Revelation reflections part 1

I worked for a Maryland Pepsi plant every summer of my high school years in order to earn some money for college. We were among a pack of store vendors who would travel throughout the Eastern Shore of Maryland andDelaware, dispensing our wares to stores ranging from Safeways to 7-11s. Rick was the Pepsi driver and I was the grunt-guy ...you know, the helper who hauled the cases of drinks up the steps and through the aisles.
During our route trips, we often ran into a buddy named Derrick who played softball for our team in the summer industrial league. He was a massive guy, with forearms like titanium pistons. We had a fantastic cleanup hitter with Derrick, but he had a really bad habit of forgetting when and where the games were. Because of that, every time we saw him in a parking lot or store counter, we’d remind him of the upcoming game.

Well, we had a big game coming up the following Friday. Sure enough, the moment we saw Derrick puttering across the Pizza Hut parking lot, we stopped him.

"Gonna make the game?" asked Rick. "We sure need you next week."

"Um, I’m not sure I can make it," answered Derrick. "I definitely want to play, but I got something coming up although I’m not sure what it is. I’ll check back with you later tomorrow afternoon." The next day we saw Derrick, he was still puzzled.

"I know next Friday will be busy, but I can’t remember what it is," he said. "Look, I’ll get some kind of an answer for you by Wednesday."

On Wednesday we got our answer. "I can’t make it next Friday, boys," Derrick said, " because I finally figured out what it is. I’m going to get married that Friday." Within ten days Derrick was going to get married and he almost forgot about it.

Let me tell you, our buddy Derrick was a textbook case of getting confused with priorities.

A good number of people who read the book of Revelation have the same problem with getting priorities mixed up. They think of it as an adventure book with dragons, demons and prophecies, but miss the main point. They jump right into trying to decipher the "code words" but don’t look at the rest of the Scripture to get the proper picture.

Listen, friend, Revelation is a fantastic book. It’s a shame to see it being considered confusing or frightening, so I’m going to attempt to make it as clear and understandable as possible. My hope is, by the time you finish going through this study, you will be able to clearly see what the passages are all about and that you will be able to really enjoy this majestic and exciting book.

I think too many people look at the book of Revelation the way they look at their first attempt at getting their driver’s license. They really, really want to get to know the whole matter right down to the details, but are pretty scared at the immensity of the whole project. Well, relax. We’ll take our time and break this book into an easy-to-digest series of lessons.

Let’s get right into our study. Please turn to Revelation chapter 1. I’m going to give you a hint, right away: You’ll get the idea of the whole book condensed into the first eight verses.

Rev 1:1 - The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated {it} by His angel to His bond-servant John,

Rev 1:2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, {even} to all that he saw.

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Rev 1:4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--

Rev 1:6 and He has made us {to be} a kingdom, priests to His God and Father--to Him {be} the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Rev 1:7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.

Rev 1:8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Look at verse 1 again: Revelation is an apokalupsis (we know it as "apocalypse"). It means a revelation, an unveiling, a lifting the lid and seeing the contents. Just like when I would come into the house after school, smelled my mom’s great cooking (she was a dynamic Russian woman who felt the holiest room in the house was the kitchen - how I love that type of thinking) and discovered what joyous feast awaited us by taking the lid off the huge pot at the back of the stove. That’s apokalupsis, friend, and this book does the same thing. It’s is not a hidden book - that word "hidden" is apocrypha, not apokalupsis.

Okay, then.

What does the book reveal?

Jesus Christ. He is the object of the entire reading. He is the one revealed by the book. Miss Jesus as you read this and it’s like reading Moby Dick and leaving out the whale. It’s like reading War and Peace and forgetting to read the passages about the battles. It’s like reading the Lord of the Rings and never seeing the quest to destroy the ring.

Jesus is at the center of this. Jesus is the marrow and the meat of this entire book. Don’t let that fact get away from you.

Solo deo gloria - "To the glory of God alone."

Debate results

I am sorry that I haven't contacted you lately. School exams are this week and I have been overloaded, plus I am trying to get final details about a novel for Breakaway magazine resolved. That, combined with Christmas holiday, and you see how things are.

Many of you have asked about the debate with the atheist last week. I really must tell you that I left with a very odd feeling. There was really no battle at all...the atheist side had nothing to give! Wihtin the forty minute debate, I presented at least twenty facts on creation, prophecy, miracles, philosophy and religions and my opponent answered none of them. In fact, those who watched the debate on in-school television agreed that he gave no facts whatsoever. I quoted not only from the Bible (Isaiah 1:18, Mark 12:30) but also from Nietszche, Kierkegaard, Kant, Stephen Hawking and others. I gave facts from both sides of the fence and answered them carefully, but there was no response to my assertions, just opinions and feeling.

This, my friend, is postmodernism.

Let me give you an idea of the society around us which is postmodern. Here are some characteristics:
"- there is no objective progress, simply a 'playful celebration of chaos'..." (Hewitt sociology website) In other words, it's better to kick over a construction that to build one.

"...society is based instead upon the decline of absolute truths, and the rise of relativity." (Ibid) Relativity is the belief that there is no real right or wrong... you can make up your own right and wrong. Absolute truths like sin, purity and obedience are outmoded to the postmodernist.

The pbs.org website offers it best:
"...postmodernism is highly skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, knowing always that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal."

Note that it is up to interpretation of the individual as to whether something is true or not.
THAT is the way the debate went. The atheist answered no questions but plowed ahead with his own questions...yet when I answered them cleanly, he registered no response but merely went off on another trail.

I send this to you so that you may be aware of the thick postmodern thinking about us in the world today.

People are trying to invent their own truths, but may I encourage you with one clear picture...
...after the debate I met him again in private at a Starbucks for a one-to-one. In showing him the prophecies of the Bible and their fulfillments (Psalm 22:1,16, 18 ; Isa. 9:6 and Micah 5:2 for example), he was genuinely shocked.

Please pray for this man, and please study to be ready for a postmodern challenge that may come your way.