Well, take your Bible and turn to Revelation 1:1¬–3. As announced last week, we’re beginning a series of studies called Things to Come. We’re going to look at the doctrine of the last times. We’re going to see how God is going to wrap up the story of history in the coming of Jesus Christ. It’s going to be exciting, exhilarating, challenging. Some aspects are frightening, but if you and I are in the Lord Jesus Christ, there’s nothing but hope for us in that story.
I want to begin a two-part sermon I’ve entitled “Educating for the Future.” The Bible has a lot of prophecy, and God intends to educate you and me for the future. Maybe your workplace or your factory is educating you for the future. They’re helping you understand where industry is going, new skills you need to acquire. Well, the Bible is educating you for the future—your future, the world’s future, and the future that’s centered on Jesus Christ.
And so, this morning we’re going to answer a simple question: Why study prophecy? Why come each week and sit under this series? I want to begin by looking at Revelation 1:1–3. Let’s take time to read the text. You may remain seated, but follow along: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy.” Did you notice that? There’s blessing in reading and heeding words of prophecy. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
In his autobiography Just As I Am, Billy Graham talks about a conversation he had with John Kennedy in January of 1961. John Kennedy had just been elected president; in a few weeks, he would be inaugurated. He had invited Dr. Graham down to Florida for a round of golf. After they had played golf, they were driving back to the house when John Kennedy pulled the car over at the side of the road. And he posed this question to the evangelist. He said, “Billy, do you believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ?” Dr. Graham replied in the affirmative: “I most certainly do.” And then, for a period of time, he told him why he believed it and what he believed about the Second Coming. Then, John Kennedy asked Dr. Graham, “Does my church believe it?” John Kennedy was a Roman Catholic. “Does my church believe it? Does the Roman Catholic Church believe it?” Billy Graham replied, “Well, they have it in their creeds.” To which John Kennedy replied, “Well, they don’t preach it. They don’t tell us much about it. I’d like to know what you think.” And they went on to have a conversation about the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, in this story, we have for us illustrated a sad reality—that for too many Christians, the doctrine of the Second Coming is in our creeds, but it’s not in our consciousness. It’s something we say we believe, but it’s not necessarily something we live on a daily basis. It seems to me that the doctrine of the last things, which is called eschatology, has become a Cinderella doctrine. Cinderella was overlooked and underappreciated. And this doctrine is overlooked and underappreciated. Today, fewer and fewer Christians look for, live in the light of, and love the thought of Jesus’ return and His second act on planet earth. And yet, we should.
First Thessalonians 1:10 tells us that that church waited up for Jesus’ return. They lived on the tiptoe of expectancy. We read in Hebrews 9:28 that you and I ought to look for Him a second time, when He appears without relationship to the burden of bearing our sin. Second Timothy 4:8 tells us that there is a crown of righteousness for those who love His appearing, appreciate it, treasure it, hold it as dear. And yet fewer and fewer Christians live in the light of it, love the thought of it, look each day for it.
What was true with regards to King David at the end of Absalom’s rebellion is now true of King Jesus within His church. Second Samuel 19:10 says no one speaks of bringing back the king. And we ought to. We ought be talking often about “the King is coming.” The early church’s watchword was “Maranatha.” When a Christian met another Christian in the first century, they would say to each other, “Maranatha,” “He comes” (1 Cor. 16:22). That was a watchword among them. And our lacking interest in the Second Coming would seem to them like a form of apostasy. A church, a Christian that doesn’t live on the tiptoe of expectancy? There’s a lack of interest, it seems, in prophecy today, in things to come.
I think there are several factors to that. I could preach a whole sermon in this. But if I was going to just run down them, I would say, first of all, it’s because pastors are failing to preach the whole counsel of God. They take sections or slivers of God’s Word. They don’t preach the whole counsel of God. And if you’re going to preach the whole counsel of God, you can’t avoid the topic of prophecy;
25% of the Bible is predictive.
In fact, one of the books I’ve been using in my study is a wonderful little book on The Last and Future World by James Montgomery Boice. In this little book (it’s out of print now), he talks about his misgivings on preaching on prophecy. The book is a representation of a series of sermons he gave at Tenth Presbyterian. But he realized he must preach on it, and the first reason he gave was this: “First, for anyone who has determined, as I have, to explore the whole counsel of God by means of a thorough exposition of the Bible, it is impossible to avoid prophecy, for the Bible is full of it.” Pastors are failing to preach the whole counsel of God.
Secondly, I think people are staying and steering away from prophecy because they believe it’s divisive. They’ve maybe been part of ugly conversations about it, and they have concluded that it generates too much conflict. Well, we certainly should have discussions about this subject with grace and gentleness among each other. But, my answer to that would be, what doctrine of importance in the Bible doesn’t have controversy and conflict attached to it? If you’re going to use that measure to avoid eschatology, you’re going to have to avoid issues of bibliology and soteriology and so on.
Number three, people have been jaded by preachers who cried wolf. I think this may be one of the biggest ones. Maybe you can remember a sermon you heard in a bygone year where some preacher in some sensationalist manner pointed to this person or this event and said it was the direct fulfillment of this prophecy. And they got everybody fired up about Jesus’ imminent return. They cried wolf one too many times. You know the little story of the boy who cried wolf, right? The shepherd boy decided to play with his family and his friends, and he would run home crying wolf, that the wolf is coming to eat his little flock. Everybody would run out to help him only to find that he was only joking. He was laughing at their expense. But there came a day when the wolf did come. Then, he cried wolf, and nobody took him seriously. I think, sadly, prophecy has suffered from the “cry wolf” syndrome, where there’s been too many predictions made. You know, 88 Reasons Why the Rapture is in 1988. The author should write about 89 reasons why it was wrong. But you get the point.
And then, another reason I would say is this: as a lover of Reformed theology, a majority within the Reformed school would embrace what I would call realized eschatology. Their view of eschatology either being post-millennial or especially amillennial—or a replacement theology where the church today has inherited all the promises given to Abraham and has replaced Israel. That shortens the field. You don’t need, really, to be studying Isaiah and Zechariah and all the great prophecies of the Old Testament, because now they’ve been realized spiritually in the church. And so, your understanding of prophecy shrinks, and with it an interest in prophecy, where things become simpler and shorter. I could say a lot more about that. And I might, within this series, deal with the issue of replacement theology.
And then, finally, why this lack of interest in things to come? Could it be, brothers and sisters, that we have fallen in love with this present world? Are we becoming a disciple of Demas more than a disciple of Jesus—where materialism and worldliness marks us and drives us and defines us, and we live for the things that are seen rather than the things that are unseen? I hope that’s not true.
I think those are some reasons, some contributing factors, as to why we’re seeing a diminished interest in prophecy. But let me say this. While there’s an increased lack of interest in prophecy on the part of the contemporary church, there was no lack of interest on the part of the first century church and the biblical writers. They were happy, from Genesis to Revelation, to tell of the fact that He is coming. That’s the Old Testament. He has come; that’s the Gospels and a lot of the epistles. And He is coming again; that’s the book of Revelation. They were happy to talk about how He is coming, He has come, He is coming again.
The chalice of Holy Scripture is a cup running over with references to the future. The Bible is brimming over with details on the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. For the Bible, the second coming of Jesus is a big deal. For the Bible, prophecy is a big deal. When people ask me, “Why do you love prophecy?” My answer is, “Because I love the Bible. The Bible is chock-full of prophetic truth that wasn’t exhausted in the first coming of Jesus.” Listen to these statistics. I gleaned these from an early book by John MacArthur. Prophecy occupies one-fifth of Scripture, and the Second Coming occupies one-third of the one-fifth. Of the 333 prophecies concerning Christ, only 109 of them were fulfilled in His first coming, leaving 224 yet to be fulfilled in the Second Coming. Of the 46 Old Testament prophets, less than 10 of them spoke of the events of Christ’s first coming, while 36 of them spoke of events connected with the Second Coming.
“Next to the subject of faith, the subject of the second coming is the most dominant subject in the New Testament. For every time in the Bible the first coming is mentioned, the second coming is mentioned eight times.” Now, bear that in mind as we approach Christmas and rejoice in the Word being made flesh. But for every time the Bible anticipates the first coming, there are eight more references to the Second Coming. Are you picking up a theme here? Important. Prominent. John goes on: “For every time the atonement is mentioned . . .” Let’s just pause. We love the atonement—the shed blood of Jesus, the substitutionary death of Jesus, the cross, the giving of Himself as a sacrifice for sin. But “for every time the atonement is mentioned once, the second coming is mentioned twice.”
I hear a lot about being Christ-centered and cross-centered. Let’s be Second-Coming-centered. The Lord Jesus refers to His return 21 times. Men are exhorted to be ready for the return of Jesus over 50 times. That’s striking, isn’t it? Something we should take to heart?
A pastor was talking to a seminary professor, and the subject of the Second Coming came around. And the pastor, unembarrassed, said to the professor, “I don’t preach much on the Second Coming. I find it distracts people from present life.” The professor looked at him and said, “Well, if you read the Bible, there’s a lot of distraction.” It doesn’t distract. It animates. It thrills. It drives us forward.
So, this morning and next Sunday morning, I want us to expand Revelation 1:1–3, because here we see a call to study prophecy, to heed it, to live it, and to be blessed by the reading, studying, and living of it. A message I’ve called “Educating for the Future.” The Bible is constantly educating us about the future and for the future.
Now, let’s put the text in its context ever so briefly. The date is AD 95. The context is John’s exile to the Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea. He’s been exiled there under the reign of Domitian, who followed Nero. And the church is enduring another wave of brutal persecution. He’s been exiled because he acknowledges that Jesus is Lord, not Caesar.
In fact, Revelation 1:9 tells us what I’ve just said: “I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The occasion was an unveiling, a revealing of Jesus in all His resurrected glory and His promised return as King. A Revelation was given to John about that. He describes it as the Word of God, the testimony of Jesus. He describes it in verse 1 as a “Revelation,” an unveiling of the triumphant Lord Jesus who’s coming back as King.
We see in chapter 19 and chapter 20 His return and His reign on planet earth. The prophecy of revelation, the Word of God, as we find it in this Revelation, is a reminder that Jesus is very much alive, and He exercises authority over death and hell. And someday that lordship will be manifest fully within human history. Remember how John encounters Him? We read in chapter 1:17, “I fell at His feet as dead.” He told me not to be afraid. He told me He’s “the First and the Last.” He told me He’s alive. He’s alive forever, and He has the keys, which is a symbol of authority over hell and death. And that’s not been manifest fully. We know that to be true, and we have experienced some of that reality in every generation. But someday within human history, God will reveal the glory of His Son. That’s what Revelation is all about: the coming of the King in all His glory, the things that will happen hereafter.
Look, the key to this book is in verse 19 of chapter 1: “Write the things which you have seen.” That’s John’s encounter with Jesus, risen and radiant, in chapter 1. “The things which are.” That’s His writing to the church in Asia Minor in chapters 2 and 3. And Jesus is surveying and auditing His church and exercising lordship over it, and then the things which must take place after this, the things that lead up to the return of the King.
What’s the purpose of the book? It’s to encourage the suffering saints of Asia minor and the church at large. Remember, it’s AD 95. Domitian is turning the thumbscrew. Saints are suffering. Some are being martyred. Some are losing their wealth and their health, and they’re now being encouraged by this vision of the age to come. The doctrine of things to come reminded them that they would eventually come out on the winning side.
That’s the thesis of Revelation. Whatever you’re going through, whatever price you pay as a disciple of Jesus Christ, when it’s all said and done—when Jesus comes and eternity dawn—you will come out on the winning side. Or, to use the words of the old hymn, “It will be worth it all when we see Jesus.”
If we were to take a couple of verses and put them over the top of the book of Revelation, I would think of 2 Corinthians 4:16–18: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
If you go to the book of Revelation, you’ll see this oscillating from heaven to earth, from heaven to earth—visions of heaven, visions of earth. Because, whatever’s going on on earth, we must not lose sight of the God who is in heaven, who’s sovereign, and His Son who’s getting ready to come. That’s the thesis of the book of Revelation.
Another verse would be Romans 8:18: Remember that your present suffering is not to be compared to the glory that is to come.
I’ve spoken of my admiration for Margaret Thatcher. She was prime minister in the UK when I lived there. I loved her strength. I loved her wisdom. I loved her politics. And she’s famous for this statement: “I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my way in the end.” And that’s what Revelation really is saying to the church. Right now, you’re in the church age. The world is under the sway of the evil one. Wicked men and dictators will pummel the people of God. Society will collapse all around you. And towards the end, a man will rise—a man of sin, who will epitomize the age of sin. And, as the church goes through suffering, the church can be extraordinarily patient. Saints can persevere. They can endure the worst of times, knowing that the best of times are to come. And, in the end, we come out on the winning side.
Because, you know that story about the janitor who’s sitting reading his Bible as some seminarians are playing a little bit of pickup basketball in a gym that a nearby school allowed them to use after class. And, as they’re leaving the gym, they notice the janitor’s reading the Bible. As seminarians, that piques their interest. They say to him, “Well, what are you reading?” And he says, “I’m reading the book of Revelation.” They understood, as seminarians, that not everything about the book of Revelation is that easy to understand. One of them said, “Well, sir, do you understand it?” And he said, “Oh, I do understand it.” The seminarian said, “Well that’s interesting. What do you think it means?” And he said, “Well, here’s what I understand it to mean. In the end, we win.”
Basically, you can take the 22 chapters of Revelation and boil it down to that. In the end, Jesus wins. And, if we are with Jesus and in Jesus, we win. That’s the carrot on the end of the stick that keeps us going.
Now, for the sake of time, let’s jump in. We’ll cover some of this this morning and pick the rest up next Sunday morning. Three things I want us to see. (1) The person of the prophecy. Remember, Revelation is a word of prophecy for the most part. It’s not historic for the most part, which should rule out the historicist view. It’s prophecy; it’s history before history happens. It’s future history told presently.
We’re going to look at the person of prophecy. We’re going to look at the press of prophecy. And we’re going to look at the profit of prophecy. We’ll get a good bit into it, and we’ll pick it up next week.
Notice the first thought. This is so good, so helpful, so important as we embark on this extended series on the end times and the things to come. You’ll notice from Revelation 1:1 who the person of prophecy is. It’s Jesus. “The Revelation of Jesus.” That’s how it begins. In verse 2, it talks about “the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Don’t miss a simple point. The book of Revelation, which is a word of prophecy—and therefore I would attach this to all prophecy. . . The book of Revelation is about Jesus risen, radiant, and returning. We see Him at the center of the church’s life as He walks amid the candlesticks. We see Him worshiped and feared in heaven. We see Him judging the earth during the time of Tribulation, as the wrath of the Lamb is poured out on unbelievers. We see Him taking the title deed of the earth in chapter 5 and returning in power and glory to return the earth to its former glory.
You see Him as prophet, priest, and King. In chapters 2 to 3, he’s prophet. He’s walking amidst the churches. He’s addressing each church individually in a letter. In chapters 4 and 5, He’s priest; He’s our great priest. He’s passed through the heavens for us. He’s not only priest; He’s sacrifice. The hosts of heaven worship the Lamb and the blood that He shed and the redemption that He made. In chapters 6 through 19, He’s King. And He’s going to pour His wrath out on a rebellion on planet earth. And then, as King, He’s going to return and establish His rule and vanquish His foes, and He’s going to exalt His friends.
Everything about Revelation is lifting us to a higher view of Jesus. Of all the personalities—nations, Jew and Gentile, man of sin, devil, false prophet—that are introduced to us in this prophecy, make sure that Jesus reigns supreme in your thinking. This is a book by and of the Lord Jesus Christ.
In fact, let me just spend a little bit of time quickly on the word “revelation.” This is the Greek word “apocalypses,” which gives us our word “apocalypse.” It means “to unveil, to bare, to uncover.” And that’s what the book of Revelation is. It’s giving us an unveiled Christ. It’s uncovering His glory and His power, aspects of which were hidden during His incarnation. Now He’s returned to the glory that was hidden while He was on earth. And we’re seeing Jesus risen, radiant, and someday returning.
The word “revelation” means “unveiling.” Imagine a town or a city that commissions a sculptor or an artist to perhaps make a statue of a figure who was born in that town who became famous. And so, the sculptor gets to work, and the statue is made. And there comes the day when it is revealed. There’s the revelation. Usually, if you’ve been at one of those, the statue’s covered in a drape or surrounded by a curtain. There’ll come a moment when someone will talk about why it was made and about the person being celebrated. And then, a string is pulled, and the drape falls. And the statue is apocalypses, revealed, unveiled. That’s what this book is all about. It’s an unveiling of Jesus and all His power and glory and might. It’s updating our worship.
The primary purpose of the book of Revelation is not to paint a picture of the last days—although it does that in great detail. Its main and plain focus is the majesty and might of Jesus. I love what David Jeremiah says about the book of Revelation: “The book [of Revelation] is neither a puzzle nor an enigma but a disclosure of who Jesus is.” I like what the New Living Translation says of Revelation 19:10: “The essence of prophecy is to give a clear witness for Jesus.”
That’s why I find that the statement of Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, shocking. He didn’t particularly like the book of Revelation. He said this: “My spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. There is one sufficient reason for the small esteem in which I hold it—that Christ is neither taught nor recognized.” Martin, did you miss the class on the book of Revelation? It’s an apocalypses. It’s an unveiling of Jesus: prophet, priest, and King. He’s the supreme figure in the book. It’s about His glory. Kind of an amazing statement. Just want to remind us that all great men have blind spots.
Now, here’s the thought, too—and we’ll move towards closing this thought and getting to the second thought. When I read the book of Revelation, Christ is the prophet (Rev. 2–3), the high priest and sacrifice being worshiped in heaven (chs. 4–5), and the King pouring out His wrath on earth (chs. 6–19) and returning as King to establish His kingdom (chs. 19–20).
This is not the Christ of the first coming we’re encountering in the book of Revelation. This is not the Christ who veiled His glory. This is not the Christ who came to serve and not be served. This is not the Christ who became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. I like what Paul Mallard, a British Baptist, says: “He is no longer the helpless baby in the Christmas card manger scene or the tortured figure on a cross. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, the mighty warrior who is reigning now and will one day bring in the new heavens and new earth.”
See, it’s inconceivable, isn’t it? Jesus must return, and He must return in power and glory, the power and glory we see in the book of Revelation. Because, it’s inconceivable that the last sight and scene that the world will have of Jesus is hanging on a cross, misunderstood, mocked. Remember, “had they known”—and they didn’t—“they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” That’s Paul’s argument in 1 Corinthians 2:8. It’s inconceivable that the last public view the world will have of Christ is mocked, bleeding, naked, and a supposed crucified criminal. Now He must reappear. He must come back. He must come back in power and glory.
Hebrews 9:28 tells us that to those who look for Him, He will appear a second time unto salvation—notice—without sin. What does that mean, “without sin”? Not in relation to sin bearing. He’s not coming as Savior, in that sense. He’s not coming as He did the first time, to lay down His life in sacrifice. He’s coming as King the next time, as Judge the next time. And you know what? First time, He stood before Pilate; second time, Pilate will stand before Him. First time, He was crowned with thorns; second time, He’ll be crowned with power and glory. That must happen. That’s what Revelation teaches us.
Look at verse 7 of chapter 1: “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” That’s glory. That’s power. That’s dominion. That’s kingdom, which we’re praying for, right, according to Jesus in Matthew 6. The Lord Jesus is the person of prophecy. Let us make sure our love of prophecy is born out of a love for Him—because this book, which is the premier book on biblical prophecy, is about Him. It’s the unveiling of Jesus Christ in power and glory.
Let’s be challenged by 2 Timothy 4:8, where Paul says, I’m going to be with the Lord, and I’m looking forward to a crown of righteousness, which He will give to me. But not only to me, but to all who love—not the appearing and the things surrounding the appearing—but His appearing. Do you know why we love prophecy? Because Jesus is at the center of it. Do you know why we’re looking forward to the Second Coming? Because it’s Jesus that’s coming a second time, the One who loved us and gave Himself for us.
Some years ago, I wrote this in a sermon on this passage. If you think about the Antichrist when you think of the book of Revelation, you’ve missed the message. When you think about the beast and not the wounds of the Lamb, who ought to be worshiped, you’ve missed the message. If you think about the one-world government that’s coming and the mark of the beast and not the reign of Jesus at the end of history, you’ve missed the message. Despite all the personalities that are found in this book, one stands supreme: the Lord Jesus. The book of Revelation is not a curiosity shot for prophecy buffs. The book of Revelation, along with all prophecy, is a cathedral for Christ worshipers.
Let me make this analogy. Adrian Rogers, the old Southern Baptist preacher, says imagine you’re at a train station. On one hand, you cast your eye, and you see the station master up in that elevated office. He’s poring over the timetable of trains departing and arriving. He wants to make sure everything’s on time. In fact, he’s been so long at the job that he’s memorized the timetable back to front. He knows when such and such a train is arriving and departing. But then, you cast your eye along the platform, and there stands a young woman. You can tell she’s eagerly waiting for someone on the next train. If you were to inquire, you’d learn that in fact, she’s waiting for her boyfriend, her fiancé, who’s been off to war. And he’s due back on the next train. She stands there in great excitement. And Adrian Rogers says, you know what? When it comes to the study of prophecy, we can be too much like the station master poring over prophetic timetables and so unlike the girl waiting for her bridegroom.
Brothers, we’ll come to understand the timetable. And we won’t shy away from understanding the biblical plan for human history. But you know what? We just want to know what time the train’s arriving because Jesus is on it, the One who loved us and does love us and will love us forever.
What about the press of prophecy? I’m not covering half as much as I did in the first service. They’re going to listen to the second service message and go, “What happened?” The press of prophecy. What comes next in life is always pressing, right? You know what’s due tomorrow. I don’t know what that is. Is it a paper? Is it an appointment? Is it a medical procedure? Whatever. Whatever comes next in life is always pressing. We’re always thinking about it. We’re adjusting our schedule to meet it. And what’s true of life is true of eternal life. What comes next in God’s great redemptive plan should mold our thinking and form our action.
And, according to Revelation 1:3, the next thing to happen is the return of Jesus. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” That is the “time” that brings us to Revelation 19:20, when Jesus returns and sets up His kingdom. He vanquishes His enemies, and He exalts His friends. The word “time” here is not the word chronos, which means “linear time, the next moment.” It’s kairos. We’ve talked about this before. Kairos is “a significant moment within time that shapes things dramatically.”
So, the word “time” here in verse 3 speaks of a season, an epoch, an era. Jesus’ return is the next great event on God’s calendar. And there’s nothing stopping it from happening. It is near from the standpoint of the prophetic timetable, in that it’s next. The time is near in the sense that what’s going to happen next is Jesus is going to come—which means it’s near because there’s nothing big going to happen from His ascension and the coming of the Holy Spirit to His coming again for His people.
In fact, I’m going to let Wayne Grudem, addressing 1 Peter 4:7, say it better than I can. Because in 1 Peter 4:7, Peter talks about all things are at hand, or the end is near. Grudem says this: “All the major events in God’s plan of redemption have occurred, and now all things are ready for Christ to return and rule. Rather than thinking of world history in terms of earthly kings and kingdoms, Peter thinks in terms of ‘redemptive history.’ From that perspective all the previous acts in the drama of redemption have been completed—creation, fall, the call of Abraham, the exodus from Egypt, the kingdom of Israel, the exile in Babylon and the return, the birth of Christ, his life, death and resurrection, his ascension into heaven, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit to establish the church.” Those are all massive epochs in the redemptive story. What’s the next big one? Jesus’ return.
So, it’s near in the sense of “next.” And we need to feel the press of that. In fact, that’s reinforced in verse 1: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants—things which must shortly take place.” Now, there’s a debate, and I could go, in a sense, either way—although I lean in one direction. Some argue that this word “shortly” means quick. So, if we, as I would, press most of the book of Revelation into the last seven years of human history: the Tribulation and the three and a half years of Great Tribulation, the rise of the Antichrist, and all of that. When those events unfold, they’re going to happen quickly.
In fact, the conjunction “and” is used a lot in the book of Revelation. And this happened, and this happened, and this happened. This led to this, which led to this. It’s not cyclical; it’s linear. And when these events unfold, they’re going to happen quickly, as Jesus returns. But the consistent use of the word means just “soon,” something that could happen very soon in terms of just time. That’s how it’s used in chapter 2:5 and 16, chapter 3:11, chapter 22:12. Jesus says, “I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me.”
And then, we could add to that Revelation 1:7; did you notice: “Behold, He is coming”? That’s in the present tense, which carries the idea that He’s already on His way. The coming is so certain it’s as good as done. It’s next. It’s imminent. In a sense, it’s almost as if it’s already in process.
And so, let’s apply that to you and me. Near, soon: That’s what the Second Coming is. The events of the book of Revelation: near and soon. Just in terms of the big chunks of God’s plan of redemption, starting in Genesis and finishing in Revelation, it’s next. Jesus came, died, rose. The Spirit has come. The church has been established. What’s next, in terms of something that’s historic? It’s Jesus’ coming and the events that lead up to it. So, you and I ought to be living with a certain anticipation. We should be living as if Jesus died yesterday, rose today, and is coming back tomorrow.
I love 1 Thessalonians 1:10. It says that they waited for God’s Son from heaven. The Greek word is they “waited up.” They were on the tiptoes of expectancy. Anticipation’s a wonderful thing. It’s always good to have something to anticipate, especially if it’s good. But anticipation is the secret to hope. It’s the key to mental health and moral action. Whether it’s finishing a medical treatment, taking a long-planned trip, or awaiting the birth of a baby, the planned graduation, or the next milestone—we need a future event to keep us going. And the press of prophecy ought to do that in your life and in my life.
John’s the author of the book of Revelation. In his Gospel, he tells us to believe. “These [things] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31). He writes several epistles. In his first epistle or letter, he says, “Be sure.” 1 John 5:13: “These things I have written . . . that you may know that you have eternal life.” So believe, and then come to a place of assurance about that belief. And then, in his Revelation he writes, in Revelation 22:20, about the Lord Jesus Christ, that He comes quickly and His reward is with Him to give to every man according to his works. And his message is: be ready. Believe and be sure about your life in Jesus Christ, and be ready for His return.
When I was at Trinity pursuing a doctorate, I sat under a wonderful man of God in one of the classes by the name of David Larsen. He’s written many books on preaching and a wonderful few books on prophecy. He was part of the Swedish Covenant Churches in Wisconsin and Minnesota. And he tells the story of his little granddaughter who, unlike a lot of kids, couldn’t wait to go to school. And the first day she was to go to school as a little girl came. The days and weeks prior to that, all she’d talked about was, “When is school coming?” and, “Mommy, I want to go to school,” and, “I can’t wait to go to school.” And she loved going out to the shops and getting some pencils and paper and a backpack and all of that.
She couldn’t sleep hardly the night before, and she was up early that morning, dressed with her backpack. For a moment, they couldn’t find her, until they went outside and found her standing in the driveway, all ready, with about 45 minutes to go until the bus arrived. They brought her back in for a little bit of breakfast. Eventually, she’d come out, and the bus arrived. She went bounding onto the bus, and everybody waved her goodbye. And she was happy. As everybody turned to go back into the house, Dr. Larsen told us, “I stood there, and I gazed to heaven. And I said, ‘Oh Lord, give me that kind of anticipation, that kind of joy, that kind of looking forward to with regards to your coming.’”
Let’s start for a few minutes on what I call the profit of prophecy. I covered two points here. I’m only going to cover one in this service. I’ll remind myself to go for point three in the first service next week and point two in the second service.
But what about the profitability of prophecy? Look at verse 3. I mean, we haven’t done a deep dive into these three verses. We’re taking the big points. And here’s a big point. Verse 3: “Blessed . . .” Stop. Blessed. Revelation’s not a burden; it’s a blessing. “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.”
This is the only book in the Bible that promises you a blessing if you’ll read it. In fact, there’s seven other beatitudes in the book of Revelation. You go and find them. But here’s the promise of a blessing. The word “read” is in the singular, and the word “receive” or “heed” or “hear” is in the plural, which would tell us either a pastor read this to the church or a reader read this to the church, and then the whole church heard it. As they heard it, they were blessed in the hearing of it and in the doing of it. Remember, there were very little copies of God’s Word, and most of the early church was illiterate. So someone read it to them because they couldn’t read it themselves.
And then, as they heard—can you imagine—under Domitian, he’s turning the heat up on the church. You’re going to pay a cost if you say, “Jesus is Lord.” But here they’re reminded He is Lord, and someday He’ll prove it. They need to endure until that moment. They need to look at their present suffering and realize it can’t be compared to the glory that’s coming when He comes in glory. This is a book that’s meant to be read, a book that’s meant to be understood, and a book that’s a blessing. Hold on a minute. How many times have you heard someone say, “I find the book of Revelation very confusing”? Well, it’s meant to remove confusion, and it’s meant to be a blessing.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones says something, I think, very appropriate: “Revelation was written in order that God’s people who were passing through terrible persecutions and terrible adversary might still be able to go on rejoicing. It is a book that showed them the ultimate victory of the Lord over Satan and all the other forces. . . . It was written for men and women who had been in trouble, and it was meant to help them, not some people who were to live about two thousand years later. . . . if your understanding of the Book of Revelation does not help you rejoice, you are misunderstanding it.”
I want to give eight or nine reasons why prophecy’s profitable. Just one, and we’ll wrap this up. It preaches God’s sovereignty. That’s the first profit. That’s the first blessing. It preaches God’s sovereignty. See, Ephesians 1:11 tells us that God is working all things after the counsel of His own will. Whatever’s going on in the world, good or bad, God has decreed it, permitted it, but He’s certainly in charge of it. We see that in the story of Joseph, and we see that in the death of Jesus. If we look back in the past, the worst moment in human history—the murder of God’s own Son¬—lays the ground for a glorious future that has no end. God is sovereign.
Notice the language of chapter 1 and verse 1: “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which”—notice—“must . . .” That’s a very interesting little word. Don’t miss it. “. . . must shortly take place.” There’s no happenstance in history. That which happens happens under God’s government. And what God has decreed to happen will happen. Nothing will stop it from happening.
I’ve got to squeeze this in; I know that time’s gone. Isaiah 46:9–10. Let me read them to you. This is the God we worship. This is the God that authored the book of Revelation. This is the God we find in the book of Revelation.
“Remember the former things of old,
For I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like Me,
Declaring the end from the beginning,
And from ancient times things that are not yet done,
Saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
And I will do all My pleasure.’”
All that God has described in the book of Revelation, all that God promises in the book of Revelation, will come to pass. In fact, look at chapter 1 and verse 5 of Revelation: “From Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead”—notice—“and the ruler over the kings of the earth.” This whole book is about sovereignty. We move from what John has seen and beyond the things that are to the things that will happen hereafter, a panorama of future events leading up to Jesus Christ¬—things that will happen in short succession. Did you notice chapter 4 and verse 1 and how it begins: “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven.” A throne occupied.
Now, at times, in your personal life and as we look out in our country and across the nations—from the war in Russia and the war in the Middle East to our brother being slaughtered in North Korea, famine in Africa, slave trade, sex slave trades all around the world, crime in our streets—it looks, doesn’t it, like God got up from His throne and took a break. But no. No. There’s a throne, and there’s someone sitting on it. And He’s in the process of coming to establish His own kingdom, and He will sovereignly work it out.
Thomas Schreiner, in a magisterial commentary on Revelation, says this: “The word . . . could be translated as ‘must,’ emphasizing that future events will take place according to God’s plan and purposes. History is rushing to its consummation, and life on earth isn’t spinning out of God’s control.” Amen. Will you remember that tomorrow, especially when you watch the news? Life is not spinning out of control. I’m not saying it’s not horrible. I’m not saying I would want to be living someone’s experience today, because some of it’s horrifying. But, in the scheme of things, everything’s on track. God’s purpose is unfolding. The next big chapter: Jesus and His coming kingdom. That’s why we pray, “Lord, Your kingdom come.”
That’s what kept Solzhenitsyn and his fellow prisoners alive in the imprisonment in Russia. I remember hearing Al Mohler tell a story at the Compass Bible Church about how he read that they would whisper often under their breath, as they were being beaten or pushed back bloody into their cells, “Thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come.” Because it’s coming. And the ugliness will pass. And the rebellion will stop. And Jesus will be glorified.
We’ve said it before. Things are not falling apart. They’re falling into place. Things will get worse before they get better. That’s what the book of Revelation teaches. But it does teach they will get better. In the end, we win. In fact, in the book of Revelation, everything comes full circle. The things that we lost in Genesis 1 through 3 are found again in Revelation 21:22. Death enters; it’s removed. The ground is cursed; there’s no curse. Man is removed from the garden and the tree of life; he’s now found in God’s presence, and the tree of life is there for the nations, to heal them. It’s all going to come full circle because Jesus is Alpha and Omega (v. 8). He’s the beginning and the ending. In fact, He was promised in Genesis 3:15, especially as it relates to His first coming and bruising Satan’s head, crushing it. And now in Revelation, He’s promised again to come in power and glory. And what Adam forfeited, the last Adam will give us back. That’s so encouraging.
Everybody’s talking about Napoleon, it seems, at the moment because of some big movie that’s coming out. But if you look at the life of Napoleon . . . I don’t know if this will come out in the movie. More than likely not; it’s too theological. God rules in the affairs of men. Napoleon, at the height of his career, is reported to have given this cynical answer to someone who asked him if God was on the side of France. He said, “God is on the side with those with the biggest cannons.” Then came Waterloo and his defeat and his demise. Years later, in exile on the island of St. Helena, chastened and humbled, it is reported that he quoted Thomas à Kempis. He said, “Man proposes, but God disposes.” You’re going to hear a lot of pontification from men. There’s coming a future man of sin who’s going to boast a lot. Man proposes, but God disposes. When Jesus comes, righteousness will reign, wickedness will be punished, and our end will be a happy ending.
Lord, we thank You for our beginning to study that which is such a prominent truth in Your Bible: prophecy, the coming of Jesus, the events that lead up to that, the destiny of the wicked, the destiny of the righteous, the rewards of those that disobey, the rewards of those who do obey, the passing of this material world, and the establishment of a new world patterned after Your righteousness. These are massive truths, glorious realities, and we pray that they would shape our lives.
Lord, prophecy’s not a sedative. It’s not an escape hatch. It fortifies us for some tough living—reminds us that we can be extraordinarily patient and persevering because we’ll get our way in the end. Every sacrifice we make, every barb we endure, every wound we suffer, every ostracization we encounter because of our commitment to Jesus Christ will be rewarded. Like the little fellow who suffered a lot and asked what he thought about God allowing it said, “He’s got all of eternity to make it up to me.” And so You do. So, help us to look for His appearing and to love His appearing—because we love the One who appeared for us and put away our sin. And someday He’s going to reappear and glorify us and take us to a place where there is no sin and there is no suffering and there is no death. Help us to live this day for that day. In Jesus’ name. Amen.