Revelation of Jesus Christ Rev, 1:1-8
Revelation 1:1-8 · Vern Peterman · Oct 7, 2001
Revelation (2001-03), No. 03
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/48262236401649

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. We'll be taking a look this morning, continuing on with our study of Revelation, and actually the last two weeks have been kind of in the nature of introduction, just to kind of get us oriented. We'll be looking this morning at the first eight verses of chapter one. And I just want to preface our study with some comments here.

Since September 11th, which is now coming up to almost a month ago, as many of you are aware, there's been a huge demand for information about Islam. There's been a huge demand for guns, for gas masks, antibiotics, and survival supplies. And while these kinds of things might do some good in the right circumstances and with proper training, a time is coming on planet Earth when these kinds of things will do little to no good at all.

And that time is exactly the time we're taking a look at here this morning. This period of time that's coming up is called the Tribulation. It was shown in a handout that you got last week. And we'll be looking at that in the weeks and months to come.

There is a preparation for that time of tribulation, which is needed and fitting, but this world, for the most part, will not get the picture. We're studying Revelation here this morning so that we will get the picture. Got the picture? We're studying Revelation here this morning so that we will get the picture and put our hope and preparation precisely where it ought to be. Now notice here, One of the things we'll be studying in some weeks ahead here will be the event that's called the rapture.

And that will be taking the believers up to be with the Lord. That could happen at any time. And one thing to remember is that a lot of people might think that the rapture only happens to those people who happen to be alive when the Lord calls us up. No. Every person who is a believer including every believer here this morning, will be raptured. Including some that were in this congregation that are now, we say, home to be with the Lord.

All will be taken up as we'll study when we get to that point. And one thing I want to make clear, if we're not able to finish this study by reason of the rapture, I won't be disappointed. One thing that I should make clear in this period of tribulation that covers a number of chapters, that's a seven-year period of time of increasing hell on earth. That's going to take place after the rapture.

It'll be a time of horror like no other. But unlike hell, there will be an opportunity to be saved. If watching the Twin Towers of the world trade billing fall was horrifying, then what will it be when wave after wave of global horror strikes the earth and there's no way for anyone to stop it, retaliate, or escape it?

Can you imagine that? If there is anybody here this morning that does not know the Lord, I need to tell you that you are taking the worst risk of your life. Once believers are taken out of this world, if you are an unbeliever here this morning, you will go through a seven-year period of tribulation like none other that the earth has seen or ever will see again. In that tribulation, everyone who goes through it will have a great chance of dying, and many will wish they could, but will not be able to.

Think about it this way for a moment. Since the global tribulation is seven years long, and the millennium, the earthly reign of Christ over the earth from Jerusalem, follows that, the millennium could start by the year 2008. Mind-boggling? How about that? The millennium could start by the year 2008, before the end of this decade. We don't know that, but the start of this clock is imminent. And that's something for us to keep in mind here.

Let's begin by looking at Revelation chapter 1 verse 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. And he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that he saw. Notice that this is a revelation of and from Jesus Christ.

That word revealing indicates that it is not intended to be mysterious, but known and understood. When we are done studying this book, my goal, by God's intent, is that you understand clearly every word of it. Okay? Now, The next thing is a revelation of and from Jesus Christ. It's to be understood. Jesus Christ is the Savior. That's what his name, Jesus, means. And the second word, Christ, means he is the Anointed One. He is the Messiah, who is a prophet, priest, and king. The next thing says, which God gave him to show. The next phrase there.

God is God the Father. He is the one from whom such things are given and the one who keeps the time clock on these events. Remember in Acts 1, 6, and 7, the disciples asked, is now the time when you're going to establish your kingdom? And Jesus' answer was, it's not for you to know the times and the epochs, but only the Father who is in heaven. It is the Father's position to do this.

The next word, gave, In context, it means it's entrusted and empowered. It is not just handed off to you. It's given as a special trust. The word translated show means to explain. It's to reveal it, it's to explain it, it's to be understood. When somebody explains something, isn't that usually intended to mean that you understand it? That's what this book is about. It's not intended to be mysterious. It's not intended to be foggy and veiled. It's intended to be understood. Now, it says God gave him to show. To show who? The answer to that in that verse? His bondservants. Who's his bondservants? You and me. This is intended by God to be shown to you and me.

You see that? It's by God's intent that you have this book in front of you this morning. It's by God's intent that you've been given this message. Isn't it amazing to think about it this way? God wanted you to get this? God wanted you to have it. God wanted you to understand it. That is neat to think of, isn't it? It's God's intended message. Last week I put up this sequence This verse basically sets out this delivery sequence. God, the Father, gave it to Jesus Christ through his angel to John the Apostle.

For who? For you. That's the sequence that comes through here. Notice the use of the word bond-servant here. That's doulos in Greek. My son says, I know how I remember that word. It's doulots. A servant will doulots. So, Duloth is how he remembers that. All it is, is a servant.

A bondservant is somebody who basically was owned by someone. They weren't just hired. They were owned by someone. And a bondservant was somebody whose will was entirely subject to his master. That's the phrase he's using here. You get the picture? That's what we're to be as bondservants. Our will is to be entirely subject to our master. Paul himself uses this term three times, Peter once and Jude once. So this is something that all the apostles got as a picture of their position as well.

Notice the next thing. It says, he sent and communicated it. Sending was by a specific appointment. The Greek word there is apostello, which is similar to the word apostle. Sound familiar? The idea is it's a special message. There is not just a sort of a casual sending, This is a special sending and a special appointment. This word that is communicated is translated signified in the King James Version, if you're reading from that.

Next, he mentioned his angel, and the word angel is mentioned 48 times in the Book of Revelation. Angels in plural, 23 times. So you get the impression that angels must be important. Also, that tells you one other thing. As we go through this book, we're going to be reading a lot about angels. We're going to be learning a lot about angels.

The phrase, his angel, also occurs in Revelation 22. Some have said, this is the angel Gabriel. Gabriel is mentioned in Daniel several times. Gabriel is also mentioned, remember, when he appears to Mary and tells Mary, you're going to be the one that's going to bear the Messiah. That was Gabriel as well. The only thing is, it doesn't say that this is Gabriel, so I'm reluctant to say that's what it means.

So you may see that somewhere. Because John doesn't say that's what it is, I won't go there either. We want to be careful here in what we lay out, don't we? Then it says, things which must soon take place. This is an important phrase for us to take a look at this morning. Let's break it apart. First word I want to take a look at is must. You notice that? That word is in there. It means of logical necessity. It must take place. These aren't things that might happen. These aren't guesses. These are things which are going to take place. Their taking place in the future is absolutely certain.

No doubt about it. That's one reason why I've got to ask If these things taking place is absolutely certain, what sense does it make to be uncertain about what the book of Revelation says? Doesn't that make sense? If it's absolutely certain that these are going to happen, then being foggy and being uncertain about what the rest of Revelation means doesn't make any sense at all, especially if this is God's intended message for us, which he says it is.

Well, let's move on. The next thing it says soon. A lot of people have said, well, heaven, It's been 19 centuries and nothing's happened, you know. But, something to take a look at. The Greek word there is tachē. And we use that word in English. It's come over in a couple of different forms.

Ever heard of tachycardia? The medical term tachycardia. What is it? Rapid heartbeat. We also have another place where it's come over into English. A tachometer. Some of you may even have one of those in your car where it reads how fast the engine is going.

This doesn't relate to saying, this has got to happen real quick in terms of a short period of time. What it's talking about is when it begins happening, it's going to happen fast. Boom, boom, boom, boom. You get the idea? Once it begins, this is going to move along. This is going to happen quick. It's going to make people's heads spin. Once it happens, and you've been through those kinds of events, in your own life, you've sensed that, where something happens and, boy, just all of a sudden things happen in sequence, and by the time you have a chance to sit down, you say, man, what did I just go through? That's the kind of thing he's describing here. Things which must soon take place, it needs to be understood in terms of things which must take place real quick. Once they begin, it will be flying along.

Even aside from that, message though too, the Lord's sense of timing is not ours. The Lord's sense of timing is not ours, and it's important for us to keep that in mind. The next thing it says, it will take place. That means it is in time, and it will happen.

Just like the message we got before, there is a certainty about it. The other thing that tells us this is an important phrase, it shows up four times in the book of Revelation. and it'll show up again in 119 chapter 1 verse 19, it'll show up again in 4 verse 1, and it'll show up again in chapter 22 verse 6. Shows up four times, must be something important. Trying to get across to us, these things are going to happen, they're going to be happening fast, they are imminent once they begin happening, and they will take place. They must take place. It is a certainty that they will take place.

Now, Let's move on to verse 2. Verse 2 carries with it a legal sense. It is almost as if John is writing this as a notary. He's notarizing it. And verse 2 says, "...who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw." As always, John is concerned that we understand that these are real actual events and beings that he saw. Do you get that impression? The word testified or testimony in the King James Version, it says bare record and testimony are the words that you'll see there.

This is based on a root word John uses several times. Not only here in verse 2, but again in verse 9. In chapter 6 verse 9, and again in chapter 20 verse 4. Remember a couple weeks back I said John was consistent? I keep saying he uses it again and again and again. It's almost like he's trying to make a point. Anyway.

The next thing is he uses the phrase, the Word of God. That means the words coming from God. This is, again, God's message. It means God's message or communication. And that's also a phrase that, guess what, John uses again and again, and we'll be taking a look at that next week. Tune in. And then the next phrase, even to all that he saw. That is consistent with what John wrote in the epistle of 1 John. Three times in the first three verses, he says, have seen. This is the way John writes. He wants you to know this is real stuff. This is the things that I really saw. As a matter of fact, in the book of Revelation, he says, I saw 38 times. 38 times. The Greek word is adon. and he just starts off, and I saw, I saw. Well, that's another thing. Fourteen of those times where he says, I saw, he starts off with and, kaiadan in the Greek. And I saw.

And why would he do that? He's tying it on to just the connectedness and the closeness in time with the previous events. He says, I saw this and this and this, and I saw this and this and this. It is conveying a long With the other things that we've seen here, it's conveying along with that the fact that these things are going to happen one after another after another. There's going to be a sequence that it's going to follow one after another. And that's why he would fourteen times say, and I saw. It just keeps coming. You ever talk to somebody who has just witnessed something that they're really excited about? It's that same kind of presentation that John's trying to convey. I didn't only see this, I saw this, and this, and this. But it's all a sense of reality. It's all a sense, I saw it. It is real. I'm testifying to you, I really saw it. Now, the next thing, in verse 3. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near. Now, to look at last week's Mission Impossible assignment, some of you may remember that.

Remember there are seven, get the numbers out, seven blessings in the Book of Revelation. Last week's assignment, if you happen to miss that, there's copies of the handout in the hallway rack. There are seven blessings in the Book of Revelation scattered throughout the book, and I ask people, if you wanted to, to go through and look up each of those blessings. I need to do a quick review here.

Blessed means spiritually blessed. Blessings given from God. This first one states blessings for those who read and hear the book. And what's the third thing? Heed it. Read, hear, and heed. Three of those verses with blessed are given in the middle, believe it or not, in the middle of the Tribulation. How about that?

The sixth one, Revelation 22.7, assumes that you've read thus far, and just says, blessed are those who heed this prophecy. It assumes you've already done the reading, right? You've already done the hearing. So now that you've done that, he's reminding you again, listen to it. Heed means to take note or to keep watch. Look at something attentively, okay? Don't look at it nonchalantly, don't pass over it, heed it, listen.

Notice that he who reads is singular, but those who hear is plural. There's a reason for that. In context, the one is not reading privately, but he's reading publicly. So one person reads, the others hear. That's not to discourage private reading, don't get me wrong there, but it's to encourage the value of us understanding it together, It's also to reflect the context, the way they would typically hear the scriptures in those days, since people typically didn't have multiple copies.

Now, you and I can go buy Bibles by the truckload, right? Well, if you have a truck. Anyway, here is just a, for instance, the folks who were in the elective I had earlier saw a portion of this. This is a copy of the last page of Revelation from an ancient Codex Sinaiticus from 340 A.D. What they would do is they would have hand-copied versions of the scripture, and so it was tough for everybody to have a copy. So what would happen, one person would read, all the rest would hear, because they couldn't just photocopy it and couldn't just print it up. So that was the way that they would get it. Incidentally, just a little side note, Count Tischendorf, who found this, went to St. Catherine's Monastery down in the Sinai Desert, and he was visiting with them, and he saw the monks burning a bunch of scraps. And when he looked closer, they were burning ancient copies of the New Testament just to start fires. Anyway, it's fascinating. Okay. Now, verse 4.

John, to the seven churches that 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. See, John here focuses to address the seven churches in Asia. One of the things that we looked at previously here, this was the map of these seven churches. These are not in Asia as we now call Asia, but as you'll see this word Asia up at the top, This is just a province on the western end of what is now modern Turkey. So this is not the whole continent of Asia, but that's what they called Asia in those days. They were connected all by Roman roads and by a Roman postal route.

According to the extra-biblical writings, all seven of these churches were churches that John had relationship with. After all, the rest of the apostles were dead, and especially the church at Ephesus. that we'll read about in the weeks to come here.

Wouldn't it be amazing? Here's John and he's spending time with these last churches. Wouldn't it be amazing for John to have these letters written specifically to the churches that he's working with? Wouldn't that just grab him? Wouldn't it grab you if you were in that spot? I have something written directly from the Lord Jesus Christ for you.

Now, let's think about that for a minute. Suppose Hal were to come running in one Sunday, come running through the back doors, and he says, Wait! Hold the service! Stop! I've got a letter, and it's written directly from Jesus Christ. Wouldn't that grab you? You would listen to what Hal said, wouldn't you? Guess what we've got? We've got a letter from Jesus Christ.

And we'll be taking a look at his messages to the churches starting a couple weeks from now. But for now, I think it's just amazing to ponder. Here is a message written directly to these seven churches. That must have just blown their socks off. And because God intends for us to understand it, we have a message to this church, too. And we'll be looking at that.

Next, he says, Grace to you and peace. Grace was the normal way that the Greeks would meet each other, like, we'll say hi or hello, howdy, something like that. The Greeks would meet each other in the hallway or going down the road, and they would say, grace. That was the Greek greeting.

The Jewish greeting was peace. They would say it, shalom. You heard that? Even the name Jerusalem, Yerushalom, habitation of peace. So that was the Jewish greeting. What are they doing? They're putting the two together. And that's what this is. But there's something else. Grace is for all times. Grace is for all times.

2 Timothy 1.9 tells us that grace was given us in Christ before time is eternal. was given us in the past. Now isn't that amazing? Grace was given to us before we were even born. How about that?

Now here's the next part. Grace is also present. It's God's grace that's sufficient for us now. A couple of scriptural references that refer exactly to that. And the next thing is grace's future. Grace will be brought to us at the revelation of Christ Jesus, 1 Peter tells Isn't it neat? This grace is not just something for the past, not just something for the now, and not just something for the future. It's all three. And the Lord makes it clear to us through these passages. Because grace is for all times, we can have peace at all times. We can have peace that the world doesn't understand. Especially at this time. Now, something to take a look at.

Paul frequently uses this greeting, and one of the ways is he says, Grace to you and peace, as he writes to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 1.3. Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace is the product of knowing and appropriating God's grace.

It doesn't come otherwise. The next phrase, To him who is, and who was, and who is to come. That's a phrase you're going to see again and again, and we'll take a closer look at that shortly. Since Christ the Son has been and will be spoken of, and the Holy Spirit will be spoken of next, as we'll see, this is taken to refer to God the Father, also in verse 6 in this same context.

God the Father is referred to as the source of grace and peace in Romans 1.7, 1 Corinthians 1.3, Ephesians 1.2, Colossians 1.2, 1 Timothy 1.2, 2 Timothy 1.2, and Titus 1.4. You would get the impression that God the Father is the source of grace and peace. Now, the next phrase, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne.

Now that's been one that's puzzled a lot of folks. Some have taken it to be a reference to the angels of each of the churches in chapters 2 and 3. But there's some reasons why I would discount that. John never elsewhere refers to angels as spirits, and he refers to angels lots of times. 38 times in singular, 23 times in multiple. Never refers to them otherwise as spirits, and there's no connection to angels here. The next thing, two of the four verses with the reference to the seven spirits come after that passage where it talks about the seven churches.

So it's like it's out of context. Because of that, I see this as a reference to the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit. That is, the Holy Spirit has seven characteristics as displayed through the Messiah during the coming millennium. Let's take a look at this. This is in Isaiah 11-2. This is in the context of a long passage that talks about the tribulation and then moves on into the millennium and gives ample description of both. So there's no question it's talking about things coming. And this is what it says.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. Characteristic number one. The spirit of wisdom, number two. And of understanding, number three. The spirit of counsel, number four. And of strength, five. The spirit of knowledge, six. And the fear of the Lord, seven. Seven-fold ministry. And looking at it in that it's not just taken out of some passage somewhere, but that it's exactly in the same context that John writes about, things to come. It's a perfect fit. Let's move on to verse 5.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to him who loves us and releases us from our sins by his blood, And He has made us to be a kingdom priest to His God and Father. To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The first thing I'd like us to take a look at is the description faithful witness. We've looked at the name Jesus Christ so we understand what that means. A faithful witness is someone who tells the truth. It had a prophetic and a legal meaning. It was the opposite of a false witness.

Let me read from Proverbs 14.5. A faithful witness will not lie, but a false witness utters lies. Isn't that clear? That's what he's referring to. It's truth as opposed to falsehood.

At one point, here's the Jews say to him, and this is in Jeremiah 42.5. Then they said to Jeremiah, may the Lord be a true and faithful witness. Sound familiar? May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with the whole message which the Lord your God sent to us." So what do they make reference? Will the Lord be a true and faithful witness?

Notice that while witnesses among the Jews had to be two or three in number, that's Deuteronomy 19.15, you may be familiar with that, if they had court testimony, there had to be two or three witnesses in order to convict.

The Lord God could convict on one. Why? Because He is the witness. He is the true and faithful witness. Human beings, you've got to have two or three witnesses. If it's God speaking, just one. And it's because God's very character is faithful and true. That's who He is. Human beings, you have to have several people agree, and then you say, okay, I've got concurrence. God doesn't need that. God says something and it's true because it is His character to be faithful and true. That's who He is. He needs no independent verification.

John takes the words faithful and true witnesses and uses them singularly and in various combinations throughout the book of Revelation. And this is your mission impossible. On your handout, which I hope you have there, and as I put it last week, your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to look up these verses here. Truth, faithful, and or witness are in each of those passages listed. What you can do is look up those and then put an X under each of the words that shows up in the passage. I want to see if you find any patterns in those verses.

We'll take a look at it next week, okay? Alright, let's move on. Next, let's look at the phrase, the firstborn of the dead. This is identical to Colossians 1.18. The Greek word there for firstborn, prototokos, That's something you say every morning when you get up, right? Protodokos. It means firstborn.

He is the first to be alive from the dead permanently. You get the difference there? Permanently. See, Jesus raised Lazarus, didn't he? And Paul raised up a young man, Eutychus. But he's died again. By the way, have you ever thought what that would have been like? You can imagine what's going through these guys. They're starting to die the second time. They're thinking, oh no! Oh no, not again! Here I am, dying all over again. I'm sure it was tough, but they went through it. See, Christ was the first raised permanently, and we shall be after him. He's the firstborn. He's the first one. He's the one that has preeminence. but we shall be after him. We shall be raised permanently after him is the message. See?

The firstborn from among the dead. Something else that doesn't come through in the English there, that firstborn from the dead doesn't mean firstborn from a state of death. It means firstborn from among the dead ones. Okay? Different message. These dead ones in Christ, we are told in 1 Thessalonians 4, 13-18, will rise first at the rapture than we who are alive. First among the dead ones, those who die in the Lord, will be raised again as Christ.

But Christ is the first one. Then, let's look at the next phrase. And the ruler of the kings of the earth. In the King James Version, that word rulers is translated prince. Literally, it means the one who rules the kings of the earth. While God was and is and will be sovereign over all, Christ's bodily reign as ruler over all the kings of the earth is yet future.

Revelation keeps looking ahead. Have you ever seen a movie that does that where they'll have kind of a flash into the future? Or even just a preview does that same thing for us. It gives us a glimpse in advance of what's taking place. That's what he's doing here. He's giving us a kind of a quick preview of what's to come. And that's what this verse is conveying to us.

Now, this same thing is reiteration in Revelation 15.3, where it says Christ is the King of all the nations. And in 17.14, again, in 19.16, where Christ is called the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Remember that title? Or in one place, it's switched. Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

Same intent. But those are all prior to his actual reigning. They are what's called proleptic. They are looking ahead at something, giving us a foreview. Now, let's take a look here. The phrases that we've just taken a look at are similar to something that is in the name Christ itself. Christ, in Greek, is Christou, also known as the Messiah, the Anointed One, because he is prophet, priest, and king. Only the prophets, priests, and kings, or rather prophets, priests, and kings were traditionally anointed. That was kind of the ceremony that was done to initiate them on each of their tasks.

This same message is conveyed in the three phrases we just read, and let me go over those. He is first called a faithful witness. That is the characteristic of a prophet. A prophet must speak the truth and be a faithful witness. Otherwise, what do the Jews do to them? They stone them. So a prophet was a faithful witness. And the prophets were often exhorted to be exactly that. The next.

Firstborn from among the dead has to do with his priestly ministry. He first did his sacrificial work for us on the cross. He was both the priest and the sacrifice. It also relates to that because he was the firstborn from the dead, he now lived to what?

Intercede for us. His priestly ministry is demonstrated in that phrase. The next one, ruler of the kings of the earth, king. So here we have it, prophet, priest, and king. Those three phrases that we just read in that passage are conveying us that very same message. Prophet, priest and king.

Now the next part, this just really grabs me. See what you think. To him who loves us, that's talking about his present ministry? In the Greek, and to me this is exciting, in the Greek the phrase is conveying to him who is constantly loving us. Do you get the sense of that?

Him who is constantly loving us. When you and I have fallen hard in something in life, He's constantly loving us. When we're hurting, He is constantly loving us. When life is baffling beyond all bounds, He is constantly loving us. Have you come to realize this in your own life? Have you come to see that? He is constantly loving us. Are you learning to see by faith that He is constantly loving you?

That's the message. When I read that, that just grabs me. He didn't just love us 2,000 years ago. He didn't just love us when He's going to come. He is constantly loving us right now in the circumstances we're at, in the things we're going through, in what is happening, in where we are, in what we're doing. He is constantly loving us.

To me, that is immensely reassuring and comforting. Now, this phrase here is just one of many reasons why this book is, according to verse 3 and the other verses, a blessing. He didn't just love us for a short period of time, but he is constantly loving us, and that's something I can depend upon.

The next phrase, he released us from our sins by his blood. Now, constantly loving us is a present ministry, right? Released us, that's past tense, that's done, right? So that's a past ministry. So we have a present ministry, constantly loving us, a past ministry, where he released us from our sins by his blood.

That implies that we were not freed before. As we know well from studying the scriptures, we were slaves to the old nature, who we were in Adam. We were stuck there, not to move. He released us. He is the one that frees us, and nobody else. Notice that it's He who did the freeing, and we didn't do it ourselves. It was by His blood, as we'll observe in the remembrance this morning. Something else to note is that he made us to be a kingdom of priests to his God and Father.

John was writing at this time when the temple in Jerusalem was no more. So guess what? They didn't have priests. What? Believers are priests. One translator translated this passage here in Revelation. He created us to be a royal reign of priests to God, even the Father. Get that? A royal reign of priests. This is carrying to us the same message of that as Peter.

1 Peter 2.9 says this, "'But you,' speaking to believers now, "'but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, "'a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, "'so that you may proclaim the excellencies "'of him who has called you out of darkness "'into his marvelous light.'" Something for us to take note of this morning. It's very important.

All of those who by belief in Christ the Savior for salvation are priests. Every one. In the Old Testament and in the Gospels, the priests were uniquely given access to God. It was the priests who could go into that special temple place and do these services, but the other people could not.

That is the role you now have as a believer. You have direct access to God. You are a royal priesthood. You can come into Him without an intermediary. Nobody has to come between you and the Lord. You have direct access to God. You have access to Him.

You have access to Him in your car, in your house, where you work, here at church, outside as we drive on the road. We are priests to God. We have access to God. One other thing that a priest did, a priest represented God before all people. That's your role. You're representing God before all people. Do you see how you're a priest? Do you see that picture? That's why he lays that out here. You are a priesthood. Now, the next phrase, to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. You see, the reign of Christ isn't going to be a flash in the pan.

One of the things that historians have noticed is that over the centuries, people have tried to recreate the Roman Empire. And some of those names and titles come out from the Roman Empire to us even somewhat veiled. Kaiser is basically a German reformed Caesar. The Russians had a Tsar, right? That's a Caesar. A lot of people have borrowed Rome's symbol, the eagle. We've done that. Another title that comes out, have you ever heard the Pope called Pontifex Maximus Pontiff? That was the title of Constantine. So it was taken from the Roman Emperor.

Now Rome faded. As great an empire as Rome was, Rome faded. But the reign of Christ will not. You get the contrast here? People come up with empires and they come and go. People try to hold on to power and grab for power. Christ's coming won't be tenuous. Christ's coming will not be a, gee, I wonder if he'll be around next week. There won't be any sense of that.

It will be permanent, forever, always. And that's why he lays it out, the glory and the dominion forever and ever. And notice, he is glorious. He is sovereign. The last word there, amen, means so be it or let it be. Let's look at verse 7. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. See, this speaks of his future ministry. Remember, we had the present ministry. He's constantly loving us. The past ministry. Now we have the future ministry.

This is a quote, by the way, from Zechariah 12.10, which John quotes here and is also quoted in his Gospel. Then he says, Behold. This is the first of 25 times in this book. Remember John's consistency? 25 times that John writes Behold. Now, he doesn't say Behold for nothing. John uses that word to cause us to take a long and contemplative look. He wants us to really examine.

Don't miss this, is the message. Don't skip over it. Don't look at this lightly. Behold it. Look at it. He refers, when he says behold, I'm sure to something that grabbed him. It was like, whoa! This is phenomenal. It grabbed him. It caught his attention. In every case, I'm sure what John said, behold, about was an awesome sight.

John is here looking ahead to the second coming of Christ. This again is a preview, looking in advance. Chapter 19 gives us the detail and fulfillment. Now we're getting a quick preview. Christ coming with the clouds is a reference to the time when he will come again. Now, it does describe, in Revelation 19, the white horses and the white garments. Perhaps the mass of them will look like clouds.

Whether or not that's the case, certainly it's in contrast to Acts 1-9. Remember in Acts 1-9, Jesus ascended, and what happened? He went up into the clouds. When he comes back, the reverse of that will be the case. There will be clouds about him as he comes back.

Now, the next thing it says is, every eye will see him. Now, it gives you an impression this is not going to be just some sort of a private viewing, right? This isn't some sort of a small secluded event or a select group. It says every eye, and in order that we not misunderstand when it says every eye, look at the next description.

Even those who pierced him. Now, we know that the Roman soldiers pierced Jesus at the demand of the Jews. So it was actually both Jews and Gentiles had responsibility for his death on the cross. Then, to reinforce this idea, it says all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. You get the impression that's all the tribes of the earth? I do. Anyway, that means the entire earth, every tribe, will be mourning over his coming.

Now you might wonder, why would they be mourning? Well, you know what? There's a lot of reasons why they could be mourning. Think of some of them here. One is just great distress. Here's something everybody's seeing. And guess what? They've been going through seven years of everybody seeing things. Here's one more. Okay? Here's one more thing. Now what's coming out of the sky?

You can imagine that thought on the part of some people. But I think people will begin to recognize this is different. This is different. There will be other reasons. For some, it will be a loss of power. For some, it will be a recognition of wasted lives. For some, it will be, I've spent seven years going through pure hell here on planet Earth and finally attended. There may be other meanings, too.

In verse 8, he says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, he who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Now, we might be prone to skip the words I am, but let's not do that. The reason we shouldn't is, while it's translated I am in English, this is a special construction. In the Greek, it's ego eimi. And what's that talking about?

It is the I am that in the Greek version of the Old Testament... Remember, here is Moses in front of the burning bush. And Moses asked, because the Lord is sending Moses to go to the Egyptians, right? Who should I say sent me? And what does the Lord say?

I am. That's what this is. I am. I, in contrast to anyone else, am the Alpha and Omega. When Jesus said these exact same words, the Jews picked up stones. Let there be no mistake about what he's trying to convey here. I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, he who is and was and who is to come. Let's take a look at what that's talking about.

Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Here in this top line. The Hebrews would have said in their alphabet Aleph and Toph. And you know the rabbis They said, God is the aleph and the pav. Well, John's writing in Greek, so what's he going to put? The Greek letters. That's what he's doing here. The first letter and the last. I'm the beginning and the end. I'm the first and the last. There isn't anything outside me.

That's the communication here. We use in English even that same kind of an idea. You go into some store that says they have everything, and what do they tell you? We've got everything from A to Z. What that tells you is we've got it all. That's the message it's conveying here. I am the Alpha and Omega. There isn't anything outside of me. There isn't anyone above me. I'm the beginning to the end. I'm the first and the last. That's the message here. Now, take a look at your handout.

You've got a chart there on one side. Now, some of you are going to look at that chart And you're going to say, wow, that's really neat. And you're just going to spend rapt fascination with this chart for hours, I'm sure. Others of you are going to look at it and say, Vern, you have really popped your cork. Okay. Well, let's take a look at it here just in case you're concerned if I pop my cork. You won't be able to read the letters on this, but I'm setting it up here because it's close to identical to what you have. But my point is this.

The Isaiah passages, each one of those passages say, I the Lord God, or words to that effect, am the first and the last. See that? Each of those three passages says that, and some of those passages even say, there is no other beside me. So you get the impression that the first and the last is God. Now, what we find, and you'll see here as we go through the book of Revelation, because it will keep cropping up, what you're going to see here is that the phrase, first and the last, shows up three times in Revelation, just like it did in Isaiah. Interesting parallel there. Along with that, and this is one of those places, it says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. That message will keep coming across as we go through the book of Revelation, and these are the references that you see to it. Now, in these references here that are highlighted, those are clearly references to Christ. It says, who was dead and has come to life.

Can that be any other but Christ? It says they're coming quickly. Isn't that Christ? It says there in the last column, my reward is with me. All of those four references are clearly to Christ, and if you follow over on that column, you'll find that each of those references is linked up with, in the same sentence, I am the first and the last. It points to Christ as deity. And I've looked it up.

It's the exact same thing in the Jehovah's Witnesses Bible, and they don't believe that Christ is deity. It's because Scripture has got Christ deity woven all through it. They can't get that thread out. And that's the point here. As we go through this book of Revelation, you're going to see these phrases crop up. It is not accidental that they are there. They are all claiming a common truth.

Christ is deity. Also, Christ is the first and the last. He is the Alpha and the Omega. There is nothing outside of Him. And if we think about that, that should be very comforting. That should be very comforting. It means that everything that goes on in my life, no matter how crazy it may seem, God knows about it and He's in charge. God knows about it and He's in charge. God's sovereignty isn't just a doctrine that we learn and can write down on a piece of paper. It's something that we learn in our hearts and it's something we come to recognize. God's in charge. He is the first and the last. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He's the beginning and the end. He has everything under control. Even what's going on in the world right now.

Now, next week we'll be taking a look at John's first introduction to the heavenly scene. And I am very excited about being able to go over that with you. There are several reasons why I'm excited about it. is it's John's first time stepping up into heaven and seeing the Christ whom he walked on earth with reigning in heaven. That has got to be mind-boggling. Don't you think that would just blow your mind?

Here is this person I walked with on earth. I crossed the Sea of Galilee with him in a boat. I saw him nailed up on the cross. I went and saw the tomb where they laid him. that graveclaws were laying there, but he wasn't there. I saw him go up into heaven. Now I see him in heaven.

Can you imagine John's thoughts? That is fantastic. One of the things I mentioned is John writes like a musician. He goes from earth to heaven, earth to heaven, earth to heaven, eight times. This is going to be the first crescendo, folks. So that's what we'll be looking at next week. I'm excited, Bob, to be able to go there with you as we delve into this passage. Let's pray right now, okay?

Lord, we thank you that you've laid out these awesome words and you've laid out these tremendous truths for us. And Lord, as we look ahead to the days and weeks ahead, if we even are allowed to be on this planet that long, as we look ahead to them, we just look for you to unveil, to make clear marvelous and awesome things. Things which ought to grab us certainly. and things, if they were understood, which ought to have grabbed every person on this planet. And Lord, we pray that you would, as we'll see in the weeks and months ahead, Lord, we pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and that you would guide and lead and direct us by these truths. In Jesus' name, amen.