When people are facing persecution, it's great to focus upon the victorious nature of our Redeemer and the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, and that's what we're going to look at in Revelation 22, 12 through 17. And we looked at verse 12 last week. I'm gonna reread it because it's a part of this paragraph. Take note, I am coming swiftly and my reward is with me to give each one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and end, the first and the last. Blessed are those who do his commands so that they may have the right to the tree of life, even to enter through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star. Both the spirit and the bride say, come. And let whoever hears say, come. And let whoever thirsts, come. Whoever wants to, let him take the water of life free of charge. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. And as we continue to worship in our interactions with We pray for your illumination by your Holy Spirit, in Jesus' name, amen. The last week, we saw that Christ's soon coming in judgment in AD 70, that verse 12 refers to, is quite different from the distant coming in judgment that will happen at the end of history. A number of scriptures talk about a judgment at the beginning of the kingdom, and a second judgment at the end of the kingdom. And this whole paragraph deals with a judgment day that occurs at the dawning of the kingdom. Now, even though I dealt with verse 12 last time and won't review that, let me at least give you a scripture that summarizes what we talked about. It's Daniel 7, 26 through 27, talking about a judgment and dawning of the kingdom. But the court shall be seated. This is clearly a judgment context. The court shall be seated. They shall take away his dominion. Satan's time has ended. Shall take away his dominion to consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and all dominions shall serve and obey him. Now that chapter, when you read the whole chapter, shows exactly the same tribulations that Revelation is talking about leading up to the birthing of the kingdom. So just as labor pains give birth to a beautiful baby, Scriptures talk about labor pains in the first century, giving birth to the kingdom. And every verse in this paragraph gives confidence in this soon to be dawning of the kingdom. And we're picking up at verse 13. In verse 13, Jesus says, he basically gives his divine credentials of why he can bring light out of darkness. He says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and end, the first and the last. This is as clear a statement of the divinity of Christ as you could get. And if you ever have to deal with cult members who deny the deity of Jesus, you might wanna put some marginal notes into your Bible of other places where these phrases occur. Not only does the angel point Jesus away, I mean, John, away from worshiping him, said, don't worship me, worship God, and he's pointing over here, and who's immediately speaking? It's Jesus. But Jesus says, yes, he was worthy of worship, just like the worship he received in the Gospels, and he takes this legitimacy of worship by taking titles to himself that only belong to Yehovah God. Now, these titles have already been used in this book. You're probably familiar with them. And they previously pointed to the deity of Jesus, but this is the first time that they're all grouped together. They kind of mean the same thing. But by using these three phrases, it's like a triple confirmation. He will do what he has said he will do shortly. Okay, his divinity makes it easy for him to fulfill these prophecies. And so let me explain the first one. Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter of the Greek alphabet. So it'd be sort of like saying I am the A to the Z and then or if you're in Canada, I'm the A to the Z. And then the next phrase, he says, I am the beginning and the end, and the last phrase, I'm the first and the last. There's just three ways of saying exactly the same thing, but the use of those three phrases absolutely nails down the doctrine of his divinity. They show that he is the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things, all things owe their existence to him and have their purpose in him. And let me prove those assertions. Turn back just one page, to Revelation 21, and I want you to look at verses five through seven. And he who sat on the throne said, take note, I make everything new. And he says to me, write, because these words are true and faithful. Then he said to me, I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. To the one who thirsts, I will give of the spring of the water of life freely. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be God to him, and he will be a son to me. There's no getting around these verses here. If JWs admit that it is Jesus speaking, then he's clearly called God. In verse seven, and if they say, no, no, no, it's not Jesus, it's the Father speaking, say, well, he wears exactly the same titles that Jesus is wearing. Over here, these are divine titles. beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. So either way is affirming his deity. Turn next to Revelation 1 and verse 8, and this too is Jesus speaking. But even if a JW tried to evade that by claiming it's the Father, you again see that God identifies himself with exactly the same titles that Jesus does and in context, I think it's Jesus speaking, but it says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, He who is and who was and who is coming, the Almighty. So Jesus is the Lord God, the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega. In chapter one, verse 17, chapter two, verse eight, the other titles are clearly applied to Jesus again. So this is the kind of information you need When you're dealing with people who deny the deity of Jesus, not only is Jesus worshiped throughout the gospels without any condemnation, anytime a creature is worshiped, cut that out. You can only worship God, but Jesus is worshiped and he never turns them away. But not only is that the case, but there are many scriptures that show that he has all of the attributes of God himself. Now as man. He has the attributes of man. He thirsts, he hungers, he's weak. As God, he has all the attributes of God. He's omnipresent, he's omniscient, he's omnipotent. So back to our text, Beal, in his commentary, tries to capture the significance of these three titles by saying this. Christ's presence and sovereignty over the beginning of creation and over the end of creation are boldly stated in order to indicate that he is also present at and sovereign over all events in between. Leon Morris says, all three expressions mean much the same and they set Christ apart from all created beings. None other than God could share in these titles. Amen. None but God can share in these titles. And I want you to turn to Isaiah 44 to prove that point. This is one of three Old Testament passages that use the title, the first and the last, for Yehoah alone. Yehoah alone has the right to wear that title. And I'll just read the second two of the references in your outline. These are my favorite go-to passages. There's many in the Old Testament that prove the Trinity, but these are my favorite Trinity passages. Isaiah 44, verse six speaks of two persons who are Yehovah, and both of these persons are first and last. Isaiah 44, six, thus says Yehovah, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, Yehovah of hosts. And what do both of them say? I am the first and I am the last beside me. There is no God. So against Mormons who say, Oh yeah, Jesus is just another God. He says, no, there's not another God. There is only one God, even though there are two persons in the Godhead that are mentioned in this verse, the King of Israel and the Redeemer of Israel, and both have the title, the first and the last. And beside this God, there is no God. So J.W. sometimes will translate John 1.1 that Jesus is a God. No, no, there cannot be any other God who wears this title, first and last. But Isaiah 48, Isaiah 48 and verses 12 through 16 shows three persons who are Yehovah God. It is God the Son who is speaking, and you'll recognize that what other scriptures ascribe to Jesus are ascribed to this being here. For example, he's creating all things. He has created all things. John 1.3 says, all things were made through him, that's Jesus. pre-incarnate Son of God, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. So commentators point out that this is God the Son speaking, and He is identified as Yehoah. So let's start reading at verse 12. Listen to me, O Jacob, in Israel my called. I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. Indeed, my hand has laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand has stretched out the heavens. When I call to them, they stand up together. All of you assemble yourselves and hear who among them has declared these things. Yehovah loves him. He shall do his pleasure on Babylon and his arm shall be against the Chaldeans. I, even I, have spoken. Yes, I have called him. I have brought him and his way will prosper. Come near to me. Still God the Son speaking. Come near to me, hear this. I have not spoken in secret from the beginning. From the time that it was, I was there and now I don't, I, Jehovah and his spirit have sent me. Thus says Jehovah, your redeemer, the Holy one of Israel. I am Jehovah, your God who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go. So the father. what the New King James translates as the Lord God, which is in the Hebrew, Adonai Yehoah. So the father sends the speaker, who is also Yehoah, most specifically he's called Yehoah your Redeemer, and Yehoah's spirit also sends the son. So the son is speaking as Yehoah, and he says, Adonai Yehoah and his spirit have sent me. So there's three persons who all share the one name. Anyway, you can have fun with these and other scriptures to show that the Trinity can be found anywhere in the New Testament. It's absolutely false to say the doctrine of the Trinity was invented in the second or the third century. or some people say it only is shown in the New Testament. No, it's all through the Old Testament. Even the very first verse of the Old Testament implies a plurality of persons in the Godhead. In the beginning, God, the word for God there is Elohim. Anytime you have an em on the end of a Hebrew word, it's plural, and you've got a singular article before it, and so there is a one God, and yet there's somehow some plurality within that God had. It is really only much later Judaism that in reaction against Christianity that denied the Trinity. I've got commentators, two commentaries on the book of Genesis that were written at the time of the Babylonian exile, long before Christ. that are thoroughly Trinitarian in their exegesis of Genesis chapter one. I can show you those commentaries. But back to our text, if Jesus in Revelation 22, 13 uses this title for himself, he not only shows that he is divine, I think it clearly shows that, but he also shows he is fulfilling the purpose of those passages where that phrase occurred in Isaiah. In other words, with regard to the kingdom. In each of those three chapters in Isaiah, God uses those titles to give courage to God's people that Yehoah's servant is capable of giving birth to the kingdom. They're references to the dawning of the kingdom. And I dealt with that quite a bit last week, so I'm not gonna deal with it again. But they show that this is a judgment day that is not at the end of the kingdom, this is the judgment day at the beginning of the kingdom, after a period of apostasy, darkness, persecution, and trouble. Now in the next two verses, we see both blessing and cursing. Overcomers are promised blessing while those who persist in their sins are excluded from the heavenly city. And so there is an antithesis that God maintains between the elect and the non-elect. And at both judgment days, that antithesis is made permanent. Verse 14. Blessed are those who do his commands so that they may have the right to the tree of life, even to enter through the gates into the city. Now, there are three basic interpretations you'll find in the commentaries on this verse. First interpretation is that only those who persevere in holiness will make it to heaven. but that all the elect will persevere in holiness. They'll all make it to heaven. Second interpretation contradicts that. It's five-point Arminians. They agree that only those who persevere will make it to heaven, but they say, yeah, some of them will lose their salvation. They will not persevere. Third interpretation is quite different, is that those who persevere in holiness have a right to the Lord's table, And through that table, they weakly enter the gates of the New Jerusalem, show themselves to be citizens of the heavenly city, as Hebrews 12 affirms. Now, I'm not gonna try to settle the debate this morning. Obviously, I disagree with five-point Arminianism. But instead of settling something people will still be disagreed on, let me point out what it should be obvious and inescapable in each phrase. He says, blessed are those who do his commandments. Doing His commandments is in the present tense. It indicates it's ongoing. There's a perseverance of doing His commandment. And what does that produce? Far from producing misery, such holiness produces blessedness, or as some translate it, happiness. In fact, the Gospel of John says the only way you can have your life so full of joy, it is constantly overflowing, is in the path of keeping Christ's commandments. After admonishing people to keep his commandments, Jesus goes on to say in John 15, verse 11, these things I've spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. So holiness equals fullness of joy. Now there may be other applications of this phrase. I'm not gonna get into those debates because I think we'll miss the essence of the verse, that there is great joy and happiness when we pursue holiness. Blessed or happy are those who do his commands. Second, this holiness produces deep fellowship with our holy God. Now, we should expect that would be the case, since the more you're conforming to the image of God, the more like him you become, the deeper the intimacy with God is going to be. The first phrase is followed by a so that, so that they may have the right to the tree of life. Now again, I'm not gonna try to settle the question of whether this refers to the Lord's table on earth, a sacramental meal, ongoing meals in heaven from the tree of life, or whether it's just a general figure to fellowship with God in heaven. Getting into that debate will keep us from seeing the heart of the message, and that is that holiness ushers you into more and more fellowship with God. That's what I want you to focus on. The so that statement indicates there is a cause and effect relationship. Now, it's not that holiness earns salvation. That's the way some people treat that phrase. They're already saved. He's talking about, elect people, he's talking about something that goes beyond salvation. It's indicating walking in God's commandments ushers us into closer and closer walk with God himself. And there are other scriptures that have already said that. Revelation 2, verse 7 says, to the one who overcomes, That's another figure for keeping his commandments, right? To one who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Now, Adam had been barred from that tree, he had been barred from fellowship with God, but fellowship is now restored, not just to those who have been justified, but to those whose character is constantly being changed. This is why symbolically, when rebels against holiness, Rebels against God's commandment, they refuse to submit to God's commandments, are eventually barred from the Lord's table. Why? Because it's a symbol of fellowship with God. It's a mockery to the communion that they are professing. As Hebrew says, they have no right to eat at the table because their lives don't exhibit holiness. In any case, in verse 17 of the same chapter, he says, to the one who overcomes, I will grant to eat from the hidden manna. Now, that's another incredible image of deep fellowship. In the Old Testament, the high priest, once a year, he could go into the Holy of Holies. You might think, boy, that would have been awesome to go before that glory cloud. You know what? He could only do it once. Even then, he didn't dare even peek into the Ark of the Covenant where the manna was hidden. If he did, he would have been dead. And he's saying now, look, you've got it so much better than the high priest had it in the Old Testament. Anyone who fights against his sin and is in the process of overcoming, he has, as it were, the ability to eat of that hidden manna. That's how close to God he can go. He can get right into the Holy of Holies. So just like eating the tree of life, this is an incredible image of restored fellowship. Chapter three uses another metaphor, the Lord's table, symbolizing an already existing fellowship. If anyone should hear my voice and open the door, I really will come into him and eat with him and he with me. And again, whether that's an image of the Lord's supper on earth, our eternal eating from the sacramental tree, it's a symbol of close fellowship with God through union with Jesus. So forget about that debate, focus on what all agree on. Do you want close fellowship with God? Then pursue the first phrase. Pursue holiness. The final phrase says, even to enter through the gates into the city. Now if it's referring to communion, it's saying something similar to Hebrews 12, that in every communion, we are caught up to the heavenly city, we feed on Christ. That's what Calvin said. If it is a reference to eternity, we're still ushered into the heavenly Jerusalem, in that case more literally, but it shows our citizenship in the heavenly city. Now Paul says, we are citizens of the heavenly city right now while we are alive on the earth, but holiness and fellowship are correlative with the rights of citizens. So this verse is saying at least that. So this verse is an encouragement to keep growing in holiness, keep growing in fellowship with God, and to keep allowing the heavenly city to tug upon our hearts and to answer that upward call in Christ Jesus with enthusiasm. In Galatians, Paul gives similar descriptions to those who walk in the spirit, and he says, hey, for those, the heavenly Jerusalem is the mother of us all. And Galatians also talks about those who don't walk in the spirit. who walk in the flesh according to the flesh, and they are not citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem. So when you compare Galatians 4-5 with verses 14-15, there really are, I wish I had a chart I could show you, there really are some really cool parallels. Let me read verse 15. He says, Outside of what? Outside the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, outside are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices a lie. So we've had a three-fold description of true believers. Now he's given a seven-fold description of those who are not part of the city. In other words, they're not part of the bride. They might be in the visible church, but they for sure are not part of the invisible church. Number seven seems to be symbolic in that these seven descriptors are general categories that cover all sinners. Every sinner in the whole wide world is included under these seven groupings. Now there's disagreement among commentators on who dogs refers to, but it's politically incorrect. No matter which interpretation you take, I don't think God's too interested in being politically correct. But anyway, let me outline the various interpretations. Mounce points out that in Deuteronomy 23, 17 through 18, God clearly uses the expression dogs to refer to male homosexual prostitutes, and that's a fairly common interpretation. Others show that the way the term is used in the Old Testament shows that dogs refers to anyone in the gay lifestyle. They have no moral conscience, they're acting like dogs, but It may be that this term is even broader than that. Yeats may be correct when he says this. The Bible uses the dog to symbolize a male temple prostitute, Deuteronomy 23, 18, the unclean, Matthew 7, 6, outsiders, Matthew 15, 26, evildoers, Psalm 22, 16, and Judaizers, Philippians 3, verse 2. Now, since dogs were unclean and dangerous, and roam the streets eating, scavenging, refuse. It's possible they symbolize every form of rebellious uncleanness, but a majority of my commentators say that the term is especially applied to the GLBTQ plus community, and I tend to agree with that. And if that's the case, This is another significant verse for settling the debate that has been swirling around the recent ReVoice conference. Far from celebrating that identity as something that will make it into the New Jerusalem, as some of the ReVoice speakers have claimed, this insults the whole community by calling them dogs. and places them outside the bride of Christ. In effect, it is saying there is no such thing as a gay Christian. There is no such thing as a transgender Christian. If gays or transgenders get truly converted, and I've known many that have gotten converted, they have a new identity. They're not bringing their old identity into the New Jerusalem. Their new identity is in Christ. They're just Christian. They're not gay Christian. You don't put part of your old identity in with it. So they're no longer dogs. For sure, they don't celebrate the dog-like identity, or as 2 Peter 2 verse 22 words it, they should not be going back like a dog to its vomit, or like a swine to being to its mire. So those dogs get converted into sheep. They're no longer dogs, okay? Or a swine get converted into family members. They're no longer a swine. So this verse clearly says the old identity and culture will not make it into the new Jerusalem. No dog has citizenship in heaven. So anyone who claims to still be a dog, in other words, to still be homosexual, should not be treated as a Christian. Now, Christians may still fall into that sin in their early months, you know, as they are becoming more and more holy, as they're overcoming their sin, but they have a new identity in Jesus. That's the point. And the same is true of each of these other categories of sin. The next group is sorcerers. Greek word is pharmakos, from which we get the word pharmacy, and before you demonize all pharmacies, the idea is that where it's usually translated as the occult, but it's the occult and drugs mixed together, and you find that frequently in the occult community, that they use illicit drugs together with the occult. But it's usually a focus on the occult. All who dabble in the occult are covered by this term. And I think it's a caution to all of us that we need to avoid the occult in new age alternative medicine. We should have nothing to do with the occult. And I've known personally Christians who have begun demonized by putting themselves under the authority of some new agey occult practitioner. It's a dangerous thing. You can give legal ground to demons to harass you. Fornicators is a broad Greek term that refers to all sexual sins of any kind. So keep in mind, these are general terms that apply to all of the elect and to one or more of these categories. Where some take dogs to refer to the LGBTQ lifestyle or identity, fornicators refers to the sexual license itself, any kind of sexual sin. Murderers is a general term that covers all sins that tend to death or that promote death. So this would not only cover those implicated in abortion, but those who abuse their bodies, those who call for ungodly wars, okay? If you read the larger catechism, it has a marvelous exposition of all 10 commandments, but look at its exposition of the sixth commandment. You'll see it's pretty broad in its application. Idolaters refers to any person who engages persistently in false worship. Why do we follow the regulative principle of worship? Well, it's because any worship that man invents and that God has not authorized is a kind of idolatry. Christians should more and more be getting beyond that. And that means that a majority of modern churches engage in some form of idolatry. When it comes to our attention, we have any idolatry, we need to move on from that. The last phrase says, and everyone who loves and practices a lie, and that's actually two categories of people, those who love a lie are those who are willingly deceived. There are people who, They want to be deceived because they like their sin. They suppress the truth in unrighteousness. They don't want to hear the truth because it might convict them too much. So they prefer to have their ears tickled with preaching rather than to have their sins exposed. They love to hear slander against the opposing political candidate. They don't stop and think, well, is that really true what the media is saying about that candidate? No, they love it because it's being said against their opponent as well. They eat up the lives of the media. They eat up the slander of gossip. So there are many ways in which people can love a lie. Those who practice a lie are ordinary liars, and professional liars who routinely seek to deceive others. It seems that the majority in the mainstream media fall into this category. They produce propaganda that mixes lies with truth. But any of us can easily fall into that sin of lying. Anyway, here is seven categories of people who were not in the bride. They may be in the church visible, but not in the church invisible. True believers hate it when they find themselves lying. They want to move on from that. They ask God to rescue them from their lying. And to have two categories of people covered by lying and deceit shows how hateful this sin is to God. It's yet another manifestation of unbelief. Now here's the thing. Every one of us in this church could be grouped under one or more of these categories if God did not regenerate us, justify us, wash us in his blood, sanctify us, and move us on. We cannot be holier than thou when we look at others. Each one of us was rescued from that, and by the way, the vast majority of the world was described by one or more of these seven categories in the first century, and yet the kingdom of Christ's light has been growing and growing to the point that today, 2.2 billion Christians, at least self-professing Christians, are in the world, that represents 31.6% of the world population. Now, obviously, many of them are only nominally Christian, but the invasion of the kingdom of Satan by Christ's kingdom has been growing nonstop, and this is why the invitation to the gospel in verse 17 is so broad. It is to everyone. Yes, it is exclusive to those who are regenerate, citizenship in heaven, But the invitation is not exclusive. If anybody's not in heaven, it's not because they were not invited, right? There is a broad, broad invitation. It's whosoever will. And so it should give us humility when dealing with sinners. Now, before we get to the grand invitation of the gospel, which is my favorite part of this whole paragraph, he interjects an explanation about Jesus that emphasizes once more that the kingdom of light is just now dawning. We should not be surprised that there is darkness early in the morning. Kathy and I were kind of surprised at how dark it was becoming when we're doing our walks around the block. And we started off and it's like, man, you can hardly see. But by the time we had finished our walks, the light had come and we were able to see quite well. So verse 16 gives hope to those who have been bound by sin and darkness. Jesus can shine. as the bright morning star. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star. Now, I failed to mention to you before that the name Jesus is simply the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Joshua. Yeshua, right? Joshua. To Jewish readers who have just finished reading this book about Christ's conquest, they would have identified Jesus with Joshua. In the Greek, they're identical. In Hebrews 4, 8 through 13, the ancient Joshua was a type of Jesus. If you read in the King James, you'll see Joshua being called Jesus, right? It's the same word. where the Old Testament Joshua was conquering through a physical sword, the New Testament Second Joshua, Jesus, conquers with the sword of the Word of God. Where the Old Testament Joshua was not able to give rest to his people, Hebrews says, the Second Joshua is going to be totally successful in giving rest. And so it's a name of hope. It's definitely a name that is associated with the dawning of the kingdom, and the conquest of Canaan. And the angel acted as Jesus' emissary, testifying solemnly to the churches his marching orders. So if Jesus is Joshua, the churches are his army, and the angel is his recruiter. And his second title shows that he was the long-promised coming Jewish Messiah. As the root of David, the title shows that David was created by Jesus, which is amazing. So being the root of David points to the fact Jesus is before David. Jesus is divine. As the offspring of David, David produced Jesus genetically. It speaks to his humanity. So for Jesus to be the root of David, he had to exist before David. For Jesus to be the offspring of David, he had to be born after David to be David's descendant. So it's a perfect title to represent Jesus as the God-man. And the Old Testament predicted that the God-man Messiah would come to establish his kingdom. And that's what this book has been documenting. It showed that when Jesus came as the lamb slain, he legally purchased the kingdom. When he poured out the Holy Spirit, he empowered the kingdom. But 40 years later, after Israel has been brought out of Egypt, so to speak, Forty years later, they crossed the Jordan, so to speak, and the kingdom began in 8070. And again, it's a title dealing with the dawn of the kingdom, not the end of the kingdom. The next name is the Bright Morning Star. Now, this too was a messianic title very, very tightly connected with the beginning of the kingdom, not the end of the kingdom. So all of these things reinforce why verse 12 is not talking about the second judgment at the end of history, but the first judgment in AD 70. As a bright star, he was the fulfillment of Numbers 24, 17, which says this, a star shall come out of Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of Israel. Jews applied that phrase to the beginning of the messianic kingdom. They agree with our interpretation of that phrase, but because they rejected Jesus as being their Messiah, they're constantly looking for some Messiah that will fulfill these promises and to begin the kingdom. They're constantly looking. The last Messiah that the Jews looked to and followed was Bar Kokhba, a name which means son of a star. And he said he was the fulfillment of Numbers 24, 17. He led a revolt against Rome that ended up disastrously with the Romans almost massacring the entire nation in AD 135 to 136. So we saw those prophecies like the blood up to the horse's noses, that was from the Bar Kokhba rebellion. But this title declares there is only one bright star fulfillment, and that is Jesus. If you reject Jesus, you're out of the city, you're out of the bride, you're out of the kingdom. Those who reject Jesus tend to look to the state to be Messiah, just as they look to Bar Kokhba to be their Messiah. And the term morning star pointed to the beginning of Messiah's kingdom as well. It refers to the fact that just before dawn, the night is darkest. Jesus had predicted that within one generation the church would experience the greatest tribulation that they had ever experienced up to that time or would ever again experience in world history. But the morning star signals the coming of dawn after a long time of darkness. So Mounce, even though he gets the timing wrong, he's a premillennialist, he gets the theology perfectly right. He says this, the morning star is a promise that the long night of tribulation is all but over and that the new eschatological day is about to dawn. Exactly. AD 70 was the dawning of the kingdom. And the growth of Christ's kingdom will never stop from dawn to midday brightness. And I dealt with that subject in depth last week. And I do want to make one more application from that phrase. Some commentators point out that this morning star imagery would have been considered treasonous by Caesar. Caesar claimed to be the morning star who would bring the kingdom of light and who would deliver the people out of darkness. Caesar claimed he alone could bring salvation and peace and he put that right onto his coins. And so this statement would have been considered by Romans to be a treasonous overthrow of Caesar's messianic claims. And actually I have a commentary that shows that this has been going on, this overthrow of Caesar's claims, from the first chapter of this book right through to the end. It's just amazing when you look at its opposition to statism. Christ has always been an enemy of statism, and those who treat the state as Messiah are the enemies of Christ. And it's not just in this book that he opposes Caesar. All the way through the Gospels and Acts, Jesus and the apostles contradict Caesar's claims, with Christ's own universal cleanse. For example, when Peter preached... Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Stauffer, in his book, points out that this must have taken people's breath away because this was a head-on, direct contradiction of Caesar's coins, which everybody had in their pockets, which clearly declared that there is no other name under heaven given among men by which people can be saved than Caesar, Caesar's name. And he demonstrates that through his book on the coins very well. So Jesus was rejecting these imperialistic claims to total sovereignty and total care, and instead declared himself to be the total sovereign with total care. Anytime there are claims to total sovereignty or universal care, it's a claim that seeks to overthrow Christ's reign. The modern socialistic state that declares federal sovereignty over all federal welfare, that's not a trivial issue. That is a huge issue. It is a blasphemous attack upon Jesus. Jesus alone is sovereign, he alone is savior, so that any legitimate human rule can only be limited, delegated, enumerated, what's the other? Aided. Specified, that's the word. Powers that are given to them, and they're delegated by Jesus. We haven't fully defended the gospel until we deny the anti-gospels out there, and all else is a messianic pretense and is illegitimate. Now, he ends this section with a glorious invitation that whosoever wants to may come to Christ, come into the kingdom, come to the waters of refreshment. Unlike the modern welfare state, Jesus is not going to go bankrupt when you take him up on his offers. He gives total care. Though he's a severe judge, he's also a generous savior. And this too is such an appropriate way of speaking of the beginning of the kingdom, which was predicted to be an evangelistic kingdom. It wasn't going to come all at once. It was going to be gradually growing and have nonstop growth to the end of history. If people end up in hell, it's through no fault of the offer because verse 17 says, both the spirit and the bride say come. Let whoever hears say come, let whoever thirsts come, and whoever wants to, let them take the water of life free of charge. This is one of my favorite verses in all of the Bible. Charles Spurgeon said, this verse captures the central theme of the Bible. He says, it is placed at the very end of the Bible and placed there because it is the sum and substance, the aim and object of the whole Bible. It is like the point of the arrow and all of the rest of the Bible is like the shaft and the feathers on either side of it. Now let's dig into this verse because I think it reveals a very robust theology. If there's one thing that this book proves over and over again, it is that all men are totally depraved. And the reformers point out, hey, if total depravity is true, the rest of the five points of Calvinism of necessity are true. If total depravity is true, the other five solas of the Reformation are also true. They have to follow. Noble men and peasants, rich and poor, adults and children, all rejected God's offers of salvation earlier in this book. Why? Because they're totally depraved. Their hatred for God made them utterly unwilling to repent, no matter what the consequences were. and that depravity is hinted at in this verse, in that both the divine and the human are needed if the Great Commission is to be successful. So verse 17 says, both the spirit and the bride say come, with the emphasis being on the spirit's call. If the bride, that's you and me, say come to people and the spirit does not give a call to come, they're not gonna believe. It's impossible for them to believe. You can see the Holy Spirit's work hinted at in the phrase, let whoever hears say. Not all men hear. Jesus said not all have spiritual ears, okay? It's not until the Holy Spirit regenerates their heart that they can respond to God. Unregenerate men are likened by the apostle Paul to deaf cobras who will not respond to noise. They're likened to dead corpses who cannot hear you saying the gospel call to them, okay? So, The Spirit's work is to open deaf ears so that they can hear the gospel summons that is being preached by the church. That's what's going on here. There are two kinds of people that hear the gospel message. There are those who are spiritually deaf, because they're unregenerate, and there are those who can hear. And there are two kinds of call. There's the Spirit's call, and there's the church's call. The Spirit's call is the inward call. The church's call is the outward call. Now, both of them are needed. If the church says, hey, I don't need to engage in evangelism because the Spirit is sovereign, he's gonna regenerate whoever he wills, then we are hyper-Calvinists who have disobeyed this injunction here. We are ignoring our human responsibility. On the other hand, if we become Arminians in our evangelism who think, you know, through techniques, we can manipulate people into making a decision for Christ We're ignoring total depravity as well. We're filling the church with false believers, false professors. True Calvinism emphasizes both God's sovereignty and human responsibility. Scripture speaks of the church's call as the outer call of the gospel, and the Spirit's call as the inner call which is always effectual. Irresistible grave, probably a better term for that is effectual calling. It's always effectual when the Spirit calls. Now, in the first century, there were many who were being called by the church's preachers, that's the outward call, but few that were being chosen by God. That's Matthew chapter seven. But in the very next chapter, Matthew 8, he predicts that's gonna change. He says, in the future, there will be many who will come from the east and from the west. And so remnant theology gives way to fullness theology. Few gives way to many. But apart from the Holy Spirit, that's the inward call, they will not come. All who are called by the Spirit, that's the inward call, are justified and will be glorified according to Romans 8, verse 30. You ought to read that sometime. People call that the golden chain of salvation. And Romans 8, 30 guarantees that 100% of those who are called by the Spirit, not 99%, 100% of those who are called by the Holy Spirit will end up in heaven. But both calls are needed. The Spirit calls through the preaching of the Word. So when the church gives the outer call, we say, hey, come, believe, come to Jesus. The spirit quickens that call to the hearts of the elect with his own call. So I think this verse is a beautiful summation of what sovereign grace is all about. And I do want you to notice one more thing there. Notice it's not just the corporate bride who says, come. The new individual convert who has just had his ears opened up and he's just responded to the gospel must immediately share the gospel with others. So verse 17 goes on to say, and let whoever hears say, come. There is no such thing as a believer who is not a part of God's army. When it comes to evangelism, we can't just say, oh well, we'll let the church do it. No, no, you are part of the church. Every believer, everyone who has hearing ears must be a part of this. We must issue the call to come to Christ. So my question to you of application is, have you been involved in witnessing? Do you eagerly share the gospel with those who are outside? This verse says that we must. If we have spiritual ears, means having a regenerate heart, then God's command is, and let whoever hears say, come. And if you need teaching on how to do this and you need resources and tracks and things like that, the elders would be delighted to help you do this. But I think it is significant that the moment the demoniac was delivered of all of his legion of demons, what did Jesus tell him to do? He wanted to follow Jesus. He didn't, no, no, no. You go back to your family, go back and tell them the good news and tell your neighbors and tell your friends. But it is the Spirit's work alone that can regenerate, create thirst, make the heart willing. Not all thirst, according to Scripture. It is only those regenerated by the Holy Spirit who find themselves thirsty, who instantly respond to the gospel. Romans 3, great passage that teaches that. It says that not one single human comes on his own. Impossible. They would never be willing to submit to King Jesus until the Holy Spirit regenerates them. But hey, as soon as the Holy Spirit takes out that heart of stone, replaces it with a regenerate heart, his person's going to be willing. They're going to. That's why we speak of faith being a gift. And thus Acts 16 verse 14 says of Lydia, the Lord opened her heart. There is regeneration. The Lord opened her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Regeneration has to precede an ability to listen and to heed in faith. God makes people willing. So Paul said that he works in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And I just praise God, it's not up to evangelists to convert people. They're tools in God's hand. We share the outward call to come, only the spirit can give the infallible and irresistible inward call. and we can have confidence that he absolutely will. Now having said that, I do want to emphasize that unbelievers are still responsible to come and to take the waters of life. It is a sin for them not to come to Jesus. So coming to Jesus is a synonym for faith. And even though they are morally unable, it's not like they're physically unable to come to Jesus. Their inability comes from the fact that their wills will always act consistently with their nature. And as long as their nature is depraved and sinful, that's not been regenerated, they will willfully disbelieve against all evidence. In other words, they don't want to respond to the free offer until God regenerates them. As soon as the spirit gives them a new heart, a new nature, they wake up, they recognize their rebellion, they repent, they believe. Faith is a gift of God. And notice that this is not merely an invitation. Now it is an invitation, it's a glorious invitation, but it's more than that. This invitation is phrased as a command. You see the words come, come, let come, and take. God's not hoping that the elect will come. He summons them and they come. The gospel call is a call to unconditional surrender. It is not negotiation on your own terms. God's not wringing his hands, hoping that the elect will come to him. No, he conquers people, he changes them. You can think of that with the illustration of Saul. Here he is, hell-bent on destroying Christianity, fighting against Christ, persecuting him. In one moment, God knocks him off the horse, regenerates him, and he becomes Paul, you know? He becomes a great Christian follower of Christ. In fact, Paul used the illustration from Genesis 1 when God said, let there be light, boom, instantly there's light. He used that for regeneration. He says, God in like manner shines his light into the hearts of people and they come, they see. It's regeneration, it's a wonderful, wonderful doctrine. Now even though it is a command, it is phrased so widely and generously that it's a glorious invitation that encourages faith. Three times he repeats the word whoever. Whoever hears, whoever thirsts, whoever wants to. You might even circle those whoever's. Whoever hears, whoever thirsts, whoever wants to. I love Spurgeon's comments on this verse. Now he uses the older versions Whosoever will, and I think it's a very vivid translation, but he says, whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Oh, someone objects, but he's a very poor man. What does that matter? Whosoever will. Oh, but he is a very ignorant man. He does not even know his letters. What does that to do with the text? Whosoever will. Ah, but he's a very bad man. Well, what about it? It says, whosoever will. Does he will to trust in Christ? Is he willing to take the water of life? Then let him come and take the water of life freely. Okay, this is the balance that we must present. Both sides of the equation are important. In John 6, Jesus gives both sides of the equation. He says, no man can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him. It's impossible. That's sovereign grace. But he also commands people to come, and he also says, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me, I will by no means cast out. So he goes on in his sermon on this verse, which is well worth reading, by the way. Great, great sermon, showing sovereign grace and human responsibility, both are true. He used the illustration of a guy who's walking down a path, he comes to a fork in a road, And here's the fork in the road that goes to destruction. Here's the one that goes to life. And over the life road, there's this big sign that says, whosoever will may come. But strangely, people aren't coming through that door for the most part. They just obliviously go right on by. But there's others who strangely are drawn by that sign and encouraged. And they go through. And if there are minions, they might take a little bit of credit to their free will, you know, and their belief. That's bad theology, because once they get under that gate and they look back at what's on the other side of the gate, it says, oh, elect from the foundation of the world. That's why I came. It's because God's call drew them in through that gate. But what a glorious salvation it is. When sinners come to Christ, they not only find salvation from sin and hell, but find great satisfaction and reward. Now, in one sense, it's an invitation to become a part of the bride of Christ, okay? And once you're a part of the bride of Christ, that person gets to be a part of the advancement of Christ's kingdom. What could be more satisfying than to be related to Christ and to be advancing his kingdom throughout our lives? I don't think there could be anything more glorious or satisfying than that, but there's more. Daily, there is also thirst-quenching satisfaction. Ecclesiastes 3 verse 11 says, God has put eternity in men's hearts. They can't escape from that sense of eternity, nor can they fill that void, that eternity hole within themselves. St. Augustine said, the soul is restless until it finds its rest in God. When we come to Jesus for salvation, it is more satisfying than a thirsty man drinking water. But he ends by saying that this gospel call cannot be earned. It cannot be earned. This valuable gift that Jesus purchased at the infinite cost of his life is being offered without charge and without works earning it. Let him take the water of life free of charge. It cost Jesus so much to purchase our salvation that it is an incredible insult to him when we think we can somehow earn his favor through our works, our pitiful works, or that, as some Roman Catholics think, other people's works and other saints can earn his favor or our salvation. It would be like, just about as insulting, maybe it's more insulting, but it would be like, Offering a dime. to pay for a gift that was fully funded of a Boeing 747 that he gave to our congregation. Can you imagine how insulted that giver would be? He says, no, I'm freely giving this. And you respond, oh, I can't take it for free. No, I've got a, will you at least take a dime for the 747? That would be the height of insolence to be able to say something like that. No, the only legitimate response to his free offer of salvation is to say thank you. I receive it with joy, I receive it with gratitude. This is a book that has been looking at enemies condemned as well as enemies converted, and there is not a lick of difference between those two groups of people other than unmerited sovereign grace. Nothing in them earned life. All were at enmity with Christ, but the spirits call us so invincible that enemies were slain by Christ's sword and then immediately resurrected to be his friends and to be a part of his family. Now, in a moment, we're gonna be singing a hymn composed by Charles Spurgeon that describes God's grace overcoming our depravity, I think, so well, just in such vivid terms. But let's rejoice that God's kingdom has dawned in our lives and will continue to grow and grow throughout our lives. Let's glory in the fact his kingdom dawned in this world in the first century and is going to continue to grow and grow until this becomes a world completely conquered by the Great Commission. May the Lord hasten that day. Amen. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the encouragement of your name. You are willing to name yourself, identify yourself with things that bring such blessing and encouragement to our hearts. It shows that if you are for us, who can be against us? We bless you, Father. Thank you for your salvation that was so great and rich, far, far richer than any Boeing 747 that might be given to us. We thank you, Father, that Your grace not only begins a good work in us, but completes it until the day of Jesus Christ. Father, we want to be sold out to you. We do not want to be selfishly living for ourselves. We want our lives to be a testimony to your grace, where all the rest of our lives are a PF saying, thank you, Lord. Thank you. It is our glory, it is our privilege to be your sons and daughters, to please you. And may we, in this coming week, walk pleasing in your sight because we are walking in your grace. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.