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Host
Here's Anne Graham Lutz.
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Anne Graham Lotz
There's the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those who read it. What is the blessing? I think the blessing is that we get a sneak peek of the vision of his glory. I think the blessing is that in this book we see Jesus in a way we wouldn't, except we have the prophecy. So what's your attitude about prophecy?
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Host
Thank you for joining us this week on Living in the Light with Bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz. Anne takes us today to the book of Revelation to view through the eyes of the Apostle John, the vision of the glory of Jesus Christ. And that's going to be revealed in four unique and very powerful ways. The first through prophecy, then secondly through our praise, then our perseverance, until lastly we fall prostrate at his feet. And the aim of today's program is to bring you into a deeper point of surrender in your life to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's join Anne now in Revelation, chapter one.
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Anne Graham Lotz
Jesus is coming. You know that, right? Amen. Jesus is coming. I'm excited for his coming. I know he's coming, but he said he was. We can be confident that he's coming. And I just wondered, why do you want him to come? What is it that you're looking the most forward to when he's coming? I started to get responses from you all, but I can't hear that well, so I don't think I'd be able to hear what you would say without a microphone. So I'll just tell you some of the things I'm looking forward to, the reasons I want him to come. So why do you want him to come back? So I can tell you I want a new body. Okay. Just saying. And I want to see my husband and my parents and my loved ones who've gone before me. And I want to see those streets of gold and the pearly gates and the stuff you know, that we'll talk about on Sunday. I want those who are persecuting the Christians in Nigeria, in Syria and China and Iran and North Korea to be held accountable. I want good to overcome bad and love to overcome hate and justice to be established, righteousness to fill the earth. I want the world to be ruled rightly for a change. But I want to tell you what I most this is what I long for, what I look forward to more than anything else. I want the world to see his glory. I want him to come back. Amen. I want the world to see this one that they have cursed and blasphemed and crucified. You can't even say his name unless it's in a curse word. You can't bring his name out in the public square, the marketplace, or wherever. I want them to see him in all of his glory and his majesty and his authority and his dignity. And I want to see every knee bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God. Amen. That's what I long for. Until that day, we just get a sneak peek of the vision of his glory. And I'm praying this weekend that you will have that sneak peek. As we look at it through the Apostle John's eyes, turn to Revelation, chapter one. In Revelation, the book was written by the Apostle John in the first century. And in the first century, the Emperor Domitian was on the throne in Rome. He declared himself to be God. He demanded to be worshiped. When the church refused to worship him, he poured out persecution on the Christians. He burned them at the stake. He crucified. He spied them on crosses. He threw them to the lions in the arenas. And he was a madman with absolute power. So the early church, the Christians, the followers of Jesus, who were staking their lives on Jesus and they were giving their lives for Jesus, they needed a vision of his glory. They needed to know who he really is. They needed to be reassured in their faith and strengthened in their faith that they could persevere until they saw him face to face. And at that moment, God gave the Apostle John a vision of the glory of Jesus. So we're going to look at the fact that the vision of his glory is revealed in four ways. I see in this passage in chapter one, it's revealed through prophecy. It's revealed through our praise. It's revealed through our perseverance until we fall prostrate at his feet. And so I'll just tell you, I'll just heads up. My aim is that the vision of his glory would bring us to a deeper point of surrender in our own lives, that we would just lay it all down and receive the blessings that flow. They're unlocked when we surrender everything to him. So let's look first of all at the fact that the vision of his glory is revealed through prophecy. And in verse one, it says the revelation of Jesus Christ. So just stop right there. And people study the book of Revelation because they want to know the future. They're trying to figure out all the numbers and the animals and the things and what this means and what that means. And if you're not careful, you miss the Whole point. The whole point of the Book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus Christ. If you want to unlock the mystery of the Book of Revelation, you just look for Jesus in his pages. So it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. The word revelation or reveal means to lift the veil. And God lifts the veil on Jesus through prophecy as early as Genesis, chapter three, verse 15. Do you remember when God said that he would send the seed of a woman who would crush the serpent's head? And he lifts the veil and it's very vague, but through that prophecy we see that Jesus would be the one who would defeat Satan, crush his head. And then Genesis, chapter 12, when God tells Abraham, if you'll follow me and you'll leave ur, and you'll follow me in a life of faith, and I'm going to bless you. And through you I'll bless all the nations, I'll send a seed through all the nations of the world will be blessed. And you lift that veil and we see Jesus as the descendant of Abraham, who then is a blessing to the whole world. And in Deuteronomy, when God told Moses, I'm going to raise up a prophet like yourself who will deliver my people not from bondage to slavery, but bondage to sin. And prophecy lifts that veil. And we see Jesus as the promised deliverer, the bondage breaker. And then it's all the way through Scripture. But it's easy to see in Isaiah, isn't it, when it says that he would send a lamb by whose stripes we would be healed, wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities, and lift the veil. And through that prophecy we see Jesus as the Lamb of God who would be sacrificed to take away our sin. And Isaiah also said he would be the wonderful counselor, Almighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And it's through prophecy that we get a glimpse of who Jesus is. In a way we would, except we had the prophecy. So in this case, he said, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to his servant to show him the things that must soon take place. And he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw. That is the word of Jesus Christ. So for you and me, the Book of Revelation, except for the first three chapters perhaps, but the Book of Revelation is all future. It is prophetic, it's prophecy. But for John, it's not prophecy, it's history. This is his eyewitness account of the future. John said 49 times in this book depending on your translation. But 49 times I saw with my own eyes. 28 times I heard with my own ears. So it's his eyewitness account of the future. So if I can describe who John is, and I just want to remind you who John is. He was a disciple of John the Baptist. And they were standing beside the Jordan river one day, and John the Baptist said, look, there goes Jesus of Nazareth. He's the Lamb of God who will take away the sin of the world. So John stopped following John the Baptist. He became a disciple of Jesus for three years. And he saw with his own eyes Jesus walk on the water. He heard him with one word, calm the raging storm at sea. He saw Jesus feed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. He saw Jesus give sight to a man born blind. He saw him cleanse the lepers and make the lame walk. He saw Jesus raise the dead. And he was there that Thursday night. He saw with his own eyes. As the Roman soldiers placed Jesus under arrest, took him off to place him on trial. He was a relative of the high priest. He slipped inside the courtyard. So he watched as Jesus went on trial before Annas, then Caiaphas and the full Sanhedrin. Three religious trials. In the end, he heard with his own ears as the religious leaders convicted Jesus of blasphemy for claiming to be the Son of God. They asked him who he was, he told them. And they convicted him of blasphemy for saying he was the Son of God when he was, when he is. And then the religious leaders took him over to the hall of Judgment. They couldn't put him to death under Roman occupation themselves, so they had to take him to the Romans. At five o' clock in the morning, they took him to the hall of Judgment. They put him on trial before Pilate, but they Pilate sent him to Herod. Herod sent him back to Pilate. So he had three Roman trials. And each, each time he was declared innocent. Seven different times, the Roman courts said, this man is innocent. This man is innocent. He is innocent of all charges. And at that point, the religious leaders had whipped up the crowd that was now gathering in the judgment hall, and they were starting to riot. Crucify him. Crucify him. And Pilate said, this man is innocent. But he thought, well, they just want some blood. So he had Jesus flogged until the blood and flesh was torn from his body. You wouldn't even recognize him as a man, much less be able to identify him. And he brought him up before the crowd and he says, you know, you're going to have him or you're going to have Barabbas. And they all shouted, crucify Jesus. Crucify him. So Pilate said, okay, he's innocent, but you can crucify him. He washed his hands of responsibility, and Jesus was taken up to that place of execution. And John followed. And John, with his own eyes, saw Jesus nailed to the cross, the spikes driven through his hands and feet, and the cross raised up, planted in the ground like a tree. John saw Jesus of Nazareth crucified on a Roman cross. And he just stood there for six hours. And he watched. One point, Jesus noticed him and asked him to take care of his mother, which John did for the rest of her life. And then at the end, with his own ears, he heard Jesus shout out, it is finished. And he saw with his own eyes Jesus bow his head and just refused to take the next breath. He saw Jesus die on the Roman cross. And I would expect at that point, John's life fell apart. Because John thought he was the Messiah. He thought he was the redeemer of Israel. He thought he was the Son of God. And he had gone and died like some criminal on a Roman cross. So John went back to that upstairs room with the other disciples. Barred the door, locked the windows, closed themselves in, terrified the Romans would come get them. Sunday morning, he heard somebody banging at the door. He thought the Romans had come. And then he heard a woman's voice. So he went to the door, and it was Mary. And she was hysterical, saying something about grave robbers and the tomb being empty. So John ran through the early morning streets of Jerusalem. He came to the tomb where he knew they had laid Jesus. And he ran inside, and he testifies as to what he saw. Nothing. Except for the grave clothes. And the grave clothes were lying there like an empty shell. Now, John had been at Bethany. He had seen Lazarus. You remember when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and he told Martha to unwrap him. And Martha unwrapped Lazarus. By the time she finished, all the grave clothes were in a pile. Just the stinking rags just piled up. And these grave clothes weren't lying there. Somebody. As though somebody had unwound them from the body and taken the body off naked. They were lying there like an empty cocoon, like the body had just evaporated up through them. And John said, I knew Jesus had risen from the dead, but he was more confused than ever. So he went back to that same upstairs room with the other disciples. Locked the door, barred the windows. Sunday afternoon, with his own ears, he heard that very familiar voice say, peace. It is I. Be not afraid. Jesus speaking peace to his people. And John turned and he saw the wound on the brow where the thorns had been and the wounds in the hands. He saw Jesus of Nazareth standing in front of him. And he was invited to reach out and touch him. And John had that personal encounter with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. He would never be convinced that Jesus had risen from the dead because he saw him. He heard him. He touched him. Forty days later, he was on the Mount of Olives and Jesus was teaching his disciples and he put his hands out to bless them. And when he did, with his own eyes, John saw Jesus begin to lift up off the ground, float up through the air, disappear through the clouds of glory. John saw Jesus ascend back into heaven. Now that's the same Apostle John who's writing the Book of Revelation. Do you get it? With the same eyes and the same ears, he says, I have seen Jesus come back. Let me tell you what I've seen. I've seen wars on a worldwide scale so devastating that those slaughtered, their blood rises to the height of a horse's bridle. I've seen pestilence like AIDS and Covid and the Ebola virus or whatever wipe out a third of the Earth's population. I've seen stars like Scud missiles falling out of the sky. I've seen mountains falling into the sea. I've seen a beast rise up out of the sea to rule the world. I've seen a false prophet who does miracles in his name. I've seen a dragon who gives them both power. I've seen demons flooding the earth. And I've seen angels and I've seen the sky unfold and a white horse appear with a rider whose name is faithful and true coming back, followed by the armies of heaven. His name is the Word of God and he has a double edged sword coming from his mouth. And all of his enemies who have gathered and gone to make war against the Lamb. He speaks a word and they all drop dead. I have seen Jesus come back to rule the world in righteousness, filling the earth with his glory. And I've seen heaven. And I've seen a new heaven and a new earth. And I want to tell you around everything, over everything, under everything, through everything, at the beginning of everything, at the end of everything, Jesus Christ reigns supreme. That's the vision of his glory. Amen. How would we know that if we didn't have prophecy? How would we know that except that John would tell us what Jesus revealed to him. Verse 3. Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy and takes it to heart. Because the time is near. And it doesn't mean just you read through the book of Revelation once. It means you read it and you read it. And you read it. You continually read it, you continually study it, you continually apply it to your life. You continually live in the light of it. And the blessing, you know, it's the only book in the Bible that promises a blessing to those who continually read and study. It's the only one that promises a blessing to those who read it. And what is the blessing? I think the blessing is that we get a sneak peek of the vision of his glory. I think the blessing is that in this book we see Jesus in a way we wouldn't, except we have the prophecy. So what's your attitude about prophecy? You know, some people, they get so carried away with it, they're just trying to figure everything out. And there's some really pretty strange things online if you look it up. So don't. And I just wonder how they've not stoned to death. Some of these people, they come up with some of these proclamations or decrees and I think, uh, you know, and then there are others who are so scared of it, they don't want to go near it. So they don't read Revelation, they don't to want, want to get into prophecy. And somewhere there's a balance, isn't there? This is in our Bibles and there's prophecies all the way through Scripture. It's given for us in order to be a blessing. So we'll try to unpack a little bit of it. Actually the first book I ever wrote, the Vision of His Glory, which is on the whole book of Revelation, prophecy was given to you and me. And I think not just for the first century Christians who needed that vision of his glory. I think for the last century Christians, I think we're living in the very last of the last days. And we also need to have a vision of the glory of Jesus. Read your Bible and that includes the prophetic words that are in it. Because you're going to be blessed. You're going to see things that otherwise you wouldn't see. The vision of his glory is revealed through prophecy. It's revealed through our praise. In verse four, he says, John, to the seven churches in the province of Asia, Grace and peace to him from him who is and was and is to come. That's the one we Think of as God the Father, if I can put it that way. The seven spirits before his throne, that's the Holy Spirit. Seven is the number of perfection. That's speaking of the Holy Spirit. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth. So right there we have the Trinity. We have God the Father, God the Holy Spirit and God the Son. So I just want to make this point that we praise Jesus for his deity. Jesus is God, okay? So sometimes I think we get so familiar with him that we make him less than he is. And you'll find him in the very first part of Genesis. Genesis, chapter 1, verse 1. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. That's the triune God. But we think of that as God the Father, verse 2. And the Spirit of God hovered over the face of the deep. That's the Holy Spirit, verse three. And God said His word went forth. Let there be light. And there was. And all the way through Genesis, chapter one, there's that phrase. And God said whatever he said was. So it came to be. And we would think that's a language going out of the mouth of God. Nouns and verbs, until you get to the Gospel of John, chapter one, verse one. In the beginning was the Word. And the Word was with God. And the Word was God. In verse 14, the word became flesh and dwelt among us. And we've beheld his glory. Jesus is God. Don't make him less than he is. He is God walking the earth in a human body. He told Philip, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. So we praise him for his deity, and we praise him for his humanity. Because he's not only the Son of God, he is the Son of man. He is not only God, he's man. It's just something. It's a mystery, isn't it? We can't quite take that in. Fully God, Fully man. But it says in the middle of verse five, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood that's in his humanity. Has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power forever and ever. Amen. That's in his humanity. Look, he is coming with the clouds. And every eye will see him in his humanity. So in his humanity, he's the Savior who has redeemed you, shed his own blood to take away your sin, make you right with God, offer you forgiveness. He's the Lord who will rule the details of your life so that you can fulfill God's purpose for your life. And God has a purpose for you. Do you know that? And if you give your life to Jesus, he will rule your life so that you fulfill the purpose for which you were created. You fulfill your potential. And then he's the king, One day he will come just for you. Years ago I was feeling very small. You ever feel small, inadequate, inferior? I mean, I was really going down low, low self esteem. And I was in this passage and reading it and I could just hear the whisper of the spirit. Ann, who's the most important man in your life? And I said, well, my husband, my father, and Anne, who's the most important man in the United States? And I said, well, it'd have to be the president. And then who's the most important man on planet Earth? And since the United States is a world power, then I would say, I guess the president of the United States is also the most important man on planet earth. And then he seemed to whisper and for how long? Four years or eight years. And then the whisper came, or the thought, anne, the most important man, not just in the United States, not just on planet Earth, but in all the universe. And not just for four years or eight years, but forever and ever and ever. The most important man in all the universe, forever and ever, thinks you are so important that he's the Savior who has redeemed you with his own blood. He's the Lord who will rule your life so that you fulfill God's purpose. And he's the king one day who will come back just for you. I've never felt so small since then. I found my self esteem. If somebody here is looking for theirs, you find it at the foot of the cross. You take a good look at who Jesus is. The God man giving his life's blood to cleanse you, take away your sin, bring you into a right relationship with his father, the Lord, who is the only Lord by the way, who can rule the details of your life. So you fulfill God's purpose. And the king one day who's coming back for you. And you say, oh, Anne, when he comes back, it's gonna be a mob scene, you know, millions of people are gonna be caught up and I'll just be one of the bunch. And so that's how I thought we go to North Carolina beach. And so the moon comes up over the water. And when the full moon comes up and if I stand on the beach, I have a moonbeam that comes right to me. And if Rachel Ruth is like, you know, hundred yards down, she has a moonbeam that comes right to her. And if Mara and Trainer, who are never separated, so if they're down on this side, they have a moonbeam that comes right to them. So I don't know how that works. But we all have our own moonbeam. Do you know that? Have you seen that? I know you have. And when Jesus comes back, it's as though he's coming back just for you. And I don't know how that works, but in his omnipresence, he's coming back as though you're the only person he's coming for. Jesus said in John 14, I'm going to prepare a place for you, and if it's so, I'm going to come back and receive you to myself. That's a personal reception that where I am, you may be also. Praise Jesus for his deity, praise him for his humanity, and praise him for his eternity.
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Host
Be sure to take advantage of all that's available for you@anngramlawatts.org from Anne's blog. Her messages, Bible studies, books and videos all will give you a deeper, richer relationship with Jesus through God's word. And thanks for joining us today for living in the light.