A Revelation of Jesus Christ (day 2) Rev. 1:1-3

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

In Revelation chapter 19 and verse 16, it says, He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. This is the theme of the book of Revelation, and I call it the theme of the entire Bible. I believe the entire Bible is organized around this one verse, and I’m going to tell you why.

SPEAKER 1 : 0:39

Thank you.

SPEAKER 03 : 0:46

This is Hope for Today with Bible teacher and author David Hawking. On today’s broadcast, we continue our series in the book of Revelation. Right from the start, this book tells us what it’s really about, the revelation of Jesus Christ. You got it. Now, not just what’s coming, but who’s coming. Today, David takes us back to the opening verses and lays out a clear biblical introduction focusing on the person, power, and glory of our risen King. Open the Bible, open your Bible to Revelation chapter 1. This is day 2, and we’re just beginning to see who this book is really about.

SPEAKER 02 : 1:31

First though, here’s David with a quick word. I want to thank you all for your kindness to us. We depend upon the listeners in each area to support this broadcast. We have no organization or church behind us. We’re just trusting the Lord that as God’s people are blessed, they will be generous and help us to stay on the air on the radio in their area.

SPEAKER 03 : 1:58

Well, thank you, David. And friend, if you’d like to give, you can reach us at 875-BIBLE, that’s in the U.S., or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. And Bible, by the numbers, is 24253. You can also contribute online at davidhawking.org. And we’ll have our address later in the program. And here’s David with today’s study.

SPEAKER 01 : 2:22

The book of Revelation, chapter 1. It is not the revelation of St. John. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ, as the first verse tells us. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bore witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is at hand. If you’ll notice carefully in verse 1, there’s something often overlooked. It says, “…the revelation of Jesus Christ.” which God, in this case must mean the Father, gave unto him. So if you were making a chart of this, the revelation centers in God the Father. It is then given to Jesus Christ. It is then given to an angel by Christ, and then given to John, and then John to seven churches, and in that is a message to all the churches. To all of us. So it comes from God the Father. The revelation. I want you to notice, if you’re taking notes, seven things about this book that is said in the opening salutation of three verses. Seven things. Number one, according to verse one, it presents Jesus Christ in all of his glory. You will never see in any other book of the Bible what you see in Revelation about Jesus Christ. The word Revelation we use in English. We talk about the apocalypse, supposed to be a day of judgment and all of that. Isn’t it interesting that the apocalypse in the Bible refers to learning about Jesus and his glory? The word means to unveil or to uncover. As a noun, you’ll find it about 19 times in the New Testament, and as a verb, about 26 times, usually translated to reveal. It’s going to uncover. It’s going to unveil. And what is being uncovered or unveiled to us in the book of Revelation that we haven’t seen anywhere else? And the answer is the glory and the majesty of Jesus Christ. I like to call it an exaltation. That’s what Revelation is all about. It’s an unveiling of the glorious person of our Lord Jesus Christ like no other book presents. Let me just give you a quick run. We’ll deal with this in more depth in our study, but just a quick run on some of the titles of Jesus Christ. There are more titles of Jesus Christ in Revelation than all the rest of the Bible. The most common title appears 28 times in this book, and it’s the simple statement, He is the Lamb of God. You can read back in the Gospel of John, chapter 1, verse 29, that when John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. But we go into the future, and the future wants us to look back at the cross. And according to the Bible, in the eternal state, when we will be with the Lord forever and ever and ever, God will never allow us to forget that he is the Lamb of God. that he was slain, wounded, and is the only one worthy to receive our praise. It’s a marvel in the book of Revelation. 28 times called the Lamb, a book that’s about the future. But just a couple of examples. Turn to chapter 1, verse 5. Look at verse 5. It says, “…and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness…” One of his titles. The first begotten of the dead. Another one. And the prince of the kings of the earth. Another one. Unto him that loveth us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Look at verse 8. It quotes him. I am Alpha and Omega. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter. He’s the whole alphabet. He’s everything there is to say. I am the way and the truth and the life. He’s the first word and he’s the last word. He’s the beginning and he’s the end. Statements that are used in the book of Isaiah for the eternal God are here applied directly by his own words to Jesus Christ our Lord. He is Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, who is, who was, who is to come, and look at this, the Almighty God. Isaiah 9, 6 says, Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. He is the Almighty, according to chapter 1, verse 8. Look at verse 17. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and 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 am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hades and of death. Look at chapter 3, verse 14. Wonderful titles, and I’m just hitting the highlights. There are many more. Chapter 3, verse 14. Under the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, these things sayeth thee, amen. You know, I love the word amen. First of all, it’s a Bible word. It appears over and over again in the Bible. And most of us, when we read it, we think of the salutation, sincerely yours, or they conclude a book saying amen, you know you’re done. Some people think it’s our English right on. Or I agree with that. Or that’s right, brother. Amen. But you know something? There’s something deeper and more precious according to the word of Revelation. The amen is our Lord Jesus Christ. You just say the word amen. Who are we talking about? We’re talking about Jesus. He’s the amen. And that’s what it says in chapter 3, verse 14. He’s the faithful and true witness. He’s the beginning of the creation of God. We owe it all to him. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made, says John 1, 3. What a wonderful Savior. This is a revelation, an unveiling, an uncovering of the glory and the majesty of Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 5, verse 5. One of the elders saith unto me, Weep not, behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Genesis 49.10 says the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between the feet, until he comes to whom it belongs. That’s made into a proper name in some English texts that say until Shiloh comes. The one who has the scepter will come out of the loins of a woman in the tribe of Judah. And according to the Bible in the book of Revelation, he’s the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. The Bible says he’s a root out of a dry ground, Isaiah 53.1. He is the root of Jesse, the father of David, Isaiah 11.1. Over and over again, what do we learn in Revelation? The glory, the majesty of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at chapter 15, verse 3. Chapter 15, verse 3. I don’t know if you’re getting excited. I sure am. Man, I wasn’t even going to tell you about all these, but I just got started. I couldn’t quit. Verse 3, it says, They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works. Look at this. Lord God Almighty, just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. What wonderful names are given to our Lord Jesus Christ. Chapter 19, verse 16, we’ve got to look at. This is the theme of the book of Revelation, and I call it the theme of the entire Bible. First of all, in chapter 19, beginning at verse 11, is the second coming of Christ presented in power and great glory. In Revelation chapter 19 and verse 16 it says, He hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. Now why do I believe that King of kings and Lord of lords is the theme of the Bible? Why do I believe that? There are 95 Greek manuscripts of the Revelation known to exist in the world. 95. I’m not talking about the copies we make since printing, but in the early days before printing. In each one of them, in the Greek text, this is not simply a maneuver by an English translator, as some people who don’t love the Word of God often say. It is not a maneuver to impress you with the title that you see these giant letters capitalized on. In verse 16. In some of the English texts, they put this indented in the text because that’s the way it appears in all of the Greek manuscripts. It is indented, it is set apart, and it’s in what we call giant unctual letters. Unctual letters are capitals but made very large in the text. Imagine that, that God in his wonderful preservation of his word allowed that every single Greek manuscript known in this century, every single one of them, exalts the glorious name of Jesus Christ by putting the words King of Kings, Lord of Lords in letters that nobody can miss it. The theme of the Bible is about Jesus, and he’s king of kings. No one deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. He is Lord of lords, and that’s what the Bible teaches. This is so important to understand. There’s much that we can learn. Just flip over to chapter 22, verse 16. Kind of like this, the way the book concludes. Here Jesus is talking personally. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father gave him. It says, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. So we’re doing right, aren’t we? By studying this book, reading this book. It’s unto these things in the churches, he says. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. God’s whole promise to David. He said, I’ve sworn to you, David, I’ll never lie to you. My covenant is with you. Out of your own loins will come he who will rule my people. Well, what if your sons forsake your law? He said, even if my sons forsake my law, my faithfulness will not change. I’ll never lie to David. He is going to have a son of his that’s going to sit on the throne and rule the entire world. King of kings and Lord of lords. That’s Jesus Christ, our Lord and our Savior. Let’s go back to Revelation chapter 1 after that tangent. There’s lots of them in the book of Revelation. Lots of wonderful little paths that we can take in examining the glory of Jesus Christ. So the first thing about this book is that it presents Jesus Christ in all of his glory. Number two, it proclaims the glorious return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Let’s don’t get confused here. It proclaims the glorious return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Now that’s going to happen at the end of the tribulation period, immediately before the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth. That is the great event to which the entire Bible is pointing. The glorious return of Jesus Christ to the earth. Look at chapter 1, verse 7. Chapter 1, verse 7. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also who pierced him. And all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, amen. He’s not done with his discussion. But at that point, you can’t help but say, amen. That’s it. Praise God. So be it. That’s the great issue of the Bible. The Lord is going to come. He comes with clouds and every eye will see him. That is his revelation. His unveiling to the entire world at the end of the tribulation period. Look, please, at chapter 22, please. Chapter 22, look at verse 7. Here again, Jesus is speaking directly. Behold, I come quickly. Verse 12, and behold, I come quickly. Verse 20, surely I come quickly. John finally gets the point, says amen, even so come, Lord Jesus. Back to Revelation, chapter 1, verse 1. This book not only presents Jesus Christ in all of his glory and proclaims the glorious return of Jesus Christ to the earth, but number three, it prophesies events in the future that will take place within a short period of time. Look please at verse one. It says, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. By the way, notice the word must here. Greek word, day, it’s necessary. It has to happen. God’s word isn’t flexible. God doesn’t give us some creative alternatives here. This is going to take place. Everything in the book of Revelation is going to take place. It must come, but it says it’ll come shortly, says King James. Some translations read quickly. And that word is, of course, in the book of Revelation that we just looked at. in chapter 22. Look at chapter 2, please, verse 5. It’s a frequent theme. In the message to the church at Ephesus, he said, Remember therefore from where thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works, or else I will come unto thee, what? Quickly, and will remove thy lampstand out of its place, except thou repent. Give another example, verse 16 of the same chapter. Repent, or else I will come unto thee, what? quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He’s going to come quickly. Now, some people get a little confused here and say, oh, well, that’s like the rapture passage in 1 Corinthians 15, 51 and 52, which says that in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, the dead will be raised and we who are alive will be changed. And so they get the idea that what quickly means is quick. And I understand that, except that the Greek word is used in many different contexts for just a short period of time. It doesn’t mean immediately, but soon. What quickly means to one man may not mean to another man. But in the Bible, the word quickly is used numerous times, especially in the writings of Luke, both in the gospel as well as in Acts. For instance, on one occasion, a king just said, well, I’m going to come to you shortly. But it’s the same word, quickly. I’m going to be there in a few days. Another passage implies a few weeks. The point is, that when the events of Revelation start, they’re going to come quickly. They’re going to transpire in a short period of time. It will not be long. In relationship to all of history, what happens in Revelation from chapter 4, verse 1 to the end when Christ comes in power and great glory is not long. If our pre-tribulational view is right, the maximum is seven years. And some who have other views even have it shorter. The point is… The book of Revelation prophesies events in the future that will take place within a short period of time. People have asked me, when Israel became a nation, 1948, is that a fulfillment of prophecy? I believe it is. Of the book of Revelation, no. No. But it is a prophecy in the Old Testament in the prophet Ezekiel’s message. There’s no doubt about it. But, my friends, it’s not a part of the message in the book of Revelation. So be careful what you say. All prophetic events do not necessarily happen in a short period of time. But according to Revelation, everything it talks about does happen in a short period of time. And that involves from chapter 4, verse 1 on. The book of Revelation prophesies events in the future that will take place within a short period of time.

SPEAKER 03 : 19:42

Indeed, shorter than most people realize. Well, that’s Bible teacher and author David Hawking, and you’re listening to Hope for Today. David’s back in just a moment or so to close out our time in God’s holy word. Some additional teaching is just ahead, so don’t go away. First of all, Matt’s here, and together we’re going to share an essential tool that pairs perfectly with this series in Revelation. What is the central message of Revelation? And how close are we to the events portrayed in this final book of the Bible? Well, if you really enjoy digging deep into the book of Revelation… Then you’ll certainly appreciate my dad’s book on Revelation titled The Book of Revelation Online. Understanding the future. Matt, or simply Revelation, understanding the future. Yep. Revelation is a critical book of the Bible because it tells us what to expect as this age draws to a close. Are we to be fearful about the future, Matt, or just prepared? Right. And what should we do to prepare for these final days? Will the rise of the Antichrist be sudden? Will his rule be long? Yeah. Well, if you’d like to know the answers to these questions, get your copy of Revelation, Understanding the Future. It’s usually $25, but this month it’s just $20. That’s a nice discount ahead of our Revelation radio series. The book captures much of what David will be teaching. And shares even more in-depth details and insights. Exactly, exactly. And another most helpful tool we have for you is David’s original sermon notes, his outlines from his study of Revelation. These are the notes that he used as he preached the sermons, Matt. Yeah, key points, references, and outline points will help you track along and get the most out of your daily study time in the series. Well, the Revelation sermon notes are just $10 by download. In fact, if you purchase them online, you can download them right away or PDF, CD. Yeah, call us in Canada at 1-888-75BIBLE. In the U.S., call us at 1-800-75BIBLE. And Bible by the Numbers is 24253 or at davidhawking.org. Well, and also please know that your resource purchase or donation will help the ministries of Hope for Today and make you a co-laborer with us in the work. And please start by praying for Hope for Today. and give if God lays the work on your heart. Well, and you may have heard David mention the need for support at the start of today’s broadcast. And if you’ve been listening for a while, if this teaching has helped you grow in your faith or made the Bible clearer than it’s ever been, can I ask you something? What if you could help someone else experience that same breakthrough? When you give to Hope for Today, you’re not just keeping a program on the air, you’re helping bring clear verse-by-verse Bible teaching to people who are hungry for the truth, people who are confused, searching, or simply ready to hear what God’s Word really says. If If you believe in what this ministry is doing and you wanna be a part of the impact, co-labor with us in ministry, this is a perfect time to step in and stand with us. We need one-time gifts or regular monthly support. Regular monthly supporters give as long as God lays the ministry on their hearts and enables them to give. Call 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. or 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. You can also give online at davidhawking.org. Now, if you prefer to send your gift by mail, well, write to HOPE4TODAY, Box 3927, Tustin, California, 92781. In Canada, write to HOPE4TODAY, Box 15011, RPO Seven Oaks, Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. And thank you for praying for us and prayerfully considering a donation. Well, once again, here’s David.

SPEAKER 02 : 23:36

Thanks for listening to the broadcast of Revelation. And we are in the opening words. which began a revelation apocalypse of our blessed Yeshua HaMashiach in Hebrew or Jesus Christ in English. Now, we’re told in verse 2 that the angel talking to John, the apostle, who was on the Isle of Patmos, He bare record or testimony of the Word of God and the testimony of Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Wow! Folks, 44 times in this book, John saw something that was just incredible for his time in in ancient history. I don’t know how much you know about Revelation, but we’re going to break it down piece by piece, and I pray your hearts will be warmed again as you realize soon and very soon our blessed Lord Yeshua is going to return. I hope you’re ready. I hope you’ve made your commitment to the Lord, because when He comes, He’s going to come quickly. All these things will shortly come to pass. Well, more about that as we study this wonderful book. And if you miss any of these broadcasts, go to our website, davidhucking.org, and you can listen again. Okay, see you next broadcast. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER 03 : 25:26

Well, friend, are you ready for the return of Jesus Christ, like David said? If you’re not sure, or if you’re new to the faith and want to understand what it truly means to follow Jesus, well, we’d love to send you two free gifts that’ll help. The first is David’s booklet called What Is Christianity? And the second is a Bible study by mail. And there’s no cost, again, if you’re new to the Christian faith or if you’re not yet a Christian, but you want to know more. Call 800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, and ask for the free booklet and study. We’d be honored to send them to you. On our next broadcast, David takes us back to Revelation 1 and continues laying a solid foundation for understanding what’s coming, who it’s from, and why it matters, and even more importantly, who it’s about. This is all about Jesus Christ. Amen. So join us next time on Hope for Today.