[00:00:00] Speaker A: I now can sing Since I've been redeemed I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock I faith in Christ my Redeemer King I'm on the everlasting, everlasting rock Then.
[00:00:16] Speaker B: Row, row pillows what a wonderful change in my life has been wrought Since Jesus came into my heart I have light in my soul for which long I have sought Since Jesus came into my heart Since Jesus came in Came into my heart Since Jesus came in Came into my heart Floods of joy o' er my soul like the sea billows roll Since Jesus came into my.
[00:00:54] Speaker C: Heart.
[00:00:58] Speaker D: I have ceased from my wandering and going astray Since Jesus came into my heart and my sins which were many Are all washed away Since Jesus came into my heart Since Jesus came again into my heart Since Jesus came into my heart Jesus joy O my soul like the sea below Since Jesus came into my heart.
[00:01:38] Speaker B: I shall go there to dwell in that city I know Since Jesus came into my heart.
[00:01:47] Speaker D: And I'm happy, so happy as on.
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Where I go Since Jesus came into my heart Since Jesus came into my heart Since Jesus came in Came into my heart Let the joy of my soul like the sea below strong.
[00:02:12] Speaker E: Since.
[00:02:13] Speaker B: Jesus came into my heart.
[00:02:21] Speaker C: Welcome to the Voice of Hope. I'm Anthony and today I want to begin with a question.
How precious is the word of God to you?
A listener recently sent us this testimony.
I've been an active listener to the Heralds of Hope radio program for four years.
I live in the western part of Ethiopia where it's very hard to come together to worship God.
I listened to the program by hiding myself from my family because of persecution.
This radio program is my small Bible school where I learn the message of hope.
I receive encouragement and motivation from this radio ministry which is very interesting and restores the lives of listeners.
Remember me in your prayers that God will give me strength and his power.
Thank you very much for your service. God bless you all.
This listener, like the readers of John's Letter of Revelation, finds encouragement in God's word despite his suffering.
In today's episode of the Voice of Hope, our Bible teacher, J. Mark Horst, will be continuing our study of Revelation. Beginning with the greeting from the Alpha and and the Omega.
[00:03:42] Speaker E: Take a moment to think about your possessions.
What's the first item that comes to your mind?
And what's the most enduring tangible thing that you own?
How long will it last?
For your lifetime? Maybe for your child's lifetime or maybe your grandchild.
But what will happen to it eventually at the end of Time as we know it.
In 2 Peter 3:10, we're told the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat. Both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
So if even the basic elements are destroyed, that means nothing tangible will survive.
In contrast, we have this testimony from Jesus. In Matthew 24:35, he said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away.
And then further, the psalmist stated, forever, O Lord, your word is settled in heaven.
Now, to be settled means to be established, or to be fixed, immovable, to be permanently secured.
That is the nature of God's Word. And there are many, many other verses that we could cite that speak about the veracity and the permanence of God's Word.
That is why, as Christ followers, we can have absolute confidence that we truly have A Word from God. And that's the title for my teaching. From the Book of Revelation. This A Word from God.
In the opening verses of this Book of Revelation, John is writing a letter to the seven churches in Asia Minor. Now, we know there were more assemblies of believers in this region, but these seven were chosen to represent the whole.
Incidentally, this is the first use of the number seven in the Book of Revelation. And if you were to look throughout Scripture from Genesis to revelation, the number 7 occurs more than 700 times, and it is associated with perfection and also with God's covenant.
So here in this last book of the Bible, the number 7 constitutes the numeric base structure of this letter.
I must remind you, though, that John is not the author of this letter to these seven churches. He's simply the writer through whom the message is transmitted.
Our text for this episode is Revelation 1, 4, 8, and it makes this fact abundantly clear.
So I invite you to listen carefully as I read the text and as I do, see if you can detect the essential aspects of this word from God and as it is given to John.
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 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.
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.
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.
John's opening statements clearly reveal that this message to the churches is a word from God. And on that basis we will explore the essential aspects of that word.
The first aspect of this word from God is its authority.
After John greets his readers with grace and peace, he immediately appeals to a higher authority as the source of that grace and peace.
Now, if you are a Bible reader, you know that many of Paul's New Testament letters began with that standard greeting, grace and peace.
However, I believe John attached greater meaning to these terms because remember, he's writing to assemblies of believers scattered across Asia Minor and and they are experiencing severe persecution.
In his greeting he references the authority and eternality of God, like the one who was, who is, and who is to come.
Now, each of those formal titles for God is treated as though it were a proper name. And the third title, the Coming One, is the keynote of this letter, the Second Coming of the Son.
This coupling of these three descriptions is an allusion to God's four letter name in Hebrew, Yahweh.
I said in a previous episode that I believe John received this revelation from God. In the Hebrew language you might recall in Exodus chapter 3 and verse 14, God said to Moses, I am who I am.
If you look in the Septuaginth, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, God is recorded as saying, I am he who is.
In other words, he is self existent. He is dependent on nothing or anyone.
And so for someone reading this letter that John wrote in Greek but thinking in Hebrew, the connection is obvious.
These terms, grace and peace, are also resident in the seven spirits that are before God's throne.
And there again you have the number seven.
I believe this is likely God's way of affirming the spirit's completeness, his fullness.
God's omniscience is represented in the seven spirits which are presently and continually before him, before the throne.
Now I must clarify this. These are not to be confused with the seven angels of the churches that appear in verse 20 of this chapter.
Because in this book of Revelation, angels are never referred to as spirits.
And as the final aspect of the authority by which he writes, John introduces Jesus into the text.
Incidentally, we don't have time to explore this in this episode, but I Encourage you to read Psalm 89 in light of verses 4 and 5 in the text that we're looking at today.
I think you'll find the connections fascinating.
Notice with me now the multifold description of Messiah.
He's not just a witness. He is the faithful witness. And this concept is taken directly from the Torah. It's connected to the number seven.
Because you see, in Hebrew, the word for oath is Shavuah and the number seven is Shiva.
Jesus is the perfect, trustworthy witness.
Witness of what? A witness to the things written in this book. Jesus prophetic ministry is clearly seen.
And then, furthermore, he is the firstborn from the dead. Or as Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:20, the firstfruits of those who have died.
The concept of resurrection is implicit in the Jewish feast of firstfruits.
This represents his priestly ministry.
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. That's Romans 8:34, and intercession is the role of a priest.
And then finally, his ministry as king is described as the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Think about it. Isn't this what Satan offered Jesus in the wilderness during his temptation?
He showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, I'll give you all these if you will only bow down and worship me.
Of course, as we know, Jesus refused Satan's offer by his obedience to the Father. Jesus won by his resurrection what Satan offered to him by surrender. And so God said of Jesus in Psalm 89:27 also, I will make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.
John highlights that key fact.
These descriptions of Jesus ministry seem to reinforce the promises God made to David in 2 Samuel chapter 7 regarding an eternal kingdom.
So this Word comes to us with the full authority and sanction of the triune God.
There's another aspect of this Word of God. It is its application.
Since the Godhead is eternal and sovereign over all, how does that truth apply to us? How does it affect us?
The fourth description of the Messiah is the one who loves us. And everything that follows in this book is based on that divine attribute.
And how did he demonstrate his love? He has freed us from our sins by his blood. You know, that's the gospel in one sentence.
Some manuscripts say he washed us from our sins. And that idea is also biblical. We are forgiven. We are released from the bondage of sin. We have been bathed and we have Been ransomed Hallelujah at Robertson points out a change of verb tenses at the end of verse five.
The washing that is the redemption is once for all, the love of the Father that is continuing.
And I think that is a precious thought to meditate on.
And then, as a result of our being set free from sin, he has appointed us collectively as a kingdom of believers, as priests serving His God. And Father Peter wrote about that. He said, you are a chosen generation. You are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
The kingdom is collective, but the priesthood is individual.
One of the distinctive teachings of the early Anabaptists during the reformation in the 1500s was the concept of the priesthood of all believers. The state church said, no, only a select group can can be priests. But the Anabaptists rejected that based on 1 Peter 2:9 and other scriptures too.
So the reign of the saints is emphasized in this book. Every believer has direct access to God.
The fullest expression of this idea appears in Revelation 21:22, where John recorded, but I saw no temple in it that is in heaven, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
Now we can only grasp these things, as Paul said in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
I have to admit I have little conception of what it means to worship Christ face to face and to know him completely. But I accept this promise by faith.
Such a majestic description of the victorious Christ calls forth a glorious doxology to him be glory and dominion forever and ever unto the ages of ages. That's eternity, you know. This spontaneous burst of acclamation arises because the multifaceted greatness of Jesus Christ eventually results in the glory and power of his God and Father.
Though the Son and the Father are distinct somehow, they are so connected that we cannot always easily distinguish them.
Because Jesus fulfills each of these ministries prophet, priest and king, he alone is worthy of all worship.
By his authority he has fully honored his character and word by the application of his love to our hearts.
The New Testament writers make it clear that that salvation and all its effects in this life are only a down payment of what is coming.
Paul highlights this truth in Ephesians 1:13 14. He wrote, in him you also trusted after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory.
Now notice with me what comes next.
Look, he is coming with clouds.
Clouds are often associated with the Lord's presence in Scripture.
You may remember how the Shekinah glory cloud enveloped the mountain at Sinai.
The cloudy pillar accompanied God's people Israel through their wilderness wanderings.
And when Solomon dedicated the temple, the Shekinah glory filled the temple to the extent that the priests couldn't even enter it in order to minister.
And then during Jesus earthly ministry, clouds enveloped him and the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration.
You must also remember that when Jesus left this earth, his followers were given an explicit promise.
Now, when he had spoken these things while they watched, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven, as he went up, behold two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will so come in like manner as you saw him go into heaven. That's Acts chapter one and verses nine through eleven.
Now it's interesting to me. Verses six and seven of our text introduce two biblical prophecies, one triumphant and the other tragic.
Jewish literature of John's time had the Son of Man traditions that were based on Daniel 7.
And then later in Jewish history, the sages of the Talmud understood these to be two distinctly different prophecies. And so they concluded, well, then there must be two Messiahs.
But the author of Revelation combines the seemingly hard to reconcile concepts of the Messiah into one person, Jesus. The Messiah has come, he has suffered, and he will come again to claim his full glory in Daniel's vision. In chapter seven, we read, I was watching in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven.
He came to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
Then to him was given dominion and glory, and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed.
This is the triumph.
In my introduction to this study in a previous episode, I said that understanding Daniel's prophecy is critical for us in understanding the Book of Revelation.
In our text, John continues, every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all peoples on earth will mourn because of him.
Now I'd like to compare that with Zechariah chapter 12:10 that reads like this.
And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and supplication.
Now listen then they will look on 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 firstborn.
This is the tragedy.
The statement that every eye will see him denotes physical sight, but it also emphasizes the mental discernment, the that goes along with the physical sight. It points to the result of seeing, not just the act.
And so when Jesus appears in the clouds, all who have rejected him will have their spiritual discernment awakened by his appearance. And that will cause them to mourn for their foolishness and for their sin.
In my understanding of 1 Thessalonians 4:13, 18 and 2 Thessalonians 2:1 12, the event that's being described here in our text cannot be the rapture or the catching away of the Church.
Only those who are looking for Christ to return will see him. Then, According to Hebrews 9:28, this is an apparent reference to the second coming of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords within Christendom. The majority view is that all peoples of the world will mourn over the pierced Messiah.
However, if this is truly an allusion to Zechariah 12:10, that text mentions explicitly the tribes of Israel.
Now, one argument to support that view, that understanding is that the word earth as it's used here is not the standard Hebrew designation for the planet, but rather it's the specific term eretz for the land of Israel.
So whether this is specific to the Jews or includes all unbelievers, their grief will be loud and demonstrative as they realize what they've done, so shall it be Amen.
You know, the word of God with its singular authority, changes us from sinners to saints and promises us a future fulfillment of God's promises.
That is the application of this word from God.
And then the final aspect of this Word from God is its affirmation.
Affirmation, as you probably know, is primarily a positive statement of encouragement or a declaration of truth with a firm conviction.
And that's precisely what we have in verse 8.
Try to imagine with me the encouragement and blessing these statements would have brought to John's readers, who lived in the midst of intense suffering.
I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty.
Now the Alpha and the Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, and they correspond with the first and last letters of the Hebrew Alphabet.
And we have similar statements found in Revelation 21:6 and 22:13, but they add additional ideas.
It is done. I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. That's 22:13.
Now, while we often refer to Jesus as the Alpha and Omega, the only One of these three instances that clearly refers to Jesus is the one in chapter 22. And that's because he says in verse 16 of that chapter, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify of these things.
However, in this final verse of our text, the Lord God declares that he is the Alpha and Omega.
Now, let's not get ourselves tied up in knots over this, but let's realize there is mystery in the Godhead. While God the Father and God the Son are distinct, they are yet one.
The final adjective that is used at the end of verse 8 to describe God is the Almighty.
And the only other occurrence of this word in the New Testament outside of the Book of revelation is in 2 Corinthians 6:18 where Paul wrote, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.
The sovereignty and eternality of God affirm or guarantee the prophecies just made and the ones that will follow.
Yes, when we accept God's love and he sets us free from sin, we are separated from sin and we are adopted into his family.
That prepares us for the time when Jesus comes again to gather to Himself all those who have put their faith and trust in him, taken up their cross and become his disciples.
But until that time, we wait, we watch, and we work.
If you are not ready for these events, I urge you today is the day of salvation.
[00:25:18] Speaker C: Thank you. J Mark the Word of God truly transforms lives and I'm looking forward to the day when Jesus will return in all of his glory.
I hope this series is a blessing to you.
Send us your comments, concerns or prayer requests to hopeheraldsofhope.org or you can call us at 866-960-0292.
Our mailing address is the Voice of Hope, 6183 Lincoln Highway, Harrisonville, PA 17228. And don't forget, you're welcome to listen to past episodes or explore more Bible based content on our
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Keep tuning in for more Bible teaching and encouragement right here on the Voice of Hope.
[00:26:41] Speaker A: Yesterday, today, forever Jesus is the same still he loves to save the sinful Heal the sick and lame Cheer the mourners till the tempest Glory to His name Yesterday, today, forever Jesus is the same all may change but Jesus never glory to His Name Glory to His name Glory to His name all may change but Jesus never glory to his.
[00:27:27] Speaker E: Name.
[00:27:30] Speaker A: He who was a friend of sin who seeks the lost one now see sinner come and at his foot stupenitently bow he who said I'll not condemn thee, Go and sin no more Speaks to thee that word a pardon as in days of yesterday, today forever Jesus is the same all may change but Jesus never glory to His Name Glory to His Name Glory to His name all may change but Jesus never glory to his name as we walk on stoomaius with them to abide so through all I sway he walketh ever near our side soon again we shall behold him Hasten Lord the day but twill still be the same Jesus as he went away yesterday today forever Jesus is the same.
