Revelation 1:1-3 - Be Ready for the Coming Judgment

Today, Monday December 13 Be Ready for the Coming Judgment Revelation 1:1-3 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed ishe who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.” I couldn’t help but remember that as we were studying the book of Jude, that he had quoted Enoch who had prophesied about the coming judgement on the apostates. “Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him." (Jude 1:14-15) It is almost like Jude is introducing us to the book of Revelation, as he assures us that judgment is coming upon the ungodly who are laughing in the face of God. Jude tells us judgment is coming and John in Revelation gives us the details of the coming judgment. In the very first verse of Revelation we learn that the Apostle John is the human writer of this book. It is interesting to me that John, who is known as the “Beloved Disciple” and the “Apostle of Love”, and especially with his epistles talking so much about love, is the person God chose to give us one of the most prophetic books in the Bible on the wrath and judgement of God! John wrote five books of the New Testament. He wrote the Gospel of John that we might “believe” on Jesus Christ as the Son of God! “These things are written that you might believe…” (John 20:31). John wrote his three epistles that we might “be sure” of our salvation. “These things have I written unto you that you may know that you have eternal life….” (1 John 5:13). And he wrote the book of Revelation so that we might “be ready” for the coming of Jesus Christ! “He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20). The word translated "revelation" simply means "unveiling." It gives us our English word apocalypse which, unfortunately, is today a synonym for chaos and catastrophe. The verb simply means "to uncover, to reveal, to make manifest." In this book, the Holy Spirit pulls back the curtain and gives us the privilege of seeing the glorified Christ in heaven and the fulfillment of His sovereign purposes in the world. In other words, Revelation is an open book in which God reveals His plans and purposes to His church. When Daniel finished writing his prophecy, he was instructed to "shut up the words, and seal the book" (Daniel 12:4); but John was given opposite instructions: "Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book" (Revelation 22:10). Why? Since Calvary, the Resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God has ushered in the "last days" (Hebrews 1:1-2) and is fulfilling His hidden purposes in this world. "The time is near" (Revelation 1:3; 22:10). Yes, my friend, the “time is near” and we are living in the last of the “last days”. This is so obvious to me, especially as we are seeing Biblical prophecy being fulfilled before our very eyes today, that it won’t be long until Jesus comes for His bride, the Church, for all those who have truly believed in Him for their salvation! Are you ready? God bless!