Commentary on Revelation 1

Shall we turn in our Bibles now to the book of Revelation, chapter one? The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Rev 1:1), The Greek word "apokalupsis" is literally the unveiling. So in the very first phrase you have what the book is all about. It is the unveiling of Jesus Christ, the lifting of the wraps. When I was a child, I lived in Ventura and went to Elementary School in Ventura. I played in the school orchestra. And in front of the city hall they had a sculptor make a sculpture of Father Juan Opero Sierra, who had established the mission there in Ventura. So the day came for the unveiling of the statue, and among other things for entertainment they had our school orchestra there playing. So I was sitting there in the violin section. And the mayor made his speech and the county supervisors made their speeches, and all, and the Catholic priest made his speech. Then finally the crane that was there, they had a ring in the top of the canvas that was covering this large statue. So they began to crank up the canvas and finally we could see what was under the canvas, the statue of Father Juan Opero Sierra. It was the unveiling. It was the apokalupsis. The unveiling of this statue and we could finally see what was behind the wraps. Now, there is a common misconception concerning the book of Revelation, and a lot of people will say, "Well, I never deal with the book of Revelation. That is a sealed book." Exactly the opposite, rather than a sealed book, it is an unveiling. It is taking the wraps off. It is taking the seals off. It is allowing you to see what the future holds, as far as Jesus Christ is concerned. So it is the revelation, or the unveiling, of Jesus Christ as far as the future. which God gave to him, to shew to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Rev 1:1): So for the most part in the book of Revelation, there will be the angel speaking to John and revealing to him the things that were being revealed to him by Jesus Christ. So He sent this revelation by the angel to John. And there are times when the angel appears to John. There are times when John sees the Lord himself. There are times when the elder is explaining aspects of this revelation to John. But the basic format was the revelation of Jesus Christ given to him by God, to show to his servants, and it was sent to John signified by the angel, which is a messenger. Who bore record of the word of God (Rev 1:2), And that of course is John\