.

But in some studies that have been done, it's been shown that the reason children tend

to understand Revelation better is because their minds are more suited for that kind

of thing, right? Kids are reading fantasy novels all the time. They're used to TV shows

that are fantasy based, where there's dragons and there's swords and there's serpents and

all these weird creatures and there's things coming out of the skies and from down below

and there's monsters and all this kind of stuff. And kids are used to that. And that's

filled. Revelation has all of those things. It's filled with it. So when they read Revelation,

they have this idea, this mindset where they're able to put the pictures together and understand

it better than adults. And not only that, there's this really famous story where there

was a group of seminary students. They were PhD students and they were at seminary and

they were playing basketball in the school gym. This is a true story, by the way. They're

playing basketball in the school gym and they notice that the janitor is there sitting on

the bleachers and he's waiting for the students to leave so that he can clean up. And as he's

sitting there waiting on them to leave, he's reading his Bible. And they're interested,

they're like, okay, you know, this is very cool, he's reading his Bible. And then they

go and look and they see that he's reading Revelation. So the seminary in them gets all

puffed up. They're ready to show off their knowledge. And they go to the janitor and

they're like, hey, do you even understand what you're reading? He said, yeah, of course

I do. And they said, okay, now we've really got to show this guy. So they're like, okay,

well what school of interpretation do you follow as you read Revelation? Are you a

preterist? Are you a futurist? Are you a historicist? They start asking them all these questions

using all these big words and stuff like that. So when you tell us your school of interpretation,

how do you follow it, blah, blah, blah, all this kind of stuff, he goes, I don't know

anything you just said. I don't understand any of that. And they said, well, how can

you understand Revelation? He said, because I read it and I know what it means. And they

said, okay, well then tell us what does it mean? He said, Jesus wins. I was like, that's

such a good answer, right? That's such a good answer. And that's the whole point of the

book, right? Like if you look on our website, our series is literally called Revelation,

the triumph of the Lamb. Jesus wins in the end. He will get the victory, God's kingdom

will prevail, the gospel will go forward, all of God's plans will come to pass and not

a single one of them will fail. And so no matter what else we get confused about within

the book of Revelation, we need to just keep that one meaning in mind, that one idea, that

no matter what we read in Revelation, no matter how confusing it is, Jesus wins in the end.

He has the victory. And that's a good message. And it's one that's meant to strengthen us

and strengthen our hearts as we read this book. And you see there very quickly in verses

2 and 3, I'll try to get through it, probably won't. It says verse 2, who bore witness to

the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Definitely

not going to make it through verse 3, but let's just talk about verse 2 very quickly.

I want you to notice here that John is giving us not only what was given to him, but it

says what he personally witnessed, what he saw. And so Revelation is a testimony, a testimony

of what God has given to John through Jesus, through the angel, but also what John witnessed

for himself. And here's the reason I want to cover this very quickly, is because there's

a bit of application here that often gets overlooked as we're reading Revelation. So

just think about the historical situation. Where is John when he's writing this? Patent.

Why is he there? He's been exiled, right? Who exiled him? Yeah, well, Rome, there you

go. Yeah, let's not get into dating the book, okay? But hold another debate there that we

don't need to have. It was Rome, very good, Michael. So he's on the island of Patmos.

He's been exiled there by Rome, and he receives this vision and he records it. Then what does

he do with it? Okay, after he writes it down, what does he do with it then? He sends it

to the churches, the churches that were in Asia Minor, right? And don't miss this. Think

about what's recorded in this book. Very clear messages like, Rome will fall. The Emperor

will fall. The Emperor is under the influence of Satan. Every kingdom that sets itself against

Christ will fall and be thrown into the lake of fire forever. Jesus will have the victory

and all who submit to him and follow him will overcome and take part in that victory. Now

here's my question for you. How do you think Rome was going to receive that once the Word

got out that that's what John had written and was sent into the churches and the churches

were supposed to send to each other and then this message starts catching fire and gets

spread like a wildfire? How do you think Rome's going to receive that? Not well, right? And

actually history tells us that they didn't receive it well because we know that persecution

picked up dramatically. I mean, persecution started really picking up and they were hunting

Christians down like dogs and they were killing them. They were torturing them. I mean, we

don't know if it was Nero or someone else, but like we know for a fact that Nero used

to take Christians and he would put them on spikes. He would cover them in oil and then

he would light them on fire and let them serve as street lamps to light up the roads at night.

That's what happened to Christians. And here's John saying, the emperor is under the influence

of Satan. Rome is going to fall. This kingdom has no chance. God will win. And yet what

did John still do? He sent it. Do you think John knew what could potentially happen if

he sent this letter? Absolutely. They had already tried to boil him alive, keeping

him alive and it failed. He's there because Rome did not like Christians in the first

place. He knows full well what can happen when he sends this letter and the churches

start to send the letter and the message gets out. And yet John sent the letter anyways.

Now what lesson do you think we can learn from that? Okay, total lack of fear of the

enemy. Anything else? Obedience? No matter the cost, never give up. Think specific.

All those things are true. Specifically, what would be an application or a lesson that we

could take away from that? Never deny Jesus. That's good. That's right. Preach the word

even when people might retaliate. Just think about what we've been talking about in gospel

groups the past couple of weeks and something you know. One of the main reasons that we

don't share our testimony or the testimony of Jesus, the gospel message like we should

is why. Fear. Right? We're afraid. We're afraid of how people are going to react. We're

afraid of what they might say to us, what they might do to us, how we might be mocked

or scorned or rejected. We're afraid of all these hypotheticals that we come up with in

our minds about what could potentially take place if we share the gospel. And John was

not even dealing with hypotheticals at all. He was dealing with what he knew was absolutely

going to happen and yet John sent the letter anyways. And see, this is what I think Revelation

is trying to help us do here. It's trying to show us that persecution is expected in

this life. Suffering is expected in this life. Hardships, they are expected in this life.

Rejection from the world, that's expected. Jesus said that. If they hated him, of course

they're going to hate us. That's expected and yet the Bible is saying here that Jesus

and his gospel are worth it. They're worth it. And if you don't believe that, then you're

going to give in to the fear. If you don't truly believe that Jesus is who he said he

is and that he is worth it and that the gospel truly does bring life to those who are dead

in their sins, if you don't actually believe that, if it's still in the head and it hasn't

made its way to the heart, there's no chance you're going to share the gospel unless it

is very comfortable for you. And you feel super safe and you think there's no way this

can go wrong. But what happens when you're in that other situation? What happens when

you're in that situation where something might go wrong? Like when you go to the Middle East

and you're encountering people who are literally killing Christians for their faith and you

have the opportunity to share the gospel with someone, what do you do then? You share the

gospel. That's right. And it's hard to even imagine that situation because we're not used

to it and everybody in here wants to say, well of course I would share the gospel in

that situation. I would never deny Jesus all this kind of stuff. But gun to your head,

it's hard to know how you'll respond unless you are absolutely sold out, 100% convinced

Jesus is God in the flesh. He died for my sins. He says I have eternal life right now

and even if they kill me, I get to go be with Him immediately. That life that He offers

me is more valuable than this temporary life now and the hardships that come with it. And

so just as we conclude this evening, I just want us to imagine what do you think this

world would look like and what do you think the church would actually look like today

if we had the type of obedience that John had here and the type of boldness and courage

that John had here. If we actually believed that Jesus and his gospel were worth it and

that the Holy Spirit was powerful enough to even take someone who was ready to kill us

for our faith and change that person even in that moment, how different do you think

our world and our church would look if Christians actually believed that message? So that's

the beginning. I thought we'd make it through verse 8 because you know, I'm crazy. But

we're going to continue to see as we study the unfolding of God's plan and how that

strengthens us as believers and really helps us make it through all of life's difficulties.

So just remember Jesus wins in the end. Alright, Gene McKinney, final word of wisdom

please.