Telephone Answering Machine Message
recorded on:
July 07, 2002 - (902) 436-6245
by Pastor Ian C. Kurylyk
The Subject and Message of Revelation
Revelation 1:1-8
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his
servant John:
2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are
written therein: for the time is at hand.
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia:
Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which
was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are
before his throne;
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the
faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood,
6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and
his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye
shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all
kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the
ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to
come, the Almighty.
This text is the opening passage to the last book of the Bible, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ". In this study we are introduced to the subject and message of this book. The opening passage contains the name of the book, and the great subject we want to focus on now - The Revelation of Jesus Christ - His Revealing - His Unveiling.
Jesus Christ is being revealed in the book. Verses 1-2 read, again, as follows:
Revelation 1:1
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his
servant John:
Notice in the second verse that this is a book that says:
Revelation 1:2
2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Purpose of Revelation is to make Him (Jesus) known.
This is a book like none other ever wrote. The person who has been the subject of countless pages, books, volumes and even libraries, is still hidden to many people. This is a book that reveals this One to us. The Revelation is a book within a book, the Bible. There are sixty-six books within the Bible, and this whole volume speaks of the person and works of Jesus Christ. Its purpose is to make Him known.
Over in Luke 24:27 it says:
Luke 24:27
27 And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he
expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning
himself.
It is the only authoritative, God-given Book concerning the Son of God. In this book, the Bible, the unique volume that makes known God through His Son, we have the book of the Revelation which is, in a special sense, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ". Further, we are told how this is done - the format of the book; that is, by prophecy; notice again in verse 1:
Revelation 1:1
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave
unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come
to pass...
Down in verse 3:
Revelation 1:3
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that
hear the words of this prophecy...
It is telling us of future events by which He will reveal Himself. He will be openly shown. We can read of it now and have knowledge of this revealing by faith. This makes the revelation personal. God has revealed it in a book so that you can receive the revelation personally. He makes great promises to those who do receive it.
Revelation 1:3
3 Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein:
for the time is at hand.
In a world with so much knowledge and so much religion, even profession of Christianity, how few have seen him revealed personally. How few know that promised blessing. Jesus Christ must be revealed to us, because of the fact that he has been veiled. There is a natural "blindness" in all of us, the conditional "spiritual blindness" called unbelief. The Bible compares this to a veil, hiding the glory of Jesus Christ from our eyes.
There is, in fact, a sense in which He has veiled Himself as part of His first coming. When He came to our world two thousand years ago, He did not come in a flash of unbearable heavenly light and glory, with the armies of heaven and an entourage of angels. He came by a humble human birth, in a lowly manger. He came where we are, to provide salvation so we too can share in His coming glory and kingdom, and escape the wrath upon sinners.
This meant that He came veiled in human flesh. More than that, He came all the way to the cross to shed His blood as payment for our sins.
Revelation 1:5
5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the
kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in his own blood,
The prophets of old were told of this veil:
Isaiah53:1-7
1 Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the
arm of the LORD revealed?
2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender
plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor
comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty
that we should desire him.
3 He is despised and rejected of men; a man of
sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him
not.
4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our
sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have
turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the
iniquity of us all.
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he
opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his
mouth.
Don't let this veil, which was necessary to give us salvation, be a stumbling block to keep YOU from finding the glory that shines brightly behind and through the veil. One day, the veil of humility will be removed. He will be openly shown to this world in His glorious resurrection body. The God-Man will return visibly to the earth:
Revelation 1:7
7 Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth
shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
You can receive Him personally.
This is the climax of the book. He is coming back. Be ready! Receive the message of this book now. Receive Him personally now. Receive God's record. You simply must acknowledge you are a sinner, and call upon Him to save you through his shed blood.
Romans 10:13
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved.
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