“Now this angel was going to give this book to John. Who is this John? The Book of Revelation only mentions the name John. Doesn’t mention anything else. The reason why we know which John it is, from the following words:
‘Verse 2 (if you can see it on the screen, follow with me on the screen): ‘It is he who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ.’ So who is this John? It is he who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. From these two things, bearing a witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, we conclude which John it is, and it is none other than John the Beloved, one of the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. He was the youngest in age and he was the last one who left this world at the age of about a 105 years of age. He is the writer of the Book of Revelation. He is also the writer of the three epistles John 1, 2 and 3 and he’s also the writer of the gospel of John.
Now, he bore witness to the word of God. The word of God meaning the gospel, because the gospel of John begins with these words: ‘In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God.’ He bore witness to the word of God – in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God. He bore witness to the word of God – the gospel writer. And he also to the testimony of Jesus Christ – the epistles 1, 2 and 3 – the epistles of John the Beloved. Because when we read in the first epistle of John, chapter 1 verse 1, look what John the Beloved is saying: ‘which we have heard (he’s talking about himself), which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled concerning the word of life.’ We saw Him, we touched Him, we dealt with Him. We testify, this is my testimony, that I saw Jesus Christ. So the testimony of Jesus Christ – he is referring to the epistles – and the word of God referring to the gospel.
From this we know that this John is no one but John the beloved. The gospel writer, the epistles and the Book of Revelation – one of the twelve disciples or apostles of Jesus Christ. ‘He bore witness and he was a testimony of Jesus Christ to all things that he saw.’
Verse 3: ‘Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it.’ So, he bore witness to the word of God, and a testimony of Jesus Christ, to all the things that he saw. And he’s saying blessed is he who reads this book of revelation, blessed is he who reads this book of prophecy, and not only reads it, but also hears it, and not only hears it, but also keep every word in his heart.
Blessed. He begins with the word blessed. When we go back in ancient Greece, the Greeks of the Old, they used to refer to their gods, to their pagan gods, as Makarios/Macarius. Now Makarios in Greek means the blessed ones. So, they refer to their gods as the blessed ones. They use the word ‘blessed’ for gods. Now we all know that gods or God is the ultimate rank and beyond any measure and authority throughout the human race. The highest level any human can reach is the level of God. So, blessed means the ultimate to everything; the ultimate to joy; the ultimate to comfort; the ultimate to happiness; the ultimate to prosperity; and the list goes on and on and on.
John the Beloved is saying blessed are you if you read the word or the Book of Revelation, hear the word that is written in the Book of Revelation and keep the word that is written in the Book of Revelation. If you hear it, if you read it, if you hear it, and you keep it, then you are blessed. And the blessed is the ultimate joy and comfort. You will be like God if you follow what is written here. You’ll receive the ultimate blessings.”
You can watch the sermon here.