The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ
Revelation 1:1-20
The Apocalypse of Jesus cHRIST
rEVELATION 1:1-20
Though St. John the Evangelist saw many strange monsters in his vision, he saw no creature so wild as one of his own commentators.
~ G.K. Chesterton, OrthodoxyRevelation shows us:
- The opposition we can expect to escalate
- The endurance we need to cultivate
- The judgment we will celebrate
- The victory in which we will participate
- The enemy Jesus will annihilate
- The sorrow he will alleviate
- The creation he will regenerate
- The marriage he will consummate
- The home we can anticipate
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed: Experiencing the Promise of the Book of Revelation
Main Idea: The revelation of Jesus Christ comforts the afflicted and exhorts the faithful as we await his return.
I. Hearing the Revelation of Jesus (1:1-8)
‘Revelation’ (Gk: ‘apokalypsis’) means an “unveiling” and a “pulling back of the curtain” to reveal what was previously hidden and unseen (cf. Isa. 6, 2 Ki. 6, Acts 9). The ‘revelation’ given to John is “of Jesus Christ,” who is both the object and the means of this unveiling to his ‘servants’ of what must ‘soon take place’ (cf. Acts 2:16-17, 1 Jn. 2:18, Heb. 1:2)
The revelation given to John to the seven churches is thoroughly Trinitarian:
God the Father: “from him who is and who was and who is to come” (1:4b; cf. Ex. 3:14)
God the Holy Spirit: “the seven spirits who are before his throne”(1:4c; cf. Isa. 11:2)
God the Son: “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth.” (1:5; cf. Col. 1:18)
Though these seven churches in Asia were under the mighty shadow of the Roman Empire, they have been made a “kingdom” and “priests to his God and Father” (cf. Ex. 19:6); they may be hated by Rome but they are loved by Christ who is the true King who has come and is coming again (cf. Zech. 12:10).
II. Seeing the Radiance of Jesus (1:9-20)
Jesus is presented as the “Son of Man” (cf. Dan. 7:13-14), and the one fulfilling the role of:
Prophet (“the voice speaking to me”)
Priest (“clothed with a long robe”)
King (“golden sash around his chest”)
Jesus was not standing off at a distance while his followers suffered for him. He was right there with them, walking in the midst of them, keeping their fire for the gospel burning, correcting them, watching over them, strengthening them. Some people in this world today are so suspect of the church. They’ve seen too much of what they’ve labeled as hypocrisy, and even though they might be interested in Jesus, the last place they want to be found is in the church. But Jesus is not ashamed to be found in the midst of his imperfect church. It is his preferred place to be. He chooses to be in and among his imperfect people who follow him and serve him in imperfect ways. What a relief.
~ Nancy Guthrie, Blessed
John describes seven things he sees about Jesus’ glorified, bodily appearance:
White hair: eternal wisdom (cf. Dan. 7:9)
Eyes like a flame of fire: penetrating discernment (cf. Dan. 10:6)
Feet like burnished bronze: strength and stability
Voice like the roar of many waters: power and majesty (cf. Psalm 29:3; 93:4)
Right hand holding seven stars: sovereign care for his people (cf. Dan. 12:3)
Mouth: a sharp two-edged sword: cutting words of judgment or salvation (cf. Isa. 49:2, Heb. 4:12)
Face radiant and shining like the sun: divine glory (cf. Ex. 34:29ff, Num. 6:25, Mt. 17:2)
St. John, away from his churches, fretting from lack of intimate knowledge of his people, sees the penetrating, attentive eyes of his Savior. St. John, weak from confinement, sees the strong, burnished feet of his Lord. St. John, used to speaking with authority to his apt-to-stray sheep but now without voice, hears the authoritative voice of the Ruler of church and world. St. John, homesick for his congregations, sees them held in the right hand of the Shepherd of Israel. St. John at the mercy of the political sword of Rome, sees the word of God proceeding swordlike and not returning void. St. John, nearing the end of his days, the energy of his countenance in eclipse, sees the presence of a radiating Christ throwing blessing on all. By virtue of the vision, the crushed exile becomes a vigorous prophet.
~ Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of John and the Praying Imagination
The message of Revelation to the church in every age is “fear not.” Though we live in the midst of suffering, hardships, persecutions, and calamities, we are invited to hear and see Jesus in all his glory, the one who has died but yet is “alive forevermore” and who victoriously holds the “keys of Death and Hades.”
Devoted to Good Works
Titus 3:1-15
Devoted to good works
Titus 3:1-15
Main Idea: The grace of God saves us and empowers us for good works.
I. Adorning the Gospel in the World (3:1-2)
A. Ready for Good Works
Matthew 11:29: Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
B. Who We Were and What God Has Done
Until sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet
~ Thomas WatsonWe must plumb the depths of our own heart before we can grasp the height of God’s love.
~ Tim Chester
Psalm 14:1a: The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”
II. Being fruitful and multiplying in grace (3:9-15)
A. Pruning
Ephesians 4:1-3: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Paul does not say God condemns such a person. Rather, one who tries to justify himself by besting others (causing foolish controversies), presuming on his background or family status (debating genealogies), or by wrangling holiness from legal strictures (causing quarrels about the law) instead cuts himself off from his only hope of justification—grace. And thus he is ‘self-condemned.
~ Brian Chapell
B. Harvesting and Planting
Thus doctrine inspires duty, and duty adorns doctrine. Doctrine and duty are married; they must not be divorced.
~ John Stott
Between Grace and Glory
Titus 2:11-15
Between Grace and Glory
Titus 2:11-15
Main Idea: The gospel of Jesus meets us with grace and compels us toward glory with transformational hope.
I. God’s Grace (2:11-12)
Titus 2:11-12: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age,
“When the apostle uses the same word to describe the coming of grace, he so intertwines who Christ is with what Christ provides that the two become inseparable in our consideration. Grace is not some abstract doctrine or theological construct. Grace comes as Christ does. Grace is as personal as he is. In fact, Christ is grace. The unmerited favor of God is what Jesus is about, but it is also who he is. We should thus see grace as a personal action by a personal God who saved us from our helpless condition out of pure love.”
~ Bryan Chapell
Revelation 2:5 “Behold, I am making all things new”
Romans 8:29 - “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son”
1 John 3:2 “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
“It’s true that the church is a hospital for sinners. But the point of a hospital is for the sick to get well. So, yes, the church is a hospital for sinners, but it is also a school for saints, a place where we experience progress on the journey toward the summit of Christlikeness.”
~ Trevin Wax, The Thrill of Orthodoxy
II. God’s Glory (2:13-15)
Titus 2:13-15: waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.
“The gospel is not for the pure and healthy, but for the losers, the failed and flailing, the fallen and falling. The path to the mountaintop of Christlike virtue is a path of penitence. The victorious Christian life isn't the sinless life; it's the repentant life.”
~ Trevin Wax, The Thrill of Orthodoxy
1 Corinthians 15:10 by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
“For mere improvement is not redemption, though redemption always improves people even here and now and will, in the end, improve them to a degree we cannot yet imagine. God became man to turn creatures into sons: not simply to produce better men of the old kind but to produce a new kind of man. It is not like teaching a horse to jump better and better but like turning a horse into a winged creature. Of course, once it has got its wings, it will soar over fences which could never have been jumped and thus beat the natural horse at its own game. But there may be a period, while the wings are just beginning to grow, when it cannot do so: and at that stage the lumps on the shoulders - no one could tell by looking at them that they are going to be wings - may even give it an awkward appearance.”
~ C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Adorning the Gospel Together
Titus 2:1-10
adorning the gospel together
Titus 2:1-10
Main Idea: We adorn the beauty of the gospel by living with ordinary faithfulness in every season together.
I. The Priorities of Ministry (2:1, 7-8)
In his role as pastor/elder, Titus must be a ‘model’ (prototype) of sound doctrine and good works, so that the church is built up (Eph. 4:11-12) and opponents are silenced (2:8).
Apart from Christian theology, we don’t know what the Christian life should look like. If we believe the Christian life should be characterized by hospitality, forgiveness, love, mercy, and faith, we need Christian doctrine to fill those words with Christian meaning. Without doctrine, we’re left with mere sentiment.
~ Trevin Wax, The Thrill of Orthodoxy
II. The Household of Faith (2:2-6, 9-10)
A. Older Men (2:2)
Ecclesiastes 7:10: Say not, “Why were the former days better than these?” For it is not from wisdom that you ask this.
B. Older Women (2:3)
C. Younger Women (2:4-5)
It would not be legitimate to base on this word either a stay-at-home stereotype for all women, or a prohibition of wives being also professional women. What is rather affirmed is that if a woman accepts the vocation of marriage, and has a husband and children, she will love and not neglect them… What he is opposing is not a wife’s pursuit of a profession, but ‘the habit of being idle and going about from house to house. (1 Tim. 5:13)
~ John Stott, The Message of 1 Timothy & Titus
D. Younger Men (2:6)
E. Bondservants (2:9-10)
While we cannot defend the indolence or cowardice of two further Christian centuries which saw this social evil but failed to eradicate it, we can at the same time rejoice that the gospel immediately began even in the first century to undermine the institution; it lit a fuse which at long last led to the explosion which destroyed it.
~ John Stott, The Message of Ephesians
Colossians 3:23–24: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
Conclusion: Adorning the Beauty of the Gospel (2:10b)
Making the World a Better Place
Titus 1:7-2:1
Making the world a better place
Titus 1:7-2:1
Main Idea: Every Christian is called to strategically counteract error, especially those who nurture others.
I. Why is this so important?
The simple answer is that false ideas and bad behavior do not make the world a better place. They are like a cancer that invades a person’s life then metastasizes to their family, their neighborhood, and eventually their whole culture. If you know anything about cancer, it is an apt metaphor to the damage false ideas and bad behavior bring into the world. Cancer never makes things better. It must be counteracted.
II. How are we called to do it?
The right and simple answer here is: STRATEGICALLY. By this we mean thoughtfully, intentionally, tactfully. Keep in mind that Jesus’ objective for the moral wasteland that is Crete is to reclaim it for Himself, redeem its inhabitants to Himself, and release it to flourish and prosper under His generous rule. He wants to make Crete a better place. Central to doing that is addressing the bad behavior and false ideas that are currently
destroying Crete and its inhabitants
Holding firm to the word of God:
Confronting error strategically with a view to making the world a better place requires a reference point. Something must exist that differentiates error from truth, cancer from healthy tissue. Something must paint a compelling vision of what “better” looks like that is more than merely my opinion versus yours. And whatever that reference point is, we must track to it as we would to True North were we lost in a trackless wilderness. “Holding firm to the faithful Word” is being convinced that there is such a thing as True North and organizing all our ideas and actions into alignment and agreement with it.
Re-orient our expectations into alignment with the gospel and the “last days.”
Titus 2:11-14: For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
Putting into Order
Titus 1:1-9
Putting into Order
Titus 1:1-9
Main Idea: God’s church is rightly ordered when we hold to sound doctrine, pursue godliness, and follow exemplary leadership.
I. Eternal Gospel Hope (1:1-4)
Paul’s ministry as a servant and an apostle was for the sake of the “faith of the elect.” This faith is marked by two components, a “knowledge of the truth” that “accords with godliness.”
We can have confidence in the hope of eternal life because of:
God’s Promise (“...promised before the ages began”)
God’s Character (“God, who never lies…” cf. Num. 23:19)
“This is very comforting to the Christian, that whatever God has said in the divine purpose is never changed. The decrees of God were not written upon sand, but upon the eternal brass of his unchangeable nature.”
~ Charles Spurgeon, “What God Cannot Do!”God’s Word (“at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching…”)
2 Timothy 4:1–5: I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. 3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
II. Exemplary Gospel Leadership
Titus must “put what remained into order” by appointing elders (or pastors) who are “above reproach” in:
Marriage & Family (1:6; cf. 1 Tim. 3:5)
Character & Conduct (1:7-8)
Doctrine & Instruction (1:9; cf. 1 Tim. 4:16)
“[Pastors] have the responsibility of explaining what God has said in his Word, declaring what God has done in his Son, and applying this message to the hearts of people.”
~ Tony Merida, The Faithful Church Planter“The pastor ought to have two voices: one, for gathering the sheep; and another, for warding off and driving away wolves and thieves. The Scripture supplies him with the means of doing both; for he who is deeply skilled in it will be able both to govern those who are teachable, and to refute the enemies of the truth.”
~ John Calvin
Gospel Mission
Romans 15:1-7
The GOSPEL AND adoption
rOMANS 15:1-7
Acts 17:6–7: “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also… saying that there is another king, Jesus.”
Main Idea: We are called to ordinary gospel-driven lives to the glory of God.
I. We Love Our Neighbors (15:1–2)
Romans 15:1–2: “We who are strong have an obligation to bear with the failings of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, to build him up”
II. We Resolve to Appear Foolish for Christ’s Sake (15:3)
Romans 15:3: “For Christ did not please himself, but as it is written, “The reproaches of those who reproached you fell on me.”
1 Corinthians 1:18: “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
III. We Holdfast to the Sufficiency of Scripture (15:4)
Romans 15:4: For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope
1 Peter 3:15: “In your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
1 Corinthians 15:3–4:“Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”
IV. We Live in Christ Exalting Harmony (15:5-6)
Romans 15:5–6: May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
V. We Welcome One Another as Christ has Welcomed Us (15:7)
Romans 15:7: Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you
Conclusion: For the Glory of God (15:7b)
We exist to see a greater worship of Jesus through declaring and displaying the gospel.
The Gospel and Adoption
Romans 8:12-17
The GOSPEL AND adoption
rOMANS 8:12-17
What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father… If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all.
~ J.I. Packer, Knowing God
Main Idea: Though we were orphans, we have been adopted into God’s family and guaranteed an inheritance with Christ.
I. Brothers & Sisters by the Spirit (8:12-13)
John 14:16-18: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.”
II. Sons of the Father (8:14-16)
The Spirit makes the heart of Christ real to us: not just heard, but seen; not just seen, but felt; not just felt, but enjoyed. The Spirit takes what we read in the Bible and believe on paper about Jesus’ heart and moves it from theory to reality, from doctrine to experience. It is one thing, as a child, to be told your father loves you. You believe him. You take him at his word. But it is another thing, unutterably more real, to be swept up in his embrace, to feel the warmth, to hear his beating heart within his chest, to instantly know the protective grip of his arms. It’s one thing to hear he loves you; it’s another thing to feel his love. That is the glorious work of the Spirit.
~ Dane Ortlund, Gentle & Lowly
III. Co-Heirs with the Son (8:17)
We should not try to correct Scripture. It is true that in Rome ‘sonship’ was a status of privilege and power given only to males. Yet Paul now has the boldness to apply this to us - to all believers! This shows that God does not distinguish in giving honor. All Christians, male and female, are now his heirs. It was a subversive thing for Paul to take a masculine-only institution and show that, in Christ, the institution of "empowering-through-adoption" is used on females as well as males without distinction. Christian women should not resent being called "sons" any more than Christian men should resent being called part of the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:2).
~ Tim Keller, Romans 8-16 For You
Our inheritance with Christ means:
Our Past is Redefined (Gal. 3:13-14)
Our Present is Redeemed (Heb. 2:11)
Our Future is Secure (Eph. 1:3)
The Gospel and Church Planting
Romans 1:1-15
The GOSPEL AND CHURCH PLANTING
rOMANS 1:1-15
Matthew 28:18-20 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Main Idea: The gospel compels us to plant churches among the nations for the sake of Jesus’ name.
I. The Foundation of Church Planting (1:1-5a)
The Gospel of God (1:1; cf. 1:16)
The Word of God (1:2)
The Son of God (1:3-4)
The Grace and Commissioning of God (1:5a)
II. The Aim of Church Planting (1:5b)
“... to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name” (cf. Phil. 2:9-11)
The highest of all missionary motives is neither obedience to the Great Commission (important as that is), nor love for sinners who are alienated and perishing (strong as that incentive is), but rather zeal — burning and passionate zeal — for the glory of Jesus Christ.”
~ John Stott, The Message of Romans
III. The Scope of Church Planting (1:5c)
“... among all the nations.” (cf. 15:8-9, 20-24)
By planting churches, we have the privilege of being in on God's sovereign work in the world. God's redemptive plan has always involved having a people for himself (Titus 2:14; 1 Pet. 2:9-10). When you start a church, you’re doing more than starting an event at a storefront, school, under a tree, in a house, or at some other location You're actually participating in the grand narrative of God having a people for himself (Acts 18:10), a story that culminates in John's glorious vision in Revelation where a people from every tribe and language and nation are giving praise to the Lamb (Rev. 5:1-14). This vision compels us to be faithful in our present generation until the mission is finished.
~ Tony Merida, The Faithful Church Planter
IV. The Results of Church Planting (1:8-15)
The Gospel is Preached (1:15)
The Lost are Saved (1:13-14)
Churches are Strengthened (1:11-12)
God is Glorified
Implications:
We must pray for the work of church planting (cf. Matt. 9:35-38)
We must be generous toward the work of church planting
We must be eager to share the gospel to catalyze the work of church planting
Social networks are the basic mechanism through which conversions take place ... Most conversions are not produced by professional missionaries conveying a new message, but by [church] members who share their faith with their friends and relatives ... Although the very first Christian converts in the West may have been by full-time missionaries, the conversion process soon became self-sustaining as new converts accepted the obligation to spread their faith and did so by missionizing their immediate circle of intimates.
~ Rodney Stark, Cities of God
Seized by the Resurrection - Easter Sunday
Mark 15:40-16:8
Seized by the resurrection
Mark 15:40-16:8
Main Idea: The resurrection of Christ unsettles everything and evokes a response.
I. The Trauma of Death (15:40-47)
Death is always traumatic and an unwelcomed enemy and intruder (cf. 1 Cor. 15:26), but the crucifixion of Christ was especially traumatic. Joseph of Arimathea exercised “courage” because he was requesting the body of a convicted and executed man who was viewed to be cursed by God (cf. Isa. 53:9)
We owe it to those first Christian disciples to do our very best to understand the utter hopelessness of their situation after the crucifixion. They had invested their whole lives in what appeared to be a diabolical joke. They had seen their beloved Master scourged almost to death, dragged through the streets, nailed to a cross and abandoned to suffer public agony in the face of the obscene mockery of everybody in Jerusalem. Once they had basked in the reflected status of a celebrity who had been mobbed by large crowds; now he had been judged a nonperson, fit only for the most degrading and sadistic death that the human mind was capable of devising. If there had been any solidarity among his followers, it had vanished; not one person had dared to come forward in the Master's defense, and their supposed leader, Peter, had cravenly denied Jesus three times, There was nothing left… The Messiah was supposed to usher in the kingdom of God; for those disciples who had staked their lives on Jesus being that Messiah, it cannot be stated too strongly: there was no hope.
~ Fleming Rutledge, The Undoing of Death
II. The Shock of Resurrection (16:1-8)
Despite Jesus explicitly predicting his crucifixion and resurrection four times in Mark (8:31-32, 9:30-32, 10:32-34, 14:26-28), no one is expecting nor looking for Jesus to be raised from the dead. This is why the women are “seized… alarmed… trembling… astonished… and afraid.”
Mark’s ending points to a truth that often gets lost in the celebration: Easter is a frightening prospect. For the women, the only thing more terrifying than a world with Jesus dead was one in which he was alive.
~ Esau McCaulley, "The Unsettling Power of Easter”
III. The One Who Goes Before Us (16:7)
The resurrection of Christ should:
1. Challenge your reality (“see the place where they laid him”)
“Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance, the only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”
~ C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock”
2. Comfort your heart (“go, tell his disciples and Peter…”)
3. Change your life (“he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”)
The resurrection of Christ is not just something to believe in; it’s something to be lived. Christ is not a dead teacher. If he was a dead teacher, then being a Christian would just be to believe what he said. Since he’s a risen Lord, he comes and penetrates our lives with a new order of being.
~ Tim Keller