Revelation Overview Pt. 1 — Chuck Smith

The Revelation of Jesus Christ and Its Future Scope

Book of Revelation has, of course, become extremely relevant to us at this time because I believe that we are on the verge of seeing the fulfillment of these things that are written in the Book of Revelation.

And I believe that it could happen most any time as far as the beginning of this series of events that will be taking place. In the heading of your King James Bible, it says, The Revelation of St. John the Divine.

That's not quite accurate. The first verse tells you who it is the revelation of. It doesn't reveal anything to you about St. John the Divine as far as the future is concerned. It tells you that he was on the island of Patmos and he had this vision that he was commanded to write.

But it is really a vision of Jesus Christ and the future of Jesus Christ. It is about the person of Jesus. He describes him here in chapter one as he sees him in his glorious glorified form as one day we shall see him.

In chapters two and three, we see the revelation of Jesus as he relates to his church. In chapters four and five, we see the revelation of Jesus Christ as he receives the glory, the honor, the dominion, the powers that he purchased through his death upon Calvary as he there purchased the redemption of the world.

In chapters six through 18, it reveals Jesus Christ in his great judgment that he will bring upon the world for the sin, the unrighteousness of man. In chapters 19 through 21, we see the future of Jesus in his kingdom reigning as king of kings and Lord of lords forever and ever.

And of course, in the last chapter, that eternal reign of his kingdom in the new heaven and in the new earth. So it's the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It's revealing to us what he is presently in his relationship to the church, future in the completion of the redemption of the world, the judgment of the world, his coming again and his kingdom reign, and then the eternal reign of our Lord.

So in verse one, the revelation of Jesus Christ. Some people say you shouldn't really try to get into the book of revelation. It's all in symbols. Nobody really understands it. And so, so many pastors, so many churches stay away from the book of revelation and do not endeavor to understand it.

Believe being that it is all locked up in mysteries and symbolisms, and there is no way that you can really understand the book of revelation. That's exactly opposite of what the word revelation means.

It's the Greek word apocalypse, and it means the unveiling. It's taking the wraps off so that you can see. And by ignoring the book of revelation, the church is being robbed of a great blessing. Because right here in the beginning in verse three, it says, blessed is he that reads and those that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand.

So we're going to read it as I read it. You're going to hear it, and if you'll just keep it, you'll be blessed. Now, here is the route by which the revelation came. It is the revelation or unveiling of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show unto his servants, that is to us, the things which must shortly come to pass.

And he sent and he signified it by his angel unto the servant, John. So there is an angel that is more or less guiding John through this book of revelation. As he is revealing these things to John and as he is showing John the future glory that is our Lord Jesus Christ, actually the glory that he has now, but the glory whereby we shall be with him and see him.

Jesus’ Glory, Lordship, and Coming Judgment

Jesus prayed in John 17, Father, I want for those that have been with me during this time of my humiliation to be with me in glory when I am glorified by thee, with the glory that I had before the world ever existed.

And that's the prayer of Jesus for you, that you might be with him there when he is glorified before the world, before all men. For we read that one day every knee shall bow, every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

You may not want to bow your knee now. You may not want to confess now that Jesus Christ is Lord, but one day you will. Every knee will bow, every tongue will confess. But if you wait until then, it will be of no value to you.

It will not bring you salvation then. To do it tonight, to confess Jesus Christ as Lord tonight can bring you eternal life. It can bring you a share and a part in the kingdom of God. If you wait, you will bow, but it will have no value.

As far as you're concerned, you will be eternally condemned as we will get to that in chapter 20. And we see the fate of those who have rejected Jesus Christ as the Lord of their lives. And you surely don't want to be in that crowd as we read about the things that will happen.

So now John is opening the book, John, to the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace unto you and peace from him, which is, which was, which is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and of the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him who loved us, washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and his father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen. So first of all, John is wishing to them the grace and peace of God the Father. He describes him in his eternal nature. God is eternal. In eternity there is no time. Everything is now. It's hard for us to grasp this concept because everything that we experience in this time continuum has a beginning, has a present, and has a future.

But outside of the time continuum, in that eternal realm, there isn't a past or a future. Everything is now. Hard to conceive of that, but soon we'll be having the Rose Bowl Parade. Let's say that you get tickets, grandstand seats, that would be set up at Lake Avenue and Colorado Boulevard.

And you say, Chuck, got tickets, got a couple extra. How about you and Kay going? I said, well, that sounds interesting. Haven't been to a Rose Parade since I was in college. So we get up early, early, and we head up to Pasadena.

And we have things to read. We have a radio to listen to, a little portable TV. And I want to, you know, just sort of keep up on everything. So we are settled now in our grandstand seats. And we're waiting, bundled ourselves up.

It's cold. And presently we hear the sound of bands. We look up Colorado Boulevard towards Orangewood. And we see that the first car, the president's car, is coming. And in front of him, there are these guys that are walking down with a banner, you know, and president of the Rose Parade.

And he comes by, does his old thing, you know. And then we find that the bands start to come and the floats start coming by. And we are oohing and aahing over these floats. They're absolutely gorgeous.

You can't imagine how they could put these things together like that, the ingenuity. And we're just enthralled. And as we are watching the floats go by, we see this one float from Alhambra. And it has won the president's trophy.

And it is indeed a beautiful float. And as it goes by, we clap, we cheer and all. And the crowd is excited because of the beauty of this float. And it goes on past. And here come more bands and horses and floats.

And someone comes running up. And they see us in the stands. And we look down, they say, Hey, has the Alhambra float gone by? Oh yeah, about five minutes ago. Oh no, I wanted to see it. Well, I'll tell you what, get in your car, go on up the street, go ahead.

In the street, you know, get off in Sierra Madre and you probably able to see it go by. But the interesting thing is to see what's past, you have to go ahead. You see, it's past, it's already gone. But to see it now, you have to go ahead to see what's past.

Interesting. So we get back into it again. And pretty soon, someone comes running up and says, Has the Long Beach float gone by yet? We say, No, according to our program, it should be here in about five minutes.

Oh, I want to see it right now. Well, go back. On the parade route, and you can see what's ahead. You see, we're at one point and we're watching the thing go by. And so with us, part of it is past. Part of it is future.

But if you want to see what's past, you got to go ahead. If you want to see what's future, you have to go back. Because we're at a fixed point. So here we are at a fixed point in time. We're watching things go by.

But God is outside of time. Now, if you could get in the Goodyear blimp, and if you could go high above Colorado Boulevard, look down on the parade, you would see the whole procession. You'd see the president's car up here.

And you would see the street sweepers in the back following the last horses and all, you know. And you can see the whole thing moving down Colorado Boulevard all at once. Because you're above it. God being outside of time can look down and see the whole process at once.

He can see Adam eating the apple, if it was, that forbidden fruit. And God can see the end, the Battle of Armageddon, as far as the end of things in their present order. And God can look down and see the whole thing happening at once.

And that is why God is able to talk about things that haven't happened yet. As though they've already happened. Because in His dimension, they have. So He looks down from His vantage point, and He sees the future.

And so God said, that you might know that I'm God, and there's no other God like me. I'm going to tell you things before they ever take place. So that when they do take place, you will know that I am God.

And so God has told us, the book of Revelation tells us things that are yet future. So if you want to see what's going to happen, then you can just turn to the Bible, and it will give you the future as it's going to be coming.

And that's what we have in the book of Revelation. God, who is outside of time, is going to tell us now things that are going to be transpiring, that haven't yet transpired, but they will be transpiring in the very near future.

So God's eternal nature is expressed in the words, which is, which was, which is to come. He's all of that at once. When we get into the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, as the cherubim are about the throne of God, as they are worshiping God, they say, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which is, which was, which is to come.

Again, describing that eternal nature of God. He's all of those things at once. From the Holy Spirit, the sevenfold complete working of the Holy Spirit, as was manifested in the life of Jesus and is prophesied of Jesus in Isaiah chapter 11.

And then from Jesus Christ. Now, when he gets to Jesus Christ, John just sort of goes on. I mean, he has been with Jesus. He has come to the realization that Jesus is the eternal God, that which was from the beginning, which we have seen, which we have touched, which we have handled, which we've gazed upon.

And he's so enthralled as the realization of who Jesus really is, hit him. In describing Jesus, he said, who is the faithful witness? That is, he is a faithful witness as to what God is. The faithful witness of God.

Do you want to know what God is like? Look at Jesus. He's a faithful witness of God. Now, Jesus said through the power of the Holy Spirit, we will be his witnesses. And he expects us to be his witness through the power of the spirit.

But he was a faithful witness of God. When Philip said to him, Lord, just show us the father and we'll be satisfied. Jesus said, have I been so long a time with you? Haven't you seen me, Philip? Don't you realize if you have seen me, you have seen the father?

Why? Because he was a faithful witness of what God is. And so as we see Jesus weeping over the consequences of those in Jerusalem who reject him as the Messiah, we see God weeping over the lost. They came to the realization that when Jesus was walking down the road and he would put his arm around them as they would talk, that God was putting his arm around them and talking to them.

And so, the faithful witness of God. He is the first begotten of the dead. He is the first fruits of those who will rise from the dead. And he is the prince of the kings of the earth. To him who loved us, washed us from our sins in his own blood, has made us kings and priests unto God and his father.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, John said, he's coming with clouds. And every eye shall see him. Those who say that Jesus has already come. And there are those who teach that he has actually set up his kingdom reign.

We're in the millennium. Beg your pardon. I was hoping for something much better than this. We are told that Jesus is going to take a great chain and bind Satan and cast him into the abuso when he establishes kingdom upon the earth.

And if Satan is changed and in the abuso today, the chain is too long. He's got too much freedom. He's coming with clouds and every eye will see him. They also which pierced him. And all of the families of the earth shall wail because of him.

Even so, amen. Interesting prophecy in Zechariah chapter 12. As Zechariah prophesies, they shall look on him whom they have pierced. This is before Jesus was ever pierced. And in the 13th chapter, Zechariah said, and they will say unto him, what are the meaning of the wounds in your hands?

And he will say, these are the wounds that I received in the house of my friends. Smite this shepherd and this sheep will be scattered. And so they will look upon him whom they have pierced. And then the voice, I am the alpha, the omega, the beginning, the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, which is to come the almighty.

So God sort of putting his stamp on the end of the salutation, declaring himself the first and the last, alpha and omega, beginning and the ending. So John now describes the conditions by which he received this vision.

John’s Patmos Vision and the Day of the Lord

I, John, who also am your brother, I'm a companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us we have need of patience, that after we have done the will of God, we might obtain the promise.

James said, have patience, brethren, as you wait for the coming of the Lord. For the husbandman is waiting for the complete fruit of harvest. Peter said in the last days, there would be scoffers who would come.

They would say, where's the promise of his coming? Since our fathers have fallen asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning. But he said, God is not slack concerning his promises as some men count slackness.

He's faithful to us. He's not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. So John said, I'm with you. I'm just waiting patiently for the coming, the kingdom that Jesus has promised.

But he said, I was in the island of Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. According to early church history, the early historian Eusebius, uh, all of the disciples, with the exception of John, suffered a violent death as a martyr for Jesus Christ.

Some of them were beheaded. Some of them were tied, their feet tied to a mule that ran through the streets until their brains were dashed out on the pavement. And they, all of them died violent deaths with the exception of John.

Peter was crucified upside down. He said he wasn't worthy to be crucified as his Lord. John, according to Eusebius church history, they attempted to boil him in oil, but God miraculously helped him. He wasn't really affected by it.

And so they exiled him to the Rocky Craig called Patmos, an island there in the Aegean sea. I, John, your brother and companion, patience, waiting for the coming of the Lord, was in the island called Patmos for the word of God, for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

And I was in the spirit on the Lord's day that would probably better read. I was in the spirit unto the day of the Lord. That is the Lord took him in sort of a time capsule ahead. Unto the day of the Lord, the day of God's wrath and judgment, the day of the kingdom of God being set up.

So John was taken by the spirit into the future where he was then seeing the things that were going to transpire in the future. Now think of yourself as living in the first century. The fastest thing you know is a horse.

Think of watching a modern warfare with that kind of a background and mentality. Try to describe tanks firing their cannons. Try to describe jet planes screaming through the air. You see, you'd have to use figures that were familiar to you because there weren't vocabularies for modern jets or things of that nature.

So John takes a trip into the future, sees these things, and then endeavors to describe them in the language of his day. And when you look at it like that, John did a fairly reasonable job as he attempted to describe the things that he saw.

So I was in the spirit unto the day of the Lord. I heard behind me a great voice. It sounded like a trumpet. It said, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a book, send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, to Laodicea.

And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the middle of the seven candlesticks, there was one like unto the Son of Man. Now notice, here's a voice that's saying, a strong voice like a trumpet, it's saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

What you see, write in a book. Now, we read up in verse eight, the description of God, the Father, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Now Jesus is declaring, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

Because as John turns to see the one speaking to him, he sees Jesus Christ. So I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Being turned, I saw the seven golden candlesticks. In the middle of the candlesticks, one like the Son of Man, who was clothed in a garment down to the foot.

He was girt about his breast with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool. As white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet like unto brass as though it had been burned in a furnace.

And his voice as the sound of many waters. Now keep your, there, look at that again. Let me read a vision of that Daniel had of Jesus. He records in Daniel chapter 10, verse five. And as I read Daniel's description, sort of follow along in the description that John gives.

Daniel said, then I lifted up my eyes and I looked and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz. His body also was like burl. His face as the appearance of lightning.

His eyes like lamps of fire. And his arms and his feet were like the color of polished brass. And the voice of his words were like the voice of a multitude. Here is John seeing the same Lord that Daniel saw some 500 plus years earlier.

As Daniel describes his vision of Jesus. And it is interesting how closely it dovetails with the vision that John had. Now he had in his right hand seven stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.

His countenance was like the sun that shines in its strength. And when I saw him, I felt that his feet as dead. He laid his right hand upon me saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead.

And behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death. Now you say, well, look, Chuck, already you're into these symbolisms. You know, you're reading about these golden candlesticks.

And you're reading about seven stars in his right hand. And who can understand these things? Well, it's interesting. Just read on. The Lord explains to you what he is seeing. The Lord said to him, verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.

The seven stars are the angels or the messengers of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks, which you saw, are the seven churches. So the mystery is solved. The book itself solves the mystery for you.

It tells you that this Christ is walking in the midst of his churches. He is holding the ministers in his right hand. And so the vision is explained. But verse 19 is the key verse. This is the key to the understanding of the book of Revelation.

If you miss verse 19, the book is going to be a mystery to you all the way through. But if you will look at verse 19 and realize this is the key to the interpreting and the understanding of the book, then you're going to be all right.

Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter, or metatauta, after these things. Three divisions of the book. John was to write, first of all, that which he had seen.

What did he see? He saw Jesus standing and walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, holding the seven stars in his right hand. So he describes Jesus as he sees him in that glorified form, the face and like lightning and all.

He describes him. As we move into chapters two and three, we move into the things that are. And as we move into chapters two and three, we'll find that the things that are, are the things of the church and its witness to the world.

The seven churches of Asia are representative of the seven major segments of church history. And you will see church history reflected in these seven churches. Now, there were the seven churches. These are the things that were going on in these churches.

And as he describes the things that are going on in the churches, he was dealing with actual issues that were happening at that time in the churches there in Asia. However, it also does align perfectly with the seven periods of church history in the order that they are given.

Had they been given in any other order, they would not have been in alignment with church history. The third is that you will find conditions of Ephesus today, conditions of Smyrna today. We began the service talking to you about what is happening right now in Indonesia and the great persecution.

And the, of course, it's happened and is happening in a many places in Africa right now, as the Islamic terrorists are attacking Christians throughout Africa. It's happening in the Sudan. And probably more Christians were martyred for their faith last year than almost any year since the great persecution under the Roman government that the church of Smyrna experienced.

You will find conditions such as were in the church of Pergamos, Thyatira and so forth going on today. So there's a threefold application, the local application when it was written, the historic application.

And then even today, you find these conditions that are happening in the various churches throughout the world today. You'll find the church of Ephesus, you'll find the church of Thyatira and Sardis in Philadelphia and Laodicea today.

So as we look at the things, which are the messages of Jesus to the churches, we'll discover we have a church history in advance. Now, in each of these messages to the seven churches, there is, first of all, a description of Jesus as the author of the letter to the church.

And the description of Jesus is taken from this description in chapter one. And the description will actually sort of tie with the conditions of the church. In other words, Jesus to the church of Ephesus, unto the angel of the church of Ephesus, write these things, saith he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

That's gonna come into play in the message. We hear a lot today about the history of the church. And there are people that talk about the history of the church and the early church fathers and their teachings and so forth.

And we sort of hold them up in reverence. It's much like the nation of Israel was holding up their history in reverence. They were almost a sacrosanct kind of a thing. The history of our fathers and they're all our fathers this and our fathers that.

The truth of the matter is that the history of Israel stunk. Their fathers were rotten to the core. They were constantly turning away from God and they were being judged of God over and over again because of the things that were going on.

In fact, when Stephen was standing before the council and Stephen is talking to them about their history, he said, which of the prophets did not your fathers kill? And you are worse than they are because you've killed the one that they prophesied was gonna come.

So it's one of those things that church history is not a glorious thing to behold. I'm ashamed and embarrassed at church history. In fact, one of the things that you hear today when we talk about how horrible the terrorists are and their war against nations and against people.

Hey, the church history is just as bad. And so we don't hold up church history as some paragon of virtuous people and all. There were a lot of problems and notice this is before John is even dead. Jesus is writing to the churches and he is pointing out the many problems that existed in the church.

And as he is pointing out these problems that were existing in the church, he calls on them to repent. And all but two churches, he calls on them to repent because things were so bad. And this is at the very beginning and they didn't go up from there.

They've only gone down from there. So in each of the letters to the churches, Jesus describes himself with a part of the description taken from chapter one. Then he declares his knowledge of their condition.

Jesus knows exactly what you're going through. Thirdly, he gives a word of commendation. There are good things about them. But then he gives a rebuke for the wrong things. And that rebuke is to all but two churches.

Finally, he tells them the necessary corrections that must be taken. And then he exhorts them to hear what the spirit would say to the church. And finally, he gives a special promise to those that would overcome.

Ephesus, First Love, and the Nicolaitans

So these are the things you want to look for in each of the churches as Jesus addresses the seven churches. Under the angel of the church of Ephesus write, These things saith he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

We had that description of Jesus in chapter one. I know thy works, thy labor, thy patience, how you cannot bear them which are evil. You've tried them which say they are apostles and are not. You've found them liars.

They had discernment going. You have born. You have patience for my name's sake. You've labored. You've not fainted. You'd say, wow, that's a great church. Like to be a part of a church like that. That's a going thing.

But Jesus said, nevertheless, I have this against you because you have left your first love. They were still going on with the motions, but the emotion was gone. And it is a sad and tragic thing when a person loses that first love or actually I should say leaves that first love because you don't lose it.

You leave it. If you lose something, you don't know where to find it. If you leave something, you know where to go back and get it. And Jesus tells them where to go back and get it. He said, remember from where you have fallen, repent and do your first works or else I will come unto you quickly and remove the candlestick out of its place.

What is he saying? He is walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. He said, you've left your first love. If you don't return to that first love, I'm going to remove the candlestick out of its place or I will remove my presence from the church.

How important is it that we maintain that first love? So important that if we leave it, he said he'll leave. He wants that love. It's a tragic thing. When you read in the Old Testament where God cries out to the nation of Israel, what did I do wrong?

What did your evil? Did your fathers find in me that they turned away from me? And I believe that Jesus is saying the same thing to his church. What did I do wrong? What evil did I do that you turned away from me, that you turn from that love that you once had for me?

As Jesus cries out for love and for the love of his church. And so he said, if you don't return to that first love, I'm leaving. But what you do have, again, he goes back to the positive. He said, you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Now, notice Jesus didn't just say nice, cuddly things to all of the churches. But where they were wrong, he spoke of the wrong that was there. Now, a lot of times, you know, when we are dealing with the church today and problems that are in the churches today, and we speak out against doctrines or positions, people go, oh, you're not walking in love, brother.

Well, then Jesus didn't walk in love either because he was rebuking them all. And if there are things that are wrong, you shouldn't just try and sweep it under the carpet, expose it and get rid of it.

Let's do what's right. And so Jesus is rebuking them for these things that are wrong. But Ephesus had this good thing. They hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Now, we're not sure exactly what the deeds of the Nicolaitans were.

Some say that there was a false teacher by the name of Nicolai that people were following after him. The word Nicolaitan comes from two Greek words, niko, which is to conquer or to rule, and laos, which is over the laity.

And so there are many Bible scholars that believe that Jesus is referring here to the establishing of a priesthood in the church. Jesus had abolished the priesthood. He was the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek.

And he is our great high priest. And there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And so the establishing of a priesthood, the Nicolaitans is the ruling over the laity. Jesus actually died in order to make a way for you to come directly and have direct access to God by him.

And for anybody else to put themselves in a position between you and God, Jesus said, I hate that, because I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no man can come to the Father but by me. And then Jesus said, he that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit would say to the church.

And then the special promise to him that overcomes, I'll give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. When Adam and Eve sinned, there were two trees in the garden that are notable.

There were many, many trees. But of all of the trees you may freely eat, except that tree in the middle of the garden. And in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die. Satan came along, said to Eve, can you eat of all the trees here?

Oh yeah, except that one in the middle there. God said, if we eat of that, we'll surely die. Oh, you don't believe that, do you? You surely won't die. You see, this is Satan's tactic. It always has been.

Hath God said, he first of all questions the word of God. And watch out when a person begins to question. Did God really say that? Is that God's word questioning the word of God? Secondly, he contradicted the word of God.

You will not surely die. Contradicting what God said. And then he begins his lie. And Jesus said he is the father of all lies. God knows that the day that you eat thereof, you will be wise as God's knowing good from evil.

And he's trying to keep you from something that is beneficial and good. And Eve saw that the tree was pleasant to look upon, beautiful fruit, looked delicious, had a great aroma to it. It was delicious to eat the lust of the flesh.

And it would make her wise like God, the pride of life. And she did eat. And she gave to Adam and he did eat. And God came to commune with man there in the garden. Adam and Eve tried sowing fig leaves to cover their nakedness, which they suddenly realized that they were naked.