Revelation 1

Revelation 1:1-8

(Notes from a sermon I preached at St John's, Tunbridge Wells on Sunday 31 May).

I wonder what you think about this book, Revelation?
It does contain some weird stuff – just look across to 1:12ff...

People seem to have two main reactions:
The first is to become completely obsessed with it – trying to find dates & historical events that match up with every tiny detail; getting bogged down in pre-tribulational pre-millennialism; post millennialism; pre-tribulational dispensationalism; a-millennianism andn every other ...tional ...ism you can imagine.

I'm so old that I remember when bar codes were first introduced, and some people thought they were the mark of the beast in chapter 16.
I'm not so old as to remember the Reformation, but Luther & his mates thought the beast was the Pope & the Catholics. Of course the Catholics thought that the beast was Luther!

But if some people get obsessed with Revelation, others ignore it.
After all, as someone has said, 'if a strange book produces strange Xns, perhaps it's best to leave it to them!'

But it's an important book – it's the longest letter in the NT – in fact only Mt; Lk & Acts have more chapters.
More important than it's sheer length is the urgency of the message: before John even greets the churches he emphasis the urgency of his message in v1, 'this is the revelation of J.C. which God gave him to show his servants the things that must soon take place' and in v3, 'blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near'.

But before we delve into what it is that's going to take place so soon, we need to understand what sort of book this is.
When you read in Ps 17, 'hide me in the shadow of your wings' you don't say that God therefore is a giant pigeon – you know the Psalms are poetry and you read them as such.
But how should we read Revelation? When we read of a woman with clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet and on her head a crown of 12 stars, what are we to make of it?
How we understand that will depend on the sort of book Revelation is.
And, John tells us exactly what it is in vv1-3.

First, and not surprisingly, it's revelation – v1 – the revelation of J.C. which God gave him
A 'revelation' is a disclosure of things that otherwise could not be known.
So, over recent months, we've got used to 'revelations' about MPs expenses – the disclosure of things we otherwise could not have known.
If we look at v1, we see that in this book, the Revelation is made by God himself, through Jesus, and then via an angel-messenger to John.
And it discloses what's happening in the unseen, spiritual realms, where God rules and Satan rebels.

Then, second, this book contains the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw v2
One of the biggest themes in John's gospel is that Jesus has been sent from God into the world to reveal God to the world.
Because Jesus was with the Father in the beginning, he knows the Father – he knows what happens in heaven because he'd lived there for all eternity.
And now, Jesus tells John what he saw in heaven.

Third, this book is prophecy, v3
Now people often think that prophecy is all about the future. But it's not.
Read Isaiah, Jeremiah & the other prophets, and you'll find an awful lot about the past – the way God called and cared for his people;
about the present - how the people are rejecting & rebelling against God;
and only then about the future – a warning of impending judgment and promises of salvation.

And in Revelation, there's a lot about the past – the victory of the cross.
And there's a lot about the present and the immediate future facing the 7 churches John is writing to.
They're facing persecution and trouble from the evil power of the Roman empire. That raises questions in their minds, 'Is it worth persevering?', 'Does God have ultimate power over evil, or is there a chance that he will lose and the devil win?'

And then there's some stuff – though not as much as people think - about the long-term future – the return of Christ, the new heavens and the new earth.

So when John talks about things happening soon, he's not necessarily talking about the return of Jesus, but about what will be going on in heaven when the church faces persecution.
When he does talk about the return of Jesus, the urgency is because we don't know when he will come – and in this John echoes Jesus' own words – “be ready because you do not know when the master will return.”

So, v3, you will be 'blessed' if you read, hear and keep these words – if you understand who God is, what he has done, what he is doing, what he will do, and how the devil is trying to thwart him but won't succeed – then you will be blessed – because you will be able to live in this troubled world at peace with God.

So this book is revelation, testimony & prophecy. But, v4, it's also a letter – John is writing to 7 churches in what is now western Turkey.
And so he greets them just as Paul does in his letters, read vv4b-5

The world has always, and will always, be fundamentally opposed to Christ, to Xns, to the church and to Xy.
So to pray that the church will enjoy the grace and peace of God-the-Ttrinity is more than a mere greeting – it's a real plea to God to supply these churches with the gifts, the unity and the confidence that he alone can give.

And immediately, John is reminding these Xns of the greatness of the God who will give them grace & peace: he is, he was, and he is to come.
This God is always present, always at work. There's no parliamentary recess in heaven, no six week summer holiday.

And before the throne of the eternal God are 7 spirits. This may refer to 7 separate spirits or angels, but for three reasons, I think John's referring to the HS:
First, 7 is the complete number – on the 7th day, creation is complete and God rests to enjoy the perfection of creation.
Second, reference to the Spirit is sandwiched between references to the Father and the Son.
And third, the Spirit is the source of grace and peace to the church every bit as much as the Father and the Son.
And the Son, v5, Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings on earth.

Once again, John refers to Jesus as the faithful witness – the one uniquely placed to reveal God.
But he doesn't only reveal – he also rescues and rules.
He is the first-born from the dead – the guarantee of the resurrection, and he is the ruler of the kings on earth.

This is really important for persecuted Xns – imagine trying to live as a Xn in N. Korea with Kim Jong-il as your president. Or in China under Hu Jintao.
To be reminded that Jesus rules over-above your evil king is really important. But it also raises questions – if Jesus rules, why doesn't he do something for his oppressed people?

That's a question this book will return to again and again, and we'll do well to listen carefully because tho' none of us really knows what it is to be persecuted, there's no doubt that life will continue to get harder & harder for Xns in Britain over the next few years.
University Student Unions will continue trying to impose their beliefs on Christian Unions; schools & government departments will insist that the only acceptable belief is atheism, and atheists will insist that their morality is the only acceptable morality.

So listen up – this book will reveal why you need not despair and why you must not give up when you are denounced as evil-doers.

So what is the reality for the Christian?
Where do we stand in relation to God and this world?
vv 5-7 give us a glorious overview of the eternal privileges of God's people – and notice how we benefit and at the same time God is glorified:
READ
The Xn privilege begins with Christ's love for us – a love which is demonstrated by Jesus buying us freedom from our sins with his blood.

The Bible is clear that every non-Xn is a slave to sin – they have no choice but to serve themselves and the devil.
But Jesus bought our freedom when he died on the cross, and we became his slaves – a slavery of perfect freedom because he is the perfect master who only desires that we fulfil our created potential.

And that potential was to be a kingdom – a kingdom of priests to God.
As priests, our lives are dedicated to serving and glorifying God – we do not exist for our nation, for our political masters or for our employers.
We are a kingdom of priests to God.
We are all in full-time priestly ministry – the glorious ministry of worshipping God.
Whether we spend our time at school, at work, at home, in retirement – we're all in full time ministry. There's not a moment of the day or night when we cease to be priests of God.

As John writes about God's astonishing act of love in redeeming people from slavery to sin and transforming them into holy priests, he bursts into praise: to him be glory and dominion for ever & ever. Amen


And as he remembers Christ reigning over all things, he remembers that one day he will return, Behold, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

Christ is returning – in unimaginable, brilliant glory.
There's no point in searching this book for details of when – we don't know when. Even Jesus himself said this was the one thing the Father had not told him – so how can we possibly know?
And when he comes, every eye will see him – there will be no escaping or hiding from his majesty – and everyone – from those who nailed him to the cross to the farthest tribe on earth – will wail – they will mourn because of their sins which nailed this glorious Christ to the cross.
And so we conclude with the reminder that God is the Alpha and the Omega.
He was there in the beginning and he will be there at the completion of all things.
He created this world and he will recreate this world.

Which raises the most fundamental question of this book and the most important question we will ever ask ourselves, 'Who will you be worshipping when Christ returns or when you die?'