Sermon Series: Revelation 1-3 – Evaluate, Change, and Restore

The Unveiling Begins

Revelation 1:1-8

PSBC 2/4/01

In a nutshell: This is an introduction to what God wanted to show John by unveiling the work of Jesus in His church, right now; by unveiling the common problems of all churches at all times in their inability to further the Kingdom of God; and by unveiling what will happen when Jesus returns to earth.

I. Introduction

A. Daimler Chrysler cutting 26,000 jobs

I'm always excited to begin a new sermon series, like we are today. This morning we're beginning a new series on the book of Revelation, chapters 1,2 and 3. I've known for almost 6 months that I would be preaching this series, but the hardest thing has been trying to come up with a title for it. For me, coming up with a title for my messages is always harder than preparing them. Well, anyway, I just couldn't come up with a good and descriptive title, until this past Monday.

This past Monday, we heard that Daimler Chrysler was going to be cutting 26,000 jobs from its Chrysler division over the next 3 years. Plus it plans to close six manufacturing plants between now and 2002.

The newspaper article I read said that these cuts, which represent about a 20% reduction in Chrysler's worldwide work force, came as a result of serious evaluation by the company's leadership. The executives looked at the recent poor sales figures and a lack of profitability in the Chrysler division and decided some changes needed to be made. In fact, the chairman of Daimler Chrysler said, "To be competitive, the Chrysler Group needs to change and become a more nimble company. Along with their exciting products, this will restore a sound basis for future growth." (Chairman, Dieter Zetsche).

B. Three words hit me

Three words grabbed me in that newspaper article. If Chrysler wants to remain effective in the automobile market, they have to evaluate, change and hope that the changes they make will restore them to a position of effectiveness in the automobile market.

And then it hit me. That's exactly what's happening in Revelation 1,2 and 3. This is God's plan for His church, to Evaluate, Change, and Restore itself to effectiveness in doing God's Kingdom work.

C. Outline of Revelation

The book of Revelation is divided into three main sections.
-The first section is the first chapter. This is an introduction to the Lord of the church, Jesus Christ, Himself.
-The second section goes from chapter 2 thru chapter 3. This is an honest description of the church of Jesus Christ in general, from the first century, right down to our present day. It's there as an evaluation guide for restoring effectiveness in doing God's Kingdom work on earth.
-The final section begins at chapter 4. It focuses on what goes on in heaven and on earth, after the church has done the job God had for it, and it is removed to be with Him. From chapter 4 on, the church is never mentioned.

But my experience with most Christian people is that they are anxious to study Revelation, starting at chapter 4, where all the future stuff is talked about (I saw a lot of your eyes getting big with excitement when I said we were going to start a series on Revelation!)–But the church isn't involved in any of that stuff. It's good to know, but you need to understand that if you're only interested in the future stuff, that defeats the purpose of God giving you this Revelation.

I'm convinced that you and I should be most interested in the first three chapters, because that's what concerns us directly. In reality, the first three chapters are there to help every church, since the first century, evaluate, change and restore its effectiveness in doing God's Kingdom work, so chapters 4 thru 22 can take place, in God's time, in the future.

I love what Eugene Peterson says in his commentary on Revelation, called: Reversed Thunder. (Front of bulletins)

"The intent of Revelation is not to inform us about God but to involve us in God."

A church involved in itself... that is, going its own direction, telling God what it wants to do, and not paying attention to God's directives..., is a church of little effectiveness in doing God's Kingdom work.

But a church involved in a relationship with God...–doing church, God's way–listening to what God wants it to do, and heeding God's directives..., will be a church of great effectiveness in bringing about God's Kingdom rule.

Now, in another year or two, I hope to preach a series of sermons on Revelation chapters 4 thru chapter 22. But for right now, I believe God has been telling me that it's our time to evaluate, change and restore, so we can be as effective as possible, according to the head of this church, our Lord, Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Revelation 1.

II. Background and the Unveiling

Rev 1:1-3
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw-that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.

A. Background

The apostle Paul and his disciples entered the city of Ephesus around 53 AD. Ephesus was a major Roman city, located on the western coast of Asia Minor. Within a period of two years, through the teaching of the word of God, not only was Paul able to establish an independent church ruled by a group of elders, but according to

Acts 19:10
"...all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks".

Out of that ministry at least 12 other new churches were planted in the surrounding area. Over the next 40 years, God used men like Paul, Timothy, Peter, and finally, John to help grow and mature those churches. The churches we will see mentioned in the next few weeks, in Revelation 2 and 3, are seven of those churches.

In 90-96 AD, John, who was by then the last living apostle, was ministering to the second generation of Christians in the city of Ephesus. Around that same time, the Romans elected their ninth Caesar, a man by the name of Domitian. He was given the title "Our Lord and God."

Domitian was a vicious and cruel man who continued the persecution of the Christian churches that had begun under Nero in the sixties. John and many other Christians refused to recognize Domitian as God, so they were either killed or placed in prisons.

The Romans arrested John and placed him aboard a ship in chains. Then they sailed about fifty miles from Ephesus to a small island in the Aegean Sea called Patmos. This island, which is only eight miles long and four miles wide, had been turned into a penal colony. The inhabitants of this colony were forced to work in the rock quarries. But neither penal colonies, nor remote islands, nor imprisonment kept the risen Christ from communicating with this disciple, that He loved so much.

B. Explanations

There are three things I want to point out to you in these first three verses.

1. First, the term revelation in verse 1, literally means, unveiling. This entire book is an unveiling of some new things about Jesus Christ, His present work, and His future work... that were given to John on the island of Patmos. These new unveilings, or revelations, concerned events that were to take place in the near future, before Jesus' second coming. John's job was to communicate these new unveilings to Jesus' followers.

2. Second, the unveiling of Jesus Christ–in His present work and His future work...was made known to John by an unnamed angelic being who served Jesus. So, what John is telling us is what the angel showed him. Friends, understand, not one word of this vision originated from John. This is a totally "God-thing"–from the images and symbolism, to the judgments and rewards that are mentioned throughout this book.

3. Third, has to do with the word, blessed. This is the Greek word, makarios –it literally means, to be happy and content because you have personal comfort and courage. This word speaks about the abundant life that Jesus said he came to give every believer.

In other words, if we obey the specifics of this revelation–whether it has to do with...
-the awe that is inspired by the picture of the triune God, and Jesus in particular, that we'll see in this first chapter;
-or the way to evaluate, change and restore ourselves to be most effective in doing Kingdom work, as described in chapters 2 and 3;
-or the hope for the future that is instilled in chapters 4 thru 22
... when we read this revelation and take it to heart, this will result in personal blessings of comfort and courage for you and me.
Because in this unveiling, or revelation are the secrets of how to live like a follower of Jesus Christ, in the difficult days now, and those that lie ahead.

C. A Point of application

Friends, here's a point of comfort and application, from these first three verses. Just like God knew who John was, where he was, and the difficult circumstances he was living in..., God is also aware of who you are, where you are, and the difficult circumstances many of you are in at this moment. And I know that some of you are experiencing some very difficult circumstances right now!

But not only that, right now, at this time, we are all living in a spiritually dark and immoral world, with enemies who hate Jesus and those of us who follow Him, at every turn–Just like in the first century in which John lived. But despite what's going on in modern culture, our living Lord, Jesus, wants to bless you and me with comfort and courage when we are willing to hear and apply the words of this revelation to our lives.

III. The Trinity Involved in this Revelation

Rev 1:4-6
4 John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

A. The Meaning of the seven churches

Now, if you'll remember, I said earlier that there were at least 12 additional churches in Asia Minor, besides Ephesus. Why are just seven singled out here in this revelation?

(Pat Bible and move from pulpit) The Bible is over there. I'm over here. The bottom line is, we don't know why these seven were singled out. But let me tell you what I think, not based on the Bible, but based on my reasoning that's influenced by the Bible.

Seven is the number of wholeness or completeness in the Bible. I believe Jesus chose these seven as a symbol of completeness. In other words, what Jesus said to these seven churches is all that is necessary for Him to say to every church in every part of the world in every generation until He comes again.

B. This Revelation Comes from the Triune God

The next thing we see is that John tells his readers that the Triune God was behind this revelation or unveiling that he received from the angel.

1. First he mentions God the Father. John calls Him the one "who is, and who was, and who is to come." In other words...
...He is the great "I AM" whom Moses met at the burning bush.
...He is the eternal Self-Existing One.
...He is the same God Isaiah met in the temple and
...He is the same God Ezekiel met among the exiles in Babylon.
We're talking about the great and glorious and eternal God of Israel. There is none higher than He!

Illustration: When my brothers and I would be working together on the farm during the summer, there are certain times when my dad would have to leave, and being the oldest, he'd leave me in charge. Now, I learned real quickly that with two very competitive brothers, who didn't want to be told what to do by another brother, regardless of age... that it didn't do any good to say, "you do that job," or "Now it's time to do this task." Because neither one would listen. But if I said, "Dad said we had to do that, or dad said it's time to do this." I'd get a much better response. Why? Because dad was the big Cohuna! He was the boss! There was no higher authority than dad.

And that's John's point. This revelation he's being shown comes from the authority of God the Father. There is no higher authority that it could come from.

2. Then John says, not only does this unveiling come from God the Father, but God the Holy Spirit is involved in it as well. That's what that phrase, "the seven spirits before his throne" means. John is referring to a seven-part description of the Holy Spirit that Isaiah uses when he's predicting the work of the Messiah...

Isa 11:2
2 (1)The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him -
(2)the Spirit of wisdom and (3)of understanding,
(4)the Spirit of counsel and (5)of power,
(6)the Spirit of knowledge and (7)of the fear of the LORD–

3. Then John talks about the involvement of God the Son–Jesus– in this unveiling, or revelation. And He describes Jesus in three ways...

a. First, Jesus is "the faithful witness". This is a legal term. It means that He consistently pointed people to God–His consistency would stand up in a court of law. Jesus' consistent testimony was always the same before the world, his disciples, the Jewish nation, and Pilate, when He walked this earth. In the gospel of John, this same John who was being given this revelation, wrote,

John 1:4-5, 9-12
In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it...The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God....

As a faithful witness, Jesus always pointed people to a relationship with God.

b. Second, Jesus is "the firstborn from the dead"

Illustration: How many of you are first-born children in your family? Do you know what a characteristic of a first born child is? We're hesitant to try or do new things. Generally speaking, we're hesitant to try new things because no one has shown us the way. We don't have an older brother or sister who has gone before us and helped us overcome our fears of failing at doing something new. That's why 2nd and 3rd born children in a family are much less hesitant to try something new–because they've had an older brother or sister to pave the way for them.

Well, that's the point of this second description of Jesus. He's our older brother in God's family. He's already been through death and Hell, and He conquered them both. So, we have nothing to fear. We can face what lies beyond this life with complete confidence, because we know what's on the other side. Jesus already was there.
-We don't have to fear death, because when we leave this body, we are instantly with the Lord in heaven.
-And because of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, we don't have to face the consequences of our sin, which is Hell. We are bound for heaven, because Jesus already paid the price of Hell for us.

Jesus is the first born from the dead–we don't have to fear the future!

c. Third, Jesus is "the ruler of the kings of the earth". This speaks of His ascension and His place at the right hand of the Father, which gives Him all power and authority to rule the kings and lords and presidents and dictators of this earth. This will be fully realized when He sets up His kingdom on this earth and rules with righteousness and justice. But for now, He rules in the hearts of all who follow Him as Lord.

Then John, thinking about His beloved Lord, breaks out in a song that Christians sang in that day...

Rev 1:7
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen.

The song John sings, brings us back to the subject of this revelation. It's all about the soon return of Jesus Christ...
–how it will be accomplished,
–what will happen on earth that will produce those events, and
–what will be the result after He comes.

IV. Conclusion–God's Stamp of Approval

Now, let's finish this section with verse 8...

Rev. 1:8
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

A. God's Stamp of Authentication

Illustration: Some of the most beautiful furniture, made in the United States, in my opinion, is the walnut and cherry furniture made in the AMANA colonies in Iowa. Over twenty years ago we visited the colonies, and seeing the furniture being made, and watching those craftsmen work with their tools, made me want to take up woodworking as a hobby.

This past summer, we had a chance to visit AMANA again, and tour the factory and watch those beautiful hutches and dressers and tables being made. I was still captivated by the craftsmanship of the people who worked there.

Now, AMANA furniture is unique because it isn't made on an assembly line. Each piece is started and completed by one single craftsman to standards that were established over a hundred years ago. And it doesn't become an official AMANA piece of furniture, until it receives the burned in signature of the one and only craftsman who made it, somewhere on the piece. That burned in signature is the seal that tells you it's the real thing.

Well, in verse 8, we have God's official seal that what this book is going to tell us about Jesus, is really true. There is only one first letter of the alphabet (in Greek, that's the letter alpha) and there is only one last letter of the alphabet (in Greek, that's the letter omega). There is only one first and only one last. You can't make a mistake about the craftsman who was behind the message of this book. It's God, Himself. This book contains His expectations for us as a church, and this signature is a promise of what will happen when He returns.

B. Weeks to come

So, that's the beginning of the unveiling process. The triune God, Himself, is involved in this revelation that will unveil His plans for the church, leading up to Jesus' Second Coming, and beyond. Next week, the veil will be pulled back some more, and we'll see Jesus and how He is personally at work in our church, right now.

Then in the weeks to come, leading up to Easter, we will get into chapters 2 and 3, where we will have the opportunity to evaluate, change and be restored to exactly the church that Jesus can use to move His Kingdom along into the heart and minds of the men and women we all touch on a regular basis.

But this week, simply be aware that as a Christian man or woman, you are of such value to God that He wants to involve you in what's most valuable to Him. And if you agree to be involved in that process, He promises you a life of blessing–comfort and courage to face each new day with joy and enthusiasm!

Amen.