I'd like to draw your attention to God's holy word as it's found in the book of Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. We'll read this whole chapter. We won't be dealing with the whole chapter this morning. the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him, even so. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation in the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the isle called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches. to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lamp stands, one, like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. And his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. John tells us, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last. and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, the things that you have seen, those that are, and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our gracious and heavenly Father, we thank You that You have given us this revelation of Jesus Christ. That You have been pleased to reveal Him to us. To reveal to us that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Lord, we pray that you would open our eyes this morning to behold him. Open our ears that we may hear his words. Open our hearts that they might be receptive to it, Lord. Lord, be with all those who stand and preach your gospel this morning, Lord. Those here in America, Those in Ukraine, those in Russia, those in China, Lord, those all throughout the world that would seek to lift up the Son of Man this morning in all His glory. Lord, let those ministers hold high Christ. Lord, may those who are hearing them not see the pole, Lord, but that Son of Man that is lifted up high, Lord, that He would draw all men to Himself. Be with us here this morning, Lord. Strengthen our hearts. Lord, may we see Christ. In Your name we pray. Amen. Well, I wanted to read this first chapter, and I had hoped to get through the whole chapter, but there's just too much here. So we're going to try and break this into two. We're going to be dealing with the first eight verses, Lord willing, here this morning. But this is in preparation for something I've been looking at for a while and wanting to look further into, which are these letters to the seven churches that are written in the second and third chapter of Revelation. But I think it's very important that we see here what Revelation is about and what we start with in Revelation chapter 1. This gives us a foundation for what then Christ has to say to His seven churches. What is meant by the seven churches. What is told to them. What He commends them for. What He chastises them for. What He encourages them to. and what he exhorts them in. So we will start here with Revelation chapter one. And oftentimes, we have very, very mixed emotions when we start dealing with the book of Revelation. We have two kind of diametrically opposed thoughts about Revelation. Some groups tend to just totally remove themselves from it because there are some things that admittedly are very, very hard to understand in this book. Very difficult to understand. Mysteries. Things of the supernatural that we don't in our physical lives here get to catch a glimpse of in the way that John did in his vision. And then there are those who tend to go to the opposite end of the spectrum. And that's all that they can think about. They want to delve into all of this mysterious nature of what Revelation is. Well, this comes about because there are some confusing things here in Revelation. There are some very mysterious things. And oftentimes, we deal with it as if it's a bunch of puzzle pieces that we're trying to put together to understand all these different things throughout history. Where are we in Revelation? When are we in Revelation? This is where people get bogged down. and people using Revelation to describe the end of the world as we know it, or the apocalyptic times, the Armageddon, all these things that we want to see, and we've been for hundreds of years, thousands of years, looking to Revelation and trying to find where we fit in this book. This is both religious and secular people that are using Revelation for this. And then we get caught up in whether or not we're post-mill, ah-mill, pre-mill, whether or not since the 1830s there's such a thing as a rapture, and whether it's a pre-trib rapture or a post-tribulation rapture. All these things that people tend to get caught up in. All these revelations. And that's often what we actually call the title of this book, Revelations in Error. Vodie Bauckham was once preaching from this passage years ago at a conference, and Vodie Bauckham is the Dean of Theology at a school in Zambia, Africa, at a seminary school. And he told them, well, you know, I'm up here speaking in front of you and I'm the dean of theology at a seminary. I have to give you something theological. I have to give you something deep. He said, here it is. It's revelation, not revelations. And this book is called The Revelation. Now, if you look at your title in the book, some of you may have the revelation of John, the revelation to John, but I think the title should be the first words of Revelation chapter 1, verse 1. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. Well, why is this so significant? Well, the message of this book is not something that's obscure. It's not something that's mysterious. There are obscure and mysterious things that are contained within the book, but the purpose and the message of this book is to reveal to us Jesus Christ in all His glory, in His deity, in His sovereignty, His rule and reign over all things here on earth and in heaven. It's not some great puzzle that we need to try and work out where we fit within. The purpose of this book is to reveal to us Jesus Christ, not ourselves. It's a singular revelation made up of a vision that John was given by God himself. But it is unified in what it reveals. Its meaning is beautiful beyond anything we can imagine because it shows us the beauty of our Lord and Savior who died for us, who redeemed us, who purchased us with His own blood, Jesus Christ. The very start of the book reveals its purpose. The very start of the book reveals its theme. It reveals Jesus in this book to be of inestimable value. And he's in his benefit to the church of God. Especially the church that falls under persecution. Who goes through trials. Who goes through hardships. Who experiences loss. This book is of infinite value to Bruce Crabtree this morning, who just lost his wife of, was it, 51 years, as he may go home from church today alone for the first time in 51 years. This book of Revelation, when viewed in light of its true theme and true purpose, shows Christ's victory, and by extension, the church's victory, who He purchased with His own blood, and His victory over the forces of darkness, the forces that are described for us in Ephesians 6, when we look at that, he says, finally, finally, in Ephesians 6, verse 10, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may stand against the schemes of the devil, for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places. While it may seem as though our battles that we face as individuals and as the church are against earthly things, against physical powers. I think of, you know, I can't help but think of the church in Ukraine this morning as they are dealing with this onslaught. And for that matter, the church in Russia that's dealing with these things. We have Christian brothers and sisters in both countries and everywhere around. And as they deal with these things that seem to be physical in nature, that seem to be leaders in this physical realm, this physical world, we're reminded here by Ephesians 6 that this is not the case. They are under the dominion of Satan. If they are lost, if they are sinners, they are under his dominion. and within his sphere of influence. And this is what Christ battles on our behalf. We wrestle, we struggle, we fight against spiritual forces, things often unseen to us except that which is made visible as it acts through the agency of those under the power of Satan and the power of sin. Well, in what strength does Paul tell us to stand in Ephesians 6? Be strong in the Lord and in the power and the strength of His might, not our own. It is by His might that victory is assured. By His strength that victory is won in every sphere, those that are on earth and those that are in heaven. By Him, every one of God's people is victorious. You know, once again, I couldn't help but when I was preparing for this this morning, thinking of Jo, you know, the world would look at that and say, well, you know, she wasn't victorious over her illness. She's been given a glimpse of something that is far more. She's conquered. She's in the presence of what John here sees in his vision. But it's not just a vision to her. And one day, that body, which was buried yesterday, is going to rise incorruptible. And even that body will be victorious over death. Through who? Of who? By who? By Christ. Through His might, through His power, through His victory. This is not a revelation, and I have some people that might get mad at me for saying this, but this is not a revelation about Israel. It's not. It's not a revelation about Putin. It's not a revelation about Hitler. It's not a revelation about any historical figure. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. John tells us the first five words in this book, what it's all about. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. If we were to undertake, and this is not my purpose in even long term, to undertake a full study or a full look at the book of Revelation, we would find over and over again, if we were to do that, the revelation through this book of a victorious and conquering Christ. In Revelation 1.18, I'm just going to hit a couple places here for you. I'm going to do this pretty fast, so if you want to try and write down the references and look at later, you can. Revelation 1.18, I am the first and the last and the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades. He is victorious over death." Is that not our greatest enemy? Death? Is it not? As I get older, and more and more people that I've grown to love in my life die, this is an enormous victory. Enormous. And there's victory over the second death. You will not face the second death because of Christ's victory over death. Revelation 2.8, And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write the words of the first and the last who died and came to life. Revelation 5.9, And they sang a new song. saying, worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals? Why? For you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Well, he's victorious in every conquest as well. Revelation 6-2, And I looked, and behold, a white horse, And its rider had a bow, and a crown was given to him, and he came out conquering, and to conquer. Now, I don't want to get into this in full detail, but when we read the visions that John sees like this, if we can just keep in our mind that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, we won't be bogged down by all these things that take us away from seeing Christ Himself. You know, it is a beautiful picture here in this revelation, you know, a white horse, behold, a white horse and a rider sitting on it. But this is a picture of Christ being victorious and going forth into the world, conquering his enemies. That's what we're to see through this. Revelation 11, 15. Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever." Revelation 12, 19, And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world, He was thrown down to the earth, and His angels were thrown down with Him. Christ is a conquering Savior. Revelation 14, 14, Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and seated on the cloud, one like a son of man, with a golden crown on his head, and a sharp sickle in his hand. He is seated on the throne. He has overcome all things. Revelation 19, 16, on his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. What amazement should fill our hearts, for the Lamb shall conquer and we who are united to Him shall conquer with Him. We are united to Him who are His people, are conquerors, more than conquerors, through Him who loved us and gave Himself for us. Revelation 17, 14 says they will make war on the Lamb. And the Lamb will conquer them. For he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. Called, chosen, faithful. This verse in particular will be very fitting as we get to chapters two and chapters three. When we look at the seven letters, to the churches in Asia in later messages. So obviously in the opening verses, and this is going to keep on coming up, but I don't want to keep laboring this, but we're given a glimpse as to the purpose and the theme of what the book of Revelation is all about. We need to keep this in mind in everything we look at from the book of Revelation. That it's about Jesus Christ. If this is the theme, how do other parts, the chapters and verses that follow, reinforce and build itself upon the theme that is laid out by John for us, laid out by God, laid out by the Holy Spirit giving this word to John? God-breathed word. How do we look at the rest of Revelation? Well, we look at it as it's a unity of all its parts and the unity finds its substance and it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. And in reality, is that not what this whole book is about? But it's, you know, where dad read for us from John this morning, John 17. It's as if God himself in the closing book of our Bible, glorifies his son. He is pleased to hold Him up before our eyes and glorify Him for who He is and what He's accomplished. It will reveal to us what God has designed it to reveal. That's what revelation means. It means to reveal to us, to show us, to take away that which is cloudy, that which is obscure, and show us, reveal to us what it's all about. And if we can keep this in mind, we won't fall into that two-fold trap that many have fallen into in studying revelation. to ignore it or to be overly consumed by the mysteries that we find there. We see people right now searching for the day and hour of Christ's return based on what they read in Revelation when Christ himself has said to us, you know neither the day nor the hour. In Acts 1-7, He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or the seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. Yet I know people who have searched and searched and come up with schemes from Revelation and they've planned it all out and they've changed everything about their lives because next week is the week. And they wake up the next morning and despair utterly sets in. Because they forgot that this is a revelation of Jesus Christ. I never even realized until I started studying this that there's actually a technical term for this. That is used by theologians to describe this error and abuse of scripture. in general, but especially Revelation, it's called Bibliomancy. And it describes how many have sought to use the Bible, and in particular a book like Revelation, as a literary divining rod. Or as Joel Beeky put it, a Ouija board. That's not God's purpose. It's not God's purpose to confuse His people. His purpose is to reveal His Son, to glorify Christ for what He's done. Well, let's go on. In verse 1, we see that it was given by God the Father through Christ, and then through the angel sent by Christ to John to then record for us. John then bore witness in verse 2 to all that he saw and to the testimony of who? Of Jesus Christ. The one who is being revealed through this book of Revelation. We find then in verse 4 that John was directed to address the book to the seven churches that are in Asia. And we'll go into more detail about this later. But these seven churches were located, John was exiled as we read, on the Isle of Patmos. These churches were about, well, Ephesus was about 50 miles away from where John was exiled on that island. And they went in a circular clockwise route through what is modern day Turkey, which then was Asia or Asia Minor. And it was a clockwise route that made up a mail route. And so John was to write these things and then send them to those seven churches. We'll go into more detail about the seven churches in later messages, if the Lord wills. While we know that we are reading what was directly addressed to these churches in their own time and in their own location, I believe that based on what is recorded in these first three chapters, especially, that these blessings are given to all those who read and to hear what is written here. We are to understand that this message is for the fullness of the church that Jesus Christ purchased with his own blood. The use of seven is a reference to just that, fullness or completion. And this is to whom the whole letter is then addressed. In the letters to the churches, if you look at Revelation 2, verse seven, you'll see that at the end of this letter, this short letter to the church at Ephesus, and this is repeated in the subsequent letters to the other churches, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. So this is undoubtedly a message to these seven churches, but by extension, a message to all of us that we are blessed if we hear, if we read, and if we follow what we are given in this book of Revelation. And it has the same message for the church today. It was to reveal Christ then, and it's to reveal Christ now. And a blessing by God Himself is promised in reading this, upon hearing this. You know, there were some who, in this day, wouldn't have been able, we are blessed. Let me back up a second. We are absolutely, amazingly blessed to be able to have, in abundance, with very little cost, God's Word. There are those in this time who would never be able to afford books of the Bible, much less a unified even Old Testament, because they were massive. They were expensive. They were hard to come by. So even a blessing is given on those who hear the reading of this Word. There were those who couldn't read, but they could hear. They could understand. They could see Christ through the Word that was read to them. I don't know about you, but I can think of nothing better or greater than knowing that an undeserving wretch like me can receive a blessing from God Almighty for listening and reading His Word. What a blessing. To these here and to those within the church today who are about to receive persecution, the ones about to go through hardship, can you imagine, just for a second, If you knew that you were in great need of something, and it was dire, the need was immediate, and behind that door is all that you need, how fast would you run to bust through that door and get what is needed? Well, here it is. To the church that exists in the world, What are we told? You will face persecution. Right? How can we face this persecution? By the revelation of Jesus Christ. Who He is, what He has done, and the victory that is accomplished through Him. We have the promise of blessing. to read and to hear these things that the Spirit says to the church. Do not neglect this. Don't neglect it. In verse 4, we have the salutation. John to the seven churches that are in Asia, and the last part of verse 4 to the first part of verse 5, Grace to you and peace from Him who is, who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before the throne. And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of earth. Should that not fill our hearts with joy, Grace to you and peace. These are churches that John was writing to that are in the midst of and are about to face great persecution. Grace and peace to you. Oh my, what a comfort. What a comfort it is to receive those words from God. to receive great word of encouragement from the Almighty, the One who reigns upon a throne. No matter what trial or what hardship we have to go through on this earth, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit say to us, grace and peace to you. Well, we have grace to you and peace from Him who is, who was, and who is to come. Who is that but God the Father? This is a triune blessing. I've never understood. I can understand. the oneness movement where they try and pick out certain portions of the other parts of the New Testament and try and mold those and cherry pick those to say that God is not a triune God. But things like the baptism of Jesus Christ and this right here, I don't understand at all how anyone can look at these and come up with a doctrine like the oneness Pentecostal doctrine. I don't understand it. Or modalism. Right here, we have a blessing given, grace and peace, from the three persons of the triune God. One God, three persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Right here it is. There's no obscuring of this. Is this not a revealing to us? Well, God the Father, the one who is and who was and who is to come. And then we have something that is kind of the first of the mysterious. in Revelation. And we talked about this. We have a group on Wednesday night of family that comes together and we have question and answer period. And then we'll look at a couple things from Scripture. Just some members of our extended family. David and Jessica's kids and our kids and Trenton, we'll throw him in the bunch as well. He's here when he can be here. But it's good for us to do this. And we looked at this seven spirits Who are before the throne? Well, this is one of those that a lot of people have a difficulty with. I won't go into great detail. If you want to know the scriptures and how it all fits together, come see me sometime. I'm happy to sit down with you and walk you through this like we did with the kids the other night. But the seven spirits before the throne. If we turn to Scripture to understand what this is, we will see that this is nothing but the Holy Spirit Himself in His fullness, in His completeness, in the seven-fold ministry that is recorded in the Old Testament of the Holy Spirit for us. And if you want to look at that, Isaiah 11, if you want to write that down and look at it later, is where that sevenfold ministry of the Spirit is given to us in Scripture. But this is the Spirit here. So we have God the Father, the one who is, who was, and who is to come. We have the sevenfold, or the seven Spirits before the throne, which is the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ. Now, this reverses the order that we're used to seeing this in, right? We're used to saying God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Well, why is that? Well, He has something more that God wants to reveal to us about Jesus Christ. So He puts Him in the third position, and then goes right into telling us more about Christ. So we receive this blessing from the triune God, from Jesus Christ in verse 5, who is, now God is revealing more, He's holding up His Son, He's glorifying Jesus Christ, and He tells us more about Him. There's more He wants us to see about His Son. And He says, Jesus Christ, the faithful witness. The faithful witness. The one who never spoke a lie. Right? the one in whom truth itself is found. What is a faithful witness? It's one who brings truth, right? In John, John chapter 18, verse 37, Pilate said to him, So you are a king? This is when Jesus was standing before Pontius Pilate. And Jesus answered, You say that I am a king, listen to what he says, for this purpose. I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world." Well, what is that? He says it's to bear witness to the truth. To bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of a truth listens to my voice. In John 14 verse 6, Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. He is the faithful witness. John 1 18, well what is he a witness of? John 118, no one has ever seen God, the only God who is at the Father's side. He has made Him known. Who has made Him known? Christ has made Him known. He is the faithful witness. Hebrews tells us what? He is the exact imprint of His nature. He is the radiance of God's glory. He is the faithful witness. John 17 verse 8 says, For I have given them the words that you gave me. We read this earlier in our congregational scripture reading. For I have given them the words that you gave me and they have received them and have come to know in what? In truth that I came from you and they have believed that you have sent me. He is the faithful witness. He is As we go on, verse 5, and from Jesus Christ, He's the faithful witness and He's the firstborn of the dead. He died and He rose again in victory over the grave that we, His people, may one day live again. I can't keep, when I'm thinking about this, from going back to the funeral message that we heard at Joe Crabtree's funeral from Bruce. Joe is not in the grave. She's not. She lives. Why does she live? Because He's the firstborn of the dead. He rose that we may rise. He lives that we might live. And even that body is going to one day be born from the dead. Because Christ rose from the grave. He's the firstborn of the dead. 1 Corinthians 15 verse 20 says, But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of them who have fallen asleep. Bruce said that yesterday, didn't he? She's just sleeping. That body's going to decay, but it's just sleeping. It's waiting the day when He comes back and those old dead bodies that have disintegrated, fallen apart, are going to be remade. and rise to meet Him in the air. Colossians 1.18 says, For He is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything He might have a preeminence. He's the firstborn of the dead. Then we go on. So He's the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and He's the ruler of the kings of earth. to a persecuted church, to those in Ukraine this morning who seem to be overrun by a tyrant, to those in China who are under the thumb of communist dictatorship, they have hope because in reality, those men are nothing. They're nothing. Christ rules and rules over all the kings of earth. Revelation 6, 15-17. If you want to turn there, since that's close. Revelation 6, 15-17. Listen to this. This is amazing. Verse 15, then the kings of earth and the great ones, not just the small ones, not just the lower kings of earth, but the great ones, and the generals, and the rich, and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and the mountains excuse me, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains calling for the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of their wrath has come and who can stand. It doesn't matter how great Putin is. It doesn't matter how great, I can't pronounce it, whatever the guy who runs China is. It didn't matter how great Hitler was, or Alexander the Great, or Napoleon, or George Washington, or any other general, leader, king. If they are outside of Christ, there's a day coming when the wrath of the Lamb will be revealed against them. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. Ephesians 121 says, For far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come. It's not just going to take place At Christ's second coming, He rules over them now, in this age. He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. Can we receive comfort from this today? Can we? Today we hear echoes of Matthew 24 6, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. Is this not what we are literally hearing right now today? See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. All these warmongers, all these despots, all these tyrants, they're under his rule. He's the ruler of the kingdoms of the earth. They will one day bow the knee. One day. They will one day come face to face with the One who rules all the kings of the earth. They will one day face eternal defeat. When Christ brings them underfoot and tramples them under His wrath. He is the one given authority in heaven and on earth. These will be dealt a death blow, and it will be found that their strength is nothing but a puny, temporal thing against a holy, righteous, just, all-powerful God. If they don't repent and believe, this will be their utter end, as it is to anyone, including us, if we live in unrepentant sin. Strangers to grace, strangers to mercy. This is grace and peace that he gave out earlier to the church in Ukraine, to the church in Russia, to the church in China, to the church in North Korea, to any church that lives under the thumb of those who will one day be brought to true justice. Justice is coming. Take heart, have faith, preach on. We would say to those churches. One day, Christ will rule and bring all of this under submission before Him. He's ruling now, and one day they will be brought to justice. And to him, last part of verse 5, and to him, John can't help but break out into doxology right here. These words that have been given to us in Revelation chapter 1 verse 1 through the first part of verse 5 leads to praise and adoration. John breaks forth into doxology, breaks forth into thankful worship in the middle of what he's telling us. And to Him who loves us. What can you walk through knowing that Christ loves you? Jo had no fear of death. Why? Because Christ loved her. Right? You guys went and visited her. You know. Afraid of maybe the process of death. but death had no hold over her." Why? To Him who loved us. What suffering may actually be enjoyed because Christ loved us? John Bunyan, and I think it was Bruce that mentioned this in his message, but what palace a prison can be If my Lord would dwell with me there. Because He loves us. He loves His people. He's present with us. We're going to see more of this as we go further into these first three chapters of Revelation. to know that He loves us, He cares for us, and He even now lives to intercede for us and on our behalf. And then we read, not only does He love us, but He has freed us from our sins by His blood. He hasn't just washed us. But literally what this is saying, I don't even think free is the picture that should come to mind. He loosed us. He broke the bonds that kept us in prison to sin. You know, I think of the, there in Acts where Paul was in prison and the doors just opened. and the angel came in and let him out, you guys remember that? This, I think, is the picture that we have. If we would have seen what happened when Paul and Silas were in prison, fastened in stocks, and that earthquake came, and the doors and the bars flew open, their stocks, their handcuffs that they were in, just fell off. This is what Christ has done for us by His blood. He's freed us, He's loosed us, He's broken the bonds. He purchased this for us by His own blood. On the cross, he freed us from our bonds. I can't help but think of the picture of Christian and Pilgrim's Progress. The more he read in this little book that he gave, the more he understood his sin. And what did that do to him? If you remember back to that book, there was this growing burden that was fastened, chained, to his back. And it just kept on growing. And it got to the point that he couldn't bear it anymore. That he actually left his city. Left his family because he had to be free of this burden. And he read in this book that there was a place. And he was directed towards this place by evangelists. And he went to the foot of the cross. And immediately, the bonds of that burden broke free. And it fell off his back, rolled down a hill, and went into a tomb. John Bunyan is painting the picture of what we read here when it says in Revelation that He has freed us from our sins by His blood. He did this for us. Why? Because He loved us. The Father gave us in eternity past to Him that He might come and free us. It was at the foot of the cross where our chains to sin were broken. You see, the blood of the old sacrifice in the Old Testament, it washed away sin. But it still chained them because it had to be repeated every year. But when Christ came and He died, the perfect sacrifice, the one to whom those sacrifices in the Old Testament pointed towards, He freed us. He didn't just wash us. He accomplished eternal redemption for us. He freed us from our sins. Well, I didn't deserve it. And I know you're a human being like me, so you didn't deserve it. I had nothing to offer. I had nothing to put forward. I had no merit whereby I might claim this for myself. I had no righteousness, not even willing until He made me willing in the day of His power. I couldn't even see the kingdom of God until I was born again." From John 3. Couldn't do it. Yet, He initiated this. He freed us. He freed us. But it doesn't end there. Verse 6. And He made us, and I've got to hurry here. He made us a kingdom, priest to His God and Father, to Him be glory forever and ever, and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He doesn't just leave us wandering around when He freed us. He gives us purpose. He gives us employment. He makes us a nation, gives us commission as priests that we might serve Him to His glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So be it. Let it be so. This goes far beyond just forgiving us of our sins. He's making us into, and will one day perfectly make us into, a royal priesthood that will serve Him eternally. To His praise, to His glory, forever and ever. What a privilege is ours and what an amazing gift is given to the church on earth that we might now begin the work of praising Him for eternity. Even if we go through persecutions. Even if we go through trials. Even if we go through hardships. Verse 7, Behold, He is coming again. He's coming again. Behold, John says. He calls us to listen. It's like he's saying, stand at attention and be prepared. I'm going to tell you something really important. And what does he tell us? He's coming again. He's coming again. So hear this, this morning, and if I could project my voice so that the Christians in Russia and Ukraine could hear it, I would tell them, behold, take heart. He's coming again. He's coming again. This is the promise we have from Christ himself in John 14. John 14, 3, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will take you to myself. That where I am, you may be also. You may be going through war. You may be going through hostility. But I'm coming again. I'm coming again. Christ's own promise that John recorded for us in his gospel account. And here is the crowning jewel of the age. Christ is coming again. Christ is coming again. He's coming with the clouds. Every eye will see Him, we're told here. You who are Christians who have experienced the love of God, who have had the bonds of your sin loosed, set free by our precious Savior's blood, by His own purchase, by His own blood, what a day that will be. Can you hear the song? What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see, and I look upon His face, the one who saved me by His grace, when He takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land. What a day, glorious day, that will be. There'll be no sorrows there. You may be in war right now, You may have been like we've seen from the news clips, the men separated from their families. Sorrow, there's crying. I hated leaving my girls when they were young for a short amount of time. These men are leaving their children to fight in a war. But when he comes again, there'll be no sorrows there. No more burdens to bear, no more sickness, no more pain. Joe, experiencing that now, no more parting over there. But forever I will be, here is the key, with the one who died for me. What a day. Glorious day that will be. On that day we'll experience a perfect salvation. Our bodies, if we have died, will be raised again and glorified, fit for glory, fit for service, fit for praise, fit for worship. No more sickness, no more sorrow, no more trial, no more persecution, no more doubt, no more waiting. He's coming again. You, if there are any here, who have not been loosed from sin, those who have not as of yet, as the Puritans called it, closed with Christ, don't be found on the wrong side of His coming. Verse 7 tells us that every eye will see Him, not just those who are hidden in Him. but also those who pierced Him with their sinfulness, those who in their wicked hearts rejected Him, those who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, those who put off and believe there will always be time, one day, for me to deal with the state of my soul. This is a most tragic thing, is it not? To have heard the gospel to have heard the revelation of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and responded in unbelief. There will be a great time of mourning, we're told here in Revelation, for all those throughout the earth who find themselves in this state upon Christ's sure and certain return. He is God. He is almighty, victorious, unchanging. He cannot lie. He says, I'm coming again. He's coming again. Final statement from Christ in Revelation 1 verse 8, I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. One of the commentators said, with these words, Christ Jesus stakes his claim upon history. He puts history in its place, setting it in the context of God's eternal purpose and showing how it is accomplished in him. At every point from start to finish, Christ is the Lord of history. He was present at the beginning and is at work through all time in the lives of men, the affairs of nation, the rise and falls of civilizations, and the cycles of nature. And when time has run its course, He will write the final chapter and give final disposition to all things. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the A to the Z. He is everything in between. He is the first cause from which flows all effects. He is, as Colossians tells us, the one in whom all things consist, and to the one who is coming in the last day. He is the I Am. He takes upon Himself in this passage that which describes God the Father in verse 4. He is God. He is the One who is, the One who always has been, and the One who is to come. He always is because He has being in Himself. No other thing in existence has being in and of themselves except for our God, our triune God. Does this not cause us once again to just break out in the same doxology that John broke out to him before in Revelation 1, 5-6? To Him who loved us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. To Him be glory. Amen. Let's pray. Lord God and Heavenly Father, we thank you for the time that we've had to look unto your word. Lord, we pray that you would reveal Christ more fully to us through it. Lord, may we meditate upon your word throughout this week. May we see more of you. May we be drawn closer to you, closer to each other. Lord, may we take these promises and hold them dear to our hearts. Lord, strengthen us through them. In your name we pray, amen.