Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Wednesday, August 26 2015

Today’s Scripture:

“THE Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” (Revelation 1:1–3).

Question for Deep Consideration:

What if God had a revelation to give to the world, but we missed it, because we were looking the wrong direction?

Today’s Observation:

I absolutely love how the book of Revelation opens! It gives us a sneak peek into what God prepared to open to our minds if we would simply submit to Him as His servants, read/hear the prophecies of the book, and keep that which we read/hear. The time is at hand.

Oftentimes people miss out on the revelation, because they are looking the wrong place for it. People search cryptic novels with eerie covers and catchy titles that claim to have the key to some mystical secret. People are drawn to the spiritualistic movies with captivating Hollywood trailers and the baritone, breathy voiceover of a British voice actor, which flashes all sorts of suspenseful images and scenes before their eyes. And, you guess it: They hope to learn from fictional characterizations, some mystical key to an ancient code. Others, with perhaps a more traditional perspective look to St. John the Divine for God’s revelation (many Bibles title the section, “The Revelation of St. John the Divine”). Here’s the thing, God has promised to give us the revelation of, get this, Jesus Christ, if we keep our eyes focused in the right direction—toward Him.

This blessed book is a comprehensive look at all, yes all, that the rest of Scripture has taught in principle. And, all if this culminates in a crystal clear view of Jesus Christ—a revelation of Jesus Christ. To whom is the revelation given? All who submit to Him as His servants, read/hear the prophecies of this book, and keep the things written therein receive it. Why do we need this final, comprehensive look at Jesus Christ? The Bible writer learned from the angel that the time was at hand. What time? Let me see if I can quickly encapsulate the answer. The same God who sent and signified through His angel, some aspects of last day truth to Daniel the prophet millennia ago, is unsealing that which He told Daniel to shut up and seal all of that time ago. Notice what the Bible says: “And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” (Daniel 12:1–4). We are living in the time of the end! There is no doubt that knowledge in every area of scholarship, technology, and science have increased to epic proportions. Our understanding of Bible prophecy is steadily increasing as the news headlines become congruent with that which God revealed in Scripture. So, John was commissioned to report the unsealed revelations, which brother Daniel was commissioned to shut up, until the time of the end. Our heavenly Mediator will soon finish His work; there will soon be a time of trouble that dwarfs all of the recent headlines;...