Principles in Handling the Book of Revelation

The Irreverence of Indifference to Christ's Person and Work

0:02 I am sure that all of you would agree with me that there are many subjects that we could examine with a legitimate degree of curiosity or even a detached indifference. If I were to announce this morning that we were going to occupy our minds with a discussion on the weather patterns in the South Pacific or the agricultural problems of South Borneo, you could listen, if you would listen at all, with a legitimate degree of indifference or, at best, idle curiosity. Sort of the attitude with which some of us read many of the articles in National Geographic.

0:43 Interesting, informative, but certainly not matters of life and death. But when we're confronted with the issues pertaining to the rescue of lost sinners by the person and work of Jesus Christ, the attitudes...

0:59 ...either of idle curiosity or indifference, are both irreverent and irrational.

1:07 For as you have been reminded again and again in this series of studies, Jesus Christ is precisely what He is in His person as the Redeemer. Jesus Christ is precisely what He is in His offices as the Redeemer, because you and I, as sinners, need someone who is...

1:30 ...who is just what He is and who does just what He does as the great priest, prophet, and king of His church.

1:40 And so Christ in the glory of His person, Christ in the perfection of His work, Christ in the mystery of what He is as God and man, Christ in the majesty of the offices He occupies as our Redeemer, has been the theme, or have been the themes, that have occupied us. For many months in our Lord's Day morning meditations, as we continue to contemplate our Lord in His third office, His office as King, for the benefit of the few who are with us as visitors, I shall very, very briefly just let you know where we've been. We are considering the kingship of Christ as it is established in the Word of God

2:24 in the pattern in which the Word of God itself presents His kingship. ...

Review of Christ's Kingship in Scripture

2:29 We've looked at the major lines of biblical truth concerning his kingship in the Old Testament, the period of preparation, then his kingship in the Gospels, what I have called the period of manifestation, his kingship in the book of the Acts, the period of proclamation, and then his kingship in the epistles, the section of confirmation and explanation.

2:52 And we looked at some of the pivotal texts in the epistles which point in the direction of the fact and the nature of the kingship of Christ. Romans 14.9, 1 Corinthians 15.25 and 6. In our meditation two Lord's Days ago, Ephesians 1.20-22, and there are at least four or five other pivotal texts in the epistles which we could well consider and I am confident would be to our own benefit.

3:22 In our own edification passages such as Colossians 2.10 and Philippians 2.10 and Hebrews 1.8 and Hebrews 1.13 and 1 Peter 3.22 and perhaps several others, but I'm passing over those trusting that as you read in the epistles, having gained some perspective on those that we've looked at in some detail, your eye will be keen to catch those strands of biblical thought which point in the direction of the kingship of Christ.

Introduction to Christ's Kingship in Revelation: Conflict to Consummation

3:52 Passing over those further passages in the epistles, we come this morning to the first of several studies on the kingship of Christ in that section of the word of God that I have entitled the section of conflict unto the consummation, that is, the book of the revelation. That book which takes us from the present time in which it was written, that is, A.D. 95.

4:22 Right down to the end, the period in which there is this upheaval and conflict between the powers of darkness and the mighty power of the Lamb in the midst of the throne, the period which ends again and again with a vision of the glorious consummation when Jesus Christ is victor over all his and his people's enemies. Now, if we are rightly to handle those key passages.

4:52 In the book of the revelation, which assert both the fact and the nature of the kingship of Christ, we must first of all have in hand some proper principles of handling any part of the book of the revelation. We will not rightly handle any of the individual parts unless we understand the principles which ought to govern the handling of the whole. And so this morning, our first concern.

5:22 Will be to come to grips with what I have called first principles in handling or interpreting the book of the revelation first principles in handling or interpreting the book of the revelation. Now, why do I do this? Not because we are beginning a series of consecutive verse by verse studies in the book of the revelation. If we were, I would start here.

5:49 I would be a bit more detailed and thorough. But I am laying this background only in so far as is necessary to give us the tools to glean from the book of the revelation some of the most wonderful assertions of the kingship of Christ to be found anywhere in the word of God. And as we come to grips with these first principles, we must begin with the question, what essentially is the book of the revelation? You see, the manner in which we handle it.

What Revelation is NOT: Dispelling Misconceptions

6:21 It will be determined by our conviction with respect to what it is. If we are wrong as to the nature of the book of the revelation, we will be wrong in the manner in which we handle it. Now, let me start with the negative. Two negatives.

6:38 The book of the revelation is not pre-written history describing in cryptic or code language a detailed account of the world. And of the church, you see, there are many people who approach the book of the revelation with a presupposition, and the presupposition is this, that this is the Christian's crystal ball. And as you look into the book of the revelation, you will be able to see the entire panorama of detailed world history. But now the problem is in the crystal ball, you have these unusual figures, you have the beast and you have the dragon.

7:22 And you have these strange creatures that are the combination of locusts and of lions and of horses. And people say, if only we can unlock those cryptic, mysterious symbols, why then we'll have the keys to understand the Christian's crystal ball. And we'll be able to look into history and see it all laid out. And many books are written in which there is a very, very fanciful interpretation.

7:51 Napoleon. Napoleon is seen in the book of the revelation, the Balkan wars are seen, Hitler is seen, Mussolini is seen, Mao Zedong is seen, the European alliance is seen, the United Nations. And it is unbelievable. And the books are not one or two or three, but the books are legion.

8:12 And they are relatively useless because those who wrote the books and those who read them with such devotion have failed to understand. And what the book of the revelation is. It is not pre-written history describing in cryptic or code language, secular or even church history in great detail. Secondly, it is not a pre-written account of events that will be limited by a few years at the end of the world.

8:53 There are many who approach the book of the revelation, with the conviction that apart from chapters two and three, everything from chapter four to the end describes a little segment of world history three and a half or seven years before the return of Christ to set up his millennial kingdom upon the earth. And then you have a description of a thousand year period and then the end. Well, I assert that this is not, this is not the nature of the book of the revelation. Now, I've made my assertions as to what it is not.

What Revelation IS: Its Essential Nature

9:29 I've given you no proof, but hang in there and the proof will be forthcoming. Positively then, what essentially is the book of the revelation? Well, first of all, it is a lengthy letter or a small book sent to seven existing churches in Asia Minor probably in 95 A.D.

9:54 Will you look, please, at the book of the revelation, chapter one. Now, remember, we have in lovely print our Bibles containing this language, but originally it came as a letter on parchment, was read by one of the lectors or readers in the churches, which is why we have in verse three, Blessed is he that readeth, singular, and they, plural, that hear. In every church there would be a one reader, and many hearers. Now, the hearers would hear these words the first time the letter was read.

10:32 Verse four, John, to the seven churches that not shall be at the end of the church history. Some say the letters to the seven churches are an outline of church history, and primarily they are there to give us this broad, no, no, that is sheer arbitrariness in the handling of the word of God. The text says, John, to these seven churches, that are in Asia. And then those seven churches are actually named in verse eleven.

11:06 What thou seest, write in a book. You see, this letter is so lengthy, we could call it a small book, and send it to the seven churches, unto Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And if you'll take a map of Bible times, of New Testament times, you will see those seven specific geographical locations that roughly form a circle as they are given to us in this text. We find the same repeated in chapter 22 of the same book or letter, Revelation 22 and verse 16.

11:48 I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things for or over the churches. And so again and again, in chapters two and three, you have this phraseology coming out. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. What churches?

12:10 The churches that existed at that point in history. The real church at Ephesus, the real church at Smyrna, at Pergamum, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and these others that were mentioned. So, the nature of the book of the Revelation must be understood, or its essence, first of all, as a lengthy letter or small book to seven existing churches. Now, in that respect, it is no different from any of the other letters of the New Testament.

12:41 When you pick up the book of Philippians and you read Paul to the saints at Philippi, you assume that this was a real letter written to real people in a real place called Philippi to deal with real needs, real problems, imparting real comfort and real instruction. And because real churches would exist to the end of the age, what the Spirit said through Paul to the real church at Philippi in the first century becomes the abiding possession of real churches right on to the consummation. It becomes the deposit for the church in its entire history.

13:21 But we must never forget, there would be no letter to the Ephesians from which we would derive edification in the twentieth century had there been no real first-century Ephesus to receive a real letter from a real apostle. But then, in the second place, it is a book sent by an exiled apostle to churches which were experiencing great conflict and suffering. And this is borne out very clearly by verse 9 of the first chapter. I, John, your brother

13:59 and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. Here, aged John is in a state of exile under the Roman ruler Domitian. Persecution is broken loose upon the people of God. And John, probably the only living apostle at this time, has been exiled to this lonely isle of Patmos.

14:41 And as he is there and thinks of his brethren in Asia Minor, he identifies himself as a fellow sufferer. John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience or steadfastness which are in Jesus Christ. And so this book is sent by John to these churches to be a word of consolation and comfort and direction in the midst of a circumstance of intense conflict and suffering. Now, in the light of those two simple principles,

Four Characteristics of Revelation's Content

15:26 what essentially is the book? The book of the Revelation, a lengthy letter or small book sent to seven real churches, a book sent by a suffering exiled apostle to suffering tribulated saints. The contents are marked by these four things all the way through. Number one, the contents are essentially ethical and practical.

15:55 The contents of the book of the Revelation are essentially ethical and practical. Notice in the caption, verse 3. Verses 1 to 3 of chapter 1 are a caption, probably written after the entire book was composed. Just as a picture will have a caption on it to give us a summation of what it's all about, we read in verse 3, Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things of the gospel.

16:28 The things that are written therein for the time is at hand. So if you sat in the congregation at Ephesus, the morning an elder stood and said, we have a lengthy epistle from our beloved apostle John, and either that elder or an appointed reader who would be called a lector would stand, one of the first words that would fall upon your ears would be the words of verse 3. Blessed. Happy.

16:56 Spiritually exalted is he that readeth, and they that hear, and keep the things that are written for the time is at hand. What impression would be born to your mind? That you were going to gaze into the Christian's crystal ball and be able to untangle all the strands of Napoleonic history and the history of the First and the Second World War? Ridiculous!

17:25 You would sit there prepared to hear things that would impinge upon the ethical and practical dimensions of your Christian life. Blessed is he that heareth and keepeth the things that are written for the time is at hand. What is written impinges upon the people of God at that hour. Granted, on to the consummation, yes, but certainly not suspended until the last seven years of human history.

18:03 Unless they missed it throughout the epistle, the human heart being what it is, no doubt there was the temptation to speculate and to forget the essentially ethical and practical dimension of this letter. Notice how the letter closes in chapter 22 and verse 7. One of the closing notes is this. Behold, I come quickly.

18:28 Blessed is he that keepeth the words of the prophecy of this book. Now, what's it mean to keep the words of God? Well, it means essentially two things. To receive them in faith and then to live in the light of their implications.

18:49 To keep the words of God means just that, nothing less, nothing more. To receive his words as they are indeed the word of God. And then to live accordingly. And so we are given to understand on the very threshold that because the letter is what it is, a letter to real churches, to suffering churches, it is essentially ethical and practical.

19:19 Therefore, any approach which cuts the ethical and practical nerve is a violation of the God-given statement concerning the nature and intention of this book. You see, we've not imported a preconceived notion and stuck it on top of the book. We have not made glasses out of preconceived notions with which we will now read the book. We've let the book itself tell us why it was given.

19:51 And then, in the second place, it is not only essentially ethical and practical, but because it is what it is, it is essentially imminent and contemporary. Imminent and contemporary to first century saints. Notice again, verse 3, we've already made allusion to this. The last phrase, for the time, or clause, for the time is at hand.

20:23 There is a sense of imminence to all of this. For whom? To the seven churches to whom it is sent. Not at hand only for one segment of the church at the end of history or worse yet.

20:37 Some teach the church is completely out of the way when the things that are at hand are at hand. Whereas the emphasis that John gives by the inspiration of the Spirit is the time is at hand. Verse 19, right therefore, chapter 1, right therefore the things which you saw and the things which are and the things which shall come to pass hereafter. There is this element of the future projection, the things that shall come to pass hereafter.

21:08 But it pertains to things that have been and things that are. And again, the final note, or one of the final notes that is sounded, lest the people of God forget this, it again is sounded in chapter 22, the last chapter, and verse 6. And he said unto me, These words are faithful and true, and the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angels to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. Now again, God does not measure time as we do.

21:44 Jesus says, Behold, I come quickly. Two thousand years of history have passed, or nearly two thousand years. In the reckoning of God, his coming is speedy. But we must not, in allowing that, forget this sense of imminence and contemporaneous element.

22:08 From 95 A.D. to the end, all of these issues stretched before the people of God. This letter then is for the church in any age.

22:20 The time is at hand for any people of God in any age. Therefore, any approach which places all the chapters 1 to 3 to a time only at hand as we've intimated for a seven year or three and a half year period at the end of human history is somehow out of whack with the book itself. And then the third thing that I want to say by way of deduction from this matter of the nature of the book, it is essentially conflict and conquest oriented. If you read through the book of the Revelation speedily, just to catch some of the overall impressions,

23:02 you come away with this conviction that one of the most dominant motifs, if not the, I'm prepared to say for me, now some subjective judgment may enter into that. For me, the dominant motif, the dominant ethos of the entire book is that of conflict and of conquest. And I did an interesting word study this week. The word for overcome, or to make a conquest, is found only ten times from Matthew all the way through the Gospels, all the way through the epistles to the book of Jude.

23:40 Ten times the word for overcome. That is to make a conquest in your conflict. Ten times in the entire New Testament. Yet in the book of the Revelation, you know how many times it occurs in that one book?

23:55 Sixteen times. Overcame, overcame, overcomers, overcame, overcomers, that note comes again and again. Well, there can be no overcoming without conflict. So the motif is conflict unto conquest.

24:11 The word for war, both the noun and the verb form, are found only those words ten times again from Matthew all the way through Jude. The noun and the verb forms of make war, or the word war in the noun form, ten times. In the book of the Revelation, sixteen times. In that one book alone.

24:33 War, making war. I say the dominant motif of the book of the Revelation. It is essentially conflict and conquest oriented. In fact, we may say as one writer has done, that the very theme of this book is the triumph of Christ and his church over Satan and all his hosts.

24:56 And then he cites Revelation 17 and verse 14, as perhaps the thematic verse of the entire letter. Revelation 17, 14. These shall war against the Lamb, conflict. And the Lamb shall overcome them, conquest.

25:18 And he, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they also shall overcome that are with him, called and chosen and faithful. So when you enter the book of the Revelation, you see these tremendous upheavals. The conflict that brings within its orbit the activity of the created universe. And you find these upheavals that touch not only the sea and the mountains, but the stars of heaven.

25:48 You find this conflict with these strange creatures, the beast and the dragon, and those composite creatures that appear hideous, even when reading. What would happen if someone actually tried to project them into a visual projection? They would be absolutely blood-draining and frightening. But there is this conflict, there is this warfare, and there is this triumph.

26:13 And you see, it's because the letter was written to real saints in a real situation of real conflict, that they needed to know that the ultimate end of that conflict was not defeat, but it was indeed conquest by their reigning, and almighty Lord, a conquest in which they would share. But then in the fourth place, because it is a letter written to real churches, in a state of real suffering by a fellow sufferer, it is not only what we have already asserted, but it is essentially Christ-centered.

26:53 It is essentially Christ-centered. There are many figures and images representing many age-long struggles and conflicts, but coming through again and again is the centrality and the triumphs of the Lamb. As we shall see momentarily from the opening greeting, the centrality of Christ meets us on the threshold. Look at the language of chapter 1.

27:25 John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is and was and who is to come, from the seven spirits that before his throne, and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. Now notice, he no sooner mentions Christ than he says, unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priest unto his God and Father, to him be the glory, and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. He can no sooner mention Christ, he no sooner mentions Christ,

28:09 but what he breaks into this ascription of praise and honor to his Lord. And then from the opening vision, what is it? The greetings, unto him be glory. I turn to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw.

28:27 And there is this vision of this likeness of the Son of Man, and it is the glory of Christ that fills his eyes with the first vision. The whole letter will be an unfolding of one vision after another, but it's as though God says the supreme end for which every other vision is given must never be lost sight of. Keep this first vision firmly fixed in your eye. I saw one like unto the Son of Man.

28:55 And then when he sees heaven open, what's the first thing that strikes him? He sees, a throne. And then in chapter 5, what in the midst of the throne? And all the ascriptions of praise that are brought to God in his own essence as God, are brought to the Lamb.

29:14 And it is the Lamb in the midst of the throne who then begins to break the seals. We are to see as it were even the unfolding of these cycles of conflict and conquest, conquest as manifestations of the glory of the Lamb. In the midst of the throne. And right on through the epistle, you aren't long into any of those strange visions, but what there burst upon the vision, some aspect of the glory of our Lord himself.

29:46 Now why is that so? Well, for the simple reason that Christ is the life of his people. And if his people in the midst of suffering and conflict, in the midst of agony and persecution are to have any comfort, my friend, their comfort does not come from looking into a crystal ball and seeing Napoleon on his horse with his hand inside his tunic. Their comfort comes from seeing the Lamb in the midst of the throne.

30:19 The Lamb who has overcome, the Lamb who shall overcome. And it is that which nerves the people of God to face all of their enemies. What then is the book of the Revelation? What essentially is the nature of that book?

30:35 Well, I hope you now have it. It is a letter, a rather lengthy letter, a small book sent to seven real churches in Asia Minor. It is a letter sent by a fellow sufferer to comfort, to direct, and to admonish the people of God. In the light of that, it is essentially ethical and practical.

30:57 It is essentially dealing with imminent and contemporary issues. It is essentially conflict and conquest oriented. It is essentially Christ centered. Now, in the light of these first principles, it is most interesting to note, and I haven't forgotten where we are, that one of the most dominant themes is the kingship of Christ.

The Kingship of Christ as a Dominant Theme in Revelation

31:22 May I give you another little tabulation of words? I don't often do this. I hope this doesn't weary you. But I find it tremendously helpful to know what the Holy Ghost is emphasizing.

31:33 The word for throne, the standard word for throne, is found only fifteen times from Matthew all the way through the book of Jude. Do you know how many times you find it in the book of the Revelation? Ten? No.

31:45 Twenty? No. Thirty? No.

31:48 Forty? No. Forty-five times in the book of Revelation. Now, five or six of those times, it refers to a throne or thrones other than the throne of God.

31:59 Twice, it is the seat or throne of the devil or of the beast, the throne of wickedness. Two or three times, it's the throne of the elders representing the church, that is, the shared throne of believers. But the rest of the time, it's the throne of God and of the Lamb. Approximately forty times, God is saying to suffering, persecuted saints, who, as it were, look with their mind's eye to the throne, to the seat of government at Rome that has bared its ugly fangs and is impinging upon their liberties and their joys, He says, there is another throne.

32:40 And that throne has an occupant. And the one who occupies that throne is ordering and controlling all things for the good and the ultimate glory of His own and of Himself and of His people. Now, you see, it is important for us then, as we would come to the book of the Revelation, to ask ourselves, what is there in the kingship of Christ that would be such a source of comfort to saints who suffer, who are persecuted, who are conscious of this age-long conflict? And as the Spirit of God has underscored this matter of the kingship of Christ,

The Principle of Faith Regarding Christ's Suited Aspect

33:24 the enthronement of Christ, it helps to bring into sharp focus a very vital principle of the Christian life, and the principle is this. Faith regards that, that aspect of Christ which is most suited to its present need. Faith regards that aspect of Christ which is most suited to its present need. It exercises itself upon that facet of His personal work which is tailor-made for my need.

34:01 Let me illustrate this. When the saint is bowed down with a sense of weakness, human infirmity, bowed down with a sense of shame that he is tempted by sin, what aspect of Christ is faith to contemplate? Well, the Scripture is plain. We have not an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

34:29 So when the believer is, as it were, battered to and fro by a crippling sense of his weakness and his sinfulness, how is he to contemplate Christ? Not primarily in the majesty and terror of His throne. That would discourage him. Faith is to feed upon Christ as a sympathetic, tempted high priest.

34:55 Now, it does not deny all the other things He is, nor does it push Him totally into the peripheral, but faith, you see, fastens upon that aspect of Christ's glory which it most desperately needs. When the believer is conscious of his guilt, and he thinks of his sin in the light of God's holy law, what facet of Christ's person and work is to be the basis of his comfort, to be the conscious exercise of his faith? Well, is it not the biblical concept that Christ is our substitute? Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law.

35:32 When guilt is uppermost in your Christian consciousness, you do not derive much comfort from contemplating that Christ was a true man and grew weary. That Christ was a true man and as a man was tempted? When you have not only been tempted, but have fallen and are guilty, you find no real consolation in feeding upon Christ's humanity? Or His sympathy in your temptations?

36:00 You need something that will take away the smirk of an accusing conscience. So what does faith do? Faith contemplates Christ as the curse-bearer. Faith is in Christ.

36:13 And where brings near those awesome scenes of Calvary? Faith gazes at the shrouded heavens. Faith listens to the piercing cry, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And what happens?

36:30 The Scripture says we cleanse our consciences by faith. Now, you see the principle? Now then, applying it to the book of the Revelation, what does the church, most desperately need? When she is in the vice of conflict, when there are the evident struggles between the powers of decadent world systems and decadent anti-God religion, and the struggling minority of God's people, as it were, gasping for their very breath, what does the church need?

37:13 Ah, my friend, the Holy Ghost is saying in the book of the Revelation, the church needs a throne fixation. Forty times, John says, the throne, the throne, the throne, the throne! Now, is that the whole of our religion? No!

37:36 And you see, that's the fallacy of people who say, the secret to the Christian life is... No, no, no, no!

37:43 There is no one key, there is no one secret. Everything Christ is, is essential, for where the people of Christ are. And it is the part of spiritual wisdom to be so furnished with an ever increasingly accurate understanding of all the facets of Christ's glory, all the dimensions of His person and work, so that faith may be acted upon that particular dimension that is most needed in every given circumstance. You see, that's why growth in grace comes.

38:22 By what? Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That's why a true believer who understands this, he does not grow weary with being given new dimensions of understanding concerning Christ. He does not grow restive under doctrinal preaching that is simply a setting forth of new facets of the glory of Christ in His person and work.

The Church's Need for a Throne Fixation

38:51 What? He knows that that's the very fuel for faith, and he lives by faith, he stands by faith, he grows in the context of faith. Now, right now, for many of us, we say, well, that doesn't scratch me where I itch. My friend, in a sense, we in America have lived in a fool's paradise for several centuries.

39:19 And our time may come sooner than many of us realize, when you'll need nothing more than a spirit-wrought understanding of the overall thrust of the book of the Revelation. The time may come when free assembly such as we know this morning will simply be a memory to which our minds look back with great longing. What will be your stay in that hour? May I suggest, if the Holy Ghost is written upon your heart, this great truth of the book of Revelation, the Lamb is in the midst of the throne.

Christ's Kingship in the Opening Greeting of Revelation

39:59 Christ is victor, not for himself, but for all his people. Now, just to introduce the subject, and then I'm done. I want you to go back to chapter one. I should say, to introduce the actual handling of the passage, we'll just be five minutes here in this passage, and then be done.

40:22 We have a caption in the first three verses, then we have a formal greeting beginning with verse four. Now, notice the greeting. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace. Now, he's going to describe the God who is the giver, the author, the conveyor of this grace and peace.

40:46 First of all, he directs to God, probably thinking of the Father, or what we would say to God in his own Trinitarian essence, grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. Here are the saints of God, conscious that around them are all these enemies, all of these opposers of the light and truth of the gospel. John says you must view yourself as standing under a canopy of grace that is adequate for all your needs. And as you believingly lay hold of that grace, you will know the peace of God which passes understanding.

41:31 And from whom does it come? From the God who is. He's the great I Am. All the circumstances of Rome's bared fangs, all of the evident opposition has not whittled away at the character of God.

41:47 He's the God who is. And what is he now? What he always has been. And what he always has been and is, he ever shall be.

41:56 Well, you see, grace and peace coming from a God like that is a pretty sure commodity. But he says more. The grace and peace not only come from him who is and was and is to come, but also from the seven spirits that are before his throne. And I take the position taken by most judicious commentators that this does not mean there are seven spirits, seven entities, but it has reference to the sevenfold spirit.

42:26 That is, the spirit in the completeness and fullness of his ministrations. The seven spirits that are before his throne. That is, the Holy Spirit being the executor of the divine will. If God is and was and ever shall be, and his heart is full of all his gracious designs for his people, how shall they be conveyed to me by the spirit who is before the throne in the plentitude of his power and his gracious operations to execute in me and in the church all of the gracious will of him who is, who was, and ever shall be?

43:07 But then he says, and from Jesus Christ. And then we have three appellations, three references with respect to Christ. How are they to think of him? Grace and peace coming from the God who is and was and ever shall be, yes.

43:25 The spirit who is before the throne in the plentitude of his grace and operation, yes. But in what way am I to think of Christ? In what way is grace and peace secured to me? Or, are they secured to me by Christ?

43:38 Three things are said. The faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. There to consider him as the faithful witness. By this time, 95 A.D.,

43:53 many of the words and sayings of Jesus were the common property of the churches. He said such things as, Let not your heart be troubled. I go to prepare a place for you. Lo, I am with you always.

44:08 Persecution, tribulation, opposition have broken loose. Someone might question, Ah, did Jesus really mean what he said? Grace and peace from the faithful witness. He's told you no lies.

44:22 Everything he said is valid. He's the faithful witness. Ah, but someone says, We've seen some of our friends and loved ones march to death. They've gone to martyrdom.

44:34 He says, take heart. Jesus Christ is the firstborn of the dead. It's as though death is a large wound, and in it are all the people of God, and Christ is the firstborn, and all the rest are going to follow. He says, take heart.

44:49 Grace and peace. Jesus Christ is firstborn of the dead. His resurrection was not a private act. His resurrection was the absolute pledge of the resurrection of all his people.

45:03 So even if you march to death in obedience to your Lord, be thou faithful unto death, your Lord is the firstborn of the dead. And then he puts the capstone by the third appellation. Look at it. And the future ruler?

45:21 No. The archon. The ruler of whom? Of his church?

45:31 No, not just his church, but the ruler of the king of the earth. Now get the picture. Here's a group of believers huddled in fear. While one of the lectors stands and opens the scroll, they think of all the evidences of the imposing might of Rome.

45:53 They pass soldiers as they go out to commerce day after day. They see the evidences of the mighty ones of the earth. Now he says, grace and peace. Jesus Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth.

46:10 Now do you see how the kingship of Christ meets the believers on the very threshold of this epistle? And there's a sense in which the rest of the epistle just expands that and expands it and expands it and expands it and expands it so that the people of God in the midst of their conflict and suffering can be confident that he is ruler of the kings of the earth. Now, who is that ruler? Look at the next words.

46:39 Unto him that loveth us and loosed us from our sins by his blood. The one who loved us, who does yet love us. Present tense. The one who loosed us from our sins.

46:55 It is our redeemer who is our king. You see how the offices interpermeate one another? It is not that he is priest now and king in the future. What a wonderful thing to know that the one who has loosed me from my sins and who loves me can in the execution of the desires and the designs of love and in pursuit of making me what he died to make me.

47:21 He sits as king and ruler of the kings of the earth. And it is from his hands that all of human history unfolds, head over all things to the church, authority over all flesh to give eternal life to as many as are given him. Now, you see, for the impenitent this has frightening dimensions. The kingship will come to its fullest manifestation when he crushes his enemies.

Call to Read Revelation with a Focus on Christ's Kingship

47:53 Mercy despised will become mercy removed. But, oh, Christian, I urge you this week to read through the book of the Revelation. Some of you have never read it through because you felt, I just don't have a doctor's degree in cryptology. And until I can un-cryptosize the beast in my eyes, I'll just close the book.

48:18 I hope this morning has whet your appetite. Don't get hung up now and say, well, who is the beast? Just get that broad panoramic vision. I urge you to read through, looking for all the references to the throne.

48:32 Look for the outcome of every conflict between the lamb and any of his enemies. If you read through and just get something of those two things, then you'll come in the category blessed is he that readeth and keepeth the words of this book. God willing, then, next week and probably for the following, we'll look at four or five of the key texts in the book of the Revelation that point to the glorious kingship of our glorious Lord. Let us unite our hearts in prayer.

49:08 Our Father, how grateful we are that your beloved son is now ruler of the kings of the earth. And we thank you that he is so with respect to the preservation and ultimate glorification of his people. We thank you he is such a king to effect the triumphs of the church. And for this we praise you.

49:34 Lord, write these things upon our hearts. We'll pray that you take away the unfounded mysteries that enshroud for many of us this wonderful book given for the blessing of your people in all ages. And though we would not presume to understand all of its mysteries, how we thank you. We can receive the overall impress of its message that Jesus Christ is victor.

50:04 Oh, may our hearts feed upon that reality as we think, many of us, of our own circumstances, of those things that test and try us. Oh, may we act faith upon him who is victor and believe that all things are working together for our good and for his glory. Hear our prayers and receive our thanks for your presence with us this morning. We ask in Jesus' name. Amen.