A Reorientation To The Book Of Revelation

Here's how I want you to think about this morning's sermon.

Think of it as like Google Maps or Apple Maps on your smartphone.

You know, this is the kind of thing where, you know, you're going to go on a trip,

you type in the address where you're going, and you've got this route laid out for you to the destination,

and the brilliance of an app like this is you know where you are all along the way.

It orients you.

And this morning, I want to preach a sermon that's going to reorient you to the book of Revelation

because we started studying the book of Revelation this past September,

and we got through the first five chapters, then we took a break for Christmas,

and this morning, we're going to get back into the book of Revelation,

and what I want to do is give you a big picture of the book of Revelation.

I want to reorient you to the book of Revelation

so that the book of Revelation orients you to God's plan for the fullness of time.

The book of Revelation is going to frame you.

It's going to help you see right in order to live right.

The book of Revelation shows us where we are along the way of God's plan for all time,

and it has an intended effect.

The Revelation is going to get something done in you.

So this morning, I want to convince you of three truths,

and these three truths are going to build off one another, and here they are.

The book of Revelation is for you, Christian,

not just the specialists.

And the book of Revelation is for you, Christian,

to see.

It's designed to give you eyes of faith to see.

It's very vivid.

And then finally,

the book of Revelation is for you, Christian,

to see by faith in order to live a life worthy of Christ today

and every day of your life to come.

This book is not optional for Christians.

It's not above your pay grade.

It's vital for you.

We're living for Jesus in the trenches of everyday life.

So let's turn now to this point.

If you haven't opened to the book of Revelation,

please turn there.

Just open to chapter one.

We're going to be giving you wide, broad swaths of this book.

The book of Revelation is for you,

the everyday disciple of Jesus Christ.

There's a tragic misconception out there about the book of Revelation.

It's thinking that the book of Revelation is only for the experts

and the self-appointed end-time specialists.

And when I was growing up in the church,

the end-times specialists were usually guys with polyester leisure chutes

and massive comb-overs in their hair.

It was striking.

But this book isn't just for specialists.

That would be a mistake to make.

Let me give you a sample of what happens,

and maybe you can identify with this.

When you start talking about the book of Revelation,

what can happen is the language moves to technicalities.

And what it starts feeling like is you start talking about the book of Revelation

like it's some kind of technical manual for the end times.

And you've got to be up on all the language and the concepts

before you have any chance of understanding what this book means.

So just like if you start hearing of the schools of interpretation of the book of Revelation,

you start hearing things like the historicist school,

or the preterist school,

or the futurist school,

or the idealist school,

or the I'm going to pick from one of each of these school.

You can start feeling very distant from this book.

Like, oh, I've got to be some kind of PhD in New Testament

in order to understand the book of Revelation.

Well, that's not true.

Nor do you have to have this stated, very specific position on the millennial.

The millennium.

In Revelation chapter 20, verses 1 through 10,

Revelation 20:1–10

are you a pre-millennialist?

A post-millennialist?

An all-millennialist?

You've heard the joke,

maybe you're a pan-millennialist.

You just think it all pans out in the end, kind of a thing.

Or maybe, as the issue of pre-millennialism comes up,

you're like thinking,

hey, are you pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib?

Maybe you're now going to AFib,

hearing all this talk about the trib.

Glossing over.

All this kind of technical jargon can make you think that the book of Revelation is for the experts,

for the specialists,

for the people who write books about that.

This is where the rocket mortgage commercials come in.

Do you know these commercials?

The comedian, Keegan-Michael Key,

is in these commercials,

and usually you have this couple who are witnessing something,

and they're witnessing something that's highly technical,

and they are feeling overwhelmed by that,

and all of a sudden,

Keegan-Michael Key's walk,

kind of comes in from nowhere,

and he says,

hey, it's not that complicated.

Don't get lost in the jargon.

It's really very simple.

Jesus wins.

All this technical language

can make the everyday Christian in the trenches

glaze over and falsely conclude that this book is above their pay grade.

You can start thinking things like,

well, I don't get it.

I don't get the 144,000.

I don't get the 12, 260 days.

I don't get the strange creatures.

I don't get the seven seals.

I don't get the seven trumpets.

I don't get the seven bulls of God's wrath.

What is this dragon?

What is the beast?

What is the false prophet?

Who's this lady, the prostitute, Babylon,

and who's this other lady, the bride, the new Jerusalem?

Who are these people?

Who are these things?

I don't get it.

And maybe you've been raised in a school of thought that says,

all you need to understand the book of Revelation

is the book of Revelation and your newspaper.

This morning I want to tell you this.

You need your revelation and your Old Testament.

Because of all of these symbols,

these numbers and figures,

they're rooted in the Old Testament.

So as we get through the book of Revelation,

you're going to build an instinct.

So when you hit something that's like,

whoa, what is the 144,000?

Whoa, who is this prostitute?

Whoa, what is this?

What are these plagues?

They're all designed to make you go back to your Old Testament.

It's not that hard.

This book is designed for you, Christian.

God authored this for you.

This is designed to give you perspective and strength

to walk daily with Jesus.

In fact, the language that the book of Revelation itself uses,

you heard it when David was reading from Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

This book is designed to bless you.

Listen to Revelation chapter 1 verse 3.

Revelation 1:3

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy.

David, I hope you felt the blessing of that this morning.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy.

And blessed are those who hear and keep what is written,

for the time is near.

Now flip to the end of the book of Revelation.

Revelation chapter 22 verse 7.

Revelation 22:7

We read,

And behold, this is Jesus speaking,

I am coming soon.

And he says,

Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

This whole book is to bless you, Christian,

not to make you feel like you're out of kind of touch

with these kind of pictures and symbols.

It's for your good.

It's for your good.

This book is designed to bless you.

So, if you're a parent in the room,

and you got kids,

and your desire, regardless of how old the kids are,

you got little tykes,

you got walkers,

you got elementary school kids,

middle school, high school,

you got kids in college,

and your desire is,

I just want to live a life worthy of the Lamb.

This book will help you in your parenting.

If you're a teenager wanting to live a life worthy of the Lamb,

at Tremper High School,

at CLS,

at Indian Trail,

Bradford,

wherever it may be,

at home,

this book will help you live a life worthy of the Lamb.

If you've reached the,

let's call it,

the sunset years of your life,

and you want to finish well,

living for the glory of the Lamb,

this book will help you close out your days well.

This book is not just for the specialists.

This book is for you, Christian.

You need to be convinced of that.

We've looked at who this book is for.

It's for the everyday Christian.

Now let's look at what this book is about.

The book of Revelation is for you,

so that you can see.

This book is designed to help you see,

to perceive,

to see by faith.

If you look at Revelation chapter 1,

Revelation 1:1

verse 1,

the revelation of Jesus Christ,

what that means is this.

Jesus is both the one revealing these things,

and he's the one that this revelation is about.

And if you want to follow me,

track me.

You ready?

This is who this is about.

Revelation chapter 1, 12 through 16,

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

we have a vision of the risen,

radiant, and reigning Christ.

Chapter 5, verse 6,

we have a vision of a Lamb who was slain,

who is standing in the midst of the throne,

being worshipped.

Chapter 12, verse 5,

we have a vision of a male child

who will rule the nations.

Chapter 14, verse 14,

we have a vision of a son of man

seated in a cloud

with a crown and a sickle

to reap the great harvest of the earth.

Revelation chapter 19,

Revelation 19:11–16

verses 11 through 16,

we have one who is the rider

of the white horse,

and he's got four names,

the last of which is

King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

And in Revelation chapter 21 and 22,

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

we have a vision of a Lamb

at the center of the new heavens

and the new earth

in the middle of the new Jerusalem,

and he is lighting up the place.

The book of Revelation is designed

to make you see,

to give you visions of Jesus.

And it does so in a variety of ways.

It gives you a variety of displays

of the glory of Jesus

and his unmatched worth.

The book of Revelation

is for you to see.

Now, here's where we may get into

a little, a little,

I'm a little nervous to do this

with you this morning.

But, I want to help you

get a sense of overview of the book.

And so, you can divide

the book of Revelation

in a variety of ways,

organizationally.

Here's the most basic way.

It's found in Revelation chapter 1,

Revelation 1:19

verse 19.

The risen Christ is speaking to John.

He says to John,

write therefore the things

that you have seen.

Remember, this is a book

to help you to see

right there for the things

that you have seen.

And then he says two things.

Those that are

and those that are to take place

after this.

The book of Revelation

is a revelation of visions.

And it,

you can split it along two lines.

A vision of what has

already been

and then visions

of what are going to happen.

Of the present,

according to John's time,

and of the future.

And so, at its most basic level,

this book can be divided

into two parts.

John's vision

of how things are now.

That's chapter 1, 9

through the end of chapter 3.

The seven letters

to the seven churches.

And then,

starting in chapter 4, 1,

visions of what will happen.

And that takes place

all the way to chapter 22,

verse 5.

That's the basic structure

of the book.

Present and future

from John's perspective.

But what you need to know

is the bulk

of this book, then,

is a series

of visions

of what will

take place.

And so,

though this book

is about

what will happen,

it's a book

about what will happen

to help us live

for Christ

now.

There's another way

you can slice up this book.

Not just

in what has happened,

and what will happen,

it's according

to visions.

Let me walk you

them through.

There are eight visions

in this book.

It forms

kind of a structure.

The first vision

is chapters 1 through 3,

Isaiah 1 · chapter mention

a vision of the risen,

radiant,

and reigning Christ

issuing seven letters

to seven churches.

The second vision

takes place

from heaven,

the lamb

who was slain.

He starts breaking

the seven seals

of the scroll

of God's plan

for the fullness

of time.

That's chapter 4

through chapter 8,

verse 1.

The third vision

starts in heaven

and consists

of seven angels

blowing seven trumpets,

setting into motion

a series of more judgments.

Chapter 8,

verse 2

through chapter 11,

verse 18.

The fourth vision

starts in heaven.

Chapter 11,

verse 19

through chapter 14

through verse 8.

It's the very heart

of the book

of Revelation.

And at the very heart

of the book

of Revelation,

we have a vision

of a great

cosmic conflict.

In chapter 12,

we learn about

the dragon,

the serpent,

the devil.

We learn about

the beast,

chapter 13,

the first half.

We learn about

a second beast,

also known as

the false prophet.

That's the second half

of chapter 13.

And the way that you

need to understand

about the dragon,

the beast,

and the false prophet

is that this

is the anti-trinity.

The dragon is the

anti-father.

The first beast

is the anti-Christ,

who appeared to be

slain and then raised.

And then the false prophet

is the anti-spirit.

And the false prophet

uses all kinds of

wonders and miracles

in order to convince

people to worship

the anti-Christ.

The dragon,

the beast,

and the false prophet

is the anti-trinity.

And they are in conflict

with God and His purposes

and the Christ.

And this fourth vision

ends with Christ

coming to earth

with crown

seated on a cloud

with a sickle

to reap the earth.

Conflict.

The fifth vision,

chapters 15 and 16,

seven angels

pouring out

the seven bowls

of God's wrath.

They're also called

the bowls

of God's plagues.

The sixth vision,

chapter 17,

verse 19,

chapter 17

through chapter 19,

verse 10,

we have the great

prostitute Babylon

in all her worldly

pleasure

and power

and prestige.

She finally is destroyed

in chapter 18.

And here's how you need

to think about

the great prostitute

Babylon.

She's the anti-bride.

She,

those who are part

of this people

bear the mark

of the beast.

They worship

the beast.

And the great

prostitute

is very purposefully

put in contrast

to the bride

of the lamb,

the church.

There's a contrast

between the prostitute

Babylon

and the bride,

the new Jerusalem.

There's a reason

why this section,

chapter 17

through 19,

10,

it begins

with the prostitute

who then falls

and culminates

the section

in the marriage

supper

of the lamb.

The seventh vision

is chapter 19,

Isaiah 19:11

verse 11

through chapter 20

through 15.

It starts

with the coming

of the rider

of the white horse

and ends

with the great

white throne judgment.

All the enemies

of the lamb

are conquered

and the faithful

are vindicated.

People are thrown

into the lake of fire.

The enemies

of Jesus,

it's full

and it's final.

The king

of kings

and lord

of the lords,

the lamb

has conquered

the king

and the king

of the king

of the king.

Another way

you can say it

is Jesus

comes back

and ties

up all the loose ends.

And in the eighth vision,

chapter 21,

1 through 22,

5,

all things

are made new.

A new heaven

and a new earth,

new Jerusalem.

God is with us,

wiping away

every tear.

At that point,

we will have

new resurrected bodies.

new joy,

new peace.

These visions

move together

to build

to a climax

fullness of time.

One of the ways

you can think about

these structures

is think about

the visions

that will have

taken place

and the visions

that will take place.

that's like

the skeletal structure

of the book.

And then all

of these visions,

there are like

eight different

muscle groups

on the skeleton

and they make

the book

move.

But there's one

more relationship

that I want you

to see.

it's the relationship

between four of

four of the visions.

Four of these visions

are what called

judgment cycles.

The first judgment

cycle is the first

vision.

The seven letters

to the seven churches.

The risen Christ

judging the church.

Remember,

five out of the seven,

he calls them to repent.

And he calls all seven

of these churches

to overcome.

And then the next

judgment cycle

is another judgment

cycle of seven.

Seven seals

starting in heaven.

The lamb breaks

a seal

and angels

go into action.

And what

I really want you

to see

is this.

That the fourth

rider,

death

on a pale horse,

he's given

authority

over

one-fourth

of the earth.

That's chapter 6,

verse 8.

One-fourth

of the earth.

The third judgment

cycle of seven

are the seven

trumpets.

Starts in heaven,

chapter 8,

verse 2,

and then angels

are put into action

and judgment

falls

on one-third

of the earth,

one-third

of the sea,

one-third

of all waters,

one-third

of heavens.

And so you have

an intensifying

of judgment

from one-fourth

of the seal

judgments

to one-third

of the earth

and the trumpet

judgments.

And then the

fourth judgment

cycle

are the bowls

of God's wrath.

And what we read

in chapter 15,

verse 1,

is that these are,

this is the final

movement

of God's judgment.

It too is enacted

by angels

and it completes

God's wrath

poured out

on the earth.

And instead of being

one-quarter

of the earth,

moving to

one-third

of the earth,

these bowl judgments

are poured out

on all

the earth,

all the inhabitants

of the earth.

And so what you see

here is a progression.

And the way to think

about it is,

think about a series

of telescoping judgments.

Starting with the church,

chapters 2 and 3,

click out to chapters 4

through 6,

the seals,

click out chapters 8

through 11

for the trumpets,

click out to chapters

15 and 16

for the bowls

of God's wrath.

Increasing judgment

poured out

on the earth.

It's designed for us

to see it.

To see the effect

progressively.

God is in control

and He is

gradually

pouring out

His wrath

in greater and

greater measures

of the earth.

All these things

I want to put

before you

to help you

understand

what this book

is about.

It's designed

to help you see

by faith,

to orient you

to where we are

right now.

What God is doing.

God is at work.

It's designed

to orient you

to live,

to see,

in order to live

for Christ

today.

So we've looked

at who this is for.

This is for you.

We've looked at

what this is about.

We've seen

a variety

of different things.

Mainly,

these are eight

visions

in the book

of Revelation

for you to see.

And they're to

have an effect.

There's an

intended effect

that we don't

go to the book

of Revelation

in order to

fill our brains

with interesting

facts.

The book

of Revelation

is to have

an effect

on us,

to compel

us

to live

lives

worthy

of Jesus.

Let me

share with you

some of the

intended effects

that this

book

should have

on you.

The first

effect

is that

the book

of Revelation,

when you see

what Revelation

reveals,

it should

make

you

awe.

It should

awe

us

as a church.

the scope

of God's

plan,

the scale

of his

progressive

wrath,

what he

would do

for sinners

and saving

them through

the blood

of Jesus,

spectacular

visions

of Christ.

Out of an

awe-filled

heart,

the mouth

sings.

When you're

experiencing

awe,

the way

that will

culminate

is through

worship.

worship.

What this

book will

do for us

as a church

is it will

make us

sing.

All throughout

the book of

Revelation,

we have

worship chorus

after worship

chorus of the

Lamb.

This book is

full of awe,

it's full of

worship,

and one of the

intended effects

is to make

you feel of

awe,

make you

worship.

another

effect

is to

warn

us.

Particularly

in that

first

vision

of the

seven letters

to the

seven churches,

that first

judgment cycle,

we see

these churches

threatened

by physical

violence

because they're

followers of

Jesus,

we see them

threatened

by false

teaching,

we see them

threatened

by moral

compromise,

and all of

these should

serve for us

followers of

Jesus as

warnings,

because the

threat exists

and persists

today.

There can be a

cost to life

and livelihood

for being a

follower of

Jesus today.

There are

certainly

temptations

to blur

the biblical

distinctions

we find in

God's word,

and just

kind of

drift into

false

teaching.

There are

temptations

abound

to indulge

the flesh

in sexual

immorality

and greed,

to go to

bed with

Babylon.

These are

warnings in

the book of

Revelation,

and the

effect is for

us to take

stock of

our lives

so that we

can walk

faithfully,

to stay

true to

the Lamb.

There's

going to be

the ongoing

threat of

violence,

the threat

of false

teaching,

the threat

of moral

compromise,

but because

of this

book,

we see it

in our

able to

stay true

to the

Lamb.

Another

effect of

the book

of Revelation

is to

sober us

as a

church.

And here's

what I mean

by this.

I don't

know what

was going

on inside

of you

when I

was describing

these judgment

cycles on

greater and

greater measures

of the

earth,

but it's

really sobering

to see God

gradually pouring

out His

wrath on

His creation.

He's not

sparing

creation.

And what's

even more

sobering as

you read

through the

book of

Revelation,

you might

want to

scratch these

verses down.

Chapter 1

verse 7,

chapter 9

verses 20

and 21,

chapter 14,

9 through

11,

chapter 16

verse 9,

16 verse 11,

16 verses 20

and 21.

And what all

of these

verses point

to is as

God's wrath

is poured

out, you

would think

humanity

would repent.

But what

these passages

show is that

even in the

midst of

progressive

pouring out

of God's

wrath,

there are a

majority

of people

who are

like,

whatever,

God,

we curse

you.

That's

sobering.

And furthermore,

you start

realizing what

are the stakes

for stuff

like that.

And then you

read a passage

like Revelation

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

chapter 12,

17,

which talks

about the

devil being

thrown down

to earth as

a result of

the cross

work of

Jesus,

and he

is enraged.

We've got

an enemy

prowling around

like a lion

seeking for

someone to

devour.

It should

sober us.

We live in a

spiritual war

zone with

eternally high

stakes.

So when we

see through

the book of

Revelation,

when it

orients

us,

we start

feeling the

weight of

how high

the stakes

are and

the kinds

of enemies

we have.

It's what

Martin Luther

wrote about.

Our ancient

foe seeks

to work

us woe.

But boy,

our great

God.

Another

effect is

this.

revelation

will motivate

us to

witness.

To witness.

Our

glorious

God is

giving all

the inhabitants

of the

earth time

to repent.

That's what

you see with

this progressive

pouring out of

God's wrath.

He is giving

everyone opportunity

to repent.

To turn from

their sins and

turn to

Christ.

Christ.

Like I said,

there will be

many who

refuse to

repent,

but there

will be a

definite few

who will

respond in

repentance and

faith upon

hearing the

chapter 14,

7,

the eternal

gospel

proclaimed,

fear God

and give

him glory

because the

hour of his

judgment has

come and

worship him

who made

heaven and

earth and

the sea and

the springs of

water.

We get to

tell people,

come,

worship the

lamb who

was slain for

you.

Escape the

wrath to

come.

When you

are oriented

by the

book of

Revelation,

it's going

to compel

you to go

make disciples

of the

nations.

The stakes

are high.

Another

effect is

that it's

to assure

us.

this book

of Revelation

assures us

that our

great triune

God is not

only reigning

on high,

not only in

full control,

but he is

bringing about

his purposes.

And so the

words of

chapter 17,

verse 14,

should ring in

your ears.

They, the

enemies of the

lamb, will

make war on

the lamb,

and the lamb

will conquer

them.

he must

win.

He will

win.

Not only

will the

dragon be

thrown down,

not only has

he been

thrown down

by the

cross of

Christ,

but when

Jesus come

back, he's

going to

grab the

dragon by

the scruff

of its

neck and

throw it

into the

lake of

fire forever.

Forever.

The second

death.

be assured

of it.

We win.

Jesus comes

back, ties

up all the

loose ends.

What this

does is

convinced of

God's

sovereignty,

despite the

raging of

the devil,

we remain

faithful in

the face of

hardship,

because it's

worth it.

Jesus is

worth it.

this book

will make

you see

that the

lamb will

conquer

finally and

forever.

The last

effect.

It makes

you long.

This book,

when you

are oriented

by it,

it will

stir longing

in your

heart for

the lamb,

to see

Jesus,

to be with

him.

I've already

shown you that

the book of

Revelation is

packed full of

these glorious

visions of

Jesus,

and those are

designed to

make you long

for him.

Revelation

closes with

an epilogue.

It's chapter

22,

verse 6

through 21,

and in that

epilogue,

the risen,

radiant,

reigning lamb

who was slain,

he says three

times,

22-7,

22-12,

22-20.

He says to

his waiting

bride,

I am

coming soon,

baby.

Hold on.

And in

chapter 22,

verse 20,

John responds,

and it's the

response of

all of our

hearts,

amen.

Come,

Lord Jesus,

longing,

longing for

the lamb.

This book

is for you to

see by faith

in order to

long for

Jesus.

Jesus.

When a

church is

seeing by

faith what

God has

revealed through

the book of

Revelation,

and they

experience greater

measures of

all worship,

they sense

God's ongoing

warning, so

they steer clear

of the threats,

they are sober,

they understand

the stakes,

they witness

because they

see God's

patient mercy,

and they see

the opportunity

to call people

to worship

the lamb.

when we are

assured that

Jesus will

win, and

when we have

this growing

longing in

our hearts,

do you know

what all

these do

together?

They give you

strength to

endure.

It's the one

big intended

effect of the

book of

Revelation,

and it's in

chapter 13,

verse 10.

Here is a

call for the

endurance and

faith of the

saints.

To live life

worthy of the

lamb.

Until you

breathe your

last, or

until he

comes back.

This morning,

I've tried to

convince you of

three things.

I've tried to

convince you that

the book of

Revelation is

not just for

the specialists,

it's for you.

And secondly,

it's not just

for the specialists,

it's for you to

see by faith.

And it's for you

to see by faith

in order to

live a life

worthy of the

lamb today.

When you're

oriented by the

book of

Revelation,

the book of

Revelation will

orient you to

the way things

really are,

and you live a

life worthy of

the lamb,

with joy in

your heart,

all the way

through.

Next week,

we will see the

risen lamb

opening the

seven seals.

Let me pray.

God in heaven,

press this into

our hearts.

God help us to

press on together,

to be faithful to

you, Lord Jesus.

You are worthy.

You have won the

victory,

and you will come

back and tie up

all the loose

ends,

and we will see

you face to face,

and you will wipe

away every tear.

Put strength in our

hearts now,

in Jesus' name,

amen.

Amen.