Christ Fulfills Prophecy

The secrets God reveals to His servants the prophets
Fred R. Coulter—December 30, 2017

 - Video |  - PDF | Audio | [Up]

Greetings, brethren! Welcome to Sabbath services. We'll soon be entering 2018 according to the Roman calendar.

How many remember back in the middle 1960s? Say 1965. That makes it 53 years. What was being taught at that time concerning prophecy? Everyone wants to know:

• When is Jesus going to return?
• What are the events at the end-time going to be like?
• How will they work out?
• Do we know?

or:

• have many mistakes been made, because things have been assumed to be what they really, really weren't?

Even during WWII there were those saying, 'This is the end-time.' When you look what happened with the rise of Europe and Japan, it looked like many of the prophecies of the Old Testament and maybe even some of the New Testament were being fulfilled.

Many thought that the end was going to come, especially when the Germans got down, ready to come into Egypt. But the tide turned, it didn't happen the way that people said. It didn't happen the way that ministers said. Didn't happen the way that those even in the Church of God at that time thought would take place.

Then here comes the booklet: 1975 in Prophecy (published by the former Worldwide Church of God). How many remember that booklet? That was sent out by the hundreds of thousands. According to that scenario, then based on other Scriptures and interpretations on it, that there would be those in the Church who would flee to a place of safety. Now the Bible does show that, that is true. But how did the Church come up with 1975 in prophecy? It was because of some predictions based on leading magazines right after the second World War, and 1975 looked like a long, long way away. When we come to the 1960s, again, with this in mind, we look and see here in America that things are all upside down, riots, burnings in the cities, everything looking like its coming apart: problems in Europe, problems in the world.

So, everybody was getting ready. There were those who were ready to flee to Petra because that's what we were told, and even using the Scriptures to give substantiation to it.
That failed, 1975 failed and Christ didn't return. Later others came up with 1988 and 1989, 1996, 1998, and 2002—and so here we are in 2018 in a day or two.

• How long is it to the end?
• How do we understand these prophecies?

What we find is this: 1-Corinthians 13:8 (KJV): "Prophecies…they shall fail." However, let's contrast that with what Jesus said.

Let's look at some things the way that Jesus has said and put some other Scriptures together so we can come to a better understanding of prophecy.

Will any of the prophetic words of Jesus Christ fail? No! We will see. How many times have we been here and how many times have we looked at this from the point of view concerning keeping the laws and commandments of God.

Now let's look at it from the point of view of prophecy, the true prophecies of God:

Matthew 5:17, Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill."

Then we show how He is fulfilling the laws spiritually. How is Jesus going to fulfill the Prophets? We're going to see later in the book of Revelation, everything that transpires depends upon Jesus Christ!

Let's look at some other Scriptures and see what's important. Here's what we are to do in all cases and likewise with prophecies so that we don't make any mistakes.

We need to understand that Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall never pass away.' In other words, they will always be fulfilled.

• How is that going to be?
• How many times down through the centuries have men wanted the return of Jesus Christ to happen?
• Why hasn't it happened?
• Is it because the prophecies of God will fail?

or:

• the misunderstandings of men improperly interpreting the Scriptures?
• not understanding that Christ is the One Who is going to fulfill it?

I remember one of the greatest prophecies in the Old Testament was given to none other than King Nebuchadnezzar. But God didn't give him the understanding of it. Here's the lesson: all of the prognostications of men, all the religious leaders, all the government leaders of Babylon could not tell the dream, nor its interpretation.

Remember what happened: Daniel, Shadrach, and Meshach got together, prayed to God for understanding what the dream was and what the vision was so Daniel could explain it to King Nebuchadnezzar. How did Daniel start out? He said, 'There's a God in heaven Who reveals secrets.' The prophecies of God are secrets until He reveals them. This is what God did with Daniel.

He gave him the prophecy from the time of Nebuchadnezzar, right down through to the end, to the return of Jesus Christ. Likewise in Dan. 7; 9-12. But none of them were complete. They were complete up to a certain point, but what comes after that?

It's the same way today. Here we are living in a time when Satan is really actively deceiving the whole world, with all the problems, all the lies, all the difficulties, everywhere you look. This is a key for the end-time.

One of the keys is: all the prophecies of God will be fulfilled to the maximum, and most of them relating to the things that we are concerned with at the end-time will all be engaged at the same time in one form of fulfillment or another.

The way that we understand it is not to apply our mind to come up with what we think, but to apply the Word of God and the Spirit of God to find out what God means!

We know from Dan. 12 that many of the things were closed and shut up until the time of the end. It says of the wicked, 'None of the wicked will understand, but the wise shall understand.' Understand what? The prophecies of God contained in the Bible! This is how it is today:

• more demonism
• more satanism
• more false miracles
• all the technology involved in it
• men proclaiming themselves that they're going to live forever, their way

Isaiah 8:19: "And when they shall say to you, 'Seek unto them that have familiar spirits… [we even have television programs seeking out ghosts] …and to wizards who peep and mutter'—but should not a people seek unto their God?.…"

That's the way they phrase it, 'Shouldn't we seek God?' Rather than ask God how we should seek Him. We should seek Him:

• in Spirit
• in Truth
• in love
• in understanding

Not to come up with personal interpretations of Scripture to make it look like that the individual doing that is some exalted prophet. One thing we need to understand, all the prophecies in the Bible that are going to fulfilled in our time have already been recorded in the Word of God.

The question becomes, how do we understand? Looking at 2018 and on, there are an awful lot of things that have to happen.

"…but should not a people seek unto their God? Should the dead be sought on behalf of the living?…. [here is the answer]: … To the Law and to the testimony!" (vs 19-20).

Testimony is a very broad word. That includes:

• the spoken prophecies of God
• the spoken prophecies of God through His prophets
• the very words of Jesus Christ
• the witness of the apostles
• the epistles
• the writings of the apostles

and most importantly of all:

• the greatest testimony in the Bible:

The book of Revelation! We're going to learn some things about that we haven't quite understood the way that we should. We have to do what it says here.

Verse 20: "To the Law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word…" We can take this as a great principle. If we do not speak according to the Word of God on any subject, on any prophecy, on anything in the Word of God.

"…it is because there is no light in them" (v 20).

When you watch TBN, which I've been doing to monitor for the series on the Mystery of Protestantism. The mystery of Protestantism is:

• a combination of things from the Bible
• satanic holidays
• occult practices
• Sunday-worship
• holiday-worship
• a mixture of Truth and error

For those who do not know the Truth of God, and compare it to the Word of God, will have a great difficulty even understanding why they are wrong, even though they speak the Truth. But they begin with a lie: Sunday and holidays. You can speak a lot of truth, but if the foundation is a lie, even quoting Scripture will lead people astray.

• What did Paul write to Timothy?
• How should the Bible be understood?
• Rightly divide the Word of God!

That applies to every bit of the Word of God and especially in our time, to the prophecies. God revealed to Daniel and He gave all those prophecies. Let's come to the book of Amos and let's see what this says. Let's ask a very interesting question, indeed. Now that we have the whole Bible, and when you really include the book of Revelation on it:

• Do we have all the prophecies we need from God written down ahead of time, so that if we yield to God, we may understand?

Not have all these prophecies pronounced by men in great exaltation as apostles and prophets and all of those sort of things, when God never appointed them.

• Should we not turn to the Word of God?
• Did not God prophesy everything in advance and put it in His Word?

We're going to understand something very important and profound. Keep this in mind: Jesus said He came to fulfill the Law andthe Prophets.

Amos 3:1: "Hear this word that the LORD has spoken against you, children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, 'You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore, I will punish you for all your iniquities'" (vs 1-2). Why? Because He sent His Word, His Bible, His Truth! Look how it's published today.

Sidebar: What a miraculous thing that we see before us today, the way that God is fulfilling preaching the Gospel to all nations to the ends of the earth through the means of all the technological advances that we have. What a fantastic fulfillment of that prophecy.

Verse 3: "Can two walk together unless they be agreed?" That's exactly why the Protestants do not understand. They understand to a certain point because they have some Truth.

• Is some Truth all the Truth?
• nothing but the Truth?
• the whole Truth?

or:

• Is it partial?
• Will partial Truth save you? No!

So, they are not agreed!

I heard a Protestant minister give a real resounding, profound message on the suffering of Christ on the cross, but he missed the whole point of what Jesus had to do to do this. He got some of it correct, but he certainly said nothing about what Paul wrote, 'Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.'

Therefore, even giving a very enlightened portion from the Scriptures, it led to a false conclusion because he was not in agreement with God.

Verse 4: "Will a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey? Will a young lion cry out of his den if he has caught nothing? Will a bird fall into a trap on the ground, when there is no bait for it? Will a trap spring up from the ground, and nothing at all be caught? If a ram's horn is blown in a city, will the people not also tremble? If there is a calamity in a city, has the LORD not also done it?" (vs 4-6).

Notice this promise in v 7. We need to apply this to everything in the Bible, every prophecy past, present and future, etc:

Verse 7: "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing unless He reveals His secret unto His servants the prophets." Who are the prophets?

• Jesus Christ
• all of those recorded in the Old Testament
• all the prophecies recorded in the New Testament
• the book of Revelation, which ties it all together

I want you to think about that. Does that mean He's going to reveal it to a man so he can speak it right there? or Does it mean that it is in the Word of God and He reveals it to us as we seek Him and as we need the understanding as we go along, rather than having to rely on conjectures of men and false interpretations—though well-intentioned—which lead to disaster and disillusionment?

Here's what we do. Here's how we approach the Word of God (Psa. 119). Let's think on it this way: Since God has given His complete Word, would He not have all of the prophecies necessary for us to understand already recorded in the Bible?

Psalm 119:18: "Open my eyes so that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law." The whole Bible is the Law of God, from one end to the other: physical, spiritual, prophetic, and so forth.

If God gives a prophecy, will it take place? Absolutely! We have to have our minds open to see these things. That only comes from loving God and serving Him, obeying Him, and believing His Word.

This is why we need the Word of God. Remember what it said of Jesus. The most important part of the Gospel of John

John 1:1: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and not even one thing that was created came into being without Him" (vs 1-3). Let's apply that to prophecy, the Word of God.

Psalm 49:1: "Hear this, all you people; give ear, all inhabitants of the world… [that's us, everyone is to know] …both low and high, rich and poor together. My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the thoughts of my heart shall be of understanding. I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my dark saying upon the lyre" (vs 1-4).

Only God can reveal! Isn't that what Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar? Yes! So, we have to understand the dark sayings of the prophecies. That's only with the light of Scripture. Do you think that God is going to reveal those things to someone who doesn't love and obey Him? Think about that in relationship to the Churches of God that have gone to Sunday-keeping. What is going to happen to them?

Here's what we are to do, Psalm 78:1: "Give ear, O My people… [Are we the people of God? Yes, we are!] …to My Law…" Every Word of God; Jesus said, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God shall he live.'

"…incline your ears to the words of My mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will speak dark sayings of old" (vs 1-2).

How are these dark sayings understood? We will see, by the book of Revelation! That gives us the understanding sweeping all the way back.

Verse 3: "Which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generations to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength, and His wonderful works that He has done, for He established a testimony in Jacob… [remember to the Law and the Testimony, the testimony is very broad] …and appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers, that they should teach them to their children" (vs 3-5).

Let's go forward with some of the things that we need to understand. Isa. 42 has to do with Jesus Christ. Remember, He is called the Prophet.

There is some minister today who claims that he is that prophet. He is lying, supposed to be a minister of God. He cannot be. You never take to yourself a name, a title, a prerogative of God, and apply it to yourself, to exalt yourself over the brethren and over the Church.

Isaiah 42:1: "Behold, My Servant… [Christ] …Whom I uphold; My Elect, in Whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He shall bring forth justice to the Gentiles. He shall not cry out, nor lift up, nor cause His voice to be heard in the street'" (vs 1-2). Not through rioting, movements, and all of that sort of thing.

Verse 3: "A bruised reed He shall not break, and a smoking wick He shall not quench; in Truth… [Jesus is called 'the Way, the Truth, and the Life'] …He shall bring forth justice. He shall not fail nor be discouraged until He has set justice in the earth…" (vs 3-4).

That's the whole plan of God. Is this a prophecy that God gave to one of His prophets to tell us about the things that are going to happen at the end? Yes!

"'…and the isles shall wait for His Law.' Thus says the LORD God, 'He who created the heavens and stretched them out, spreading forth the earth and its offspring; He who gives breath to the people upon it and spirit to those who walk in it. I the LORD have called You in righteousness… [referring to Christ] …and will hold Your hand, and will keep You, and give You for a covenant of the people, for a Light to the Gentiles" (vs 4-6).

His whole ministry, life and existence became the covenant death on the cross on the Passover Day that God chose. He's revealed that through the Calculated Hebrew Calendar. That's what God has given. So, all of you out there who believe in some other calendar, because of some idea of some man, you better rethink what you are claiming to be true, because it's not.

Verse 7: "To open the blind eyes… [to understand the Word of God, and physically to see] …to bring out the prisoners from the prison… [those captive by Satan the devil] …those who sit in darkness out of the prison house. I am the LORD; that is My name; and My glory I will not give to another, nor My praise to graven images…. [Catholics better read that] …Behold, the former things have come to pass…." (vs 7-9). For what?

• proof that God gave the prophecy
• proof that God carried it out
• proof that God's Word is true
• proof that Jesus Christ is going to fulfill the Prophets

All the prophecies we need are in the Bible, but they must be properly understood and rightly divided so that we don't get exalted in vanity, carnality, stupidity, and taking prerogatives of God to ourselves as men, ministers and preachers, teachers, to exalt ourselves over the brethren of God. That's what happens.

"…And new things I declare; before they happen, I tell you of them" (v 9). Remember what it said in Amos 3? 'Surely the Lord will do nothing, but that He tell His prophets,' and they write it down so that we may know. You think about that.

How is Jesus going to fulfill the prophets if everything we need to know has not been written down first?

As we enter 2018 let's look at things realistically, the way that we should, the way that they ought to be: through the lens of Scripture and through the eyes of God. 'Open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Your Law.'

We're going to see the Truth of the secret of the book of Revelation. We'll point it out a little bit later here. It ties every single prophecy that God has given to His prophets, wherever they were, in whatever time period that they lived and it all comes together in Revelation in one great final, grand finale at the end.

Isaiah 48:1: "Hear this, O house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and have come out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of the LORD and make mention of the God of Israel (but not in truth nor in righteousness)."

That's talking to modern Israel today and Israel down through all time. They have always made the same mistake over and over again to take the days and names of Baal and preach the God of the Bible. We need to be careful!

Verse 2: "For they call themselves after the Holy city, and rest themselves on the God of Israel; the LORD of hosts is His name." Isn't that what they always do? Yes! God bless America!

Verse 3: "I have foretold the former things from ages ago; and they went out of My mouth; and I proclaimed them; I acted suddenly; and they came to pass."

• Who fulfills the prophecies? God!
• Who has pronounced them? God!
• What are we to do?

We are to preach the Truth of what God has given and what He reveals and what He opens our minds to understand as we love and obey Him and serve Him! This is the attitude we need going into 2018!

Verse 4: "Because I knew that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your brow bronze. And I have even declared it to you ages ago. Before it came to pass I revealed it to you; lest you should say…'" (vs 4-5).

It's in His Word with His Spirit and with His Word! With the book of Revelation all together we can understand the prophecies we need to understand. Isn't that something?

"…'My idol has done these things, and my graven image, and my molten image, has commanded them.' You have heard, see all this; and will you not declare it? I have shown you new things from this time, even hidden things, and you did not know them. They are created now… [God develops the prophecies and the Scriptures] … and not ages ago; even before today you did not hear them; lest you should say, 'Behold, I knew them'" (vs 5-7). That's why He gave the prophecies so that we could not do it.

Verse 8: "Yea, you did not hear; yea, you did not know; yea, from ages ago your ear was not opened…" What was one of the famous sayings of Jesus? 'The one who has ears, let him hear!'Think on that.

"…for I surely knew that you would deal very treacherously, and were called a transgressor from the womb. For My name's sake I will put off My anger, and for My praise I will hold it back for your sake, that I do not cut you off. Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver; I have chosen you in the furnace of affliction" (vs 8-10). That's why we go through the trials we go through.

Verse 11: "For My own sake, for My own sake I will do it…" God is going to fulfill the  prophets Himself through Jesus Christ.

(go to the next track)

Let's continue on about:

• how to understand prophecy
• who gives the understanding
• how does it come

Matt. 13 is one of the most important chapters in the book of Matthew, because it tells us a great and profound understanding concerning the Word of God and prophecy and that will lay the foundation for when we get to the book of Revelation.

Here's the parable of the sower and He spoke to all the multitudes in parables. Why do that? Because their day can only come if they love and obey God! Not just hearing the Word of God. The disciples wanted to know, 'Why do You speak to them in parables?'
Matthew 13:11: "And He answered and said to them, 'Because it has been given to you…'" Have you heard the saying in Protestantism: 'we are to appropriate'? What does appropriate mean? It means to take. No one takes from God!

"'…to you to know the mysteries… [secrets, or the prophecies] …of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it has not been given…. [Why?] …For whoever has understanding, to him more shall be given…'" (vs 11-12). Why? Because you yield to God and He grants understanding!

• IF you don't yield to God
• IF you don't grow in grace and knowledge
• IF you don't always glorify God

—because He is the One Who has given it—

• THEN it will be taken away!

"…and he shall have an abundance, but whoever does not have understanding, even what he has shall be taken away from him. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because seeing…" (vs 12-13). This is exactly what happens in Protestantism. They have the Word of God. They all sit there, a lot of them, with their Bibles open, they see. But:

"…they see not; and hearing, they hear not; neither do they understand" (v 13).

• How are you going to know prophecies unless you understand?
• How does that understanding come?

Verse 14: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah…" How many times in the New Testament does it say, 'It has been fulfilled; in Isaiah it has been fulfilled here... Moses said…' etc.

Who gives the understanding? Jesus said, 'I came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.' Only He can give understanding. That understanding has been given in the Word of God. The Word of God has been given so that we may:

• do it
• hear it
• live it
• understand it

The understanding doesn't come all at once, but bit-by-bit.

Verse 14: "And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which says, 'In hearing you shall hear, and in no way understand; and in seeing you shall see, and in no way perceive; for the heart of this people has grown fat, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed…'" (vs 14-15).

• How do they close their eyes yet have them open?
• How can they see, yet, not see?
• How can they hear, yet, not hear?

Because they are unwilling to obey God! They have a lawless grace. Notice that it is not their day of salvation today.

"…lest they should see with their eyes, and should hear with their ears, and should understand with their hearts, and should be converted, and I should heal them" (v 15).

Christ did not come to save everybody in the world at His first coming. He came to call the ones that He would put into His Church and prepare for the coming Kingdom of God.

Verse 16: "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. For truly I say to you, many prophets and righteous men…" (vs 16-17)—of old. They had half of the Truth. New Testament is the other half.

The greatest portion of that half is tied up in the book of Revelation, which has strings and ties down to all the prophecies in the end-time and are going to be fulfilled in a great and a magnificent tremendous way.

The understanding of those things in Revelation does not come just because you read it. They do not come unless you:

• love God
• rightly divide the Word of God
• serve God
• do what is true
• understand that Jesus is the One Who reveals
• Jesus is the One Who fulfills

No other man—minister, preacher, teacher—does that!

"…righteous men have desired to see what you see, and have not seen; and to hear what you hear, and have not heard" (v 17). He explained the parable and then He gave many other parables.

Verse 34: "Jesus spoke all these things to the multitudes in parables, and without a parable He did not speak to them; so that it might be fulfilled…'" (vs 34-35).

• What was Jesus doing in preaching this way? Fulfilling the Prophets!
• Wasn't everything in His life to fulfill the Prophets? Yes!
• Is Jesus going to quit fulfilling the prophecies that are yet to take place?

or

• Is He the One to fulfill them? He is!

Verse 35: "So that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, 'I will open My mouth in parables; I will utter things hidden from the foundation of the world.'" God never let it be known!

How do we understand? Let's see how it is given in 1-Cor. 2. That is a prophecy given in the Old Testament that 'a good understanding have all they who do Your commandments.'

God is the One Who has to reveal it. God is the One Who has to make it known. He has to fulfill the application of the prophecies. We can understand as He reveals to us. We can't understand unless God reveals it to us.

Isaiah 29:11[transcriber's correction]: "And the vision of all has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which they give to one who is learned saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I cannot, for it is sealed.' And the book is delivered to him who is not learned, saying, 'Please read this,' and he says, 'I am not learned.'" (vs 11-12). Because they're unwilling to love God and keep His commandments!

Let's talk a little bit about the Spirit of God.

• To whom does God give the Spirit? To those who love and obey Him!
• How do we understand the Word of God? It is spiritually understood!
• the Spirit of God in us
• the Spirit of God that inspired the words of God

As Jesus said, 'The words that I speak to you, they are Spirit and they are life.' So, this is quite an operation that is done. Look at the strewn unfulfilled prophecies of men, because they sought to impose their will and their interpretations upon the Word of God. Think about that!

1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written…" That's why we have the Word of God. We only understand it as we love, serve and obey Him!

"…'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.' But God has revealed them to us by His Spirit…" (vs 9-10).

What is the book of Revelation called? Revelation! Why? Because it reveals the understanding of all the Scriptures in the Bible that pertain to the end-time, that are yet to be fulfilled! They are now being fulfilled and will be fulfilled to the maximum.

"…revealed them to us by His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things—even the deep things of God" (v 10).

Are not the prophecies the deep things of God? Yes, indeed! Some very complex, some very hard to understand. Only the Truth of God and the Spirit of God, can give us the proper understanding of it.

Of course, He has that outline with the Sabbath and the Holy Days. That gives us a broad measure of understanding. But how every one of these prophecies come together, God has to reveal it! Wouldn't you say that understanding the prophecies of Revelation are deep things, some deeper than others? Yes, indeed!

Verse 11: "For who among men understands the things of man except by the spirit of man, which is in him? In the same way also, the things of God…" What are the things of God?

• the knowledge
• the Truth
• the prophecies
• the Law
• the commandments

"…no one understands except by the Spirit of God. Now, we have not received the spirit of the world…" (vs 11-12).

That's exactly what is wrong with Protestantism. They have accepted the spirit of the world through Sunday and the holidays and through their interpretations and their lawless grace! They just do not know.

Now we pray that as many as possible would repent, but of course. But those are choices that those people have to make.

Verse 12: "Now, we have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is of God, so that we might know the things graciously given to us by God; which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Holy Spirit in order to communicate spiritual things by spiritual means. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned" (vs 12-14).

That is the key. How do we spiritually discern them? We understand that the prophecies are all in the Bible. In order to understand the prophecies, we need to let Jesus give us understanding and the knowledge of how He fulfills them, because He is the One Who does it.

Rev. is a perfect example—I don't know how many times that we have read these Scriptures, read these words, and sometimes it is when you read and reread and go over them that more meaning and understanding comes out of them.

This tells us, the whole book of Revelation is the fulfillment of the prophecies of God unlocked for us IF we are willing to love and believe God!

Revelation 1:1: "The revelation of Jesus Christ… [no other man, no other prophet] …which God gave to Him, to show to His servants the things that are ordained tocome to pass shortly… [to show, to reveal concerning prophecies things to shortly come to pass] …who gave witness to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ…" (vs 1-2). Remember: 'to the Law and the Testimony'!

• the testimony of Jesus Christ
• the testimony of God
• the testimony of the apostles

who were eyewitnesses of everything that He did. Think of that!

"…and all the things he saw. Blessed..." (vs 2-3). There's a blessing for reading this.

Sidebar: We have on a CD the book of Revelation read and dramatized that you can listen to. That will help you and inspire you and understand that what you are hearing are all the prophecies of God brought together to give us understanding of the end-times that can only be unfolded and fulfilled by Jesus Christ to us. He must do it by His Spirit, by His Word. We must respond in love and obedience and repentance, then we understand.

This is especially true for anyone who is a teacher, an elder, a minister. Don't assume that because you're ordained that you do not need to follow the same thing. We all do!

Verse 3: "Blessed is the one who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and who keep the things that are written therein…"

You can find in summary every principle and application of everything in the Bible found in the book of Revelation. That's an amazing thing to understand. It is through the book of Revelation and through what God is giving this way, that He is fulfilling prophecy today.

Verse 4: "John to the seven churches that are in Asia…" The Churches of God are central in understanding this, but it's absolutely essential because we won't go through all the seven Churches. You can get the series that we did: Assaults Against the Church (Daniel/Revelation Series).

We are in a battle for the Truth and Satan the devil wants to take it from us. He wants to cause us to become lax, to become lazy, to become self-satisfied, so that we are deprived of understanding. You read Rev. 2 & 3; Satan the devil is there at every hand, at every turn. We must be vigilant and we must be on guard!

"…Grace and peace be to you from Him Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come; and from the seven spirits that are before His throne" (v 4).

{note sermon: The Spirit of God, Spirit of Man and the Seven Spirits of God}

Verse 5: "And from Jesus Christ… [personally] …the faithful Witness… [Who brought the testimony] …the Firstborn from the dead…"

Stop here and think for just a minute. The resurrection was a fantastic thing that took place, exactly as the Scriptures show. Don't you think that the Roman authorities and the Jewish authorities looked high and low in every place to find the body of Jesus, but couldn't find it?

The testimony of the apostles who saw Jesus, who held Him, who touched Him, who witnessed everything He did are those who gave the testimony of the New Testament of His ministry, of His teachings, of His Word, and everything that there is.

"…and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.… [there isn't any king on earth that is not under the rule of Jesus Christ] …To Him Who loved us…" (v 5). Think about how much God loves you:

• to call you out of this world
• to give us this knowledge
• to give us this understanding

"…and washed us from our sins in His own blood" (v 5). We are to be changed, growing, and overcoming!

Verse 6: "And has made us kings and priests to God and His Father…" How are we made kings and priests?

• by God's Spirit
• by overcoming
• by growing in grace and knowledge
• by going through difficulties and problems and trials and things of the testing of our faith
• by having the faith and belief of Jesus Christ in us and the testimony of the Word of God in us

He prepares us with the Godly character!

That's what all the epistles are about. That's what the Bible is about for us. We are being made into kings and priests to reign with Christ when He returns, which is going to be the greatest and most fantastic thing to happen in the history of the world.

"…to Him be the glory and the sovereignty into the ages of eternity. Amen" (v 6).

This is the introduction to the book of Revelation, which Jesus got from God the Father. We're going to see there is not one single prophecy that is going to be fulfilled that Jesus does not fulfill it. Just to show you:

Revelation 17:11: "And the beast that was, and is not, he is also the eighth, and is from the seven, and goes into perdition. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but shall receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast. These all have one mind, and shall give up their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb shall overcome them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful'" (vs 11-14).

That tells us an awful lot, but notice concerning the ten kings, v 17: "For God has put into their hearts to do His will, and to act with one accord, and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God have been fulfilled."

Who fulfills the prophecies? Jesus Christ under the authority of God the Father! There is not one prophecy in the Bible that Jesus does not fulfill, directly, indirectly, or through the circumstances that He created.

Rev. 1—here's the whole plan of God. Think about it. In the few words that we have covered here, this covers the whole plan of God and we will see how fantastic that that is:

Revelation 1:7: "Behold, He is coming with the clouds… [isn't that what He said?] …and every eye shall see Him, and those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen."

This tells us the world is going to fight Christ. You get further into the book of Revelation and it tells us that. Think of all the prophecies that are there and all of the prophecies in the book of Revelation come from those that have been given in the Old Testament and tie together all the events at the end-time and the return of Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets. There isn't one thing missing or lacking in any of the prophecies of God that some man has to come along and say, 'I have new understanding from God.' No, it is understanding what has already been written, what has already been given, and what needs to be revealed in the time it's necessary to have it revealed. That all comes from Christ.

Verse 8: "…'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the Ending,' says the Lord…"

• How far back does this go? To the beginning!
• How far forward does it go? To the ending!

That covers the whole span of time, as given within the Scriptures of God. That is all-encompassing of every prophecy that is given concerning anything, anywhere, under whatever circumstances that they were profoundly prophesied to occur.

"…'Who is, and Who was, and Who is to come—the Almighty.' I, John, who am also your brother and joint partaker in the tribulation and in the kingdom and endurance of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ" (vs 8-9). To the Law and the Testimony!

Verse 10: "I was in the Spirit on the Day of the Lord; and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me, saying, 'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, and what you see, write in a book… [because He wants it written down] …and send it to the churches that are in Asia: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea'" (vs 10-11).

Then he saw the glorified Son of God. Fantastic. Remember the Mount of Transfiguration: Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured before them. So John knew this. This is quite a vision of Jesus Christ. Look at the power of what this is telling us about Jesus Christ, Who is the One to fulfill the prophets.

Verse 13: "And in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of man, clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire" (vs 13-14).

How dare any man, anywhere go against God. Think of that! We will see John's response. I think if more of us had the response that John had we would be in better standing with God.

Verse 15: "And His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword went out of His mouth…" (vs 15-16)—which is the Word of God.

Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword..." So whatever the Word is, that's what it's going to be.

Revelation 1:16: "…and His countenance was as the sun shining in its full power. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as if dead; but He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, 'Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last, even the One Who is living; for I was dead, and behold, I am alive into the ages of eternity. Amen. And I [Jesus] have the keys of the grave and of death" (vs 16-18).

Think about that in relationship to what men want to try and do to try and live forever, to try and make themselves God in the flesh. God only has that power given to Jesus Christ.

Then we have the seven churches (Rev. 2 & 3. Every one of the churches He says, 'To the one who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches,' because it is the Spirit of God that reveals these things to us, no other way.

As we look down through 2018, and how far beyond we don't know, because there are many, many things that need to take place. We can't cover all of those now, but we'll cover them from time to time as we go down through the year and see the things that are taking place and how they are coming about, how it fits into prophecy.

Rev. 4 is a very powerful chapter. Rev. 4 & 5 tell us clearly that Jesus Christ is the only One to fulfill these prophecies contained in the book of Revelation which run all the way back through to the Old Testament. We have 'the Beginning and the Ending, the First and the Last,' and all of it together in one grand picture that God has given us.

These things in prophecy are not going to take place unless God the Father gives the signal and Jesus opens the seals!

Revelation 4:1: "After these things… [concerning the churches] …I looked, and behold, a door opened in heaven; and the first voice that I heard was as if a trumpet were speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you the things that must take place after these things.'" None of the things of prophecy are going to take place or occur until Christ does it.

Verse 2: "And immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One was sitting on the throne." John saw in vision God the Father on His throne.

Verse 3: "And He Who was sitting was in appearance like a jasper stone and a sardius stone; and a rainbow was around the throne, like an emerald in its appearance."

Think of the power. Think of the spiritual impact that this is telling us. This is telling us nothing is going to be done unless God the Father and Jesus Christ do it.

Verse 4: "And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments; and they had on their heads golden crowns. And proceeding from the thronewere lightnings and thunders and voices; and seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning before the throne. And before the throne was a sea of glass, like crystal…." (vs 4-6).

What an awesome vision that this is. The prophecies are going to come to pass as God wants them to.

Then they sing, v 8: "…'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty…'"

Verse 11: "Worthy are You, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power because You did create all things, and for Your will they were created and exist."

• Who's going to fulfill the prophecies?
• Who is going to give us the understanding we need as we go down in the future of the things that are going to take place?
• Jesus Christ!

Rev. 5 was the book written front and back and on the inside and sealed with seven seals. No one was able to open it and John was weeping.

Revelation 5:4: "And I was weeping greatly because no one was found worthy to open and to read the book, or to look into it."

What is that book? That is the revelation of everything in the whole plan of God, which reaches back to the beginning, comes forward to the end, reveals the plan of God and sets the events in motion when they are ready!

Verse 5: "Then one of the elders said to me, 'Do not weep. Behold, the Lion Who is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome to open the book, and to loose its seven seals.' Then I saw, and behold, before the throne and the four living creatures, and before the elders, was standing a Lamb ashaving been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God that are sent into all the earth" (vs 5-6).

The seven churches are the seven horns. Christ is the Head of the Church. He is the One to carry these things out and to open the prophecies.

That's what we find through the book of Revelation. Only Christ! The book of Revelation unfolds chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse, reaching back to all the prophecies in the Old Testament.

So you see, it is true, that God will surely do nothing except He reveal it to His servants the prophets! It has been revealed and it has been written down.

• we look to the Word of God to understand the prophecies
• we look to the Truth of Jesus Christ and the book of Revelation

That's how we need to approach beginning in 2018 and on beyond that!

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version (except where noted)

Scriptural References:

• 1-Corinthians 13:8
• Matthew 5:17
• Isaiah 8:19-20
• Amos 3:1-7
• Psalm 119:18
• John 1:1-3
• Psalm 49:1-4
• Psalm 78:1-5
• Isaiah 42:1-9
• Isaiah 48:1-11
• Matthew 13:11-17, 34-35
• Isaiah 29:11-12
• 1-Corinthians 2:9-14
• Revelation 1:1-6
• Revelation 17:11-14, 17
• Revelation 1:7-11, 13-16
• Hebrew 4:12
• Revelation 1:16-18
• Revelation 4:1-6, 8, 11
• Revelation 5:4-6

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Daniel 7; 9-12
• Revelation 2, 3

Also referenced:

Sermon Series:

• Mystery of Protestantism
• Assaults Against the Church #1-4 (Daniel/Revelation  series #12-15)

Sermon: The Spirit of God, Spirit of Man, Seven Spirits of God

CD: Reading of Revelation

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 01-05-18
Formatted: bo—1/6/18

Copyright 2017—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.