Marcus Mecum - Revelation For Dummies
I wanna give you just a quick, easy, simple overview of the Book of Revelation, and one verse, the Bible gives us one verse that lays out the thesis or a simple outline of the whole book, and that's verse 19. It says, "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after this". That's our three points. Number one, write the things which you have seen. Number two, the things which are, and number three, the things which will take place after this.
The Book of Revelation is a book of prophecy. Prophecy is pre-written history. I like that idea. History pre-written. So, it's a book of prophecy. The word Revelation, notice it's not Revelations. If you look at the very top corner of your Bible, if you're in the Book of Revelation, it just says, "Revelation". So, this is one Revelation, one Revelation. There's one thing, one primary goal that the apostle John is trying to teach us here, one thing he's trying to unveil. That's what Revelation means, to unveil. There's one thing he's trying to say has been hidden, it's been veiled but if you'll read this book, the veil will lift. That which has been hidden will be discovered if you read this book.
Also, in verse 3, we find that this is the only book in your Bible that has a promise attached to it if you read it. The Bible here, in Revelation 3:1, it says that, "Blessed are those who read these words and hear these words". So, God promises that there is a special blessing attached to those who read and hear the words from this book. So, this lets us know that in this service, there's a special blessing for every single one of you that are here that are hearing the words of this book. So, even if I preach terrible, even if I drop the ball, and I just can't get out what I'm supposed to say in a way that I'm supposed to say it, which is, kinda, normal.
If that happens here today, there's still a special blessing attached to this message because we're reading and hearing the words that the apostle John wrote to us. John the beloved is the author, he is the best friend of Jesus. He is the one that is standing at the cross, of all the apostles, he's the only one that makes it to the crucifixion. He's standing there with the mother of Jesus, Mary, and he hears one of the last sentences Jesus will ever say hanging from the cross, he says, "Would you take care of my mother"? And John takes up that mantle and oversees and takes care of and cares for John's mom for the rest of her life. We would know that this is a book that's special to our theology.
Whereas Genesis is the seed bed of all theology, this is our understanding of God, how we see God, how we think about God, which is really the most important thing about you, how you think about God. If you think about God wrong, you think about yourself wrong, you think about the world wrong, you think about people wrong, you think about situations wrong, but if you see God right, you see yourself right, you see people right, you see your relationships right, you see the world.
So, Genesis is the seed bed of theology, Revelation is the harvest of all theology. Where Genesis describes our beginning, Revelation explains our end. Genesis teaches us about the very first bride, who was eve, Revelation teaches us about the church, who is the bride of Christ. In Genesis, satan appears for the first time, in Revelation he appears his last time. In Genesis, man is removed from the garden, from eden, from Gods presence. In Revelation, man is ushered back into the full presence of God, having full access to all his glory. What God begins in Genesis, he finishes in the Book of Revelation. And Jesus tells John, "I want you to write about the things which are seen".
And John begins to write in verse 12. He says he turns and sees the voice that spoke with me. "I turned and saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstands, one like the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace. His voice is the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me saying, 'do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen'". And incase you forgot, "I have the keys of hell and death".
So, he tells John, "Write about the things which you have seen," and John begins to write. Notice, he does not write about an event, he does not write, in this moment, about the tribulation, he does not write about the anti-Christ, he does not write about the Mark of the beast. The very first thing he writes about, this unveiling, this Revelation that's about to take place, surrounds the person specifically, the person of Jesus Christ. The central focus of the Book of Revelation is Jesus. It's not an event, it's not the tribulation, it is the person of Jesus Christ. He is the focus of the book. He is the main point.
If you read the Book of Revelation or you hear the Book of Revelation in any way, shape, or form, and in some way, shape, or form, you walk away and you don't see Jesus in a greater way, you do not know him in a fuller way, you've missed the point of the book. Jesus tells John, "I want you to write to them concerning the things which you have seen". Because the first time Jesus came, he was veiled. He was born of a virgin, he came and he put on flesh and he dwelled among us. He was placed in a feeding trough as a child, he was raised in the obscurity of Nazareth, raised by a simple carpenter. He was raised in this simple way with his simple life. We would know that most of his life is veiled. We don't see much about his childhood. We catch a glimpse of him at age 12, but most of his life, again, is veiled. We don't see most of it.
At age 30, he shows up, and after three years of his ministry, we find him being bound, being arrested, being sentenced to execution, they put a cross on his back, he Carries that cross, he's crucified as he hangs there bleeding, embarrassed and humiliated. They mocked him saying, "If you're really this king of the Jews, then why don't you get yourself off this cross? Why don't you call down angels to get", and the mockery was there. Why? Because who he was, his divinity was veiled behind his humanity. And a lot of times, people get stuck on their vision of who Jesus was. They see Jesus as that carpenter's son or they see Jesus even hanging and bleeding on a cross. Or maybe they even see the borrowed tomb of Joseph of Arimathea with the stone rolled away and empty, and they think to themselves, "That's how we're supposed to see Jesus".
But Jesus tells John, "I don't want you to write about the cross, I don't want you to write about the empty tomb, I want you to write about how you see me now. People need to see me as I am now. Not as I was but as I am today". So, the first thing John does is he begins to unveil who Christ is today, who he is now, seated at the right hand of the father, crowned with glory, crowned with majesty. He is reigning King of kings and Lord of lords. And it's important that we get a vision, according to this book, the veil be lifted concerning who Jesus is today.
I'm drawn to Jesus because of who he was. I'm drawn to his beauty, his nature of grace, the love that he carried himself with. I'm drawn to his humanity, I'm drawn to his willingness to suffer for my sin and for yours, I'm drawn to his humility, I'm drawn to his willingness to take on the curse of our sin, I'm drawn to the way that he would lay down his life because, "No greater love hath any man than this, that they lay down their life". And I'm drawn to all of that because it's through that, the Bible says, that "He's a God that's touched with our infirmity".
I can relate to him when I see him in his humanity. But it's really clear that Jesus tells John, "I'm not going to return like that. I came like that for the first time, but I'm not going to return in like manner. And what I need people to know is I'm not like I was them. I'm not hanging and bleeding on a cross, I'm not in that place anymore. I am now this God that has this garment that's hanging down. I've got, my eyes are a flame of fire". We read it, I don't have to go back through it 'cause I'm confused myself, but you know what I'm talking about. This is Revelation for dummies. Find somebody else if you want them to explain the whole thing. I'm trying to unveil it, it's hard.
Number two, the things which are. Write about the things which you've seen and write about the things which are. Chapter 2 and 3 of this book begins to walk us through the things that are. We are living in the church age, and so, John writes to the churches. Jesus talked to the churches of Asia Minor, lists seven different churches that were physical churches that existed, but they were also symbolic of the thing that the church has to work on. Things, temptations, weaknesses, tendencies, behaviors that will get a hold of the church age, during the church age. These are things that we will have to work through. Now, don't just take this and put it on a church building.
I love the people that love to go take these two chapters and love to say, "Oh, well that church is like that, that's that church". That's not who he's writing to. He's not writing to a building or a structure, he's writing to you. Okay, this is his message to you. You're the church. I'm the church. He's writing to us. And so, his message, first of all, is to the church of Ephesus. And he says, their issue is they've left their first love. How many of y'all know a building cannot leave their first love? He's talking about those who do not love him like they used to. He doesn't say they don't love him, he's saying they just don't place him first anymore. They don't love him like they once did. If there's ever been a time in your life where you loved Jesus more than you do right now, can I help you?
This is a warning to you that there is going to be the temptation to lose Jesus as our prominent, number one, first love. Then he writes to the church of Smyrna. Smyrna is a fearful church, a worried church. Primarily concerned about the future. When we hear about the things that happen in the world, when we hear about even the events of end times or the social unrest in our world, specifically here in America, a divided nation, we get worried about our future. "What if so and so's elected? What if such and such is elected? What if so and so is reelected"?
And no matter which place you stand, people get worried. But as a believer, can I help you out? The way it all winds up is the world gets Messier, and Messier, and Messier. It doesn't get better and better. So, at the end of the day, there is nothing to fear, none of this is a surprise to God, none of this is scary to God. The church will be its brightest when the world is its darkest. As sin increases, grace, much more increases. You have nothing to fear. But there will be a fearful church, a worried church, just buckled down, "Oh my God, we're so worried about the future".
Number three, the church of Pergamos is a compromising church. They love God, he clears it up, they love him but they lacked integrity. And he talks to them about how critical it is that they overcome the temptation to become like the world. He talks to them about, "Listen, you can love me but you also have to live for me. It's not good enough to know me in a church service. I need you to bring me into your Monday, your Tuesday, your Wednesday, your Thursday, your Friday. I need you to bring me into your everyday life. I appreciate that you love me but I wanna know will you live for me"? And he says, "If you'll do this, I'll give you a new name".
I love this idea because it shows us the major difference between God and the devil. In the last days, the devil gives every person that leans towards him a number, where in the last days, any person that leans towards God, he gives them a new name. Because if you lean towards the enemy, to the world, can I just help you our real quick? All you are is a notch on the belt of hell. That's all you are. But if you'll lean into God in the last days, can I tell you what he says? "If you'll overcome the temptation to become like the world, love me and live for me, and my promise to you is I will give you a new name. You're my sons, you're my daughters, you're more than a number. I will call you by name personally, individually. I know who you are and I will call you by name".
The church of Thyatira is an unrepentant church. He shows that they will justify sin through good works. This is a scary one because it introduces us to the idea that I can just be a good person and that will get me to heaven. If I'm good enough, then the scale will balance out. Yeah, I've got some mistakes, I've got some sin, but what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna do a bunch of good things and that's gonna balance out the scale, and then when I come before God, he's gonna look at the good I've done and the good I've done is gonna outweigh the bad I've done.
And so, he says, "Listen, this is not the way that you come before a pure and holy God. You don't come before a pure and holy God trying to show me your good works. You come before a pure and holy God only one way, where you recognize this is the gospel, that there is no way you could ever do enough good works to get right before God". That's why Jesus came. He came and he died on a cross, did the ultimate good work so you and I could bring our sin to him. And as we give him our sin, we pick up his grace and that is how you get right with God. Not through your works but through his work on the cross.
But he says in the last days, there will be this mindset that people will think, "I'll just try to be good enough," and they'll not see their great need to surrender to Jesus Christ fully and receive his forgiveness for their life. And he says, "In the last days, that will be a temptation people will have to overcome". They will trust their good works instead of trusting Jesus' work on the cross. The church of Sardis is the dead church. Isn't it interesting that there are churches, he says, that "They will have a name that they're alive, but they're dead".
And again, if this is a message to us in this room today, it means you can have the name you're a Christian, the name you're a follower of Jesus, but you're actually dead. You can have doctrine, you can have theology, you can have a cross on your building, you can have a cross around your neck, you can have your statement of faith clear and pristine, your doctrine can be above reproach, but that's not the main point. Nothing wrong with those things, but the Bible says that, "The letter alone kills, the spirit gives life".
So, you have to have the spirit behind the letter. That's God's breath, that's God's life, and it's not good enough for you and I to know about God, we have to know him and the power. That's the light of his resurrection. "Do not be deceived, brethren," is what the Bible says, "That you can expect to finish in the flesh what he has begun in the spirit".
You and I, can I help you know what makes us a people? Not a building, not a sign, not that the name church is in our name, not our statement of faith, all that stuff is fine. What makes us a people is the presence of God. We need the breath and the presence of God on everything we do. We need it on our singing, we need it on our preaching, we need it on our shaking hands, we need it on every gift that we offer him, we need it in our children's programs. We need more than dead, lifeless, activity. We need the light and the Spirit of God on all that we do. It is his presence that make us a people.
Number six, the church of Philadelphia is a weak church. He says they have little strength. So, there will be a temptation in the last day that the church will buy the lie that they should just be a weak church. "You little weak church Christian people, we don't wanna hear from you, we don't wanna hear what your thoughts are about the issues in the world. You just go to your little cute churches and you don't cause no problems and you just be quiet in there. And if you don't do what we want you to do, we're gonna threaten you, we're gonna push your back up against the wall, we're gonna take this, we're gonna do this, we're gonna", and there will be a temptation for the church to believe that that's who we're supposed to be.
We're not supposed to ever have a thought, we're not supposed to ever have a standard, we're not supposed to ever have a voice. But God doesn't call the church in the last days to be a weak church. He says to the weak, "Say that you are strong". You gotta be bold, you gotta be courageous, you gotta be willing to say, "It is not a day for the church to be quiet, it's a day for the church to stand up and be heard and be courageous and bold for the God that gave his life for us".
I just think about that attitude of David's brothers. Remember David? They come out on the field and Goliath's there threatening the people of God. "Just stay in your little trench". David comes out and he says, "No, we're not supposed to be sitting in here, shrinking back in fear, we're supposed to be out there battling the Goliath". And all the brothers said, "No, no, no, no. We should do that. You're proud, you have the wrong motive, you have the wrong this". And David's like, "We're not called to be weak and quiet, we're called to stand up and say, 'who is this uncircumcised Philistine that resist and tries to come against the God of Israel.'"?
Remember when Paul was arrested and beaten and unjustly imprisoned? And then God sends the earthquake, they come out of prison, he rescues the jailer and then what happens? The authorities that had just beat him and imprisoned him, they send word and say, "Hey, tell Paul he can leave, but to leave quietly".
And what does Paul say? "Send word back to them that they beat me publicly, they imprisoned me publicly, and I will not leave quietly. If they want me to leave, they're going to hear what I have to say". And the church is not called to be a weak church, we're called to be a strong church, we're called to be a bold church, we're called to be a church that stands up for righteousness and justice. Not for one group of people, for all groups of people by the way.