When The Lamb Stands Series"The Revelation - Chapter 1" by Sharon L. Clemens

^^^^^^^* To see other postings from this series Click here only
                       * All scriptures within this study are linked to BibleGateway.com.

Personal Note: The burden of my heart is that in a time when the Church needs the hope of Christ's return, the organized church ignores Christ's Second Coming. Our Lord gave the book of The Revelation to the churches to be UNSEALED, and yet evangelical leaders are keeping it from their congregations against God's will and purpose. Satan does not want believers to be prepared for Christ's return. The Revelation unveils Christ in all His glory, which is why Satan is working so hard to HIDE or PERVERT its awesome truths. Join us in this study of The Revelation and the awesome unfolding of end times events "When The Lamb Stands."

    In our series, When The Lamb Stands, the time line of Christ's Second Coming is revealed through the study of the final book of the Bible, The Revelation. This book is GOD'S FINAL WORD TO MAN, which makes it of primary importance to believers. The Revelation prepares the church for the imminent return of Christ at the Rapture and it will be the handbook for survival for the remnant of believers who will come to Christ during the Tribulation. Genesis is the first book of the Bible: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...it was good," Genesis 1. In The Revelation, everything lost in Eden is regained. "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." [Revelation 21:1] The Revelation ends with the promise of creation's restoration, and it is good once again. What an awesome truth.

SIX STRIKING AND SINGULAR FEATURES OF THE REVELATION, J. Vernon McGee:

     1. Revelation is the only prophetic book in the New Testament. There are prophetic portions in the New Testament, but The Revelation is the only prophetic book, in comparison to 17 prophetic books in the Old Testament. The Old Testament prophecies are also keys to the interpretation of the symbols in The Revelation. If the symbols are not explained in the text itself, they are explained in another place in scripture.
     2. John, the inspired writer of The Revelation, reaches farther back into eternity past than any other Bible writer [John 1:1-3]; and he reaches farther on into eternity future in the book of Revelation.
     3. A special blessing is promised the reader of this book [Rev. 1:3], and a warning or curse is issued to those who tamper with its contents or edit them [Rev. 22:18, 19]. We are not to take the truth revealed in this book lightly.
     4. Revelation, by its very nature is NOT a sealed book [Rev. 22:10]. It's title literally means an "unveiling" [Greek, apocalypse]. This is a significant distinction because in the book of Daniel, 12:9, that prophet was told to seal his book "until the time of the end." The Revelation is to be unsealed because "the time is near" or at hand--next on God's time table.
     5. The book is also singular in that it is composed of a series of visions that are expressed in symbols. Although the message is expressed in symbols, the meaning of the symbols reveals a literal meaning. Symbols are a common method for prophetic scripture as they are a timeless method of revealing future truth.
     6. Dr. McGee likens The Revelation to "a great union station where the great trunk lines of prophecy come in from other portions of Scripture. Revelation does not originate but consummates." I liken The Revelation to the outside frame of a large jigsaw puzzle. The Old Testament prophecies and New Testament portions are keys to the interpretation of the symbols in The Revelation--like pieces of the puzzle that fit into the frame to reveal the BIG PICTURE of Christ's Second Coming.

    The Bible can be compared to a great epic novel, stretching from the first page of Genesis to the Revelation--a true story written by Almighty God. But it is not fiction; it is an autobiography of God Himself. His story is world history. God writes in the final chapter of His Word all He has yet to reveal to His children--answers to all outstanding questions, the fulfillment of all His promises to His people and the Trinity, and the restoration of His creation. All remaining prophecy is fulfilled and pronounced COMPLETE. How satisfying to see the will of God completed. Dr. McGee summarizes ten subjects that are completed in The Revelation:

TEN GREAT SUBJECTS OF PROPHECY FIND THEIR CONSUMMATION IN THE REVELATION:

     * The Lord Jesus Christ [Genesis 3:15] --Christ is fully revealed, in His deity. He is fully God and fully man.
     * The Church [Matt. 16:18] --The Church Age is charted in its course and completion.
     * The Resurrection and Translation of Saints [1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:51, 52]. -- The Rapture is the final day of the Church on earth.
     * The Great Tribulation [Deut. 4:30, 31].
     * Satan and Evil [Ez. 28:11-18]. Satan is defeated and sentenced to the eternal Lake of Fire. [Rev. 20:10]
     * The "Man of Sin" [Ez. 28:1-10]. Antichrist, Satan's final henchman, is revealed and defeated.
     * The Course and End of Apostate Christendom [Daniel 2:31-45; Matthew 13]. Professing Christianity is exposed; the weeds are separated from the wheat and burned [Matt. 24:31, 40-41]. Sharon's note: This judgment is not the Rapture; it is the separation of true believers from false believers at the end of the Tribulation. The Church Age ends before the Tribulation but false Christendom continues under the guise of the false One-world Church, the Babylonian Harlot of Rev. 17, during the Tribulation.
     * The Beginning, Course, and End of the "Times of the Gentiles" [Daniel 2:37; Luke 21:24]. Christ's earthly Kingdom will replace the kingdoms of this world.
     * The Second Coming of Christ [Jude 14, 15].
     * Israel's Covenants [Genesis 12:1-3], five things promised Israel. God's unconditional promises to Israel will be completely fulfilled in The Millennial Kingdom.

[Reveling Through Revelation, J. Vernon McGee. Thru The Bible Books, Pasadena, California, 1971, pp. 3-4]


Revelation 1:1 - "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..."

TITLE:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ," Rev. 1:1. Revelation contains its own title in the first verse. Verse one also defines the book's divine purpose. The Revelation is literally the REVEALING of Jesus Christ. All that remains to be completed in God's plan will be accomplished in the process of revealing Christ in the fullness of His deity. This book is also called The Vision of the Glorified Christ because Christ is revealed through a series of visions of His glory. BELIEVERS WILL LEARN INCREDIBLE THINGS ABOUT THEIR SAVIOR IN THE STUDY OF THIS BOOK. It is all about Him.

Revelation in the Greek is "apokalupsis," meaning "an uncovering," "an unveiling," or "a disclosure." In all its uses, "revelation" refers to something or someone, once hidden, now becoming visible. In our culture, we may say "I've had a revelation" when we finally "get " something that has been eluding us. So this book reveals or unveils Jesus Christ in the fullness of His deity and glory. [Ref. Philippians 2:6-11] At His first coming, Christ "made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men..." He came first as a servant; He will return to reign in all His glory--His glory which the disciples barely glimpsed on the Mt. of Transfiguration. "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." [John 1:14]

GLOOM & DOOM?
Many describe The Revelation only as a scary book describing the end of the world--the Apocalypse. This is also the reason many Christians avoid the book, out of misplaced-fear. Earlier translations of the Bible titled the book The Apocalypse, from the original Greek. Although judgments and the War of Armageddon are described in The Revelation, they are the vehicle God uses to restore the earth and usher in the Kingdom. But, because the book is not taught in its entirety, the word apocalypse has became synonymous only with doom and gloom. If the church were to teach the book in its plain, literal meaning, believers would learn that The Revelation describes a restoration of the fallen world to a New Heavens and New Earth ruled by The Prince of Peace.

THE UNVEILING OF CHRIST:
Christ, in His first coming, set aside His full glory for a time. A study of The Revelation and His Second Coming describes what it will be like to see Him completely unveiled. What a shock for those who ignore this book and the Second Coming--they are completely unprepared to meet Christ at His return. In Matthew 24:27-30, Christ describes in His own words the impact of His sudden appearance:
     * When He comes, He will appear as quickly and brightly as a lightning bolt breaking across the sky from east to west.
     * The very cosmos will show great signs and wonders at His appearance. The very sun in all its brightness will be darkened, symbolically shamed by the light of Christ's deity. The stars will fall from heaven and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
     * Then the Son of Man will come on the clouds of heaven "with power and great glory." Human words cannot do justice to the brilliance and visible power that will surround Him, but even a glimpse of it left James and John speechless and Peter babbling [Matt. 17:2]. "His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light."
     * The Gospels reveal Christ at His first coming in humiliation [Is. 53:3ff--He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.] Revelation reveals Him in His exaltation [Rev. 19:16--He returns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.]

Outline of His Exaltation:

     1. In blazing glory [vv. 7-20]
     2. Over His church, as its Lord [Chapters 2 and 3 of The Revelation]
     3. In His second coming, as He takes back the earth from the usurper, Satan, and establishes His kingdom [Chapters 4-20]
     4. As He lights up the eternal state [Chapters 21, 22].

The New Testament writers eagerly anticipate this unveiling of their Christ at His Second Coming [1 Cor. 1:7-; 1 Peter 1:7]. Hear Paul's stirring description of the ultimate rest of all believers at the Lord's return in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-10: "...and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed."

Notice that Paul condemns "those who do not obey the gospel..." The imminent return of Christ should fill all complacent, professing Christians with fear; and it should remind true believers that we are to be waiting, working and watching if we hope to hear "well done thou good and faithful servant."

We have barely opened this book; so much marvelous truth is yet to come. If this is your first study of The Revelation, get ready to see the fully-revealed Christ. May the study of this incredible book fill us all with a yearning for His return, a new understanding of the awesome God we worship, and an affirmation of the hope of deliverance we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

[THE REVELATION CHAPTER 1--CONTINUED NEXT TIME]

In Him We Wait, Work, and Watch,
[Luke 12:35-59]
Sharon

[Prophecy Chat is a weekly commentary of current events in light of Bible prophecy. Sharon L. Clemens is an evangelical, premillennial, dispensational teacher of eschatology. She can be reached for comment or questions by e-mail at farmgrove@frontier.com]