Mike Bickle emphasizes the multifaceted identity of Jesus as the Son of Man, highlighting His roles as Prophet, Priest, and King. He explains that these descriptions in Revelation are foundational for the church, equipping believers to understand Jesus' authority and love as they navigate the end times. Bickle encourages a deep exploration of these truths, asserting that they will invigorate faith and righteousness in believers. He connects the Son of Man's identity to the prophetic visions of Daniel, underscoring the importance of recognizing Jesus as both fully God and fully man. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a commitment to live out these truths in daily life and ministry.

Revelation chapter 1, we have the notes here. If you don't have them you can get them at the back at the table at the bookstore if you want them they're free of charge. We have them on the internet as well. Father we thank you in the name of Jesus and we ask you for the release of the spirit of wisdom in Revelation. We ask you God for living understanding to come and touch our hearts even now in Jesus name, amen. Well we're beginning to look at continue we've been interrupted several Friday nights in the last month but I am very enthusiastic about this series the descriptions of Jesus in the book of Revelation and we're focusing particularly upon the descriptions of 30 of them in Revelation 1, 2, and 3. It's where Jesus appears to John to commission him to prophesy about the end times and the way that he reveals himself to John is to form the way that John would prophesy. It was to impact not only the message but the spirit in which he would prophesy and we'll get to that in a few moments. And in addition to impacting the way John prophesies it was also he was giving the truths that were foundational for the church in Revelation 2 and 3 to be equipped. Jesus was saying go tell the church this is who I am tell them this about me and it will equip them. And I don't want to go through the whole review of that but chapter 1, 2, and 3 is one vision and the 30 descriptions of Jesus their self-descriptions it's the way he described himself most of them or at least a couple of them are just prophetic declarations by John but most of them are self descriptions are very strategic. This is what Jesus would say about Jesus if he was going to prepare his church. There's many levels to these 30 descriptions and this one right here it's really Jesus as the Son of Man and as Prophet, Priest, and King. This is the summary of Revelation chapter 1 and and I just I don't want to scare you away I want to beckon you to this but there's many levels of truth here and some of them are can be more complicated than other truths but they're worth the effort just the bedrock of truth of how Jesus unveils himself. Now remember this is Jesus revealing Jesus in a direct way to prepare the church for the scenario that's going to unfold in the book of Revelation so you can go really deep on these truths and you want to get a vision to go deep you want to say before the Lord, Lord I want to know the Son Jesus the Son of Man, Prophet, Priest, and King these 30 descriptions I want to go there it's not enough just to kind of you know be at the surface I want to take the next 10 years and I want to go somewhere on these truths. Okay paragraph A. Revelation 1 is the most complete description of Jesus in the scriptures the most complete picture of Jesus in the whole Bible there's more truth in Revelation 1 about the man Christ Jesus fully God fully man than any other place in the scripture. He shows himself very significantly as the Son of Man who's leading the church through history and it's these very truths that will prepare the end time church and he's revealing himself as the Son of Man who is Prophet Priest and King Prophet Priest and King but by the end of the book it's going to be the Son of Man who is Bridegroom King and Judge so the emphasis starts off Prophet Priest and King but the the Revelation is more fully given and the Prophet Priest and King blossoms into Bridegroom King and Judge and we'll look at that later now for those visiting we'd never get through with all the notes so I just kind of go on the little here a little there and leave you with the notes to study them if you're if your heart has been grabbed by them now it's not only is John wanting to imitate these truths of Jesus see John's wanting to be impact I mean John wants to be not wants to be he is impacted by these truths and he wants to imitate them so he's impacted by them they change his spirit and he wants to imitate them in his ministry but it's the same with us we want to be impacted by these truths but not only we want to express facets of the grace of God of G of the anointing of Jesus as Bridegroom King and Judge we want to express in a very small way but a significant way in our own life and ministry facets of this dimension of the grace of God so Revelation 1 verse 13 he stands before John here it is it's it's the bedrock truth I am he's saying the Son of Man that's who I am the Son of Man that's a truth with just again levels and levels of meaning to that later on in the book Revelation 14 14 he reveals himself again as the Son of Man related to the end-time harvest but it's not just the harvest of souls it's also the harvest of righteousness so as the Son of Man with the crown on his head the Son of Man with the crown and his royalty and his authority he's saying it's this revelation as the Son of Man that's going to be instrumental in bringing in the harvest but not just new believers coming into the kingdom but also maturing the church it's the harvest of righteousness as well and it's under the impact of Jesus as Son of Man paragraph B first Jesus's leadership is seen in the church in Revelation 1 2 & 3 as the righteous prophet this prophet priest and king but righteous prophet merciful priest and sovereign king or powerful king so there's three dimensions the righteous prophet the tender merciful priest who makes a way to God's heart for us and the sovereign king but however just to repeat I've already said this as the book unfolds and as we get to the final chapters chapter 19 20 21 and 22 the final four chapters the prophet priest and king it blossoms and we see more light and it's bridegroom king and judge paragraph C now these truths Jesus meant for the church in Revelation 2 and 3 to be equipped not just the church in the first century but the end time church that is wanting to imitate the truths of Revelation 2 and 3 because Revelation 2 and 3 is Jesus counseling on how to grow a church you know there's a lot of how to grow church seminars out and about these days and we need to have how to grow a church seminars based on Revelation 2 and 3 because it's what the Holy Spirit is focused on those issues in Revelation 2 and 3 when he talks to the seven churches now these truths are foundational back then and they are now as well for those that want to participate in the plan that's unfolding throughout the book we want to be a part of the end time plan that's unfolding and if it is in fact we are in that generation and I convinced we are then the truths of Revelation 1 about Jesus are critical they're foundational to us being equipped to participate in the plan that's seen throughout the book of Revelation the unfolding of that great battle plan to confront unrighteousness on the planet now as we experience these truths they will exhilarate us in love they will stir us in faith and courage they will stir our hearts and they will energize us in righteousness these truths son of man bridegroom king and judge prophet priest and king and the 30 descriptions they will give faith and courage and zeal for righteousness and they will make they will literally cause our hearts to be lovesick when we drink from this well now these are the things we want we want courage and the coming years not fear drink deep from this well paragraph D these truths were meant to form the way John would prophesy and more specifically because John was in his 90s he was he was at the end of his earthly ministry they are meant to form the way we prophesy the way we pray the way we serve because when we encounter Jesus in these truths we prophesy with it with a different spirit than we do without these truths a lot of folks prophesy but when we touch Jesus in these ways we have a boldness we have a tenderness we have a confidence because there are a lot of prophesying I mean just because we're humans without supernatural help we end up yielding to the fear of man so we change the message slightly to adapt it to our audience and Lord says I didn't exactly say that well what I threw a little bit in a little hamburger helper in just to kind of sugar to make the medicine go down but when we touch Jesus we have confidence to say the whole truth and nothing but the truth and we don't have to psych up in the flesh to say strong things and so then we end up kind of hyper or we end up harsh now we could be at peace with tenderness because we have the confidence of encountering Jesus in these ways it really affects the way we prophesy in a very dramatic way because again just because we're humans a whole lot of prophesying and preaching because a lot of preaching is prophesying because we're humans we end up accidentally we don't mean to with a spirit of fear and intimidation we dull the sword we dumb it down we cater to the audience or we have to psych ourself up to say the whole thing and then we get a little bit harsh and a little hyper and the Lord says where's the tenderness I can't say it all and be tender it's just too much to manage now it sounds like I've experienced some of this doesn't it that's where I'm getting it from I didn't read that in a book but if we encounter the Lord I don't mean just in a day in a week but I'm talking about over time we feed on this on this banqueting table of the description of Jesus but particularly I'm locked into the son of man revelation prophet priest and King bridegroom King and judge it really changes our spirit and our boldness and our confidence to where we're calm and clear even in the midst of some of the real conflict this prophecy will create some of its really good news and some of its really bad news and but even the really good news is demanding an abandonment out of the people who receive the good news abandonment of which much the church today is not really listen does not have an ear for but there's more and more that do okay Roman numeral two Jesus as the Son of Man now this is a again I'm calling it the bedrock truth of how Jesus revealed himself in the book of Revelation it's it's the core truth and the prophet who the Lord gave the revelation of the Son of Man to is Daniel and Jesus is quoting Daniel very specifically this is not coincidental or accidental he is Jesus is telling his audience those that would study this book go back to Daniel 7 to get the context of what I'm telling you right here you can't understand Revelation 1 apart from Daniel 7 Daniel 7 verse 13 Daniel's having an open vision he says he sees one like the Son of Man he's coming on the clouds of heaven so he's human he's a man but he's coming on the clouds of heaven and he's coming to the throne of God the Father who is called the Ancient of Days so Daniel's thinking how does a man get up there on heavenly clouds and how does he have the power to approach past all the angels the seraphim and the cherubim he passes all of them and he stands goes right to the Father he goes who is this man I mean he's more than a man no mere man could do that and so inherent in this prophecy is the revelation that he's God as well he's more than a man he is man but he's God now this is a this is a challenging insight because in the Old Testament they don't have a clear picture of the Messiah as fully man fully God they have a picture of the Messiah I mean there's some of the passages show his supernatural power other passages show his humanity but this passage here brings it together in a unique way verse 14 and to this man Daniel's watching this vision to him was given a kingdom all the nations will serve this man so Daniel's thinking one every single nation will serve him that's intense now that's Daniel 7 verse 13 and 14 right before Daniel 7 verse 11 and 12 the two verses before we just don't have time to I mean enough room on the notes to put them all up there it's showing the evil empire of the Antichrist emerging in the end times and so in context to this man receiving all the kingdoms is the crushing of this evil worldwide Empire the Antichrist Empire that's the two verses before verse 13 and 14 of Daniel 7 so again you got to go back to Daniel 7 to get the root system to understand the significance of what Jesus is revealing about himself here paragraph B we're back to Revelation 1 just a few verses earlier because in we're in chapter 1 verse 13 where Jesus reveals himself as the Son of Man John sees the Son of Man and John knows the Bible he goes wait this is the Daniel son of man you are him of course John knew that already being an apostle for over 60 years he knew this truth but he sees it and he falls like a dead man before the grandeur and the power of the Son of Man now just a few verses earlier in Revelation 1 verse 7 because we've been looking at verse 13 but back up a few verses John had just declared that this man is coming on the clouds of heaven clearly John was quoting Daniel 7 clearly because the man that takes over the earth comes on clouds to the Father and he comes on clouds back to the earth these supernatural heavenly clouds paragraph C Jesus uses the title Son of Man each time that he prophesies about the second coming fulfilling Daniel 7 now some of you are not familiar with Daniel 7 I'm just gonna say it again you just want to say make a resolve I got to get familiar with Daniel 7 this is the big anchor truth of which the book of Revelation is built on the revelation of Jesus in Daniel 7 and you might read Daniel 7 tonight and if it's the first time you may be a little bit intimidated by it because there's four beasts and you go oh no they're just Gentile kingdoms Gentile empires that all collapse that's the good news and then this Jewish man takes over all the earth and so that's what Daniel 7 is about and Daniel 7 puts a fair amount of focus on the Antichrist emerging and the saints prevailing over time but we prevail because we encounter the revelation of Jesus is the Son of Man it's more than Jesus forgives I'll never will never outlive or outgrow Jesus forgives I mean I love that it's more than Jesus will give you more money and make your life happier because much of the gospel that's being preached today is Jesus will forgive you if you pray a prayer and he'll give you more stuff if you hang in there and the Son of Man revelation of Daniel 7 is what the church needs to be fed on in a very strong way now that's what John is really saying by quoting Daniel 7 here in chapter 1 verse 7 and chapter 1 verse 13 of Revelation 1 he's saying the Son of Man revelation needs to be part of the diet not just Jesus forgave me and Jesus is going to give me more stuff now obviously a lot of believers have more than that but I'm talking about a huge number that's the Jesus they're connected to and when they don't get enough stuff in the timing they want things don't go the way they want they begin to put Jesus on probation they're giving him one more chance and they're mad at him they don't trust him anymore their ministries not big the person they thought they were gonna marry they didn't marry the healing doesn't come in time the money doesn't come through and they start putting Jesus on probation and the Revelation 1 Jesus the Son of Man is what we need to feed our spirit on because it will strengthen us in a very powerful way okay paragraph D now Jesus described himself this is what this is so interesting I don't know what to fully make of this Jesus described himself as the Son of Man more than any other description he uses it 85 times Son of Man so he's going back to Daniel 713 Daniel 713 Daniel 713 Daniel 713 85 times Son of Man he comes back after 60 years he stands before John it's no surprise to John Son of Man here it is again that was his primary emphasis of himself when he went during the four in the four Gospels and that's the core bedrock revelation to prepare the end-time church in the book of Revelation now the part that sort of I don't know what to make of why didn't Paul talk about the Son of Man Paul never talks about the Son of Man not once Peter doesn't James none of the Apostles do just Jesus and Jesus talked about it over and over 85 times I mean he only called himself you know the Good Shepherd or you know different titles he used one or two times each but this thing could the Son of Man he was focused on it and when he comes back 60 years later you what would you think he would say Son of Man tell the end-time church that's who I am tell him to feed on this top of page two paragraph F now when Jesus spoke of himself as a Son of Man he was proclaiming he's fully God and fully man because in Daniel 7 13 it's a man for sure but he's at the throne of God a man can't number one you can't get up there and you can't get past all the seraphim and cherubim if you got up there and then if you got up there the Father gives him all the kingdoms of the earth you couldn't receive that I mean this is something very unusual going on here what Jesus is saying by revealing himself in Revelation 1 13 as the Son of Man he's saying I'm fully God I'm fully man of course we know that but he's gonna break it down in these 30 descriptions he's gonna give some details that we don't automatically feed on we have to go after them we don't want to wait for these truths to chase us down you know there's one day you know somebody gives you a book and the book says it all clear you go finally I get it now you want to go after these truths not just wait for somehow them to suddenly come to you just you know in a dream somehow I am locked into studying these things you know we throw some fasting and prayer in around it and we go before the throne and we say we're going to go deep on these 30 descriptions again it's Jesus revealing Jesus so when he reveals himself in paragraph F as the Son of Man what he's saying is I'm God I'm fully man he goes I'm one of you but I'm more than you but I'm one of you but I'm more than meets the eye but I'm one of you and my father chose me to give all the kingdoms of the earth to me and I want you to be near me that's what he's saying paragraph G now the phrase son of denotes a person who possessed the characteristics signified or designated by the name that follows for instance Barnabas was called the son of encouragement because he was an encouraging person that's what that meant in Luke chapter 10 Jesus calls us to be a son of peace which means we're a person who brings peace but we bring peace on God's terms that's important a lot of guys want peace but not on God's terms so I just got throw that in John and James his brother they were called the sons of thunder because not because their father was named thunder because they had a thunderous personality that's what this designation means son of man means in the next paragraph H he is the ideal man he's all that God intended for a human to be it's not one percent short of all that God intended the highest ideal there's one perfect man he did it and he wasn't just perfect morally he has perfect wisdom he has perfect love he has full power and he's totally in love with his people I mean it's it's it's a indescribable dream come true beyond our wildest imaginations the truth is beyond anything that we imagine Paul's the one that said that he goes I has not seen ears not heard what God is going to do with the people who love him it's beyond your wildest most extreme imagination get Walt Disney Steven Spielberg five or six other guys throw them in there mix them up they won't even get to 1% of where God has imagined he's bringing the human race but he's doing it through an ideal man who's already living in the full reality of it right now he's not going to he is now the son of man he's the perfection of all that humanity was meant to be and he's not content to be there alone he's going to bring you into it he says I am the ideal not going to be I am now and I'm gonna bring you into it with me because I'm not content to be there without you son of man we need to feed our spirit on the son of man revelation now down in paragraph H I talk about the impact of this revelation Stephen he's the only guy well I mean John he's putting it in the in the book of Revelation but only because Jesus showed himself that way so in some ways Stephen the first martyr he's the first martyr Acts chapter 7 first martyr in in in the New Covenant and so when he sees Jesus he sees him as the son of man he sees the Daniel 7 reality he's the only one who actually saw it until John did 60 years later and declared it now what he it's this revelation touched his heart sustained him in that crisis I mean they're stoning him you know that's that's intense he sees the son of man and when he saw Jesus the son of man he saw several things he saw the man that had full victory that was going to bring him into victory very very soon he saw the full triumph of a man and that man was beckoning him to come so Stephen says it looks like I lost everything but it's really clear I just gained everything and the second thing he saw when he saw the son of man there was another there was a man who endured more than the stoning that Stephen was enduring when he saw the son of man it wasn't only saw a man that that had the victory and was guaranteeing that Stephen would have it he saw a man that endured more for love than Stephen was and that man beckoned him that's why this doctrine is the first martyr was sustained by and I believe the the final martyrs that those final years that decade or so before the Lord returns whatever as the number begins to build and then finally in the final three and a half years the son of man revelation will touch us in a very important and significant way paragraph I Jesus chose this title son of man mostly to emphasize his reign and his redemption the price he paid for love and the height of which his glory would take him so the son of man whenever Jesus talked about coming back in glory when he wanted to show the height of which his glory the God's glory would take him he wanted to show the height of his victory he used the title son of man and talked about a second coming and it's over and over I got a lot of verses there for you to look at but when he wanted to talk about his suffering for the sake of love he also used the son of man those are the two extremes of which he used the doctrine I mean the title the son of man those were the two main but it wasn't confined to those but those were clearly the most prominent things on his mind when he brought the Saints back to the Daniel 7 Jesus I mean he's talking about himself when he wanted to bring us back to the understanding of who he really is fully triumphed fully human yet if engaged in suffering for the sake of love that's how much he loves us okay now I'm not I got 15 points on the son of man I'm just gonna leave that to you maybe just mentioned one or two of them these are not that these 15 points are comprehensive I mean I'm sure if you've worked on a little while you could break it out and make more points or subdivide it but here's my point I just wanted to give you a little jumpstart the son of man revelation in Revelation 1 this that's critical to the whole book of Revelation Church I'm talking about the that will prevail in the hour when the events of the book of Revelation are happening we want to read know the son of man Jesus reveals himself to John son of man he brings it back to Daniel 7 I'm just saying that repeating it for emphasis I really want you to get that then Jesus says think about it when I revealed myself in the Gospels it was son of man son of man son of man son of man son of man over and over pointing to the height of my glory to reign and pointing to the depths of my suffering because of love but he puts these other 15 truths one here one there one here one there and I believe that all 15 of these truths and again that that number could be you could organize those 15 truths in different ways and have a different number but the point I'm saying these are all part of the root system of that grand tree trunk of the revelation of Jesus called the Son of Man and so I'm looking at these truths and thinking Lord I want the I want the taproot to go deep into the soil and find those hidden streams of water and nourish my heart with these truths so these are other son of man facets to the Son of Man revelation okay paragraph J Ezekiel now Ezekiel used the term son of man not for the Messiah not for Jesus but for himself but he used it in a different way he used in a hundred times about himself he called himself the Son of Man he wasn't referencing what Daniel saw because my guess is he didn't know Daniel saw because Ezekiel Daniel were prophesying at the same time Daniel was in the palace in Babylon Ezekiel was in the work camp some distance away and it's not like they got to hang out together and they didn't you know text each other wasn't that kind of thing Ezekiel knew Daniel was there but Daniel in his late eight I mean in his about 84 years old 82 years old he has this son of man revelation Ezekiel at the same time but over in the slave camp is using the same term by the Holy Spirit but in a different way he's not talking about the glory of the Son of Man revelation he's talking about the human weakness and he's talking about the suffering he's going through in that camp so when he says son of man he has a moan in a groan when he says it Jesus reveals himself to Daniel over in the in the palace because remember they're both in Babylon Daniel's in the palace Ezekiel is in the slave camp in the work camp and they're both getting the son of man revelation at this they're the two who get it at the same time of history Ezekiel sees the profound weakness of his position as a man in a fallen world and his suffering and Jesus says that title also applies to me I when I come down to the earth I will show you the profound weakness that I will embrace for you so we get some insight into the depths of what Jesus did for love by even catching the son of man revelation that Ezekiel had which was at the at the same time that Daniel had his now the people in Jesus's day they couldn't grasp Jesus as the Son of Man because the people of Jesus's day were far more connected to the Daniel 7 son of man coming to the ancient of days which is again the title one of the titles of the father he's called the ancient of days which means he's eternal he's uncreated there is no beginning there is no end he's the ancient of days and we'll look at that title later on in in this series but the people in Jesus's generation they are more connected to the Daniel 7 heavenly man glory of God Messiah and they're not really so focused on the Ezekiel side of it the suffering the lowliness the profound weakness the enduring of hardship so in John 12 verse 34 they're confused by him because they know he's calling himself the Son of Man and they're running back to check their Bible going this doesn't add up to us because the Son of Man is over all the nations the Son of Man is really close to God he rides on clouds you don't have that sense about you because he was a he had no home he had no place to lay his head he went place to place to place he had no retirement he had no no funds he just went place to place and the Lord took care of him so the people answered they said we've heard from the law which means the Bible often when it says the law it means the Bible the Old Testament we've heard from the Old Testament that the Christ and the Christ means Messiah Christ is Jesus's title not his last name you understand that it's Jesus the Messiah Jesus the Christ which means the anointed one they said we heard the anointed one or the Messiah the Christ we hear that he from the Old Testament he lives forever we read Daniel 7 he lives forever but you say you're gonna be lifted up which means he meant lifted up on the cross he means died killed he goes wait you can't be the Daniel 7 guy we kind of were hoping you were but you live in this profound weakness and I mean you don't have a mansion you don't have an army you got a bunch of ragtag guys hanging around you and you you don't have a big bank account like what's the deal and you keep talking about dying they said you're gonna be lifted up what where is that in Daniel chapter 7 where's the Son of Man lifted up and of course Jesus could have said you know go back one book to Ezekiel go to Daniel's contemporary prophet the one that was out of the work camp where the slave was actually slave camp is more than a work camp and you'll get some insight into what the Son of Man is about they said who is he anyway and she says I am the Son of Man they go no this doesn't add up because they couldn't understand how he could have all the glory but endure that kind of difficulty top of page three so I just gave you a little overview of the Son of Man we'll give I'll give you less detail we'll cover just a few of these points here and leave you with the notes but as the Son of Man he is Prophet Priest and King so it's Son of Man who is Prophet Priest and King you want to pull those together because in Revelation 1 the Son of Man and these three truths are brought together intentionally and then they blossom the Prophet Priest and King to bridegroom King and judge that's the final emphasis of the Holy Spirit of Jesus and the generation the Lord returns he shows the Prophet Priest and King is in fact the bridegroom King and judge again we might not get to how they connect but you have it on the notes I don't think we'll have time to look there but that's again what notes are for okay paragraph a this is developing the Son of Man truth some of the broad categories of the Son of Man revelation the Son of Man truth and again after this and the other classes we're gonna break it down in more detail but I wanted to give you the broad framework before we begin to look at the details of these 30 descriptions and titles paragraph a the three sacred offices in the Old Testament in the Old Testament there were three main offices for the leadership of Israel there were prophets priests and kings they were very different from one another these three sacred offices they were anointed with holy anointing oil and by the Holy Spirit they were anointed to function and to lead Israel to God through these three different facets these three sacred offices now each one of these offices prophetically spoke about how the Messiah would function the three offices gave some broad stroke understanding because there's lots of sub details to all this but the children of Israel understood the Messiah would in fact be a prophet he would be a priest and he would be a king the Son of Man would be these three things but it's not enough to stop there because the prophet priest and king it's how we function as well in the spirit obviously at a much lower level we prophesy we function as priests that's leading people to the Lord and worship at intercession that's priestly and we prophet and we minister in the kingly this is the spirit of victory and faith where we bring God's dominion to different parts of the earth we bring the rule of God we extend it out into society and we bring it to people's lives because they have to say yes to it but I mean we proclaim it we model it so we all all of us a little bit operate in prophet priest and king and in each of us function in those three things in different degrees from from each other okay Roman numeral four Jesus the Prophet as a prophet he is the guardian of truth he's the guardian of truth paragraph a he guards it and he predicts the future as the guardian of truth he declares the truth and he backs it up he backs it up with judgment or he backs it up with power I mean in the Gospels he spoke the truth that he released power to confirm it there's other times he spoke the truth and when it was resisted he backed it up with judgment so the prophet and the judge are dynamically connected because they're both guardians of truth the Prophet proclaims it as things are from God's point of view the way God sees things the Prophet proclaims it and then he backs it up with power that's the judge dimension that really comes into focus as the book of Revelation unfolds it's Jesus the Prophet speaking through faithful witnesses and then Jesus the judge backing up the truth that he proclaimed but he doesn't just back it up with judgment in the negative sense because judgment is also positive when he's judging the kingdom of darkness he's liberating captives when he judges sickness there's healing when he judges sin there's repentance and holiness when he judges division there's unity so his judgment is positive and negative it's not only negative but it's the negative part of his judgment that troubles us paragraph C Jesus is going to in the book of Revelation reveal he's as a prophet he's revealing the way that natural history will transition to the age to come see some people say the end of the world those of you you've been around you've heard this a lot but there's no such thing as the end of the world the world is never going to end in time is never gonna end they you know the song when time ends no time will never end and neither will the world the age is what ends it's the end of the age not the end of the world the world never ends natural history ends the age is the way that the earth is governed right now it's governed with a dramatic die I mean a very significant influence of demon powers blinding and seducing the leaders of the earth that's how the earth is governed and it's resisted by the righteous connected to God but the but the prevailing government of the earth is through these leaders yielding the demons and we're resisting it but it that's in this age and we have breakthroughs and their significance and we want big breakthroughs but in the age to come all the demons are in prison and all the government is righteous it's a different way to govern the earth it's called the age to come but it's not the end not the end of the world it's not the end of time we're on the earth resurrected bodies a new Jerusalem is descended but paragraph C that was I went off on a little buddy trail there for those of you that are just visiting but paragraph C Jesus reveals Jesus the prophet is telling John how things he's prophesying to John so that we could get the prophecy and we could then in turn prophesy to others just by declaring it but there's end of paragraph D there's a dynamic connection of the prophet and the judge because the prophet declares it but the judge backs it up with consequences good and bad again when Jesus declared the word in the Gospels he backed it up with power that's a that's a judgment on the kingdom of darkness his judgment is only on the kingdom of darkness just so that you know now Moses and Samuel they both operated in the dual role as the prophet and a judge they would declare the truth they would predict the future and they would say some things and the power of God would fall and the guys that rebelled were in big trouble so there's a dynamic connection between the prophet and the judge okay paragraph F here's what Jesus tells John Jesus the prophet is anointing and is commissioning John to prophesy he goes here's what I want you to prophesy about things that are what's happening right now the things that that exist but I also want you to prophesy about the future so that's how Jesus the prophet prophesies he tells you what God thinks about things that are right now the way that can the true condition we get God's insight into the true condition of a matter but then we talk about the future and so Jesus the prophet you find it I have a little some more details as to why Revelation 1 where the prophet ministry of Jesus is described there in chapter 1 okay let's go to the top of page 4 now we're going to Roman numeral 5 Jesus the high priest prophet priest and King now as the high priest he makes a way for us to encounter God's heart oh we love the high priest the high priest blossoms into the bridegroom God the one that makes a way to encounter God's heart is fully revealed as the bridegroom God who says not only if I made a way we're gonna live in perfect union forever the way is forever and permanent and secure so the bridegroom and the priest are connected truths paragraph a Jesus removes all the hindrances everything that gets in the way so we can encounter God's heart at this age and then in the resurrection the fullness of God's heart the full bridegroom reality breaks is manifest again it's not just the obstacles removed but it's the full passion of Jesus's heart bringing in us into perfect eternal union with his heart fantastic now we have that now a little bit of it we have that connection now but it will be in fullness after the second coming it's not only are we forgiven but we're purified see it's not enough to be forgiven you could be forgiven to where there's nothing God there's nothing in from God's point of view he says no the price is paid the obstacles are moved out of the way you're forgiven but there's another issue being purified because you could have access to God but if our spirit is so weighed down and so dull and polluted and defiled even when we're in the presence of God we can't discern it and we can't feel it the Lord says I've made the way it's not me holding you back I have opened up my heart the penalty is moved here I am and we're like people allowed into the king's court but we're blindfolded our vision is obstructed it's not enough to be forgiven we want to be purified because only Matthew 5 ages the pure will see God not because God's mad at us after he's forgiven us he's saying no you have to have the your spirit has to be in tune with me you can't be weighed down with anxiety and bitterness and jealousy and anger and ambition and still connect with my heart I'm not the one blocking the connection you're blocking the connection but the priest Jesus the high priest says you know what I'm gonna forgive you but I'm gonna also work on you I'm gonna help you connect with me I've removed everything from my point of view now I'm gonna help you remove it from your point of view so Jesus the high priest look at the Hebrews 10 we have boldness to enter the holy place because we're fully forgiven it's a new in a living way we have a high priest we can draw near it's new the forgiveness is complete it's 100% but it's living because there's a heart connect because not only is the forgiveness the penalty is moved the defilement is also the Lord removes the defilement that keeps us from hearing keeps us from seeing when we're when we've been given access to his throne a lot of folks when they think about grace they only think of the forgiveness part of Jesus's ministry and they claim I'm forgiven forgiven forgiven that's good and that matters but forgiven forgiven and forgiven but you can't see or hear or feel anything he's doing or what's on his heart let's get that out of the way it's not just immorality and drunkenness it's ambition it's bitterness it's anxiety it's strife it's all the things that pollute our spirit from hearing because the pure in heart here not because they deserve to hear the pure in heart have removed the obstacles that keep us from connecting so the high priest says I'm gonna do that for you so in the Revelation 1 we'll skip the rest here on the high priest the high priest is revealed so John sees the Son of Man is not only a prophet the Son of Man is also a high priest Roman numeral six he's also a king he's a king you can just read that on your own as well top of page five now the bridegroom King and judge is gonna blossom the fullness of the intent of God is gonna come to light and we're gonna see prophet priest and King now we're gonna see bridegroom King and judge paragraph B as the bridegroom God it's not just the priest who made away we see the full desire in that priest but it's a bridegroom's heart the priest is a bridegroom he not only made away he's exploding with love and desire for us the priest that made away has a bridegroom's heart it's fantastic without the priestly ministry the bridegroom heart would not connect with us but with a priestly ministry if God did not desire us like a bridegroom we wouldn't connect in the same way in eternity so the priest is a bridegroom at heart fantastic the king we see his power and the judge it's that prophetic guardian of truth but he intervenes to remove everything that hinders love that's what the judge does his judgment is on the kingdom of darkness but if the but if darkness is inside of us the judgment will touch us not not as wrath but his discipline wherever the where Satan is the god of darkness and if we let darkness in us we're letting his activity in us so the discipline of the Lord comes and removes it to liberate us it's because he likes us he goes I know this might be uncomfortable this might hurt but I mean I love you I'm coming after you are you kidding I'm not leaving you in that condition you're mine but I can't make you say no to darkness so I can help in a situation that gets your attention to where you're more alert so paragraph C the righteous prophet is seen as the zealous judge the merciful priest is a passionate bridegroom the sovereign king in chapter 1 he was shown as now he's king over all the nations but in terms of his manifest power his kingly power over nations breaks out some through history mostly through history his power over nations he has it but he does not enforce it it breaks out a little here a little there there's revival for a few decades there's a nation that says yes to some righteousness for a few decades but mostly through history his kingship has been manifest through his people in the church but he's coming back and the sovereign king won't just be king of course he's king over everything I mean when he was crowned king at the Ascension he had power over everything but he manifested it far more fully in context of his people but when he comes back his kingship will be displayed over all the nations whether they like it or not so his kingship comes into another dimension at the time of the second coming he has all the power now but he exerts it openly for all to see at that time paragraph D now there's a dynamic connection between the bridegroom and the priest in the in the final four chapters of the book of Revelation notice in paragraph D in Revelation 19 7 it's the marriage of the lamb it's the lamb the lamb is associated with the priestly ministry it's not the marriage of the king it's not the marriage of the prophet it's not the marriage of the judge it's the marriage of the the lamb which is associated with the priestly ministry then later on in chapter 21 it's the lamb's wife again the bride is connected to the lamb which means the priestly ministry the bridegroom in the priestly ministry are deeply connected Jesus the high priest is in fact the bridegroom God because I would have thought the marriage of the king has come he says now it was the priest that moved the thing that moved everything out of the way all the problems out of the way paragraph E paragraph F Jesus as a bridegroom just F and G we see his emotions that's all I want to point out his emotions the priest opened the way made us gave us legal access to God but the bridegroom unveils the volcanic desire in his heart the reason for which everything was moved out of the way so we could connect with his desire he doesn't want to just stamp our passport saved permitted into heaven you know don't bother me for a million years you know I forgave you I had to but don't bother me no he doesn't stamp our passport and say don't bother me the legal exchange called justification moves everything out of the way so the emotional connection between the bride and the bridegroom can take place the volcanic desire of the bridegroom God can explode and touch our spirit because the high priest moved everything out of the way he paid the price so legally the hindrances are moved so that emotionally the bridegroom reality can touch our heart and the truth of who we are as a bride comes to to full light okay let's go to top of page six I'll just have you read this on your own if it grabs your attention there's no contradiction between Jesus as bridegroom and judge because some folks they they think of the bridegroom they go oh no the judge there is no difference between the judge and the bridegroom the judge is removing everything that hinders love the judge isn't the bridegroom where he pauses turns red a little bit and says sorry you guys this is part of the deal I don't really like it to show you this part of my personality no his Jesus the judge is moving everything that hinders love moving it out of the way so love can dominate the created order for those that say yes to him so I did have a little bit on that because some kind of pit the two against each other like I've heard over the years I'm really into the bridegroom but do I have to be into the judgment the in time stuff and I go it's only because you think they're contradiction you know it's the woman the good friend of mine that told me once she goes she said what have you been studying and I said well the book of Revelation really intense in the last year or two and she goes some years ago she goes wait book of Revelation I thought you were the Song of Solomon guy I go I am she goes what are you doing the book of Revelation I go it's the same message she goes what and it was completely dumbfounding I go it is the same message the Jesus of Song of Solomon and the Jesus of the book of Revelation is the same man with no contradiction she scratched her head just whatever and we kind of went on a different subject okay let's go to Roman numeral 9 I gave you an in a the last session this acronym ARK A-R-K three ways to apply three ways to take these 30 descriptions and to apply them in to your life in a practical way 30 ways I mean three ways to take these 30 descriptions a down in paragraph C we agree it is so powerful I just want to it's so simple and yet sometimes we just don't get to it many people don't agree simply say you're quiet your mind is focused on the throne of grace you say Jesus you agree you are the Son of Man that's it now don't raise your hand how many of you have quieted your spirit once and said to Jesus you are the Son of Man I love this about you thank you just agreeing with it and saying I love you and thank you now some of you have done that others of you would say well I've done it about forgiveness but I really haven't really done this in a man he's the Son of Man we need to like tell him and the spirit moves on us as simple as this is to do with all 30 of these descriptions will make a big difference I got some some ways to just a couple little hints of how to say it and there's a thousand ways to say that to him there's no one main way but the point is agree them are number two revelation asking reveal your glory to me as the Son of Man so again my point is it and I don't want anybody raise your hand but my point is it to make you feel bad my point is to enlighten you and you go oh how many of you have actually said for more than a second but I mean you took a few minutes and said show me reveal your glory to me as the Son of Man talk to me about who you are I don't get it but I want to I love you as the Son of Man I just don't get it and the Holy Spirit says hey if you're gonna be that way about it I'm gonna talk to you about him he will give you insight and then K the verse from Revelation several times Revelation 22 where where the Lord told John says if you keep the prophecy if you apply it to your life you will apply these truths to your everyday life to keep the prophecy then you'll be blessed so we want to do the K we want to keep the prophecy we want to respond to this so we say okay you're Son of Man of course there's so many phrases you could add to here simple but simple simple simple simple don't be profound don't try to come up with something so you could tell somebody so they'll go wow the whole thing is to connect with him not to to come up with clever sentences it's to feel his heart and to learn his heart and we say simple things I commit to you as the Son of Man to follow your leadership because you're the king of all the nations I commit to declare you're the Son of Man I'm gonna tell people about a practical thing I'm gonna do not just am I going to yield to it on my own life I'm gonna tell people about you as a Son of Man I'm gonna proclaim it that's part of keeping the prophecy in other words you're doing something about it not just believing it which is wonderful and powerful because you believe it it changes your attitudes but you're gonna actually say and do things related to believing it so ARK you want to do this to all 30 of the descriptions of Jesus and you do this you get one year turn to 10 10 years turn to 20 you will have a mountain of understanding about this man for such a time as this amen