Christ in Revelation -- King of Kings and Lord of Lords

The last book of the Bible is “The Revelation to John,” or most often called, “Revelation.”  It was written by John, the Apostle, while he was imprisoned on the island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony in the Aegean Sea.  John was about 92 years old when God gave him a vision of the risen Christ (chapter 1), who told him of things that are (chapters 2 & 3) and things that are to come (chapters 4-22).  This is definitely a prophetic book, and it has a lot of symbolism that I will not attempt to address in this short study.  There are as many interpretations of the symbolism and the prophesies in this book as there are denominations within the church, so I will simply continue as I started, about 65 weeks ago, to show how Christ is revealed in Revelation, just as He is in every book of our Bible.  I would encourage you, though, to study this book deeply, preferably with a group of believers.  This is the only book that comes with the promise of a blessing to those who read it:

Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near (Rev. 1:3).

But this book also comes with a warning.  No one is to add anything to this book or take anything away from it. For that reason, when we study this book, we need to be very careful that we use scripture to interpret scripture, rather than placing our faith in the words of men.  If we try to make the scripture fit our own opinion or point of view, or in any other way distort what Jesus told John, we become one of the false teachers or false prophets that we have learned about in the previous letters to the churches over the last several weeks:

For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book (Rev. 22:18-19).

There are at least 33 names, titles, or descriptions of Jesus Christ in this book.  It was hard for me to decide which one I would use in my title, because they are all so precious, so wonderful, so dear to my heart, and so descriptive of the divinity, the holiness, the sovereignty, and the work of Jesus Christ, beginning with “Creator” and ending with “King of Kings and Lord of Lords!”  But the bottom line is this:  It doesn’t matter what name or title we use when we refer to Him, as long as we remember who He is, what He has done for us, and what He will do for us in eternity.

John tells us that what he wrote was given to him by Jesus:

“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches (Rev. 22:13a).”

So we can trust that what is written here is true.  Jesus gave John the vision and spoke His words to John.  The words Jesus spoke and the vision He gave tell us about His divine nature.  In the very first verses of the introduction to this book, Jesus reminds us that He is pre-existent, lives today, and will live eternally:

…Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come… (Rev. 1:4).

And that description is repeated:

And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 21:6a).”

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last (Rev. 22:13).”

He is Creator:

‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God (Rev. 3:14b).’

He is Messiah, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The Root of David:

But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals (Rev. 5:5).”

“I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star (Rev. 22:16b).”

In His divine nature, He was the Root from which David sprang, and at the same time in His human nature, He was the offspring of David!  This goes back to His eternal existence – both eternal past and eternal future.  Remember, time was created by Him for us.  He is not subject to time, but time is subject to Him!

He is The One Who is Worthy of Praise and Worship:

Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:  “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: “Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!” Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever (Rev. 5:11-14).

He is the Sacrificial Lamb, the Atonement For Our Sin:

To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (Rev. 1:5b-6).

So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb . . . for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev. 7:14b, 17).”

He is the Victorious Warrior:

Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS (Rev. 19:11-16).

These descriptions and titles only scratch the surface of the beautiful, majestic, victorious book of Revelation.  I pray that you will study it for yourself, knowing that those who trust Him will have their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life and will spend eternity with Him.  Although the details of the prophecy are important – He would not have given them if they were not – don’t worry if you don’t understand all that is written there.  The main point is that Jesus is who He says He is, He came to be the only Perfect Sacrifice for our sin, He is coming again to judge this fallen world, and when He does, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords forever and ever.  Even His enemies, those who say He does not exist, will bow in submission to Him!

I hope that you have enjoyed this trip through every book of the Bible that we began on January 20, 2014.  I hope that you have learned something about the nature of God – that He never changes.  The God of Genesis is the same God of the manger, of the cross, of the resurrection, and of Revelation.  He showed mercy to Adam and Eve, to Noah, and to the children of Israel.  And He continues to show mercy to our world today as He delays His final judgment on this earth until every single person has had an opportunity to come to Him in repentance and in faith.  He gave Moses the Law to show us how hopeless we are to keep the law.  He gave a system of sacrifices to point the way to the only eternal sacrifice that would save us for once and for all.  And He showed His matchless mercy and grace when He came as a baby expressly to die on a cross in our place – the only Sacrifice that can take away our sin.  We have seen the consistency of God’s love and mercy and compassion and forgiveness in a book that was written by about 40 different writers in three different languages over a period of about 1,500 years, without contradiction or error.  And we have seen His word withstand the test of time, spread all over the world in every language and in every dialect, published both in print and electronically. No other book has ever been so widely available or so widely read.  And no other book has had such an impact on those who read it.

My prayer this week is from Revelation 22:20b-21:

Even so, come, Lord Jesus! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with (all who read this book). Amen.

All Scripture references are from the New King James Version.

Christ in Jude -- The Lord Who is Coming with 10,000 of His Saints

Jude, the brother of James and half-brother of Jesus, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.  He wrote his letter to them late in the first century A.D.  By his own words, we know that he had wanted to write to them about salvation, but he felt that it was more urgent at that time to write about false prophets.  Remember, in those days, paper and ink were not as commonplace as they are today.  And a letter may have taken weeks to reach its destination.  We take letter writing for granted, and even more so, we type out an e-mail without giving it a second thought.  But Jude was not so fortunate.  He had to use his assets wisely, so he opted to save his message about salvation for another time and write this letter about false teachers.  He was obviously disturbed by the infiltration of false doctrine into the church in Jerusalem.  We need to be careful of false teachers and their false doctrine today, perhaps even more so than the first century church.  Jesus himself warned about false teachers, saying that they would be even more numerous in the time approaching His second coming:

“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-19, NLT).”

“Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves (Matthew 7:15, NLT).”

And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many (Matthew 24:4-5, NASB).”

Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many (Matthew 24:11, NASB).

Jude began his warning by reminding his beloved friends of three lessons from the past.  The people at the church in Jerusalem would have been very familiar with these old stories, since they were Jewish and had been taught the history of the Jewish people from childhood:

1.  In verse 5, Jude compared the false teachers to the Israelites who were rescued from slavery in Egypt and promised a homeland of their very own.  They refused to trust God with their future, so God allowed an entire generation to die in the wilderness, denying them a future with Him in His Promised Land:

After they went up to the valley of Eshcol and explored the land, they discouraged the people of Israel from entering the land the Lord was giving them . . . The Lord was angry with Israel and made them wander in the wilderness for forty years until the entire generation that sinned in the Lord’s sight had died (Numbers 32:9, 13, NLT).

2.  In verse 6, we read about how some of God’s angels were not content with their position in Heaven. They wanted to be like God.  They opposed the limitations God had placed on them even though they lived in the glorious light of God, so God cast them out of heaven and, at the judgment, they will be cast into eternal fire, forever bound in darkness:

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (Revelation 12:9, NKJV).

“Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41, NASB);’”

3.  And in verse 7, Jude reminds us of the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah and surrounding towns.  The people there burned with an ungodly lust, so the cities and every single person in the cities were burned with fire:

But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!” . . . Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation (Genesis 19:4-5, 24-25).

In verse 8, Jude wrote that the false teachers he was writing about are just the same as his three examples.  He said that they are dreamers, they create their own form of godliness, and they revile what they don’t understand.  I like to say that they create gods in their own image instead of confessing that God created us in His image.  Jude said that they live by animal instinct rather than by obedience to God.  The distorted, perverted use of sex was well known in the early church (see 1 Corinthians 5:1, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 2 Corinthians 12:21).  They ridicule God’s authority and insult His messengers, the angels and religious leaders (see Acts 7:38-39, Acts 7:53, Hebrews 2:2).  False teachers copy the behavior of Cain, Balaam, and Korah.  Cain murdered his brother, and false teachers destroy life – just think of the abortion industry! (See Genesis 4:8, 10).  Balaam was a “prophet for hire.”  For the right amount of money, he would bless or curse anyone.  The enemies of God’s people wanted him to curse Israel, and even though Balaam knew it was wrong, he was hoping that God would change his mind so that he could receive a reward.  Think about the nations today that are turning their backs on Israel for economic reasons, because of the oil in the other nations of the middle east. (See Numbers 22).  Korah refused to accept the authority God had given Moses and Aaron.  Think of all those today who refuse to accept God’s authority, who think they will never have to answer to a Holy God!  (See Numbers 16).

In verses 12 and 13, Jude used five examples from nature to describe false teachers:

1.  Hidden reefs could destroy a ship.  False teachers can cause believers to doubt their faith and destroy their relationships with God.

2.  Clouds without water are only a deception, a promise without a result.  False doctrine may sound good, but it is as dry as a wind-blown cloud that does not produce rain.

3.  Autumn trees without fruit have had since the spring to produce a worthwhile crop.  A tree that does not produce fruit will be uprooted by the grower to make room for a good tree.  Thus, the tree is twice dead – first in that it was barren, and second because it was uprooted.  A false prophet is the same in that he cannot produce holy fruit.  He will be uprooted at the judgment, thus twice dead.

4.  Wild waves of the sea churn up all the trash in the ocean.  Have you ever seen a beach after a storm, littered with trash, driftwood, dead fish, and seaweed?  False prophets stir up division in the church.  They leave a trail of broken promises and destroyed lives.

5.  Wandering stars cannot be relied on for navigation.  Most people in Jude’s time didn’t know anything about the planets – they called them wandering stars since they were in a different position in the sky every night.  The stars, on the other hand, were constant and could be used for navigation.  False prophets are also unreliable.  Their doctrine changes with the societal wind.  Their philosophies change based upon political pressure and financial influence.

But God will judge all these false teachers and all those who follow them.  Their judgment has been prophesied ever since Enoch, the seventh generation of man:

And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him (Jude 14-15, KJV).

Notice the use of the word, “ungodly,” in verse 15.  Jude repeated that word 5 times in verse 15 alone!  Remember, when we study God’s word, we should always take note of repeated words and phrases.  They are used to emphasize a point.  Verse 16 tells us that these ungodly people are:

Grumblers
Fault-finders
Lustful
Arrogant
Flatterers

Then in verse 17 Jude turned his attention back to his beloved church, his dear friends.  He reminds them, and us, that these false teachers should come as no surprise.  He tells us how to recognize them in verse 19:

They cause divisions
They are worldly-minded
They are devoid of the Holy Spirit

He also tells us how to be protected from their influence in verses 20 - 23:

Build on your faith
Pray in the Spirit
Love as God loves
Wait anxiously for the mercy of Jesus
Have mercy on those who doubt (who have been led astray)
Share the true gospel with the lost
Be careful not to be influenced by those polluted by fleshly living

Nowhere in that list are we told to be judgmental or hateful.  Remember that Jesus never condemned anyone, but He loves everyone.  He died for you and for me while we were still in our sin.  And your sin and my sin is no less sinful than anyone else's.  We have no right to judge.  Jesus is the only Judge.

My prayer this week is Jude’s benediction, his prayer of praise that we read in verses 24 & 25 (KJV):

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

NASB = New American Standard Bible
KJV = King James Version
NLT = New Living Translation

Christ in 3 John -- The Name

The book of 3 John is the shortest book of the Bible (by word count, with only 219 words).  It was written about the same time as John’s first two letters, around 85 – 95 A.D.  It was a personal letter to a man named Gaius, not a letter to the church as a whole.  However, the message it contained was an important encouragement to the church, as well as to Gaius.  As we learned in last week’s study of 2 John, the gospel was being spread throughout the land by travelling missionaries.  In this letter, John was commending Gaius for receiving those travelers into his home and providing for their needs:

Some of the traveling teachers recently returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that you are living according to the truth. I could have no greater joy than to hear that my children are following the truth. Dear friend, you are being faithful to God when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they are strangers to you (3 John 3-5).

As faithful as Gaius was to show hospitality to his travelling brothers, a man named Diotrephes was equally inhospitable.  He is typical of some people who have the gift of leadership but who are unable to submit to those who are in positions of authority over them.  He refused to acknowledge John’s authority, and John made it very clear that he would straighten him out on his next visit!  I would not have liked to have been in Diotrephes’ position during that visit!

I wrote to the church about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have anything to do with us. When I come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts them out of the church. Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you (3 John 9-11).

The main lesson we can learn from this short epistle is that of submission to authority.  John had walked with Jesus.  As a matter of fact, he was one of those who had been closest to Jesus during his three years of earthly ministry.  So John had reason to be in a position of authority.  But John was always submissive to the authority of the name of Jesus.  When he spoke about the traveling missionaries, he said that they were working for the Lord, just as John was working for the Lord:

For they are traveling for the Lord, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers (3 John 7).

 

The original Greek translation of the above verse reads, “They went out on behalf of the Name.”  The name of Jesus demands submission to His authority:

Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names (Philippians 2:9).

There is salvation in no one else! God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent (Luke 24:47).’

He is the one all the prophets testified about, saying that everyone who believes in him will have their sins forgiven through his name (Acts 10:43).

But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name (John 20:31).

John builds on his lesson about authority by reiterating what he said in his first two letters – children of God will be known by their obedience to Him, and in this case, submission to His authority:

Dear friend, don’t let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God (3 John 11).

My prayer for you and for me this week is adapted from 3 John 2, 5 & 6:

Dear Heavenly Father,
I pray that all is well with my friends all over the world who are reading this and that they are healthy in body and strong in spirit.  I pray that we will continue to be faithful to You and that we will remember to care for Your missionaries as they spread Your Name throughout the world today, just like the missionaries that John wrote about so many years ago.  Help us to provide for these teachers in a manner that pleases You.
Amen.

All scripture references are from the New Living Translation.