Are you ready for this?

Even though the word “revelation” is mentioned once in the book of Revelation, it is used 44 times in the New Testament. Of those time, 26 times it is used as a verb and 18 times as a noun, and in the book of Revelation it is used as a noun, and as I mentioned earlier it is a singular noun, revelation of Christ.

Of the 18 times it is used,

8 times as revelation of the truth of God (1 Cor. 14:6, 26, 2 Cor. 12:1, 7, Gal. 1:12, 2:2, Eph. 1:17, 3:3)

2 times is for revelation of Christ first coming (Luke 2:32, Rom 16:25)

2 times as revelation of judgment (Rom. 2:5)

1 time as revelation of us as children of God (Rom. 8:19)

Six times in four books of the New Testament, the noun form of Revelation Apocalypsis is used, twice in the writings of Paul and three times in the writings of Peter and once by the Apostle John.

3 times other than the book of Revelation, it is used as a noun for the revelation of Jesus at His second coming. (1 Cor. 1:7. 2 Thes. 1:7, 1 Peter 1:7)

The first time in the New Testament "revelation" is used in the seventh book of the New Testament. Which one is that? Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, 1 Corinthians. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and the seventh verse. There Paul says that we should be ready for the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1 Cor. 1:7 “so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Cor. 1:7

Are you read for the second coming of Christ?

Are you eagerly waiting for the revelation of Jesus?

Jesus predicted that He could come at anytime. For 2,000 years, Jesus could have come back at any time, so much so that when He was on earth He said no one would know the time of His return. In the final words of Christ, He promised He would come quickly, not immediately, but imminently. In other words, He can come at any time.

There is not one single thing that has to occur that has not already occurred that would prevent His coming. He could come like a thief in the night while you are lying asleep in bed. He could come before you reach your home today. Jesus Christ could come before I finish this sermon.

Paul wrote about the revelation of Jesus Christ in 1 Corinthians and with all of the problems they had in the Corinthian church, one good thing they had going for them was that they were ready for Christ.

The second time apocalypsis is used for Christ’s return is found seven books later, the 14^th book of the New Testament and if you don’t want to count over, I will tell you that seven books after 1 Corinthians is 2 Thessalonians, the 14^th book of the New Testament. Again in the 7^th verse of the first chapter, the word Revelation is used by Paul. This time Paul says not only should we be ready with eager anticipation of His revelation, but we will rest from our affliction.

1:7 and to reward with rest you who are afflicted, along with us. This will take place at the revelation of the Lord Jesus from heaven with His powerful angels,

Last week in our final class of the Case for Christ, we discussed some reasons why people do not believe in God or Jesus Christ and one of the reasons they don’t believe is because there is so much evil in the world.

Every time you see a tragedy, every time you see evil, every time you see something in this world that just doesn’t seem right, it should not draw you AWAY from God, you should not run away from God because of evil, you should run to HIM. Virtually every page of the Bible speaks about the evil that has occurred since the fall of humanity into sin.

The revelation of Jesus Christ is going to bring a rest from the affliction. A Rest from the trials. A respite from the evil that surrounds us. Do not be surprised that there is evil in the world!

We do, after all, serve a crucified savior! If God spared not His only begotten Son from the evils and tragedy in this world, why should we also not suffer. But the Revelation of Jesus Christ at His second coming will bring a rest from our affliction.

Thirdly, Peter joins Paul and John in using the word apocalypsis, the unveiling of Christ. And guess how many books over it is? You got it, seven books over and in the seventh verse of 1 Peter. There Peter speaks not only speaks of the readiness of the revelation and the rest from affliction at the revelation of Christ but also the rewards we shall share at the Revelation of Jesus.

1:7 so that the genuineness of your faith — more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

1:13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be serious and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

4: 13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah, so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelation of His glory.

I hope you are ready for the rest from the labors in the Lord for which you will most assuredly be rewarded.

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The Assurred Promise of Christ's Return

The Word Revelation in the Greek is apocalypsis.  Yes apocalypse. Some of you didn’t know you knew Greek. Apocalypsis is a word that almost uses a double negative. it comes from a compound word “apo” which means “away from” and “clypsos” as in eclipse or hiding or veiling something.

You know a solar eclipse like the one coming on Aug. 21 is the hiding of the sun or when the moon comes between the earth and the sun. A lunar eclipse is when the moon is hidden and the earth comes between the sun and the moon and the moon is obscured. Apo calypsos means an unveiling. A Revealing of Christ. The book of Revelation is singular. It is not revelations. It is singularly set on revealing or unveiling one thing: Jesus Christ.

It may surprise you to know that the word “Revelation” or apocalypses is only used once in the entire book of Revelation. Only once. But it is frequently used in the new Testament. Jesus promised in all four gospels not only that he would rise again, but he also promised that he would COME AGAIN.

The first time Jesus came, He came as a Lamb, but when He comes again he will come as a lion. How many of you have heard about the Lion and the lamb? Did you know that the bible never says that the lion will lay down with the lamb in the end times? It doesn’t! Some of you are writing that down now to see if what I am saying is true but the Bible never says the lion will lay down with a lamb but rather the lamb will dwell down with the wolf and the leopard will lie with a baby goat.

So where do we get the lion and the lamb? We get it from Revelation chapter 5 where Jesus is referred to not only the Lamb that was slain, but also the Lion of Judah. And only as the Lamb of God was Jesus worthy to take the scroll from the right hand of God and only as the Lion of Judah will the Root of DAVID be worthy to open the seven seals of the scroll of God.

There are 125 prophecies of Christ coming the first time in the Old Testament? From Genesis 3:15, where God said from the seed of a woman, meaning the Virgin  Birth, to Malachi 3:1 which prophesied that Jesus would both be preceded by a messenger, John the Baptist, at the beginning of this ministry and also come gloriously into the temple as He did on Palm Sunday at the end of his earthly ministry.

Would you care to take a guess about how many times the Bible predicts that Jesus will come a Second Time? The late Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series, lists 329 distinct prophecies of Christ’s second coming, from Genesis to Revelation. But if you think about it, the entire book of Revelation, all 404 verses in the 22 chapters, all point to the Second coming. nearly triple the amount.

The final words of Jesus in the Bible are found in Rev. 22: 20-21, in which Jesus says, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Surely I am coming quickly.’ Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! ²¹ The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.”

The Past, Present and Future Aspects of the Lord's Supper

Jesus said “As often as you do this, in Remembrance of Me”. We look back to the sacrifice of Christ and remember that we were justified in our salvation.

Secondly, not only does Communion call us to remember Christ’s sacrifice, it calls us to reflection Christ’s sanctification of us. We were saved when we received Christ and are being saved as we daily grow to become more like Christ.

But the third aspect of the Lord’s Supper, Holy Communion, is the Future coming of Christ, and His ultimate revelation in glory. Paul said in 1 Cor. 11:26, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.” Jesus said, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matt 26:29)

We not only remember we have been justified in the past, we not only reflect that we are being sanctified in the present as day by day we get closer to the kingdom of heaven and more and more Christ is being reflected in our daily lives.

But we look also to the future, on the revelation of Christ, and how Christ will quickly come just as He promised and on that day, we will be saved in the past, that’s justification, nor only be being saved in the present, that’s sanctification, but we will be ultimately and completely saved, and that is glorification!

This aspect of past, present and future tense can also be seen in our salvation. We are in the world and yet not of the world (John 17:11, 16), speaking of our past sins, present struggle and future assured salvation.

Also in John 5:24, Jesus describes the three aspects of salvation. 

Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

He said that we have “passed from death to life” (past tense), and also that whoever believe in Christ “has everlasting life” (present tense), and then He promised that we “shall not come into judgment” (future tense).