Sound The Trumpet : Some Foundational Thoughts Revelation Chapter 1

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“Some Foundational Thoughts Revelation Chapter 1”
by Art Sadlier
April 16th, 2020

The book begins with the words "THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST," the word "REVELATION" means to unveil or uncover. WE SEE THE PERSON OF CHRIST UNVEILED. In Rev. 1:8 He is called "The ALPHA and OMEGA, the beginning and the ending." Those terms reveal the Deity of Christ, the rest of the verse leaves no doubt about the deity of Christ, "The Lord which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty," until you see Christ as God the Son, the Almighty One. Christ is hidden from your eyes, He is veiled to you.

This same John in his gospel emphasized Christ's deity, John 1:1."In the beginning was the Word and the Word was WITH God," demonstrating the plurality of the persons of the Godhead. The J.W.s deny the Trinity largely on the basis that it is unreasonable and foolish. 1 Cor. 2:14, "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

John continues, "and the word (Christ) WAS GOD." The J.W.s corrupt this verse by saying it should read, "The Word was A God." However in Isa. 43:10-11, their favorite verses, it clearly states that there is only ONE God while it also states that He is the only saviour. "Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour." Jesus is thus both God and man, there are three persons but only one God. The Bible clearly identifies three persons as God; the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.

I repeat, until you see Christ as God the Son, the Almighty One. Christ is hidden from your eyes, He is veiled to you.

In John 1:14, John goes on to say, "and was made flesh", that's the person of Christ, man, and yet, one of the three persons of the Godhead, it states that He was made flesh, made in the likeness of man. Until a person comes to know this truth about Christ, he is wearing a blindfold and Christ is veiled from his view. He has a concept of Christ, but his concept is totally false.

The rest of the book continues to unveil Christ, we see His divine attributes in His almighty power. His holiness is revealed in His wrath against sinful men, His sovereignty in His coming to rule on the earth, His actions in this book reveals His divinity.

Then we see A SECOND PURPOSE OF THE BOOK, John continues, "to shew unto his servants,things that must shortly come to pass." God delights to reveal to His children that which He is going to do in the future.

Gen. 18:27, "And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do."

Isa. 46:9-10,"Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure."

Isa. 48:3,"I have declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass."

Amos 3:7,"Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."

The bible is approximately 30% prophecy. When written 30% of the events recorded were yet future. If you are not interested in prophecy, you are not interested in the Bible. When we see most of those prophecies fulfilled in great detail , we know the remaining prophecies will be fulfilled as well. It is wonderful to know that God wants to share with you and I, His Children, the things He is about to do.

Notice the word "shortly", it is a Greek word "EN TACHEI", an adjective denoting swiftness. It is the word from which we get "TACHOMETER" an instrument measuring velocity. The Word does not denote that the events are going to happen immediately, but rather that when the events begin to happen, they will unfold rapidly. This of course,indicates that a special generation will see all of these events unfold in their time, Luke 21:31-32, "So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled."

Notice the phrase, "to shew unto His servants," to shew," means to show by making known. The Lord will make known to His servants things that will one day happen very rapidly. If the Lord has committed to make things known to us, we can study the book with the confidence that we can come to understand its Message.

"TO HIS SERVANTS". Here is another key to understanding the Book, if you are not His servant, He will not cause you to understand the message of the Book. The word "servant" means a bondslave of Christ, but it does not refer to one who is enslaved against His or Her will. It refers to those who have been born again and have surrendered their rights and their lives to Christ, they gladly yield to His Rulership, desiring Him to control and run their lives. If you are in this category, God will open up the Book to you, and you will be greatlly helped in your study. If you have never been born again and experienced that surrender to Christ, the message of the Book will escape you and all you can look forward to is the Judgments foretold.

Notice in verse 2 THE AUTHORITY AND AUTHENTICITY OF THE MESSAGE.

There are three accreditations.

1 - THE WORD OF GOD. As you study, remember you are hearing GOD'S VOICE speaking through this Book.

2 - THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS, This is a double authentication.

3 -" ALL THE THINGS WHICH HE (JOHN) SAW". John was put in God's time machine and actually saw all of these events unfold. He did not speak in 21st century language,for some of the things he saw there was no 1st century terminology, and God deliberately filtered the message through obscure symbols and signs, but nevertheless, we are reading what John actually saw happen in a future time.

THREE BLESSINGS PROMISED

1 - Verse 3, "He that readeth the Book," This would include listening to others read it and teach it.

2 - "to those that Hear," in Scripture hearing is frequently equated with understanding, that requires a desire to understand what we read or hear.

3 - To those who "keep those things which are written therein." The purpose of the Book is not to tickle our curiosity about future events, but to bring about a change in our lives. Blessing always comes into our lives through obedience. Do you see why many who are not interested in obeying the message are unable to understand the message of the Book?

Finally, we see a note of urgency.

"THE TIME IS AT HAND." The prophecies of Christ's Coming are filled with the concept of IMMINENCY, not that Christ's Coming is about to happen,but that it could happen at any moment. In our day we are seeing the signs of our Lord's Coming not only as an imminent possibility, but now as an imminent probability. Lu.21:28, "And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh."

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13