Book of Revelation chapter 1
and I'd like to read verses 1 through 17 as we have the past few weeks
looking at this and then we'd like to spend some time just
reviewing verse 5 and looking at verse 6. The revelation of
Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants
things which must shortly come to pass, and he sent and signified
it by his angel unto his servant John, who bear record of the
word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all the
things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and
them that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things
which are written therein, for the time is at hand. John, to
the seven churches which are in Asia. Grace be unto you and
peace from him which is, which was, and which is to come. And
from the seven spirits which are before his throne. 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, 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, saith the Lord, which is, and
which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I, John, who also
am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called
Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and heard behind me a great
voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first
and the last. And what thou seest, write in
a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia,
unto Ephesus, and unto Samarna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira,
and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned
to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle. His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow,
and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like undefined
brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, Now to his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword,
and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me, saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last." Can't wait to get that. We're going to be looking just
briefly at verse five. We went through here and looked
at a few things last week, but it's just such a delight to review
what God has done for his people. And we noticed in there in the
latter part of that verse, well, Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness. and the first begotten of the
dead and the prince and the kings of the earth there's one thing
about every statement in there he doesn't take second chair
to anyone he doesn't play second fiddle
he is absolutely monarch king of kings and lord of lords He
is the first begotten from the dead. He is, as it shares with
us, the prince or the king of the kings of the earth. And then
it says he is the faithful witness and he is the only absolutely
honest, faithful witness this earth has ever seen. David said, I came forth from
my mother's womb speaking lies. And this witness came forth not
knowing what a lie is. Never had one. Never thought
one. Never was tempted with one. I
never succumbed to temptation of one. But here is that he doesn't
take a second chair to anyone. He is the king of kings. And
as a result of that, we find that he loved us. He couldn't
love us like he loves us unless he fulfilled all of those positions
in the previous part of this verse. He could not love us from
eternity, as we find in the book of Jeremiah, if he did not have
those qualities about him. that he was king of kings, and
that he is the first begotten of the dead, and that he is the
faithful witness. When it was committed to him
in the covenant of grace before the world began, he determined
to share with his people the absolute truth about himself,
about themselves, about the word of God, and about God, and about
everything else. He was determined, and He does
share that with us. He shares with us that when the
Spirit of God comes, and I'm looking at that when He come
to me, He's gonna reveal unto me the truth. He will not share
a lie. He will reveal the truth. And
that truth will always put God not second fiddle to anyone.
Now, he loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. Now, I'd like to go back to the
book of Acts chapter 20 and just make a couple of comments with
regard to this as the Apostle Paul was sharing his last farewell
message. Now, they did cry. They did weep. They were sorry. But Paul never
missed an opportunity to share the gospel, even with the elders
that were from Ephesus. Why did he do that? Why did he
do that? Because that's the only thing
that will comfort God's people, is the gospel. He shared with
them again what he had shared with them before. He shared it
with them, and that's what brought them to Jesus Christ. He shared
it again, and that's what comforted their souls as new Christians.
And he shared it again, and that's what comforted their souls as
they matured. And he shared it again the last
day he ever saw them. Now, he didn't go over a long
laundry list of things that he'd accomplished there. He preached
to them the gospel and shared the blood of Christ. And that's
so valuable to us. It isn't what we accomplish,
it's who died for us, who redeemed us. And here in the book of Acts
chapter 20 and verse 28. We read these words as the Apostle
Paul was sharing it. Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves
and all the flock. And what does he say there? We
read a verse over in the book of 1 Peter this Sunday. He's
saying the same thing to these Ephesian elders. Take heed to
yourselves. What's he saying? Make your calling
and election sure. Take heed to yourselves. My goodness,
if you're going down the path and pretty soon you start to
talk about things that are inappropriate, things that are based on works,
shut your mouth and sit down. Take heed to yourself. Take heed
to yourself. And then he says, and to all
the flock over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers.
That's wonderful. As we look here in the scriptures,
we find how the Holy Spirit ran things. I love it. The Holy Spirit was involved.
The Holy Spirit ran things. You know what he still does?
He's in charge. He's the one that reveals the
truth to the church. He's the one that reveals Christ
to the church. He's the one that leads the church.
He's the one that said to the church, separate me Barnabas
and Paul for the work whereunto I've called him. And now these
at Ephesus, he said, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers. You've been appointed by this Holy Ghost to do what
you're doing now. feed the church of God which
he hath purchased with his own blood now that's your responsibility
he shared that with these Ephesian elders but the point we want
to see here he purchased something with his own blood redemption
but the very word redemption means there's a cost There's
a price to pay. If we're going to redeem something,
there's a price to pay. Now the price to pay is whatever
the person holds the object demands. Now, some things, the redemptive
price might be cheap. We might be able to take a bargain
here. I worked in a pawn shop, fascinating work. Fascinating,
where I loved every day I went to work. Fascinating. Sometimes the redemption price
was cheap and sometimes it was expensive, but the redemption
of your soul cost something we can't provide. The blood of Jesus
Christ. Now what's that mean? That means
he gave his life. When he shed his blood, he gave
his life. He put his life as redemptive
prize for us. And that's what he shares. He
loved us and gave himself for us. He loved us and loosed us,
washed us from our sins in his own blood. Now, there is a fountain
filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. and sinners
plunged beneath that flood lose all their guilty stains. I like
that. That poet put to music. I mean, it's music, it's melody
in the heart of God's people to realize that when Jesus Christ
pushes us down under that flood, we lose all our guilty stains.
We can have friendship and fellowship with God Almighty, which we didn't
have before. We can enjoy the privilege of
sitting down in his presence because he has plunged us beneath
that flood. Now, the Apostle Paul shared
with us, with these elders, these preachers there at Ephesus, feed
the church of God. Why? Because it's valuable to
God. The church is a valuable, why? He purchased it with his own
blood. He gave his life for it. Now,
turn with me, if you would, over to 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1. Now, it's a glorious thing. When
we go through the scriptures, we just find everywhere we go
three things. Ruined by the fall. He has, there
in Revelation 1 and verse 5, he
washed us from our sins. Now there's the problem. S-I-N
and S-I-N-S. We're that by nature and we're
that by practice. We had a fall in Adam. We're ruined by the fall. We're
not wrecked. We're ruined. We're ruined. As my granddaughter would say,
we're a batch of blue cheese. Now I just happen to like blue
cheese, but she doesn't. She calls it stinky feet cheese. Ruined by the fall. We're ruined
by the fall. Not a wreck, but ruined. And we just find
that principle all over the scriptures. We found it in Revelation chapter
one and verse five, and then redeemed by Christ. It's our only hope, our only
hope. And then regenerated by the Holy
Spirit. That's our only hope. Now look
with me here in first Peter chapter one, first Peter chapter one,
Verse 18, we have these wonderful words. We have a song in our
green book. We just sing it to death. We
just love it, because it's a scriptural verse, scriptural song. 1 Peter
1, verse 18, it says, for as much as ye know. Now, if you've
been saved, you know this. You're not redeemed with corruptible
things as silver and gold. Those Jews got so, when they
went by the box, they just thought, I'm taking care of all my spiritual
needs. Yeah, they bring in those donations. You're not redeemed with corruptible
things, and we don't think they're corruptible, but they are, as
silver and gold. From your vain conversation,
receive my tradition from your fathers. Now he's speaking to
a group of Jews, but I'll tell you, Presbyterians, Methodists,
and Baptists have nothing on the Jews. It's just another religion. And we're steeped in it until
God reveals his son to us. And then you know that you're,
for as much as you know, that you're not redeemed with corruptible
things of silver and gold, that's how you bought your watch back,
and that's how you bought property back, and that's how you got
your kids back, but you're not gonna get into the presence of
God with silver and gold. It's not gonna happen. But with
the precious blood of Christ, Now that's just music to God's
people's ears with a precious, we just need to underline that
word, precious blood. Precious blood is precious to
God. It was precious to Christ. And spilt, it's precious to us.
Precious blood. Christ as of a lamb without blemish
and without spot I Find no fault in him Now that's a sinner man
said that the church has been saying hallelujah ever since
Hallelujah, I find no fault in him a precious blood of Christ's
lamb without blemish and without spot who fairly was foreordained
before the foundation of the world." Now that's good too,
isn't it? That just tells us about his
eternality interest in us. He fairly foreordained before
the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last
times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead and gave him glory that your faith and hope
might be in God. So the church is just so dependent
upon the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, the precious blood of
Christ, as of a lamb without spot, without blemish. And he
just didn't get down here and decide at the last minute that
he was going to the dowels. You know, I've seen movies where
somebody walks into the stagecoach station and says, how far can
I get on $5? And the guy says, well, you can
get to Waco, Texas. And they're about 30 miles away,
you know. He said, get me there. Well, he's just trying to get
out of town is all he is. The Lord Jesus didn't come down
to this earth and decide, I think I'll do this. Who was verily
foreordained. And God's people just love it
because it means he had an interest in them before the world began.
And if he didn't have an interest in us before the world began,
we will not have anybody have an interest in us. All right,
going back over there to the book of Revelation. Now, verse
six, look at this with me. Not only has he washed us from
our sins in his own blood, but he promoted us. He gave us the
grandest promotion we could ever imagine in our life. and have made us kings and priests
unto God. Now we might have been kings
and we might have been priests before, but we weren't unto God.
We had our established our own God. We had our own way figured
out, but this change that God works in his people is he makes
us to be both kings and priests or a kingdom of priests. king
priest he and hath made us now I like that he made us now it
means that I wasn't in favor of it to begin with but he had
strong influence and he made me He took the flour, and the
sugar, and the salt, and the bacon powder, and all the stuff
that goes into the best batch of chocolate chip walnut cookies,
and he made it. made us kings and priests. Now turn with me, with that in
mind, turn over there with me. What a wonderful passage of scripture
in 1 Samuel chapter 2. 1 Samuel chapter 2. This dear
sister in Christ, she shares a whole bunch. Here's her confession
of faith. Now, it's just a little bit longer
than Peter's, but she's just saying, this is added to this,
and this is added. You know, the cookie just gets
bigger. Over there, Peter said, thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And this dear saint, this lovely lady, this
faithful sister in Christ Jesus, our Lord, this one, way back
there in time, had this to say in a prayer. Now, we're gonna
read a verse of scripture over here in the book of Revelation
in just a moment, but there's a vial, V-I-A-L. It's not V-I-L-E. V-I-A-L, that's
something that holds something. A vial full of sweet-smelling
odors, which is the prayers of the saints. And here's one of them that's
in it. God's people praying is a sweet smelling odor, savor
to our Savior. They have been brought through
the blood. They have been brought by the
Holy Spirit. They have been brought into His
presence, cleansed and clean. If it wasn't for the blood of
Christ, we couldn't pray. If it wasn't for the Holy Spirit,
they'd never been delivered. But they are brought up in His
presence. smelling odor. Now it's like
the very very delightful smell that must have been in the Holy
of Holies when they burnt that incense. Fill the whole house
just as the Spirit of God fills everything. Sweet smelling odor. Now notice this sweet smelling
odor here in 1st Samuel. 1st Samuel chapter 2 verse 1. Hannah prayed, and we get to
read it. Jim was sharing, he's been listening
to some messages by Charles Spurgeon, read by some Englishmen. Now,
I've heard one or two that way, and it just, oh, it's a delight,
delight. I heard Sinners in the Hands
of an Angry God read by an Englishman once. I liked listening to it,
but it was powerful. But here, if we could just have
someone like Hannah in the background say this with the emphasis that
she put on it. Now let's do this. She said,
now this is a prayer, and I am convinced these words are sweet
smelling odor to God. Because she says, my heart rejoiceth
in the Lord. My horn is exalted in the Lord. My mouth is enlarged over mine
enemies, because I rejoice in thy salvation. The enemies kept
saying, gork, gork, gork, and she's learned grace, grace, grace.
She said, I rejoice in my salvation, and that makes her enemies upset.
Now, there is none holy as the Lord, for there is none beside
thee, neither is there any rock like our God. Now, no wonder
this is a sweet-smelling odor. It's just full of praise to God.
And it goes on to tell us where we are now. Taught no more so
exceeding proudly, let not arrogance come out of your mouth, for the
Lord is a God of knowledge, and by Him actions are weighed. Now, that's good, isn't it? Who
shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that
justifies. by him action shall be weighed.
I redeemed them. They're mine. The bows of the
mighty men are broken, and they that stumble are girded with
strength. Now that's a strange thing. Bows of the mighty men
that used to send out air, they're broken, but they that stumbled
are girded with strength. They that were full have hired
out themselves for bread, and they that were hungry ceased. So that the barren hath born
seven, and she that hath many children is waxed feeble. Now
notice this, the Lord killeth, the Lord maketh alive, he bringeth
down to the grave, he bringeth up, he maketh poor, and maketh
rich, and bringeth low, and lifteth up." Now, everything is just
backwards to us. Everything in there, just backwards.
And people want to turn that around. People want to turn that
around. People want to turn that around.
Oh, they must have made a mistake in translation. No, they didn't. God brings down before he lifts
up. He never blesses lift up. He always blesses after we've
been brought down. Now, he goes on to say, he raiseth
up the poor out of the dust and lifteth up the beggar from the
dunghill to set them among princes. Now, what did we read over there
in the book of Revelation? Chapter one, verse five, verse six, he
hath made us kings and priests unto God. And Hannah, many, many
years before that, was saying the exact same thing in her prayer. And why could she say it in her
prayer? Because she knew it was the truth. Have you ever said anything in
your prayer that you didn't know was the truth? She's speaking
about God because she knows the truth of it. She's been lifted
up. She knows what it is to be down. She knows what it is to be a
sinner. She knows what it is to be in the fall. She knows
what it is, as it says there, to lift up a beggar from the
dunghill. Now, this is a lady saying this. This is a Christian
lady. This is a sister in Christ. She's
sharing something about where she came from. And she's sharing
something about where every believer comes from. We'll do anything
for warmth, won't we? and there's only one warm spot
in all the world, and that's laying our head on the Lord Jesus
Christ. We'll do anything for a warm
place. That's where beggars used to sleep, because it was a warm
place. Smelly, oh my goodness. We'll do anything, but the Lord
will bring us down to bring us up. Now it says here, to set
them among princes and to make them inherit the throne of glory
for the pillars of the earth are the Lord's and he has set
the world upon them. He has the right to do with his
own as he sees fit and he has purpose to elevate them to a
state they only, well they couldn't even think of. to bring them
as king-priests, make them as king-priests, promote them as
king-priests, beggars, worms, if you please, to make them king-priests
of God Almighty. That's the purpose of God. Purpose
of His grace is not to leave us where He found us, but to
lift us up into His presence and to make us kings and priests
of the Most High God. Now, what do we do as kings?
of God, kings of the Lord Jesus. What do we do? I was thinking
about that. You know, we rule our mind when we know in our
heart that our God reigns. That's just so simple. Just go
through life, I know my God reigns. You know, there's a rule over
us that we never had before. He's in charge. And you visit
with people. Sometimes I get a little distraught,
too, things going on. But we can rule where we never
ruled before. When God reveals unto us, our
God is in charge. He reigns. He rules and reigns. He reigns over kingdoms. He reigns
over kings. He raises up kings. He disposes
of kings. He raises up presidents. He disposes
of presidents. He reigns. I'm at peace. I'm in charge. I rule. i rest in him and then he says
that we're priests we're kings and priests of our lord now turn
with me if you would to the book of first peter chapter two what
do priests do what do priests do well we have the opportunity
granted to us by our god to offer up sacrifices now we're not going
to bring in them goats and sheep and oxen and cattle and turtle
doves and all that other stuff. We're not asked to do that. But
we have the privilege of offering up spiritual sacrifices. Well-pleasing unto our God. He
talked about the old sacrifices. Bring no more vain oblations. I'm so tired of these sheep when
you don't even look at them as representing me. You bring the
halt and the lame and the diseased and the maimed and you're really
sharing with the world that's what you think of your God. Bring
no more vain oblations. But he tells his church, I'll
take the spiritual sacrifices. First Peter Chapter 2. First Peter Chapter 2. It says, ye also as lively living stones
are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. What
is one of those spiritual sacrifices that we offer? Sacrifice of praise. Wasn't that what Hannah presented?
She offered up the sacrifice of praise. When God, through
his Son, gave to us the model prayer, our Father which art
in heaven, holy be thy name. Now that is an example of offering
up spiritual sacrifices of praise. Oh to praise God to let our to
know from our heart a God that's been revealed to us and just
speak highly of him. There's one passage I think it's
Hmm. Oh, First Peter chapter 1 verse
3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ. If I'm not mistaken, that word
blessed is the same word we get our word eulogy from. Isn't it
a delight to eulogize God? Now, I've been to some funerals
when they gave the eulogy and I just wanted to take a peek,
because I never knew the person that was being spoken of like
that. But with God, do you eulogize him? Oh, in the highest of the
heavens, holy and righteous are you all together. Hallowed be
thy name. Your kingdom come. Your will
be done on earth as it is in heaven. Goodness to give him
that kind of praise every day from our hearts and mean it that's
being a priest to the most high God Hannah was doing that over
there in the book of first Samuel and then turn with me if you
would to Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 This is a privilege
granted only to the church only to God's people You can't do
it otherwise. People can say our father and
have no idea what they're talking about. But a person that's been
born of God and has him as their father, they can really say our
father who art in heaven. A person that doesn't have any
idea what a shepherd is can't say the Lord's my shepherd. But
a person that has Christ, the Lord is my shepherd, I shall
not want. Isn't that wonderful? He's the
herdsman. He's the one that's outflanking us. We're drawn to
the right, he's out there herding us back. We're drawn to the left,
where he's out there bringing us back. The Lord is our shepherd,
I shall not want. Here in Hebrews chapter 13, Hebrews
chapter 13, and there in verse 15, these blessed words that
have been given to us about what it is to be a priest of God,
a priest unto God, to be made a priest unto God. Hebrews chapter
13 and verse 15. By him, therefore,
let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually. That is the fruit of our lips
giving thanks to his name. Now that's being a priest. offering
spiritual sacrifices, offering praise unto God. And then over
in the book of Revelation chapter five, Revelation chapter five,
Revelation chapter five and verse six. We're five chapters in and we're
still connected to the first chapter. I mean, this potato
is dense. There's no squeeze room in this,
it's just, it's, all right, here it says, Revelation chapter five,
verse six, and I beheld in low in the midst of the throne and
of the four beasts in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are
the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. Now,
there is a word in there, it just hasn't been it's not our
vernacular anymore and that's the word beasts beasts when we
think of beasts we're boy i'm on the wrong side of
the fence with this beast i'm out in the field with this beast
i'm gonna be run over the fence with this beast this word means
living creature This is such a good word. These characters
are so honorable. They're not grotesque, they're
honorable. And it says there in verse seven,
and he came and took the book out of the right hand of him
that sat on the throne. And when he had taken the book, The four
beasts and four and 20 elders fell down before the Lamb, having
every one of them harps and golden vials full of odors, which are
the prayers of the saints. It's interesting that the four
and 20 elders, there's 24, that's the number of tribes of the Old
Testament, number of apostles in the New Testament, that's
just the church from beginning to end represented. From the very first Sabban to
the very last Sabban, There they are represented. And I sung a
new song, they sung a new song, saying thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was slain and
has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and
tongue and people and nation. Now notice that out of, every
kindred out of. and has made us unto our God
kings and priests and we shall reign on the earth. Now I don't
believe this is all future. I get the privilege right now
of enjoying Christ's reign and as I enjoy it, I get to reign. He's in charge. I get to enjoy
his reign. I am a king priest with him. He loved me. God loves me like
he loves his son. His son is a king and his son
is a priest and we are made kings and priests. We now get to enjoy
the rich benefits of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I beheld and
heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the
living creatures, the beasts and the elders, and the number
of them was 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands of thousands. saying with a loud voice, worthy
is the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and
wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Who is
it that's singing this? Kings and priests and every host
of heaven. We're offering spiritual sacrifice. We're praising God with our lips. And they said, worthy is the
lamb that was slain. That's just a good, good, honorable
way of recognizing our almighty God. Worthy is the lamb that
was slain. Now in the eighth chapter of
the book of Hebrews, going back one more time to the book of
Hebrews, we find these words with regard to the everlasting
eternal covenant. Now I had a discussion one time
with my sister and she said that the circumcision in the Old Testament
was the sign of the covenant and baptism in the New Testament
was a sign of the covenant. And I said, that is incorrect. Now, I don't know about the Old
Testament, but I know this, that the blood of Christ is the sign
of the covenant. It's not baptism. The blood of
Christ is the sign of the covenant. We are participants of the new
covenant which he purchased with his own blood. This is, he told
his 11 disciples that night, this is the blood of the new
covenant. As he held it up, this is a symbol
of the blood of the new covenant. Now notice here Hebrews chapter
8, the blood of the everlasting covenant, the everlasting covenant,
the eternal covenant. Now he made a covenant with Israel,
Mount Sinai, Mike was mentioning there Sunday about Mount and
Mount Ebal and blessings on one, curses on the other, yelling
back and forth at each other. Israel is divided and they're
on one, yelling back and forth, curses and blessings by God. And God told Israel, if you'll
keep my commandments, I'll make you a kingdom of priests. And they failed. Because no more had they got
the words that we'll keep it out of their mouth than they
were lying through their teeth. Now it was just a picture and
a type and a shadow of the group that would. And there were some
Israelites that knew what it was, but most we find did not. Not all Israel is of Israel. An Israelite is not one outwardly,
but one inwardly. don't show me the big black hat
don't show me the curls down the ears don't show me the phylacteries
don't show me the coats don't show me a jew is one inwardly
born again another term for born again now notice this this is
the covenant that god would make with the church hebrews chapter
8 and in it he's going to make kingdom of king priests Verse 8, for finding fault with
them, he said, finding fault with Israel in the first covenant.
Now it was weak through the flesh. Finding fault with them, behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, when I'll make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Now
we find that new covenant is synonymous to the everlasting
covenant. new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with
their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand and led
them out of the land of Egypt, because they continued not in
my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord." That's pretty plain. For this
is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those
days saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind and write them in their hearts and I will be to them
a God and they shall be to me a people and they shall not teach
every man his neighbor and every man his brother say and know
the Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest.
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins,
and their iniquities I will remember no more. For in that he saith
a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which
decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. Now what did
he say? I'll make them my people. I'll be their God. They shall
be my people. I will make them kings and priests
unto God. It's not theirs to make themselves
that. Boy, there's nothing worse than a self-made priest. There's
nothing worse than a self-made king. There's nothing worse than
a self-made king of priests or priest of kings. But when God
makes his king priests, they recognize their ruling by divine
authority. and it doesn't go to their head.
I was listening to a show yesterday on the radio and they're talking
about the divine right of kings, France and England, divine right
of kings. They could do no wrong because
they were put there by God. That's not what he's talking
about. He's talking about we are privileged to serve a king
who is benevolent to all his subjects. Now, one quick turn
back to the apocalypse. That book of blessing. He hath made us kings and priests,
verse six, unto God and his father. Isn't that interesting how unto
God is in large letter and then to the father? Who is it speaking
about? Jesus Christ the Lord and the Father and his Father
to him be glory and dominion. I like that word dominion. I
got it in my hand. No one takes it from me. I rule
in rain. I like the term he uses. We're
gonna get to with a rod of iron. What's that mean? I do my will
in the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth
and none can say unto me, or stay my hand or say, what doest
thou? I like that. I like a God that's ruling and
doing what he pleases just like his word said he would do. It's a delight. And verse seven,
we're not gonna go there tonight, but behold, he cometh with clouds. As often as you do this, do this
in remembrance of me, till he comes. Promise, promise, promise.