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Please turn with me in your Bibles
to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1 beginning
in verse 5. and from Jesus Christ, who is
the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and
the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us
and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, and to him be
glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh
with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which
pierced him, and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him, even so. Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the ending, said the Lord, which is and which
was and which is to come, the Almighty. Next week, If the Lord wills,
we will be celebrating together the Lord's Supper. And it is
a good time for us to consider anew what are we seeking and
coming to the table of our Lord. I've mentioned to you in times
past that among Presbyterians of our sort, this is about as
close as we get to anything like ceremony. and this can become
very tempting and very beguiling we can love that certain ceremonial
and religious sense that certain things such as this give us and
we can come to the table actually seeking that and delighting in
that But of course this is not the purpose of the table and
this is to fail to discern the Lord's body and his presence
in the supper. We can come for all sorts of
reasons. We can come because we are fulfilling
the expectations of others. We can come because we enjoy
the feeling of acceptance from the brethren. there are all sorts
of things that can motivate us to come to the table of the Lord
but there is really only one thing to be seeking in coming
to the Lord's table and that is Jesus Christ himself and this
is to discern the Lord's body and his presence because in the
supper Christ is set before us Christ with all of his benefits Sermons for the Lord's Supper
are typically geared to his benefits and we'll do some of that this
morning but this one I wanted to focus on his person. Who is it that we are meeting
with in the supper? Who is Jesus Christ? Because
at the supper we are seeking fellowship with him and we don't
want to be seeking fellowship with a different Jesus. another
Jesus, a Jesus of our own imagination, our own inventing, but rather
Jesus Christ as he is, ascended into heavenly places, Jesus Christ
as he lives now, seated at the right hand of the Father, Jesus
Christ as he is revealed to us in scripture, the real and living
Christ. With this in view, I thought
we might open up our text again and consider what it teaches
us about our Saviour. Remember again we are in the
midst of the particular inscription verses 4 through 8 we've had
the benedictory greeting in verses 4 and 5 and then the doxological
response of John as he responds in adoration and praise of God. And what an amazing thing it
is for this great God to speak grace and peace to us. There
is no other response that a believer could give other than the praise
of God. We considered in the last sermon
how verse 7 fits here. Jesus Christ has been described
as the prince of the kings of the earth and dominion has been
ascribed to him and all of this can appear very untrue. world
that does great violence and seeming harm to the church, to
his kingdom. But we are reminded that the
king is coming to the joy of his people and to the vexation
of his enemies. He is coming and his kingship
and his coming guarantee to us grace and peace. He is a king
that cannot be resisted. Let earthly powers do what they
may, yet his will will be done in the earth to the ultimate
benefit and happiness of his people and to the overthrow of
his enemies. with verse 8 we have a certain
similar question this also comes in a very staccato fashion no
conjunction no connecting particle whether logical or temporal it's
just stated there I am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the
ending said the Lord which is and which was and which is to
come the Almighty Let us look at this phrase by phrase, and
then consider what this is doing here, and then consider what
it teaches us about Jesus Christ. First, I am Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending saith the Lord. We should observe,
in verse 7, John appears to be speaking to us, proclaiming to
us the doctrine of the coming of the Lord Jesus. but there
is a shift here in the speaker that we should observe now God
himself addresses us directly and the image that he uses is
that of Alpha and Omega most of you will know that these are
the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet respectively
and then quickly explained by the beginning and the ending
in case you miss the significance of Alpha and Omega I am Alpha
and Omega the beginning and the ending what is the significance
of describing himself in this way we cannot do all of the work
I would encourage you if you have an opportunity to go back
and read Isaiah chapters 40 through 48 this is one of the things
that distinguishes Jehovah from the idols Jehovah is the God
that was able to tell of the events among the ancient peoples
in a way that the idols could not do and could declare the
end from the beginning the mighty Lord of all of history a speaking
God who speaks to all of history so here you see his eternity
as it is applied to time and you'll find this very thing that
he describes himself as the beginning and the ending which appears
to be where John borrows or rather Jehovah here preaching himself
once again as he did in the days of Isaiah proclaims himself as
the beginning and the ending God is the beginning the origin
of all things he is the creator and providential governor so
he creates all things and he sets them in motion as being
their beginning, their source, their origin all things that
are if you think back to our lessons in the confession of
faith are rooted in his decree he decrees and his decrees are effectuated creation, providence
so here he describes himself as being the beginning of all
things which again also speaks to his eternity before the creation
and before time is set in motion he is the eternal God he is also
the final end of all things all things are moving toward him
in the sense that all things are moving toward his glory and
the good of his people but primarily again if you read Isaiah 40 through
48 what is the chief end of everything chief end of the creation the
glory of God chief end of providence and his government his glory
what is the chief end of the destruction of the wicked his
glory what's the chief end of his salvation his glory and this
is largely portrayed in these beautiful chapters of Isaiah
sometimes called the gospel of Isaiah interestingly enough Paul
presents all of this to us in a very summary fashion for of
him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory
forever amen Romans chapter 11 verse 36 all things are of him
he is the source they consist and continue through him and
they are all oriented toward him. They are moving toward him
and his glory. This description is very fitting
right after the declaration of the return of the Lord Jesus
Christ. We ought not to be surprised
that he would here be declaring himself to be the Omega and the
ending of all things. So you see a certain fittingness
for this declaration to be placed here. But we should take some
time to consider who is the Lord? It says, I am the Alpha and Omega,
the beginning and the ending Seth, the Lord. Some interpreters
have thought that this is simply God, or maybe even the person
of the Father. But to me it seems that The balance
of evidence indicates that this is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
speaking and addressing us. Some of the data points, if you
go back to verse 1, Jesus Christ is portrayed as the revealer.
The ultimate source of this book is the Father, but the Father
sets it in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ to be opened and
revealed to His people. And this precedes speeches by
Jesus Christ Himself. there is a shift at verse 9 John
describes his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and in
the midst of that encounter Christ describes himself in these terms
as being the first and the last the beginning and the ending
so all of this points to the fact that this is Jesus Christ
but to my mind the parallel in Revelation chapter 22 had quite
a bit of effect. If you'll turn there with me,
Revelation 22 verses 12 and 13. And behold I come quickly and
my reward is with me to give every man according as his work
shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the ending. the first and the last. So here
Christ clearly takes these titles to himself but what made this
so persuasive is the parallel. Verse 12 you have the description
of the return of Christ and here he describes it himself and not
through John but he describes it himself and then immediately
the same thing I am the Alpha and the Omega, I am the beginning
and the ending, I am the first and the last. and again very
appropriate when you consider him portraying himself first
as the end of all things in his return and then taking these
titles for himself. What has occasioned the difficulty
I think for the interpreters is the next description, which
is and which was and which is to come. Why would this be a
difficulty? Because this was the description
of the father, the description that the father took to himself
in verse 4. we won't go back and do all of
this work again but this is basically a Greek way of saying Jehovah
if you remember our lessons from Exodus chapters 3 and 6 God who
was in ancient times delivering the promises to the fathers the
God who is active in the life of the church bringing those
promises to pass and present to the church in the future the
God who is to come God present at the consummation of all things
bringing all of his promises to full ultimate completion so
this is Jehovah as eternal but as present to all of time with
his people the mighty Lord of history some have looked at this
and said this was applied to the father so here we have the
father speaking But I again think that on balance
that's not persuasive. Why is that not persuasive? Because
these are titles that the Lord Jesus, the first titles are titles
that Jesus Christ took to himself and I say no difficulty but great
meaning and that he would take the titles that have just been
attributed to the Father, to himself, the mighty Lord of history. And again, as we look at the
way that these other titles have been applied, they do apply to
Jesus, the mighty Lord of history throughout all of the book. There's
one final title that is taken, and that is the Almighty. It
speaks of his omnipotence, that nothing can thwart his purposes
or his design in providence because nothing can resist his power. And so this raises the question
again, what is verse 8 doing here? How can we be sure that
grace and peace will be ours? How can we be sure of his return? History is complicated and wild,
untamable. There's a lot of things going
on. How can you guarantee an event so many hundreds or thousands
of years in the future when there's so many forces and factors involved
in the world it's so complicated you just think of certain plans
that you've made in your lifetime whether you plan to do a certain
thing as a vocation or you wanted to move to a certain place even
something small All things speaking, how frequently we are frustrated
in our purposes because providence is so large and there's so many
things involved and we are frequently waylaid by things we did not
foresee or things that we cannot control. A lot can happen before
the end of time. So what is our guarantee that
there will be grace and peace for the church both in time and
in the end? How can we be sure of his return?
and here we have this proclaimed to us in very large and comprehensive
terms he is the sovereign over all history he is its origin
and he is its end and he is present to all of it almighty and irresistible
with respect to it so here we have a very large and satisfying
answer to what could be a question or a doubt in the mind a sovereign
over all, the beginning and the end of it, present to all of
it, almighty and irresistible. Here we come to some very basic
foundational and central doctrine of the Christian
faith. Jesus Christ is God. If this is a description of Jesus
Christ, and I think there is little reason to doubt of it,
consider what has been said of him. He is before all things
and the beginning of all things. You remember the preaching of
John the Baptist. One is coming after me that is
greater than me, for he was before me. It's that paradox of there's
one coming after me, who was before me, so here Jesus Christ
is portrayed as being before all things in the beginning of
all things the creator Colossians 1 and Hebrews 1 and there is
no other creator besides Jehovah our God he is the end to which
all things are moving his glory is the point of all history and
you remember that Jehovah in Isaiah said he would not share
his glory with another here Jesus Christ not in this particular
verse but in the preceding verses has been portrayed as the Savior
and you remember in those same chapters of Isaiah Jehovah said
that he would not share his glory with another with respect to
salvation that he was the Savior and there was no other Savior
besides him but here he is portrayed as Savior in that grace and peace
is sought from him, the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is by his
shed blood that we are washed of our sins. He is portrayed
as the returning judge, but Jehovah throughout all the scripture
is portrayed as the judge of the whole earth. You think of
Abraham, will the judge of the whole earth not do? Right? Of
course he will, as he spoke to Jehovah our God there. He is
portrayed as eternal and unchangeable. Is and was and is to come. Eternal and present to all of
history and unchangeable. He is not changing in those various
time periods. And He is Almighty, the Omnipotent
One. If Jesus Christ is not God, to
ascribe these divine attributes to him, which are incommunicable,
would be blasphemy. This is not simply to say that
he was powerful, but that he is almighty, which cannot be
communicated to a creature. Creator cannot be ascribed to
a creature, you see. He is described as eternal. in a shorter catechism question
it's frequently been observed that those first attributes infinite,
eternal and unchangeable or incommunicable attributes and then the rest
communicable or can be communicated to the creature the creature
can partake of them in some measure but here these are incommunicable
attributes that are ascribed to him he is very God or this
is blasphemy And we would say that the word of God is not to
be doubted. And Jesus Christ's witness concerning
himself, we have already been assured, is true. He is a faithful
witness. Interestingly enough, if you
consider these, and we have not talked about this, but just in
these verses, we see a very full picture of our Christology. This precious doctrine concerning
our Savior. Jesus Christ is fully man. He
had blood that could be shed. He is described as one who has
been pierced and wounded. This cannot be said of the divine
nature, at least not properly. It's not the divine nature that
bleeds and dies. So we see his humanity portrayed
to us here, his full and real humanity. But we also see that
Jesus Christ is portrayed as fully God. Both of these precious
truths. Is it not well said that, is
John not well called the divine, the theologian to have in such
a short space portrayed so much theology in such rich terms. But here in a very short space
we have the mystery of the incarnation. One person, two natures without
mixture or confusion but also without separation and division.
Beautiful truth. I bring all of this up not only
to exegete the text but this is the Jesus that we go to meet
in the Lord's Supper and not another. We go to commune with
our great God the Lord Jesus Christ and it is an amazing thing
to be invited to commune with such a one. Here our only response could
be our unworthiness. and what are we that thou wouldst
be thus mindful of us and yet he has been thus mindful consider
what we've already had in this short space of text this great
God incarnate to rescue us from our sins and to reconcile us
to himself promising us grace and peace so that we might exist
in a blessed and a happy fellowship with him and this is part of
what the Lord's Table is meant to remind us of. We come to the
table and this great God invites us to come and commune with him. A remarkable thing. And this
communion is not just for the present time but also forever. This communion with him goes
on and on. it's an interesting thing that
he's not only promising us fellowship and life with himself but the
great God comes to the table of the Lord with promises and
here you remember here held forth to us is the preaching of the
gospel broken body and shed blood and as we had it already in our
text shed blood that washes away the guilt of our sins our great
filthiness and he comes with promises to sanctify and to strengthen
us we'll look at John 15 in just a few moments but he invites
us to feed upon him by faith he is the source of our spiritual
life if we should be cut from him we are lifeless branches
but engrafted into him there is a constant source of life
If I might mix metaphors, it's also described in the life of
the believer like a continual fountain or well. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the source and this life is always springing up in
us. And in this table he invites
us to draw that life from him. He holds it forth to us and we
receive it by faith. A second doctrine and then we
will conclude. Jesus Christ in this text has
been portrayed as the Alpha and Omega of all of history. We could
also say that he is the Alpha and the Omega of all of its several
parts, so not just in whole but in parts, and in particular he
is the Alpha and the Omega of the believer's faith. He is frequently
portrayed in this way in the scriptures, author and perfecter
of the believers faith is its origin and he is the end to which
it is moving so first consider Jesus Christ as the alpha of
our faith and first objectively he is the beginning of it objectively
he covenanted with the father eternally for the salvation of
his people for the salvation of his elect and he was incarnate
to accomplish their redemption I say that here he is objectively
the alpha of our faith because without this there is no gospel
there is nothing to be believed for salvation apart from his
covenant with the father with respect to salvation and then
being incarnate in time to accomplish that redemption. So he is the
source or origin of our faith in that regard in that sense
he goes before our faith. but also subjectively I hope it is now well ingrained
in you the doctrine of man's inability to do any spiritual
good with respect to his salvation we can't conjure up faith in
ourselves we are disabled hostile enemies but the spirit of Christ
working by the word of Christ works faith in the heart creates
it where it was not and he creates it in the hearts of those for
whom he covenanted and those that he died for so he is creating
faith in the hearts of his people by his spirit and his words so
subjectively he is the alpha of our faith it does not arise
from us it arises from him I would have you to remember this in
the supper because part of the significance of the supper is
we remember what he has done for us. We remember incarnate
to take away the guilt of our sins, a broken body and shed
blood, the fulfillment of the eternal covenant which he had
made with his father for the redemption of his people. And
when we consider these things, when we consider what He has
done, when we consider that faith is a gift that is given to us,
we have to come to the table in great thanksgiving. That is
the right manner of approach. Consider all that He has done
for you, objectively what has been done for you. And even the
faith in your heart that makes it possible for you to receive
also comes from Him. the working of his mighty spirit. Jesus Christ is also the omega
of the believer's faith. As I mentioned earlier, he is
the continual supply of spiritual nourishment and strength portrayed
in a whole host of ways in the Gospel of John. In John chapter
6 Jesus Christ portrays himself as spiritual food and drink to
be feasted upon by faith. but spiritual nourishment for
his people like the rock in the wilderness or like the manna
from heaven. John chapter 15 as I mentioned
earlier he portrays himself as the vine continually supplying
life-giving sap to the branches those that are grafted in him.
This year I had an opportunity to see this played out in a lively
way before my very eyes most of you know we had these very
massive tomato plants that we tried to put frames around but
they were so massive that they were outgrowing the frames and
what would happen is that the arms of these great things would
go over so far and the weight of the tomatoes would be so heavy
that they would break now interestingly enough if it was simply more
like a bend then they would go on living. But if the break was
decisive and they were cut off from that life-giving root and
sap, everything on it would perish. And here we have a very lively
picture of what the Lord is teaching us in John 15. I am the vine,
ye are the branches. If ye abide in me, Then ye shall
bear much fruit, spiritual life, a constant source of spiritual
life bearing spiritual fruit under the glory of God in the
earth. But apart from me ye can do nothing, broken branches,
dead and unfruitful. So we see here that Jesus Christ
is the continual supply of spiritual nourishment that takes us both
individually and corporately so that we grow up as Paul says
in Colossians to a complete man the full image of Jesus Christ
but he is also the goal to which this growth is directed we have
been predestined to be conformed to his image both individually
and corporately and as we are being conformed to his image
both the progress and completion of this brings him great glory
which is the end of all things in those chapters of Isaiah and
even beyond that the great promise of the father to the son was
that he would receive a people and from that people and their
salvation he would receive great glory in the earth and then finally
Jesus Christ is the omega of the believer's life and that
he is the end of the matter. Heaven for us is life with him. And no longer enjoying this life
with him looking through a glass darkly, but seeing him as he
is. Glorifying him and enjoying him
forever. I've sometimes heard people say
that You know, we need to do things
in our worship to make it more exciting for people. But all
we really need to satisfy the Christian heart in our worship
is Christ. And if you can't be satisfied
with that, you won't be satisfied nor take much of a liking to
heaven. Because this is heaven for us. Listening to His voice
and responding to Him with our prayers and with our praises.
This is heaven and this is a picture and a foretaste of our eternal
life within. If you find great satisfaction
in having Christ in the worship, then that's a good sign about
the condition of your heart. But if you find yourself dissatisfied
with Christ in the worship and wishing that there were other
things, this ought to disturb a person concerning the state
of the soul. Do you really have a longing
for heaven? For this is its foretaste. When
you think of heaven, what is it that you desire? Is it the
Elysian fields of the pagan? Pleasures? Baudelaire? Forevermore? Or is it eternal life with Jesus?
That is the Christian heaven. With all of this in view, Jesus
being the Omega of our faith, we ought to come to the table
with an active and lively faith coming feeding upon him seeking
to be further conformed to his image and again with an active
faith seeing that this indeed is a foretaste of our heavenly
communion with him are you coming to the table to enjoy him and
to glorify him These are great and precious uses of the supper,
proper uses. Let us pray together.
Alpha and Omega
Series Revelation
| Sermon ID | 101909211510 |
| Duration | 34:47 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday - AM |
| Bible Text | Revelation 1:8 |
| Language | English |
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