Peace and grace in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Revelation 1:1-3 is about the title or preface.
Revelation 1:3
1:3 Blessed is he 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.
The content of the book of Revelation is joy. Seven kinds of joy in the Revelation are as follows.
It is the perfect eternal heavenly joy nothing in the world may influence.
The gate or the beginning to get the perfect joy is to read, hear, and obey the prophetic word. The joy that is not according to the word of God is pseudo. Such joy comes from the world and ends to perdition together with the world.
‘for the time is near’ means that we must use the time as well as possible to read, hear, and obey the true teaching Word because the time of Jesus’ second coming is drawing near. We must firmly choose whether we want to get heavenly joy or perish together with the world.
The process to get heavenly joy is as follows.
God blesses you.
Revelation 1:1-3 is about the title or preface.
Revelation 1:3
1:3 Blessed is he 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.
The content of the book of Revelation is joy. Seven kinds of joy in the Revelation are as follows.
- Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it.
- Revelation 14:13 Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.
- Revelation 16:15 Blessed is he who watches, and keeps his garments.
- Revelation 19:9 Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.
- Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.
- Revelation 22:7 Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.
- Revelation 22:14 Blessed are those who wash their robe.
It is the perfect eternal heavenly joy nothing in the world may influence.
The gate or the beginning to get the perfect joy is to read, hear, and obey the prophetic word. The joy that is not according to the word of God is pseudo. Such joy comes from the world and ends to perdition together with the world.
‘for the time is near’ means that we must use the time as well as possible to read, hear, and obey the true teaching Word because the time of Jesus’ second coming is drawing near. We must firmly choose whether we want to get heavenly joy or perish together with the world.
The process to get heavenly joy is as follows.
- To read the word of the prophecy.
Isaiah 29:9-12
29:9 Pause and wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They stagger, but not with intoxicating drink.
29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you The spirit of deep sleep, And has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, namely, the seers.
29:11 The whole vision has become to you like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is literate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I cannot, for it is sealed."
29:12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I am not literate."
There are two possibilities we face when we read the word of the prophecy as follows.- The book cannot be read because it is sealed.
The book is given to people who are actually able to read, hear, and see, but in facts they cannot do that because the book is sealed.
2 Corinthians 3:14-16
3:14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ.
3:15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart.
3:16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
2 Corinthians 4:3-4
4:3 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,
4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
The book is sealed because the heart is hard and the minds are blinded, so there is no appreciation to the sacrifice of Christ or the Lamb of God that has been slaughtered to open the sealed book. Only Jesus is able to open the seal or to reveal the Word of God.
The hard heart and blinded mind happen because of keeping sins up to the peak, namely sins concerning eating-drinking and marrying-being given in marriage.
Do not hear the Word with the hardness of heart or keeping sin because you will not understand it and there will be no joy but perdition.
We have to read the Word with appreciation or exalting the sacrifice of Christ because only the sacrifice of Christ is able to destroy the hardness of heart. As a result, the sins are thrown away and we are able to read and understand the Word. We can rejoice and get eternal joy.
We must be alert of false teaching abolishing the sacrifice of Christ. The cross of Jesus or Christ’s sacrifice is not preached in the congregation, so the Word of God is sealed. There is no revelation of the Word, so there is no joy but forever perdition. - The book cannot be read because the person is illiterate.
Isaiah 29:12
29:12 Then the book is delivered to one who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I am not literate."
If one does not want to read the Word, someday he cannot read it anymore. One does not want to read the Word because the heart is hard and the door of the heart is closed, so he does not want to read even he cannot read or receive the true teaching Word. Consequently, there is forever perdition.
The time is near means that now we still have the time to read the Word. It relies on us whether we want to do that or not. If we want to read it, we will receive heavenly joy. On the contrary, we will perish if we do not want to read it.
- The book cannot be read because it is sealed.
- To hear the prophetic Word.
Mark 7:24-30
7:24 From there He arose and went to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.
7:25 For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.
7:26 The woman was a Greek, a Syro–Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
7:27 But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs."
7:28 And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children’s crumbs."
7:29 Then He said to her, "For this saying go your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."
7:30 And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.
It is not as hearing speech, joke, or fable, but as a hungry man licking the crumbs, namely with a need as if it is not enough. We become as Samaritan woman who comes to Jesus to ask for the healing to her daughter. It means to pray for impossible thing.
When God has not helped us yet, He is still busy with our private life. He wants to see how serious our heart is when we hear the true teaching Word.
The Samaritan woman tries hard to get the crumbs although she must face the challenges as follows.- Her own weakness.
A dog usually licks vomit, so she must try hard to be able to lick crumbs. - Hindrance from the disciples, stumbling, and so on from the other servants or sons of God.
- Jesus who says that she is a dog or unclean Gentile.
It means to try hard to be meek facing the hard Word of God, so we can receive the Word no matter how hard it is that points to the sins and humiliates us as a dog.
Our seriousness in receiving the Word of God is when we always say that it is true always it is hard to rebuke and humiliate us. We believe that God who humiliates us will also lift us up.
There is power of true teaching Word to lift us up from dog to sheep. The voice of sheep or our prayer will be heard and answered by God. We can enter the shepherding pen and heavenly kingdom. - Her own weakness.
- To obey the Word of prophecy.
Revelation 1:3
1:3 Blessed is he 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.
James 1:22
1:22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
One who reads and hears the Word but without obeying it is deceiving his own life. He becomes most evil man. There is no hope and he cannot be hoped.
Revelation 22:7
22:7 "Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book."
The time is near for us to read and hear the Word. Someday there will be no opportunity anymore to read and hear the Word but we must have already obeyed it and it is ingrained in our life as our characteristics. We have the characteristic of Jesus in our life, namely obedience until our flesh does not sound anymore.
It means that we are lifting our two hands to God and He is stretching his merciful hand to us. We are living in His hand.
The results are as follows.- Red Sea is divided.
Exodus 14:21-22
14:21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea into dry land, and the waters were divided.
14:22 So the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
Moses faces Red Sea and Pharaoh without any way out. God commands him to stretch his hand. Moses does it, so the sea is divided. It means as follows.- The merciful hand of God is able to solve all problemseven the impossible one and give us solution of all problems.
- The water of the Red Sea becomes wall. It means that the merciful hand of God protectsus from the attack of Satan with the temptation, disaster, and sins up to peak of sin, false teaching, and so on. As a result, we are safe and peaceful.
- The house of Israel walks on dry ground crossing over the Red Sea.
Isaiah 53:2-3
53:2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him.
53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
It is as a small root out of dry ground or the journey on the sacrifice of Christ, namely righteous life.
As a result, the merciful hand of God is able to preserve and bless us. None may know, hinder and imitate it. - The house of Israel goes toward Canaan. It means that we are used in the revival of Holy Spirit at the latter rain.
- The merciful hand of God is able to solve all problemseven the impossible one and give us solution of all problems.
- The Lord stretches His hand to lift us up from sinking.
Matthew 14:27-31
14:27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid."
14:28 And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water."
14:29 So He said, "Come." And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, "Lord, save me!"
14:31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?"
Peter lifts his hands up automatically because he sinks in the midst of sea. He sinks because of his doubt to the power of God and the true teaching Word. Because of doubting to the power of God, he hopes in others and relies on something in the world.
To sink means to decrease or be dry in physical and spiritual life. God lets Peter sink to make him able to lift up his hands and cry to Him. The great Peter feels that he is only a small stone needing God. As a result, God stretches His hands to lift him up from the sinking. It means as follows.- To heal our marriage, ministry, or economy that have been dry.
- To lift us up from failure and give us beautiful successful joyful future life.
- To use our life.
John 21:18-19
21:18 "Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish."
21:19 This He spoke, signifying by what death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me."
We will be lifted up and renewed to become as glorious as Jesus is when He comes a second time. We are lifted up until we enter New Jerusalem, the last shepherding pen. - To heal our marriage, ministry, or economy that have been dry.
- Red Sea is divided.
God blesses you.