Revelation - Part 1 - Lesson 0

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REVELATION - PART 1 - LESSON 0

DON’T MAKE ANY JUDGMENT UNTIL

YOU KNOW THE REST OF THE STORY

TEACHER: KAY ARTHUR

(transcribed by Phyllis Massey-edited by Paula Ewing, August 26, 1999)

It was over. It was done. The story of the One that they claimed to be Messiah was finished. Jesus was dead. The religious leaders rejoiced; they finally got rid of that troublesome Man. The Romans were relieved; the pressure from the Sanhedrin was off. The multitude that watched Him die were beating their breasts. The disciples and the women that followed Him were standing afar off, watching as Joseph went to the cross and took that limp, ashen, naked body and wrapped it in linen and carried it to his tomb which was nearby. The story was finished. It was evident, the story was ended. The Romans, the religious leaders, the multitude, the disciples, each went their separate ways.

Jesus had appeared on the scene 3 ½ years earlier and He had caused quite a stir throughout Galilee of the Gentiles and in Jerusalem, but now He was dead. Two men, after the Sabbath, left Jerusalem, and they were on their way to the village Emmaus, which was seven miles away. As they walked, they discussed the happenings of that weekend.

A man approached them and joined them and walked with them. And they began to tell him the story, the story that they thought was finished. Turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24, and verse 13, and let’s join these three men on the road to Emmaus. “And behold, two of them were going about that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were conversing with each other about all [the] things [that] had taken place. And it came about that while they were conversing and discussing, Jesus Himself approached, and began traveling with them”—He was the third Man—“But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. And He said to them, ‘What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?’ And they stood still, looking sad.” Why were they looking sad? They were looking sad because the story was over. The story had come to an end, and their hopes were dashed. “And one of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, ‘Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things [that] have happened here in these days?’ And He said to them, ‘What things?’ And they said to Him, ‘The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him up to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, [this] is the third day since these things happened. But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning,’”—and it was that morning that they were talking about—“‘and [they] did not find His body, they came, saying that they had. . .seen a vision of angels, who said that He was alive. And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and [we] found it exactly as the women also. . .said; but Him they did not see.’ And He said to them, ‘O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary for the Christ’”—and “the Christ” is a Greek word for Messiah, the Old Testament word, the Hebrew word—“‘Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning with Moses and. . .all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures.”

They had made a wrong judgment, because they didn’t know the whole story. They only knew part of the story, and because they only knew part of the story, they hadn’t judged things accurately.

It says, “And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as [if] He would go farther. And they urged Him, saying, ‘Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and. . .day is now nearly over.’ And He went in to stay with them. And it came about that when He. . .reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and [broke] it,. . .and they recognized Him.”

They recognized Him. This was Jesus. This was Jesus. He had risen from the dead. They had seen that the body had not been stolen. Here He was. He was alive. It was the third day. It was just as He had told them. And they had forgotten and they didn’t remember until that day when the angels told them, “On the third day He will rise again.” He is not dead. He is alive. The story has not ended. There’s more to the story.

“And their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. And they said to one another, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us [as] He [walked with] us on the road, [and as] He [explained] to us the Scriptures?’ And they arose that very hour and [they] returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, ‘The Lord has really risen, and has appeared to Simon.’ And they began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of. . .bread. And while they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst. But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, ‘Why are you’”—now watch it—“‘Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?’”

I want to ask you a question: Are there things in your life that are troubling you? Are you caught in circumstances that are difficult? And because the circumstances are difficult and because the situation is hard and because you have seemingly cried out. . .you cried out to God and God has not seemingly answered, are you doubting? Are you wondering what’s going on? Are you wondering if He really does love you? Are you wondering if He really does care? Are you wondering if He really is God? Are you wondering if He really is involved? Are you wondering if the old, old story that you have heard about a Savior coming from glory, if that old, old story is really true? Sometimes do you doubt and sometimes do you get frightened? I believe that they doubted, and they were frightened because they didn’t have the whole story. They didn’t have the whole story. Now He gave them the beginning of the story; and yet, they didn’t have the rest of the story.

We’re beginning a study on Revelation and Revelation is going to give you, my friend, the rest of the story. The rest of the story. It’s going to be a story that you’re going to want to read for yourself. It’s going to be a story that you want to know the last details of. It’s going to be a story that you want to participate in. It’s going to be a story that you want to know that you know that you know. It’s going to be a story that you don’t want to hear second-hand.

And that’s why it’s so important that as we begin this course, that you discipline yourself, and that you study along with us because I will tell you this, that if you will see with your own eyes, if you will hear with your own ears, if you will see truth and if you will hear truth, then God will explain truth to you and truth will become part of you, and then you will be able to move with a confidence. You will be able to move in a strength. You will be able to move in a joy that in the midst of all that’s going on will be unshakable. If you know the story yourself, if you understand the story yourself, you will be unshakable, you will be immovable, and you will always be able to abound in the work of the Lord.

And the problem today is that we have gotten so busy and so involved that we don’t have time to study the Book. And because we don’t study the Book, and because we are living in cataclysmic days, because we’re living on the brink of the things that must shortly come to pass, if we don’t know and understand the story, if we don’t have the whole story, if we don’t know the rest of the story which is what Revelation is all about—the rest of the story—then you’re going to be like a reed tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and slight and cunning craftiness of men by which they lie in wait to deceive.

You will be the prey that Satan will be able to take and toss around and devour piecemeal if you don’t know the story. Jesus said to them, “‘Why are you troubled,’”—verse 38--“‘and why do doubts arise in your [eyes]. . .in your hearts? See My hands’”—see My hands? Look at My hands. Look at My hands, He is saying. Do you see My feet? You know, the awesome thing was that He was standing there in a resurrected body. The awesome thing was that He was standing there in a body, a human body, that was going to last for all eternity. And that body could all of a sudden disappear suddenly, all of a sudden appear suddenly; and yet, that body still had in it the brandmarks of Calvary—Do you see My hands? Do you see My feet? For all eternity, all eternity, you’ll recognize Him; you’ll recognize Him. You’ll see the brandmarks, and those brandmarks are there as an ever constant reminder that He, God, so loved you that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believes in Him, believes the story, would not perish but have what? Everlasting life. Know if I die, if I fall over on this platform, and I’m praying that when I die it will be dramatic, if I don’t go up. I’m really. . .I said. . . .I was just telling the Lord the other day, “Don’t let it be anything but dramatic. We want to make the full benefit out of this.” But if I die, I want to tell you something, you’re just going to see an old shell, and if you’ve been sitting at the back and you get up close, you’re going to say, “Oh, my goodness, she was more wrinkled than she looked!” Unless you saw me on television, and then I look a little bit better in person.

But, anyway, but you’re going to look at that and you’re going to see a shell, but I will tell you, I will be liberated. I have everlasting life. I’m going to live forever and ever and ever. Do you know why? Because I believe the story. Because I believe the gospel, the story, the truth of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. But I know also that because I am going to live forever and ever, that when I am absent from the body and I am present with the Lord, that someday when He comes back to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and Very God of Very Gods, I’m coming with Him. That is part of the rest of the story, and you’re going to understand it, and you’re going to understand it not from my theological point of view or your leader’s theological point of view, because we’re going to teach you how to get your own theological point of view. We’re not here to push our theology on you; we’re here to show you how to get a Biblical theology by digging into the Word of God for yourself.

So, Luke chapter 24, He says, “‘See My hands and My feet,. . .it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.’ [And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and. . .feet.] And while they. . .they still could not believe it for joy and were marveling,”—I mean, they were standing there and they just. . .I mean, they were so excited, they couldn’t believe it. Can you believe it? And they were marveling. He says, “‘Have you [got] anything. . .to eat?’” And they said, “Well, yeah,” and they gave Him a piece of broiled fish. Notice it wasn’t fried, it was broiled! But, anyway. “And He took it and [He] ate it before them. Now He said to them, ‘These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things’”—I want you to see this—“‘all things which are written about’” what? About Whom? “‘About Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be’” what? They must be fulfilled. Listen, there is more to the story! And what you’re seeing now of Jesus standing there is part of the story.

Now what had He had done. . .what had He done with the two men on the road to Emmaus? He had taken them back and beginning at what? Moses. If you begin at Moses, where do you begin? You begin in the beginning, right. I’m so glad. I thought, I hope somebody says that. You begin in the beginning, because Moses was the author of the first five books of the Bible. Those first five books of the Bible are called the Pentateuch, or the Jews call them the Torah. It’s Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy. So beginning at Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms, He showed them the story about Him. Verse 44. . .I mean verse 45, “Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.”

Listen, every time you begin your lesson, every time you begin your lesson, get on your knees physically or get on your knees mentally, come before the Lord in prayer, and say, “God, God, this is Your Book. This is Your Book. And I am Your child,” or maybe you’re not His child yet. Maybe you’re just seeking truth. “God, I’m seeking truth, and You tell me if I search for You and seek for You with all my heart, I will be found of You. So, God, open the eyes of my understanding. Open the eyes of my understanding,” and He will. He will. He will open your mind. . .”He opened their minds to understand the Scripture[s], and He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and rise again from the dead the third day; and that repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name’” where? I would underline it, “‘to all the nations.’” To every, every tribe, every tongue, every kindred, every nation. You say, “Well, how is that going to happen?” It might happen through you. See. It might happen to you. . .through you. It’s supposed to happen through you; it’s supposed to happen through me. We are to proclaim these truths to every tribe, every tongue, every kindred, every nation. You say, “But I just live around here.” But, see, you don’t know who you’re going to proclaim it to that’s going to proclaim it to somebody else that’s going to proclaim it to someone else.

I spoke in New York, and they gave me 90 minutes to teach. In that church if you get up and go to the restroom, they say, “Take your Bible with you, anything else you’ve got with you, because you’re not coming back to that seat, you’re going to sit in the back.” I mean, they are serious for Jesus Christ. Believe Christ. The worship was awesome, absolutely awesome. And I was talking to Sarah yesterday and she said this, she said, “You know, if you hadn’t had to catch a plane,” she said, “we would have just told the people, ‘Run and get something to eat, and come on back, and we’ll continue all afternoon,’” and she meant it.

They picked me up—now the airport is 45 minutes away—they picked me up in a stretch limousine. Now I’m not used to riding in stretch limousines, but they like to treat the saints well, they said, so they picked me up in a stretch limousine. So I get in this stretch limousine—this is from the airport—I don’t see them until the next day. So they picked me up, I get in the stretch limousine. Now, first of all, I’m looking for a guy that has a card that has my name on it, and “Air” whatever the limousine company was called. So I find this man. He has got an accent, a real distinct accent. And I looked at him and I said, “Excuse me, where are you from?” And he said, “Poland,” and I said, “Oh, that’s wonderful,” and he looked at me like I was weird that it was wonderful that he was from Poland. So anyway, we get in this stretch limousine. Now I mean a stretch—have you ever ridden in one? So I mean, they are long. They are long. You get in the back, there is a bar back there and there’s, you know, all sorts of stuff, and way up front is