Better take a deep breath as we plunge into the deep waters of the book of Revelation.

Revelation 1:3
Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Scripture tells us that we are blessed if we read and hear words of prophecy. But we must do more than read and hear these words of prophecy; we must take them to heart. We must internalize them, believe them, know them and live them.
Why? “because the time is near”.

Revelation 22:18-19
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.
So many people are afraid of studying the book of Revelation, in part because of these verses in Revelation 22. Yet God tells us that we will be blessed if we read it and hear it. A general attitude today is that much concerning these last days cannot be known. This attitude is designed by Satan to keep us from receiving the promise. God has promised us that He will tell us great and unsearchable things. Satan wants to keep us from understanding these great things and to keep us from receiving the blessing.

Revelation 1:1-2
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw-- that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
God sent His angel (His son, the messenger Jesus) to reveal His plan to John, His servant. John has revealed God’s great plan to us. John saw the Word of God, Jesus. The testimony is what John heard. This was written about 96 AD, yet God said that this plan “must soon take place”. There is an element of urgency in this Scripture as there are elements of urgency in much of Scripture concerning the coming Kingdom and these last days.

Revelation 1:10
On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,“
The Lord’s Day” does not mean that what John saw was on Sunday. John was in the Spirit.

In order to understand what John said we must know where John was in time. The language of the following verse identifies past, present and future tense.
Revelation 17:8
The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not,   and yet will come
The beast John saw was (past), and now is not (present), and will come (future). The latter part of the verse also tells that the beast “once was, now is not, and will come”. There is a time in which the beast, Satan “once was”. This time begins on earth in the Garden of Eden and it ends with the time yet in our future when he will be thrown into the Abyss. The time that the condition exists when the beast “is not” is when Satan is confined in the Abyss during the Millennium. The future tense of that verse “will come up” tells us that he will come up out of the Abyss. Satan will be thrown into the Abyss right before the Millennium begins. So from this we know that John has been moved to a point in time somewhere during the Millennium, a time yet in our future. He is looking back in time to eternity past, to a time before the creation of the world. In looking back John was allowed to see the war in heaven when Satan was thrown like lightning and took 1/3 of the angels with him. (Luke 10:18, Ezekiel 28:12-17, Revelation 12:7-9, Revelation 12:4a) He is also looking forward in time to eternity future, to a time beyond the end of the Millennium when Satan is thrown into the lake of fire to stay forever. John saw everything from eternity past all the way through history and into eternity future. His vantage point in this timeline has been identified. John is in the spirit world and advanced in time to the Millennium.

Revelation 1:8
"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
Jesus is the great “I Am!” He Is, He Was, and He Is To Come! Jesus’ kingdom, unlike Satan’s kingdom will never be destroyed. There will never be a time when Jesus “is not”.

Revelation 1:19
"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.

John is directed to write what he sees in imagery and symbolism and to send it to seven churches in Asia. The first three chapters of Revelation primarily concern the letters to seven specific churches in John’s time. Each of those churches had a specific nature about them. Today these natures exist in the churches that call themselves Christian. The natures exist in the large church denominations as well as in individual local churches. These natures also exist in the people within these churches. The message is not just to those seven  churches in John’s day. Neither are they about churches or movements in the past; however their characteristics may fit any number of churches or movements. Those letters are there for the churches today. They are there for us as individuals today. They are there to encourage us and at times rebuke us for things we are doing or things we are allowing to happen, things that are contrary to the teachings of Scripture. We are admonished through these letters to become the church and the people that Jesus wants us to be.

So how are all of us doing???