The Main Themes of the Book (Albert Martin)

Introduction: Purpose of Revelation and Overview Approach

0:01 For the benefit of any visiting with us, I will take just a moment to explain where we are in the adult class and where we propose to go. During the time of my absence, several of the men, Mike and Bob, were asked to take the adult class. And Bob, in his teaching, began to give a broad overview of the book of the Revelation, intending to complete that in two Lord's Days. And you remember at the time, I predicted that it was an unrealistic goal, and it proved to be that, and we encouraged Bob to continue it.

0:39 But due to a number of factors, he felt that it would be better if I were to pick up where he left off. Now, Bob's concern and mine was not to give a detailed exegesis, that is, an opening up of the details of the book of the Revelation, but rather to give a broad overview so that you might understand it. You might be encouraged to read and study this book, not believing that it is all mystery and all confusion, but that being encouraged by the things that are clear and would become clear in a broad overview, you might dig into the book for your own spiritual profit. Now, in the approach to the book, Bob, and I share this with him, approached it with a fundamental assumption.

1:23 And the assumption is this, that the purpose of the book of the Revelation is not, to give us pre-written history concerning the last few years of the end of the gospel age. Most studying, most preaching, most writing on the book of the Revelation, assumes that the main purpose of the book, apart from the first three chapters, is to give us pre-written history concerning the events that will surround the last of the last of the last days, but our fundamental assumption forced upon us by the text of the book itself

2:06 is that its primary purpose was to comfort, to console, to give direction to the saints in the first century, to whom it was written, and therefore to give comfort and direction and consolation to the saints in all ages. In that sense, it is not qualitatively different from the previous generations. any other New Testament epistle that was written to a specific situation to minister to that situation and then has become the abiding deposit of the Church of Jesus Christ. And we know that this is true from two statements, many things, but two statements, one at the beginning and one at the conclusion of the book.

2:50 Revelation 1 and verse 3. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy and keep the things that are written for the time is at hand. So blessing is pronounced upon the readers and the doers because the book is dealing with issues that are at hand, not issues that are stretched way down to the end of time alone. Though the book brings within its compass factors that are exclusively to be seen and manifested at the end of the time,

3:33 the end times are brought into the picture to give comfort and direction for the present time so that the whole thrust of the book is for the immediate edification of the people of God. And then we have a concluding statement in chapter 22 and verse 7. And behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth, the words of the prophecy of this book.

4:00 Not blessed is he who observes and writes his charts and expatiates on his theories, but blessed is he who hears and who keeps the things that are written. Well, Mr. Fisher suggested that a convenient way of trying to collate, that is gather together in some orderly arrangement the materials of the book, is to think of the book as a book of words. To think of the book in terms of the four visions which are recorded for us as having been given with reference to four distinct places.

4:35 The first vision, fatness. The second, he's taken up and sees a throne set in heaven. The third, he's taken to the wilderness. And then the fourth vision, he is taken to a high mountain.

4:46 And those four visions are preceded by an introduction and they are followed by a conclusion. Well, we've gone through the basic contents of the four visions. The introduction and the conclusion. And I'm not going to say a thing about those contents, though there's so much more that could be said.

5:04 Do we have any more of these floating around, Mr. Dixon, have you seen? If not, find somebody who has one of these and invest a dime and get it Xeroxed at your local bank or library because I feel this outline would be a great profit too. Now, that's our review.

Identifying Main Themes: Congregation's Input

5:19 I know that's painfully inadequate and you have many questions, but you'll just have to live with some of those questions because I gave you an assignment and also committed myself to a specific focus of concern in this class. The assignment was to come prepared to enunciate what are the main themes of the book of the Revelation. What themes, what motifs occur again and again like the theme of a beautiful work of music that is set before us many times in the opening bars and then comes to us again and again woven through the fabric of that entire composition. Well, there are certain themes, certain fundamental motifs

6:03 that come through again and again and our purpose today is simply to state and to demonstrate from the book of the Revelation that these are the fundamental motifs, the dominant themes that recur again and again so that after reading through the book of the Revelation once, twice, or half a day, once, twice, or half a day, once, twice, or half a day, once, twice, or half a day, once, twice, or half a dozen times, though we may have many things that yet baffle us, there ought to be certain things crystal clear in our minds, things that we can say are the message of the Spirit of God to our hearts through the book of the Revelation. Well, I hope at least a few of you did your homework and what I propose to do

6:47 is to take your answers to the question what are the fundamental themes and then put them up on the board any way that you can. I hope that you'll do that. I hope that you'll do that. I hope that you'll do that.

6:57 And then reorganize them the way I have. Not because my way may be better, but because I'm teaching the class and I have to arrange them some way and so we'll rearrange them and there's no claim for special inspiration in the way that I will arrange them. It is only a claim at an effort to use a teaching advice that I hope will be helpful. All right?

7:18 Is anyone prepared to announce what you believe is one of the major themes of the book of the Revelation? And if you announce it, be prepared to support it. Be prepared from the Scriptures. All right, Pete.

7:31 You're a brave man. Go ahead. In the beginning of the letter, he writes to the churches and they're in tribulation and the theme that comes again and again is he that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second death. All right.

7:46 So you would say one of the themes is what?

7:52 You must persevere. All right. The necessity of perseverement or overcoming. The necessity of overcoming.

8:01 And you've said that that theme occurs particularly in the first, the second and the third chapters where every one of the messages to the seven churches concludes with a word to him that overcometh. And that theme, of course, comes again and again through the book. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony right down to the end. You'll notice in chapter...

8:29 21, verse 7. He that overcometh shall inherit these things. So this theme not only is introduced at the beginning and comes with great emphasis, but we find it again in chapter 14. We find it in other places.

8:50 We find it right down to the end where we have the vision of the new heavens and the new earth. All right. Another major theme. All right.

8:57 Let's see now. We have a woman's hand here. We'll go from man to woman. All right.

9:02 Yes, Jean. So, one of the subheadings. One of them being the Lamb slain. And that's mentioned about five times in five or six different places.

9:15 Now, you state that. Make a statement. One of the major themes is...

9:22 The revelation of Jesus Christ. One of one. All right. The revelation of Christ.

9:32 Particularly... One subheading could be the Lamb slain.

9:37 Okay. The Lamb slain. Well, if we're going to organize it that way, that it is basically a revelation of Jesus Christ in the glory of His person and perfection of His work, then we have Him set forth as the Lamb slain five times. What else do we have as a major theme in this revelation of Jesus Christ?

9:59 Paul? All right. The triumphs of the Lamb.

10:13 The glory of the Lamb. Well, wouldn't that be basically here? The revelation of Christ. The outshining of the glory of Christ.

10:19 I think that would sort of just be a little different way of expressing this. But His glory as what? Glory as the conquering Lamb. Glory as the triumphant Lamb.

10:29 John? The judgment of the Lamb. Judgment by the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb.

10:33 Who shall hide us from Him that sitteth upon the throne and from the what? Wrath of the Lamb. Chapter 6. And then again in chapter 19.

10:43 It's this One who comes with His vesture dipped in blood who rides on the Lamb. Who rides upon the white charger. And boy, that's vivid language. Trampling His enemies under His feet until the blood flows in that vivid imagery up to the height of a horse's bridle.

11:00 So here we have the wrath of the Lamb. All right. I think we've enunciated enough that if we were collating material this way we could go on and see more things. But now let's shift gears again because there is a time element.

11:14 Another major theme. Bill? The proper hearing of the Lord. The Word of God as in Revelation chapter 2 of Christ.

11:21 All right. The necessity of hearing aright. The message of the book. Blessed is he that readeth and keepeth.

11:31 He that hath ears to hear let him hear seven times in the seven messages. All right. And then it ends with that. Cursed is anyone who acts.

11:39 Anyone who subtracts. All right. So one of the themes would be the necessity of a right hearing. Of the message.

11:50 Okay. Another major theme.

11:55 All right. Louise?

12:01 The setting forth of the glory of the church. All right. The glory of the church. Right in the beginning.

12:08 What is the church's glory? Christ is in the midst. And all the way through in the midst of suffering, in the midst of persecution, her glory is that her redeemed ones, the redeemed ones are cared for. Those in heaven are seen not off to the distance, but under the throne or under the altar in the presence of God.

12:30 They're praying, Lord, how long? They're in this face-to-face communion. And the saints on earth are being cared for when the serpent would seek through the dragon would seek to swallow up the man-child and then afflict the followers. They are protected.

12:45 They are cared for. So here we have the glory of the church in its various aspects. All right. Another major theme.

12:54 Let's see. Doug had his hand raised quite a while ago. Yes. Tribulation.

12:58 I would say tribulation is a real big thing. In chapter 1, verse 9, the apostle says, in perseverance, referring to Jesus, and he said, I have died a brother and followed my faith in the tribulation and kingdom in perseverance. And then throughout the book, in chapter 6, verse 4,

13:21 there was a living creature who was to take a kiss from the earth. So the opposite of that would be tribulation. So it's tribulation to the saints and for the world in two different aspects. So you're saying then that one of the major things is that until the consummation, as we have it expanded for us in chapters 21, 1 through 22, 6, that we have set before us the certainty of tribulation.

13:55 The certainty, of tribulation, both for the people of God and upon the world. All right? One of the great things.

14:03 All right? Now, we can come back to Dennis. The certainty of God's avenging himself for his own glory and for the persecutions brought on his people. All right?

14:14 The certainty of God's vindication of himself and his people. That might be a subheading under the wrath and the triumph of the Lamb, but it's enough different that I think it would be good to mention it. All right? A couple other major things.

14:28 Yes, Edie? The sinfulness of man in the judgment of the wicked. All right. You want to support that just with a for instance or two?

14:39 Chapter 13. They worshipped the dragon, gave authority to the beast, and blasphemed against God. What does chapter 13 mean? All right.

14:49 All through those chapters, especially when God is pouring out the vials of his wrath, it says they would not repent of their wicked deeds nor of their sorcery, nor of their idolatries. They curse the God of heaven. We see the violent expressions of what man is and what he is as a violent sinner in opposition to God being met with the judgment of God. So one of the major themes then is the exceeding sinfulness of sin.

15:24 A major theme, you feel, has been overlooked that could not legitimately subsist under one of these heads. Yes, Elaine? The constant worship of the four, five, seven, and eight. All right.

15:37 Chapters four, five, seven, eleven, fifteen. One of the great themes is the reality and nature of true worship. I remember one time bringing a series of messages on worship in which I used exclusively the book of Revelation because it's one of the few places where God says the word worship and then gives you a picture of what's involved in worship. And they worshipped him, saved.

16:04 And they fell down before him and worshipped, saved. You want a good theology? You want a good theology of worship? Just stick to the book of the Revelation alone and you've got enough grass to graze on for a long time as you wrestle with the issue of what is true worship.

16:16 All right. Any other major themes you think have been omitted? Yes, Paul? One comforting thing that I have found is the constant repetition of behold, I come quickly.

16:27 The certainty of the return of Christ. Oh, yeah. I'm sure we all assume that, but it's good to have that thing articulated. The certainty of the return of Christ.

16:38 Not some secret, sneaky job, but a visible, powerful, glorious manifestation of the Son of God.

16:49 To me, anyone who reads the book of the Revelation and finds anything secret and sneaky, and the Lord just coming in and slipping out again, unseen and unheard. I don't know how in the world anyone can read this book. So that's why many people have to say, well, it has nothing to say until after the Lord has sneaked his own out of here. And then that's speaking about his second second coming or his second second coming.

17:09 Or his second second coming. Or his second second coming. Or his third second coming. And the elementary math I learned in a little grammar school back in Connecticut just could never allow me to have a second second coming or a third second coming.

17:20 I was taught that if it was a second second coming, it was a third. And if it was a third second coming, it was the fourth. But maybe the new math helps with the new phenomena. All right, go.

17:30 Perhaps this is all assumed and all the others, but the individual responsibility, lest it is everyone that hear it, everyone should give account of himself. And he that overcomes the individual. All right, so there is this emphasis upon the individual necessity of individual response to all the thrust of the book. All right, so let's call it the wholesome individualism.

17:56 There's an unwholesome individualism, but there's also an unwholesome collectivism or an unwholesome sense of solidarity. Everybody's job is nobody's job. So if everybody's job is to overcome, everybody in abstraction, then I may fail to feel I must overcome. That's a good note to sign.

18:15 All right, any other major thing?

18:19 If God always warns first, there's no excuse. All right, this would come under the whole theory, wouldn't it, of the wrath of the land, the triumph of the land. God is announcing, this is going to be, you better shape up. So I think we could put that as one of the subheadings under this.

18:34 And this is what will happen, you see. If we begin to keep on, we're going to find in almost everything now, I think, subsists under here. Does anyone feel there's a real glare in omission anywhere? Yes, Bill?

18:45 Would it be the presence must begin at the household of God that is possible for churches to find the wrath of God to put out upon us for impure worship as in the second chapter? Uh-huh. I think that might be something, Bill, that we could put under the whole matter of the doctrine of the church as it is here. The church in her imperfect state needs constantly to be reforming herself until that time when she is seen as the city of God coming down from God in absolute perfection.

19:18 So I think it would legitimately exist as a subheading. Now, in the interest...

19:22 Yes, dear? It may come under one of those, but the reality of Satan is so dominant throughout the whole book and the controversy of him as not being a personality, that might be...

19:35 Yes, the reality of Satan as a person and the reality of Satan and the reality of his activity as the vice-general or as the general, the five-star general of all the powers of darkness. All right. Now, in the interest of time, will you permit me the luxury now of rearranging the things in the way I've prepared them? All right.

Theme 1: Christ in the Midst of His Church

19:54 And again, I claim no special inspiration,

19:58 but since I was asked to teach, I have a responsibility to prepare and try to at least lay the things out in some order that was satisfying to me. All right? I would suggest that the major focus and themes of the book of the Revelation are as follows. Number one,

20:17 in all of its trials and triumphs, Jesus Christ is in the midst of his church until and after he perfects it at his return. In all of its trials and triumphs, Jesus Christ is in the midst of his church until and after he perfects it at his return. What is the opening vision? Vision number one.

20:48 What does John say? He's in the spirit of the Lord's day. I'm quoting from chapter one. And all of a sudden, he hears a voice that terrifies him.

20:55 We read these things and we romanticize them, but there's an awful lot of terror in the Bible. Holy terror.

21:03 We read in the scriptures, my flesh trembling for fear of me. And John heard a voice that he describes in these words. Revelation, chapter one, verse 11. I was in the spirit of the Lord's day and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying, here was the blast of a trumpet.

21:26 Here's John in lonely exile, in isolation. He's hearing nothing but the breaking of the waves upon the shore of the Isle of Patmos if he was close enough to it. And all of a sudden, out of the, as it were, almost deafening silence of any other sound of the dashing of waves comes the voice of a blast of a trumpet. I'm sure his skin raised on his flesh.

21:51 And he said, I turn to see what this thing was all about. He heard a trumpet. What thou seest, write, send to the seven churches. Verse 12, and when I turn to see the voice, I saw seven golden lampstands arranged probably in a circle,

22:13 seven, and in the midst, one like unto the Son of Man. So that the first thing that strikes John's consciousness when all of these visions begin to open is this. There are seven churches. Seven, of course, the number of perfection.

22:34 These were real, literal churches in Asia Minor. You can look at them and map at the back of your Bible and they roughly form a circle. And John is given to understand whatever is unfolded about the present state of the church. I know thy works, I know thy works, I know thy works, I know this sin, I know that sin, I know that weakness, I know this virtue, and all of the mystery of what's behind the church's trials and conflicts until he has that vision of the new Jerusalem, the bride coming down out of heaven from God.

23:06 John is given to understand that in the midst of the churches is the glorious Son of God, succoring, rebuking, comforting, preserving, guiding, and directing all the affairs of that which is his bride until the time when it comes down out of God in its perfect state and then the land himself is the glory of the perfected church. So I would suggest that one of the great things in all of its trials and in all of its triumphs, Jesus Christ is in the midst of his church until and after he perfects it at his return. Now I'm tempted

Theme 2: History's Significance in Relation to the Church

23:51 to stop and apply, but I won't because we must cover the material. Principle number two. Dominant theme number two. All that transpires in human history finds its true significance in relationship to the history of the church.

24:12 All that transpires in human history finds its true significance in relationship to the church. All that transpires in human history finds its true significance to the history of the church. Here's the totality of human history taking within its orbit the rise and fall of governments, the rise and fall of kings, periods of prosperity, periods of affliction upon man, upon the world. All of human history has its true significance in relationship to the history and destiny of the church of Jesus Christ.

24:53 Now that's the theme of a lot of human history. It runs all the way through the Bible. After the vision of the enthroned God in chapter four, then you have this dilemma. Who can unlock the seals of that scroll upon which is written the sovereign purposes of God for his people and for the nations?

25:11 And none is found worthy but the Lamb. The key to history is the Lamb. And the Lamb is never to be viewed in any other relationship than in that relationship he sustains to his people. He is the Lamb not in himself in terms of a term that you learned under Mr. Moy

25:32 the ontological Trinitarian relationship. You say, I learned that? Yeah, you did some time ago. That is, he is not the Lamb with reference essentially to what he is within the triune Godhead as the second person, the eternal word, the Son.

25:51 But he is the Lamb always in distinct and with inseparable relationship to his people. He is constituted the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world because he was chosen to be the Savior of his people in front of all the foundations of the world. And so the tremendous significance then of these references to the Lamb opening the seals and to the triumphs of the Lamb is to be found in this statement all that transpires in human history finds its place its true significance in relationship to the history of the Church. The harlot, the beast, they have reference to the state, they have reference

26:36 to religious movements, the temporal defeats and ultimate triumphs of the Church. I say that the book of the Revelation is probably the best portion in all of Scripture out of which to extract a philosophy of history.

26:54 Now we've got one young man in the Church who is a history man, a major. He's not here, he's downstairs so I'm going to tell him to listen to the tape. But all of us ought to have an interest in human history. And the only way to develop a philosophy of history is to develop in the light of the principles of the book of the Revelation.

27:15 Everything that happens has reference to the history, to the well-being, to the calling, to the preservation of the Church of Christ. Now that's the curse of this crystal ball mentality. But reference to the book of the Revelation. People want to gaze into the book of the Revelation and into Gog and Magog and into Armageddon to wonder what is the future of Russia?

27:38 What is the future of China? What is the future of the Middle East? This is a prostitution of the whole purpose of the prophetic utterances of the Word of God. God is not interested in giving pre-written history about the United Nations or about the Common Market or any other history.

27:58 He is concerned with one great issue, the calling, preservation, and ultimate triumph of the Church of His own dear Son. And the book of the Revelation sets this theme before us. All right? Principle number three.

28:12 Pastor Martin? Yes. I wonder if you could illustrate what you're talking about a little bit. Think of the Church in the, let's say, the countries that are peaceful now like our country and its relationship to the Church in Africa where the famine is and the Church in Vietnam.

28:28 Is this maybe a testing of us as much as a testing of them how we respond? Absolutely. You see, here's the whole picture and I think we have it in that wonderful statement in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 where Paul says, in seeking to get you wealthier churches to respond to the needy churches in Judea, the purpose is that there may be equality. Your bounty supplying their lack that in the future, he says, God will probably arrange it that you'll be on the needy end and their bounty will supply your lack so that not only is the Church there being tested by the baptism of trial, 1 Peter 4, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, but we are being tested in terms of our response.

29:11 And if in the day of judgment our treatment of God's people is regarded by Christ as our treatment of Him, there must be some who are outside the jail to whom He can say, I was in jail and ye visited me. There must be some who were hungry so that our Lord could say, I was hungry and ye fed me. As well as some who had the ability to feed them. So I think there's a very good point growth that even if we take the Church from the general and say, the Church here in the States, the Church in South America, the Church in Vietnam, the Church in Southeast Asia, all these events are being ordered by God with reference to His people.

29:49 Now you see, we may not see how they fit. That's the great message of God pulling back the veil in those latter chapters of the book of the Revelation. And God is saying, look, I do have purposes. I do have wise designs in all of this.

30:06 And you must believe me that I do. And that becomes a tremendous stabilizer when we can't seem to fit the pieces together. And oft times, you see, even now, without being infallible, enough time has passed that the sensitive, spiritually minded, scripturally soaked Church historian may look back at certain periods in the Church's history that while the Church was in that period, people probably said, Lord, nothing makes sense. But we look back and say how wise God was to do what He did at that particular time.

Theme 3: God's Sovereign Control Over All History

30:41 All right? Now, principle number three.

30:45 One of the great themes or really what I'm giving you are the principles that are the structural backbone of the book more than the main themes. The third statement is this. It flows out of the second. All that transpires in human beings, human history is under the direct sovereign control of God and of the Lamb.

31:10 Not only does it find its true significance in relationship to the Church, but all that transpires in human history is under the sovereign control of God and of the Lamb. Now, how did John get that message or how did the Lord get it through to him? Well, let me ask you to turn to chapter four. This theme is enunciated in the first chapter verses of chapter four.

31:46 After dealing with the churches in their specific needs where they were, the seven churches in Asia Minor, I know thy works, commendation, rebuke, direction for restoration, the promise to the overcomers, et cetera. We read in chapter four, after these things I saw and behold a door opened in heaven. Now, get the picture. John turns and there in the heaven of the heavens he sees a door open.

32:13 He sees a door open. He sees a door open. He sees a door open. He sees a door open.

32:14 He sees a door open. He sees a door open. He sees a door open.

32:16 Now, after it's open, a voice spoke to him, the voice of a trumpet saying, come up hither and I will show thee the things. Now, there's the key phrase, the things which must come to pass hereafter. Now, what did the angel promise him? Probably taking him by the hand, says, you come with me and when we go through that door we're going to see a lot of things.

32:40 We're going to see things that happen. Isn't that his promise? Isn't that what he said? All right.

32:46 All right, but what does he show? It looks like he threw a curve at him because we read, straightway I was in the spirit and behold, there was a throne set in heaven. Now, I really have to exercise discipline and not stop and preach. I will show thee things.

33:08 Behold, I saw a throne set. Well, wait a minute, Mr. Angel Man. You're going to show me things come to pass or things that are set in heaven.

33:19 And so the angel said, what I'm showing you set in heaven is the fundamental key to understanding the things that I'll show you which are about to happen. So that everything that happens issues from an enthroned God. In chapter four, then, is this vision not of the things that will come to pass, but it's a vision of the God who orders everything that comes to pass. Now, is he God simply conceived of in terms of what we would call general theism, the biblical doctrine of the one God who is absolute sovereign, who brings everything to pass?

34:04 No, chapter five is the corrective to that thought because the next vision is this vision of frustration in heaven. Who is worthy to break open the seals? And it is not God in the sense of general theistic revelation who's worthy, to open the seals. It is the freshly slain lamb that takes the book and breaks the seals.

34:30 Now, what's he telling us? Well, he's telling us that all that transpires in human history and when those seals are broken, you see what happens. There are these problems of famine, of death, of war, of plagues. What is he telling us?

34:45 It's the lamb who breaks open those seals. Everything is under the sovereign control of God and in particular, of the lamb as the mediatorial head of his kingdom. It is the slain but exalted lamb who sits upon David's throne administering the affairs of nations with reference to his church, Ephesians 1. He is head over all things to the church.

35:15 And then Psalm 2 is a great commentary upon this. Now, look at these references, just several of them now. I want to underscore the assertion. We turn to chapter 11.

35:31 Four and twenty elders fall before God upon the thrones, verse 16, saying, verse 17, we give thee thanks, O Lord, because thou hast taken thy great power and its reign. The nations were wroth and thy wrath came, and the time of the dead to be judged, and the time to give their reward to thy servants, et cetera. You see what he's saying? He's saying, Lord, everything, everything's right on schedule.

35:57 It's not like the Long Island Railroad. No, no, it's not like the Penn Central. Everything, Lord, is right on schedule. Why?

36:06 Because everything is administered by a sovereign God, everything under his control. You find this all the way through to the judgments enunciated in the latter chapters, but perhaps a key text is 1717. This thing used to bother my mind before I came to some understanding of what I'm asserting this morning. Here we have the description of the wicked activity of the scarlet woman and the beast.

36:37 And what do we read? Verse 17, for God did put it into their hearts to do his mind and to come to one mind and to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God should be accomplished. You mean God is directly active in the activity of the beast? You mean God is directly active in the activity of the beast?

36:57 You mean God is directly active in the activity of the beast? You mean God is directly active in the activity of the beast? Even the wicked coalition of the heart and the beasts. If my Bible says anything, it says God did put it into their hearts to do his mind.

37:10 Now, you may object to that, but that's Bible. But that's Bible. And cursed is he who subtracts from any of the words to this story, and cursed is he who subtracts from any of the words to this story, he who subtracts from the philosophy of history that this book imposes upon us because he thinks he needs to protect God from being accused of being the author of evil, is wiser than God. God dared to put these statements in his own word.

37:39 God is far more concerned to get this message through to us and, if necessary, even give smart Alec some fuel to throw up into his face than to allow his suffering saints to have any other understanding of human history than the one I've enunciated. Everything that transpires is under the sovereign control of God and of the Lamb. Now, that's no theoretical abstraction. To some dear pastor who has seen half his flock decimated in the past three weeks in Vietnam,

38:13 to hear bombs breaking around his head and to know that in a matter of days he may lose any civil liberties he's had to get on his knees, what, 14 hours ago, when he arose and said, Lord, the Lamb is upon the throne.

38:35 I tell you, that's no abstraction. And if the day comes when all the civil liberties that you and I know are stripped from us and you and I see our families severed by the power of an unwelcome authority and some of us begin to languish in prison camps and begin to be bombarded with the tools of brainwashing, you better believe this or you'll become a stark, raving atheist who will curse God.

39:06 Mao Tse-Tung and all the hordes of red china have no power but what God puts it into. That's the message of the book of the Revelation. How far does the beast go? Only so far as God lets it.

39:23 How far does the harlot go? Only so far as God lets it. I say the dominant theme of this book is this third assertion. All that transpires in human history is under the sovereign control of the Lamb.

Theme 4: Christ's Conquest of All Enemies

39:36 Fourth great principle and theme of the book, Jesus Christ shall.

39:45 Jesus Christ shall conquer all his people. All his and his people's enemies. Jesus Christ shall conquer all his and his people's enemies. What are the promises in chapter 2 and 3?

40:03 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me upon my Father's throne even as I also overcame and am set. He'll sit with me upon my throne even as I also overcame and am set upon my Father's throne. All of the pictures, in chapter 17 and following in particular, when we have the zoom lens turned in upon wicked society, upon anti-Christian government in chapter 18, upon the devil himself in chapter 20, what is the Lord telling us? He's telling us that the Lamb shall triumph.

40:41 Jesus Christ shall conquer not only all his, but all his people's enemies. For remember, he is the Lamb, not in himself, and for himself, but he is the Lamb in this insoluble relationship with his people. And he shall overcome all his and all his people's enemies. But not only the external enemies, in the light of what we studied last week, all the internal enemies.

41:09 There shall be nothing to cause occasion for tears anymore. And for the Christian, most of his tears are caused not by external factors, but because of the griefs he feels because of conditions within his own body, his own lack of love for the Savior, his own spiritual fickleness, his own flirtations with the world, his own oft-timed sordid involvements with the sin of his own heart. That's the greatest grief of a true Christian. And when we read, there shall be no tears, no sighing.

41:45 Bless God, he's saying that Jesus Christ is going to conquer all my enemies, not only the beast and the harlot without, and the devil himself, but the remains of the beast and the harlotry within, my own remaining corruption. And when I read that we saw, John saw the bride coming down from God out of heaven, having the glory of God, he saw me. It would have been one furlong short if I hadn't been there in that perfect vision. But it was a perfect cue.

42:18 And everything that was a part of that vision was perfect. It had the glory of God. What is God telling? He's telling me that every last enemy that keeps me from reflecting perfectly the glory of God is going to be destroyed.

42:32 And I shall be like him when I see him as he is. All right? The fifth dominant theme is this.

Theme 5: The Blessed State of Martyred Saints

42:41 And this had great relevance in that first century, and it may have increasing relevance for us in the 20th. It has pressing relevance for our brethren in China, Russia, many other lands. And it's this. The martyrdom, the martyred saints are in a better state now than when they were upon the earth.

43:02 The martyred saints are in a better state now than when they were upon the earth. And in the vision of chapter 6, chapter 14, chapter 15, chapter 20, when we are given a picture of the souls of martyred saints, one of the things that comes through with tremendous power is they're better off now than when they were down here. Now, that has tremendous implications for a suffering church.

43:37 You and I have a native fear of the experience of dying. Anyone here who says he does not have a fear of the actual experience of dying is kidding himself. You and I fear the experience of dying. It is an abnormal experience.

43:57 Secondly, you've never been down that experience before. Just like the first time you went to the dentist. You were scared to death. And if you had a good experience, you weren't quite so scared the next time.

44:07 If you had a bad experience, you were doubly scared. It's like the first time you flew in an airplane. First time you went in an elevator.

44:15 Well, if we have an actual fear of anything, any new experience, simply because of its novelty, how much more? One that we know will never be repeated again and one that lands us in eternal bliss or eternal woe. Anybody who sits here this morning and says, I have no fear of the experience of dying, I question that statement. Now, we don't fear death because we know the sting of death has been removed by our Lord Jesus.

44:43 And death is no longer a penal infliction of judicial punishment upon the saints of God. Christ bore everything that sin deserves, including the judicial penal nature of death. He bore that. Death is now a discipline.

44:58 Death is a discipline. But the experience of dying is still a discipline. Death is a discipline. Death is still a discipline.

45:03 It is still strange and fearful.

45:06 But now, what is even more frightful is violent death.

45:11 And if you say you're not afraid of what it would be like to be shut up and brainwashed month after month, slowly starved and die a cruel, vicious death, man, I'm scared of the thoughts of that. Now, what do I need to know in the face of that? That's what those Christians were facing. Now, what do they need to know?

45:32 They need to know let men pull your fingernails out, let men pull your fingers out, let them do everything that's put in Fox's Book of Martyrs to the saints of God. Let them do what they will when they've done their last dastardly deed and they've caused the wrenching loose of soul and body. All they can do is chase you up to heaven to join the crowd that looks upon the land.

45:55 And every picture of the Martyrs is a picture they're better off within our eye than where they once were.

46:03 We need to know that, dear men. You see, the whole philosophy of our materialistic, affluent, 20th century Western culture is this is your only heaven. Live it up now because you don't know what lies beyond. The Schlitz-Bierad is the most perceptive index of the mentality of the average American.

46:22 You only go around once, get all the gusto you can. It is a perfect statement of the mentality. The Christian doesn't share that mentality. He says, yes, I go around once in this life, but then I enter a realm where I shall go on forever.

46:43 And if it should be my lot to seal my testimony with my life's blood, it can only mean that I'll be chased up to heaven to be far better off there than I am here. And then there is a sixth dominant theme in the book of the Revelation and it is this.

Theme 6: Preservation of the Saints

47:07 The saints shall be preserved no matter what opposition they face. The saints shall be preserved no matter what opposition they face. You see, the preservation of the church in the midst of great persecution is not a reflection of the great courage and the great power and the great stick-to-itiveness of the saints. It's a wonderful revelation of the preserving power of Jesus Christ.

47:44 Now isn't that the theme that goes through the book of the Revelation? Let the beast foam out all of his venom against the people of God. Let the seductive harlot do what she can to try to bring them to bow. Let the beast do all he can to bring the people of God to take his mark upon their foreheads.

48:02 They will not. Why? Because mighty is the Lord who preserves them, who takes weak, stumbling, fearful creatures made of the same stuff of which you and I are made of and puts courage and fortitude in us that we look back and say, Lord, not only was it grace that taught my heart to fear and grace my fears relieved, it is grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will bring me home. I tell you how this was brought home to my heart this past week.

48:38 I met a dear man, a converted German brother, Hart. I hope you can meet this man. He is the most lovable, godly brother. I met him some years ago at a conference in Canada and he was helped under my ministry there and it's been years since we've seen one another and when we saw one another up at Gordon College, he's at the seminary and he came down to one of the meetings and we just ran up and we embraced.

49:01 He makes me look small. I mean, this guy is big. I couldn't even get my arms around him. He's got about a 50 inch chest or 48.

49:09 I mean, he's just plain big and we embraced one another and then we were talking and I said to him, I said, Ed, and we prayed together and in the prayer, I said, Lord, thank you that when I asked about Ed Point, someone didn't have to tell me. Oh, haven't you heard?

49:28 He's run off with another woman. He's become a liberal. He's thrown over the faith and Ed, I would praise God when you asked about me. He didn't have that news brought.

49:41 Listen, I looked upon that man and I said, Lord, that's a monument not of Ed Pointner's persevering power but of the preserving grace of Ed Pointner's Savior.

49:55 You see, that's the message. It goes all the way through the book of the Revelation. The saints will be preserved by Jesus Christ and then the seventh dominant note and you better tack it right onto the sixth as I've done. That's the only two that I say I have some inspired order.

Theme 7: Necessity of Overcoming for Inheritance

50:13 The seventh dominant note is this. The saints must overcome to inherit the promises. Every promise in the first two chapters is made to whom? Blessed is the overcomer.

50:25 To him that overcometh, to him that overcomes, to him that overcomes, to him that overcometh, to him that overcometh. Chapter 14, 9 through 12, they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony and loved not their lives unto the death. Chapter 21, 7, he that overcometh shall inherit these things. Listen, dear child of God, the Bible that teaches that Jesus Christ will preserve his own teaches that you must persevere and overcome at any cost.

50:54 And the minute you rest on the former at the end of the day, at the expense of taking seriously the latter, you are in a dangerous place. And the minute you cease holding firm to the latter with your eye firmly fixed on the former, you're in bad shape. If all you see is I must overcome, and you read the book of the Revelation and say I can't overcome, I'm so scared I can't even open my yak to my work associates. How in the world am I going to face the pressure of the beast?

51:30 I'll never make it. And you put all your focus on the necessity of overcoming and you look at your own resources and you say it just ain't enough to make it. You don't go buy Cadillacs with a $25 checking account.

51:43 I mean, just not enough there.

51:46 Oh, my friend, listen. Jesus Christ delights to show his power by preserving weaklings such as you and such as myself.

51:56 But with my eye fixed upon that tremendous principle, Jesus Christ will preserve his own. I am now nervous to persevere even to the end. No matter what the cost to him that overcome. Well, I suggest that these are at least seven of the major themes of the book of the Revelation.

52:16 Isn't it a shame that the devil has robbed the church of those great themes by clouding this book with unsanctified speculation? Isn't it? And I confess to you that I feel I've sinned in not daring to plunge in and wade through all of that and I can only say again how deeply grateful I am to the Lord. I am so grateful I am so grateful I am so grateful I am to Mr. Fisher

52:38 for having courage to do what I haven't had courage to do and springing me loose to get into the book. Well, we've got time for two questions if they both take a minute. Yes, please. You had some references for number six, Saints shall be preserved.

52:57 Yes. Well, just the whole, just take the whole picture of the perfected church at the end. But I was thinking of the whole theme all the way through. You see all these powers zeering in upon them and yet it says they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of the testimony.

53:14 They overcame by the virtue of the blood of the Lamb, not the virtue of some inherent strength or power of their own. They overcame by the blood of the Lamb. That is, it was part of the purchased blessings of Jesus Christ that they overcame. So that you have it in a specific text like that, but particularly in the vision of the perfected church.

53:35 Not one's lost. Everyone who constitutes the Lamb's bride, bride for which he died, is going to be there when it comes down out of heaven from God in the glory of its perfection. Not one furlonged short along any side. It's a perfect cube.

53:51 So that was the... I was wondering because I was just blanching down here at three and it speaks about, he said, him I will not blot out his name out of the book.

53:59 Yeah, and that's a statement of fact. If you don't overcome, he will blot your name out. So in a sense, there's a tremendous responsibility by yourself. Right, and that's why I closed with that final note.

54:11 We must overcome. But now, will anyone whose name was written ever be blotted out? Well, we can't read that into that text. All it says is, to him that overcomes, his name will not be blotted out.

54:21 The rest of Scripture and even portions in the book of Revelation say anyone whose name is truly written shall overcome. But the fact that he shall does not negate that he must. Necessity and certainty are not enemies in the biblical revelation. Is it certain that I shall persevere?

54:39 Yes. Well, it's also necessary. And I must never separate those two things. But I must not have one without the other.

54:49 See, I've met some dear people that said, it's necessary for me to persevere, but it's not certain. And I could come all the way up to the end and peter out. Man, that's it. If I'm going to go through this whole life saying no to my flesh, cutting off right hands, plucking out right eyes, do that for 50 years, 60 years, and then in the last five minutes peter out and lose it.

55:09 I haven't even had the best of this world. Paul says, if we have hope in this life only, we're of all men most miserable. Let's eat and drink for tomorrow we die. Man, I don't want to be in a fool's errand.

55:20 But if I know that when I deal with my right hand and right eye today in mortification, it's part of the whole process for which I'm being preserved to inherit all the glories of the world to come. Man, I've got a basis now to deal with myself and with the flesh and the world and the devil. You see? So that the certainty that I shall persevere nerves me to face the necessity of perseverance.

55:42 But never separate the two. And I see on the one hand people who've separated the necessity from certainty and they're always in doubt. And then the curse in present evangelicalism is this cheap antinomian doctrine of eternal security in which people say, since it's certain that I shall be preserved, it doesn't matter how I live. Well, that's not the teaching of the Bible.

56:03 If you're not overcoming, God's not preserving. The two are wedded together. Folks, the time is gone. We must bring it down.

Conclusion and Prayer

56:10 All right? Okay? We've got folks at the door. Let's just quickly pray.

56:14 Shall we?