It's my goal to stay with the Word of God and help it make sense to you. And it's my purpose for you to make sense out of your life, to understand that God does love and care about you, that He has an answer to life's questions.

CAN ANYBODY HEAR ME?

DOES ANYBODY CARE?

John is sitting on a rocky island in the Aegean Sea. He is probably eighty-five. The year is 96 A.D., sixty-five years after Jesus rose from the dead.

John was the first disciple of Jesus. He and his friend, Andrew, go to the Jordan River to hear the preaching of John the Baptist. They see Jesus and He is there to be baptized. John the Baptist cries, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

When Jesus comes up out of the Jordan, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a dove, descends on Him kneeling on the bank. The Father speaks from Heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased."

Well, if you were going to walk up to One Who had just been declared the Son of God, what would you say? John is blurts, "Where do You live?" (That's what he said!)

Jesus kindly responds, "Come with Me and I'll show you."

And John begins following Jesus right that day.

John and his brother, James, go through wonderful experiences with their Lord. Jesus gave them the nickname "Sons of Thunder." Have you ever wondered if He has given you a nickname? On Friday, when John was at the cross, he watches as the darkness gathers about; as the priests holler, "He saved others but He can't save Himself;" and, as one of the thieves finds redemption. Brothers and sisters, I don't know where you are in your life, but I doubt that you are a murdering thief. Jesus' arms are still long to save and He is in the business of saving each and every one of us.

Jesus draws near to his death. He asks John to take care of His mother, Mary. And John takes care of her all the rest of her days.

After the resurrection, John and his friend, Peter, go into the temple to pray. At the gate they meet a lame beggar.

"And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms from those who entered the temple; who, seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. And fixing his eyes on him, with John, Peter said, 'Look at us.' So he gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Then Peter said, 'Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.' And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength." Acts 3:2-7.

For mending the lame man, John and Peter are arrested and jailed, and told never again to heal in the name of Jesus. But, they reply, " We can't promise you that."

In 70 A.D., there is war between Rome and the Jews. Jerusalem is totally demolished. (Jesus prophecies the destruction of Jerusalem and later you will read why it is significant today.) John leaves for Asia Minor, the region of the church of Ephesus. After a time, John, who had given his life for others, is unjustly arrested. He is deported to the island of Patmos. It is not a vacation. Patmos was a rocky, jagged, twenty-two mile square penal colony--a prison. He has to sit in isolation--lonely, useless, fearful, and uncertain. You can hear him say, "Can anybody hear me?"

He cries, "Does anybody care?"

In Heaven, God sits on His throne with the angels gathered around Him, looking to earth. He sees us oppressed, suffering, lonely, despairing, sickly. We are so inundated with pain on this planet! Brothers and sisters, God wants to break through our pain, sorrow, and turmoil.

God cries from Heaven, "Can anybody hear me?"

He pleads, "Does anybody care?"

God's cry to our planet can be found in Revelation.

"I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ." Revelation 1:9.

The interesting thing about history is that it confirms what is written in the Bible. Historians of those times leave records that we still have today: in fact, that Revelation says, "I, John," is one of the historian's arguments in favor of John's authorship of the book. Everyone knows him. He doesn't say, "John, son of Zebedee" or "John, brother of James."

When John is arrested, wicked Domitian is emperor of Rome. (His brother, Titus, is the emperor that, in 70 A.D., ransacks Jerusalem. Vespacian, his father, had also been an emperor.) Once I started recording his dastardly deeds and they would depress a hardened criminal. Do you know what was Domitian's favorite activity? He would spend hours catching flies and stabbing them with a needle. How would you like a man like that running your country? At age forty-four, Domitian is killed by one of the household staff. A man, with a supposed broken arm, has it wrapped. Inside the cloth is a dagger. With it, the man stabs the emperor! After the death of Domitian in 96 A.D., the Senate attempts to remove his name from the marble buildings of Rome. Domitian is so cruel!

John, arrested by Domitian and exiled to Patmos, writes the book of Revelation. He sees, feels, and hears a massive vision. Not the revelation of John, the vision is the REVELATION of GOD to JESUS CHRIST. It can be understood today. You can understand Revelation!

"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants--things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all thing that he saw. 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." Revelation 1:1-3.

Some of the things John saw did come to pass shortly (Revelation 2-3). However, in the Greek, "things which must shortly take place" does not imply "from now until then." It means that when the things happen in Revelation, they will happen in short order--fast.

When was the Bible printed? The Gutenberg Bible, the first ever printed, came off the press in the 1500's. John handwrote his vision and sent it to the churches of Asia Minor. The person at the church who reads the letter will be blessed. The congregation that hears it will be blessed. The individuals who keep the words will also have a blessing.

If you want to cross a creek without getting wet, you step on stones--safe places. The Bible Speaks is positioned on safe places, avoiding speculation. In Revelation, God is defined: "Him who is and who was and who is to come." Jesus is designated: "faithful witness." He comes to the world to be a witness of the Father. Then, I believe that the seven spirits will refer to the Holy Spirit. But we will avoid the speculation as to why there are "seven" spirits.

"John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Revelation 1:4-6.

The phrase, "washed us from our sins in His own blood", deserves a separate page. Watch for it later in our series.

When I grew up, my picture of God was so distorted that I became an atheist. Then, I searched through Eastern mysticism and hallucinogenic drugs for answers to the questions of life. Brothers and sisters, when I met Jesus, I discovered what the Father was like!

Everyone who believes will be made a "king and priest" to God. You ladies may rather want to be a queen. But, the Bible is talking about royalty, not genders. Kings and priests, sitting on the throne, are royalty. God has a high plan for you.

The purpose of a priest is to minister between you and God. But, you can be your own priest and not go through anyone else. The GOOD NEWS is that you can talk directly to God!

"Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen." Revelation 1:7

Did you realize that Jesus will come back to earth again? The people who mourn are those who turned against Him. In vision, John sees it all! He shouts on that lonely island,

"Yes! Yes! He will triumph!"

"Yes! Yes! He'll be victorious!"

"Yes! Yes! He's coming back!"

Christ is the beginning, the end, and all in between. "Alpha" is the Greek alphabet letter "A" and "Omega" the ending Greek alphabet letter--"Z" to me.

"'I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,' says the Lord, 'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.'" Revelation 1:8

The voice of God is like a trumpet to John. Is it musical or just clear? "I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, 'I am the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last,' and 'What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.'

"Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man. . ." Revelation 1:9-13.

The seven golden candlesticks represent the seven churches in Asia Minor. The seven churches are real churches in John's day. Additionally, each church displays a time period in the history of the Christian church. As Jesus is in the midst of the candlesticks, He was in the midst of the churches throughout all history. In our turmoil, injustice, loneliness, oppression, and fear, He is in the midst of our lives. Sometimes it is hard to see Him. But, He is there.

You may be in turmoil and suffer injustice, with loneliness, uncertainty, and fear. In your pain, you may be crying out, "Can anybody hear me?"

You murmur, "Does anybody care?"

When Moses was living, he delivered millions of people from the hands of Pharaoh. In the wilderness, they rebelled against God. One day, God sends "fiery serpents," or poisonous snakes. Snakes are in the tents, on the food--everywhere. People are bitten by the snakes. Many people die. Moses is told by God to make a snake out of gold and position it on his staff. Everyone bitten by a snake who would look at the golden snake (serpent) would live. Symbolically, it represented Jesus on the cross.

Why was it a "faith expression" for those who had once made and bowed down a golden calf?

The act of faith was that people had to stop fighting the snakes and look toward what represented God. When our problems are so big and our pain so acute that we spend time looking at the misery, God says, "Here's what faith is: let your problems 'bite' you while you look to ME."

That's the cry of God tonight. He knows your pain. He knows your problems.

God's saying, "Look to Me."

He's crying, "Can you hear Me?"

He shouts, "Do you care?"

"Father in Heaven, Thank You so much for Jesus Christ and for the hope that we have found in the book of Revelation. Lord, teach me how to look to You in the midst of my problems and pain so that I might have relief. You want to encourage me now in the midst of the time in which I live. In Jesus' Name, Amen."