John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace to you and
peace from him who is who was, who is to come, and from the
seven spirits who who are before his throne and from Jesus
Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and
the ruler over the kings of the earth.
When was the book written in the Book of Revelation in around ID
95, when Domitian Caesar, Domitian emperor Domitian, I
should say, has just ascended to the throne in Rome.
He was as crazy as season Nero and he was an egomaniac
Domitian. He claimed to be God as a lot of
the emperor's wanted to be in demanded and he demanded people
worship him. But he unlike some of the
Emperor's before him, he wanted to people people to call him
Lord and God, which most of the Christians refused and a massive
wave of persecution was released against them in the Roman Empire
and it included the Apostle John who was around 90 odd years of
age at this time. It is believed that the Apostle
John, as the youngest of all the disciples, was banished by
Demetian to the island of Patmos.
And it is here on this island in the Greek Isles and the
barrenness of exile that Jesus appears to John, directs John to
write this amazing book which we're studying, which you have
in your hand today, the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Some 60 to 65 years prior to the apostle writing the Book of
Revelation, he and two other disciples, James and Peter,
you'll remember, we're given a preview of the coming
attractions when Jesus was transfigured before them on the
mount to the Mount of Transfiguration.
And I saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah, and they were
talking about Christ's upcoming crucifixion, his death.
So John says he gives his name, John, to the seven churches
which are in Asia, modern Turkey today.
And he gives the usual Pauline structure, grace to you and
peace. You can't have peace until you
have grace from him who is and was and who is to come.
Now, when writing a letter, at the time that John wrote this,
when he penned this vision, if you were writing a letter to me
or I was writing a letter to you, I would put my name at the
beginning of the letter. We sign off at the end today.
So here John, keeping with the customs of the day as he's
writing to the seven churches at the in Asia, he puts his name at
the beginning and he gives us the Trinity in this in this
verse 4, it says for him who is and who was and who is to come.
This title identifies the first person of the Trinity, God the
Father, for he is the source of all blessings and salvation.
All grace and peace come from Him, and it says then, and from
the seven spirits who are before His throne.
This is a title again, and it scribes the person of the Holy
Spirit. This title is interpreted for us
in the Old Testament passages and you'll find there in Isaiah
11, which gives us a sevenfold description of the Holy Spirit.
And then in Zechariah Zechariah chapter 4, we find the seven
stemmed menorah like we have on the stage here today,
symbolising the presence of the Holy Spirit in the temple.
Remembering also that revelation was written to seven churches,
thus telling us with the number seven of the Holy Spirit's
presence with each church seven in the Bible and you Bible
numbers there is numerical numbers 12 being the number of
government. 40 we always see is judgement 7 is the number of
fullness and it says then goes on in verse 4 and from Jesus
Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead and
the ruler over the kings of the earth.
John writes a full of description here of Jesus than
he did with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Why? Because this book Jesus is the
theme of the Book of Revelation. John says he is the faithful
witness. In other words, Jesus always
speaks and represents truth. Jesus said I am the way, what
and the truth and the life. Jesus is incapable of lies or
falsehoods. You remember when Jesus stood
before Pontius Pilate and Pilate was questioning him, are you a
king? Who?
Where are you? What are you?
Because Jesus wasn't saying too much.
And in chapter 18 of the Gospel of John verse 37, Pilate said to
him, are you a king? Then Jesus answered, you say
rightly I am a king for this 'cause I was born and for this
cause I've come into the world that I should bear witness to
the truth. Everyone who is of the truth
hears my voice. John then gives him another
title description. He says he's the first born from
the dead. And all the cults jump on this
and say, see Jesus, he's not God, he was created being.
And you can make anything, say anything.
If you take something out of the context, you make it a pretext.
It's the first poem from the dead.
The Greek word used here by John is the word protoco.
Protoco which speaks of priority, first in priority and
1st in preeminence. Because Jesus is not the first
to rise from the dead, is he the widow's son, you remember,
Elijah comes to a widow, son dies.
Elijah raises the son, remember, lays on top of him.
He comes back to life. As Jesus goes to a place called
Nain, he comes across a widow and a funeral and her only son
is dead in the casket being carried out.
Jesus stops, touches the the son of the widow of Nain, and he
rises and returns back to life. So this description by John of
Jesus means that of all those that have ever been raised from
the dead past and future, Jesus is the first and foremost in
position and prominence. He is the greatest of them all.
Only Jesus is eternal God at the same time, the others who we
talked about, yes they will rise from the dead.
There's another one called Lazarus.
We know about him. Thou arise from the death, dead
to life prior to Jesus. But they all eventually died
again, didn't they? But Jesus was the first to rise
from the dead and now he remains alive forever.
And I love this next part at the end of John chapter one, verse 4
here it says and the ruler over the kings of the earth.
I'm so glad that politicians aren't in in control.
They think they are. It's kind of funny, isn't it?
You know, when you people, when people think they're in control
of something and then you go, no, you're not.
You think you are, but you're not.
It says he is the ruler over the kings of the earth.
There are kings on the earth who rule over their domains, but
Jesus is the king of kings. He's the king of all the earth,
of all the kings, and over all the kingdoms.
Read Psalm to it says, and I love this now to him who loved
us and washed us from our sins. How in his own blood to him who
loved us. In the book of Ephesians chapter
2 verse one says Paul writes, and you speaking to believers he
made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins in which you
once walked according to the course of this world, according
to the Prince of the power of the air.
That is the devil, the Spirit, who now works in the sons of
disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in
the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
just as the others. But then Paul says, But God, who
is rich in mercy, why is He rich in mercy?
Because Paul says of His great love which He loved us, you can
never come to church and you can never say or leave church and
say, oh, I don't believe God loves me.
I don't think God loves me because that's biblically
incorrect. Because the Bible tells us for
God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that
whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. There will be times in your life
where you think, well, Gee, you know, this has happened to me.
Like I've the doctors just pronounced this on me.
I've got months to go or, or this has happened or this
tragedy has happened in my family.
I don't sense God's love for me. That's an incorrect statement.
And we, we often do that. We, we're fuelled by our, our
emotions. And that's where you've always
when your emotions are taking over, you've got to go back to
the word because the word is the truth.
In the beginning was the word, The word was with God and the
word was God. And Jesus is the one who gives
you the truth. He can't lie.
And you need to know this tonight if you if you know
nothing else, that God. And this is what's staggering to
me. God loves me.
I'm just, you know, think of all the people that sadly are taking
their own lives in our community.
Young people, it's a plague that's happening to us because
many of them think I'm I'm better off, the world's better
off without me, my family's better off without me, my kids
are better off without me, although, and I just need to be
gone because the Bible tells us God is rich in mercy and he
loves us. The hardest thing for you and I
often to accept is to be loved because we we know how bad we
are. We know but if I went to church,
the walls would fall in because the Bible also tells us that
none of us are righteous. No, not one.
We've all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but
God who was rich in his mercy, God loves us.
In 1 John chapter 4 verse 10, it says in this is love.
What is that? Not that we love God, but that
He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. He met the holy holiness that
was required of God, and he and he also met the payment of sin
that we had. We can't come to God and we
can't a Sinner can't, you know, a criminal can't go, well, I'm
doing, I'm doing a life sentence here.
You know, I'll go and pay a life sentence with somebody else.
They go, you've got nothing to give.
You're already doing time. But Christ came and he met the
requirements. He was sinless.
He was able to pay the penalty of sin.
He took upon our himself, our sins and he said, I'll take
them. I'm able to and I'll bury them
and I'll pay for them then as He paid for them because he's
sinless. He rose from the dead and the
resurrection of Christ past Israel taught on the other
night. The resurrection of Christ is
God's exclamation mark to you and I that we have been
forgiven. You need to know that one.
John 419 we love him. Why?
Because He first loved us and we didn't deserve it.
Jesus rescued us from our sins. He freed us from them.
Now remember, in Colossians he transported us out of the
Kingdom of darkness where we used to be ruled over by Satan,
and he took us into the Kingdom of what?
Of his beloved Son. We're now under his rule.
We're in His Kingdom. We're citizens of His Kingdom.
How did he do this? Was blood my sacrifice by his
pain, his suffering? Which is why we celebrated
communion last Sunday. Because Jesus said every time
you do this, do what? In remembrance of what?
Of how much he loves us, How much he loves us.
That's what Communion is about, the love of God for me that I
don't deserve. And I know each day how much I
don't deserve. That's why I'm overwhelmed.
That's why the woman who washed Jesus feet with her tears and
cried over and then wiped it with his hair in Simon Pharisees
house, she loved him much. Why?
Jesus said because she knows she's been forgiven much.
Forgiven much? I think that's part of the
problem of the modern church today.
We don't realise what Christ has forgiven us of how much so John
cannot help but now burst into praise as he writes these words
for John personally knew like us, that Jesus loves us and he
loves us with. And here's the other thing about
this love. It's an unbreakable love.
How unbreakable. I read this out at every funeral
that I do for a believer. Romans 835 Who shall separate us
from the love of Christ? It's a question shall
tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or
nakedness or peril or sword, as it is written for your sake?
We are killed all day long. We are counted as sheep for the
slaughter. Yet in all these things we are
more than conquerors. Through him who loves, loved us.
Past tense, Paul says. For I am persuaded, I know that
neither death nor life, angels, principalities, powers, things,
present, things to come, height nor depth, nor any other created
thing, He travels the universe with all these words shall be
able to separate us from the love which is in Christ Jesus
our our Lord. In other words, now that God
loves you and you know that here this, he's never going to leave
you, He's never going to leave you.
Nothing, nothing will separate you.
John chapter 10, my favourite passage in in the Gospel of
John. I'm in his hands and nothing and
no one can Take Me Out of his hands.
He's the Good Shepherd. How did Jesus express his love
for you? How can we really know that God
loves us? We can know by that moment that
He released us from all our sins by his blood, His life, His
atonement. It is finished by his
sacrificial death on the cross of Calvary, our place in our
place. Because Jesus didn't have to
die. He volunteered.
He was LED willingly away as the lamb to the slaughter.
I did not a word never complained.
John has to finish this verse with a burst of praise.
It's called you heard the term sometimes a doxology.
Doxology means a liturgical formula of praise unto God.
Verse 6 and has made us kings and priests to his God and
father. And John says now to him, you
can't help it be glory. John.
See, John loves God. This is why John served the Lord
while the disciples died. Only John is alive at this time.
All the others are dead. To him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen.
John's on the island alone and he's going Yahoo didn't need to
be pumped up. I can't, John, praise the Lord,
praise the Lord. He's made us kings and priests.
Now, what does this mean? This doesn't mean you and I go
charging around the world going I'm a King's kid, I'm a priest
and I got specialist. No, no, no.
What it actually means truly in this context, it refers to our
future opportunities in the millennial reign, the Kingdom of
Christ, where we will serve and rule basically kings and
priests, you and I. It's saying you and I, our live
sole purpose is to serve the Lord forever.
If you want to go, I'm a King's kid and I'm a priest, OK, you
serve God forever. That's what it is.
Verse 7. 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.
John now gives us a preview of what is coming later.
That is Christ's second coming. We see in John's words here the
necessity of Christ's second coming means the word He starts
off behold. What that means in the Greek
means take notes, listen up. Attention.
The Book of Revelation demands our attention.
This is not a casual read. This is.
Behold the Coming 1 is a title for Christ and it's repeated 9
times throughout the Book of Revelation.
The Coming 1 Revelation for you and I is about the coming One,
Jesus Christ. Despite the ignorance, unbelief,
rebellion, and disbelief that fills this fallen world
currently and prior to Christ's return, Christ's return, the
Bible repeatedly affirms Jesus will return 500 times.
More than 500 times. The Bible tells us this truth,
that Christ is coming again. How many times do you have to be
told? How many times do you say that
the kids as you go out, How many times do I have to tell you, Oh,
I've told you twice? Well, the Bible's telling us
more than 500 times He's coming again.
One out of every 25 verses in the New Testament refer to
Christ's second coming. And with this powerful hope that
Christ is coming again to take His children home to heaven, to
live in His presence, and to bring then at the same time a
righteous judgement to a wicked, evil world, this ensures peace
forever to remain within us. Let not your heart be troubled,
Jesus said at the beginning of John 14.
And John's not writing this and going, oh, he's coming.
Oh man, what's going on? Look at the how John is, is
telling us he, he's a 90 year old guy exiled on and he is high
on the Holy Spirit. We need to have peace forever
within us, grace and peace, John wrote.
In spite of what's happening in our world.
And tomorrow you'll see in the devotion that about the military
buildup and everyone's, you know, it's on now, Ukraine, the
war in Ukraine. And Russia has stepped up.
I'm told China, they believe is, is, is contemplating close to
taking on Taiwan. America has just told our Prime
Minister you need to boost your military spending because it's
pathetic and if you don't, don't come to us when you get in
trouble. We've got at least 25 soldiers,
2 guns, air rifle and a slingshot.
Paul wrote to us about the coming of the Lord.
He said comfort one another with these words and Jesus is coming.
John says he's coming in the clouds.
John tells us in the Old Testament a cloud, the Shekinah
glory of God, was to be a visible manifestation of God's
presence with Israel. Remember the cloud that led them
during the day through the desert at Mount Sinai.
As Moses was on top of Mount Sinai speaking to the Lord,
there was a thick cloud that sat on top of the mountain.
The cloud, the Shekinah glory was seen in both the Tabernacle
of Meaning and then later in the Temple, and Solomon dedicated
the Temple at the Rapture. We will ascend with clouds.
At this time it says 1 Thessalonians 417 Then we who
are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds. I don't know about you, but is
this why we always have a fascination with clouds?
I mean, isn't there something about?
I mean, we do. I mean, I do, maybe one or two
others do, but I'm fascinated with clouds.
To meet the Lord in the air, Jesus will return with clouds.
Matthew 2430. Then the sign of the Son of Man
will appear in heaven. Then all the tribes of the earth
will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the
clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
Shekinah Glory verse 7. Behold, He is coming with
clouds, and every eye will see Him.
When Christ walked upon the earth, His glory was hidden in
Bethlehem. When he was born few shepherds
and then later on and he's about to the wise men turn up.
When Christ walked upon the earth, his glory was hidden.
Only Peter, James and John caught a glimpse, as I said
before, of his glory at the Mount of Transfiguration 60 to
65 years earlier than this book. But at Christ's second coming,
Christ's glory will be obvious to all.
I mean, he's coming. It'll be an entrance.
But of the eyes that will see Jesus at his return, there will
be two divisions of people. As Christ returned, there'll be
two reactions to the people on the earth at that time.
It says those who pierced him. There's one group.
This is not referring to the Roman soldiers involved in
Christ's crucifixion, but it is referring to the unbelieving
Jews who called for Christ's death.
The nation Israel. Zechariah 12/10 And I'll pour on
the House of David, and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the
spirit of grace and supplication.
Then they will look upon me whom they pierced.
Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only Son, and
grieve for him as one grieves for a first born.
Notice this morning it's Oh no, what do we do?
What do we do? Israel's mourning will be so
heartfelt that wonderfully. As a result, many Jews at that
time will be saved during the tribulation period.
Zechariah 13 One in that day a fountain shall be opened for the
House of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
For sin and uncleanness come be washed.
But the other group, it's different, it says, and all the
tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
But this word mourn is different.
This refers to the unbelieving Gentile nations.
Because he's coming ready or not.
Many Gentiles will also mourn at this time.
This word here mourn is the Greek word copto and it means to
cut like remember the prophets of bar when they're having that,
that pray off with Elijah or Mount Carmel, they're cutting
themselves and all that. This group's mourning will be a
result, a prompting by terror, not repentance, not repentance.
They will mourn not for the Christ they rejected, but they
will mourn over their own doom. Court too late.
In Revelation 921 it goes into a greater detail and says, and
they did not repent of their murders of their sorceries, or
their sexual immorality or their thefts.
In Romans 6, when the judgement begins, they run and hide
themselves under the rocks, and say, fall upon us, fall upon us,
for the judgement of the Lamb has come.
John writes lastly, lastly of his own response to Christ
coming again, he says Even so. Amen.
In other words, bring it on, Come Lord, come, hurry.
Verse 8 The Lord speaks in this I am the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the
beginning of the Greek alphabet, first letter and the last
letter. I am the Alpha and the Amiga,
the beginning and the end, says the Lord, who is, who was and
who is to come the Almighty. Now why is this statement here?
For the sight here the Lord personally signs off with His
signature of who He is on the prophecy of His second coming.
He says I'm coming, I can guarantee you and I tell you who
is coming, The Alpha and the Amiga emphasising God's perfect
knowledge of all things Jesus Christ.
Second, coming here is going to happen.
God is the beginning and the end, and in Him is all knowledge
and truth. People can say, well as I said,
Peter will say in the last days there'll be scoffers.
So well this has been going on for years and we've heard this
all around. I am coming, I'm telling you I'm
coming. Jesus is the one who is to come.
There are at least 50 references in the New Testament for us as
believers to be ready and I I wonder how much of the church
today is ready? How much of the church actually
has read or believes the Book of Revelation?
John wrote his Gospel. John 20.
Remember, at the end of the Gospel of John, John wrote the
Gospel. Why?
I said I could write many, many, many things too much.
I write this that you may believe that he is, or I say he
is. Then John wrote the epistles,
first, second, third John. Why do you write first, second,
and third John? Then you can be sure of who he
is, because it tells us who he is.
We touched him. We saw him who are his how they
should live. And then he wrote the Book of
Revelation. Why that we might be ready that
we might be ready and we're we're in this letter church so
that you and I can always will always be ready because the time
is at hand.