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 14th
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 14th
book of the New Testament. Again in the 7th 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.
