I want to speak to you this morning
on the subject, our Lord Jesus said there in verse 13, I am
alpha and omega. As you most likely remember,
this book of the revelation of Jesus Christ begins with that
statement, the revelation of Jesus Christ It isn't the revelation
of Saint John the Divine. We don't need Saint John the
Divine to be revealed to us. He isn't divine anyway. None
of God's people are ever little gods. We're God's children, but
we're not little gods. John wasn't divine. He was saved
by divine grace. He was given divine life. divine light of the gospel shone
forth in his innermost being. This isn't the revelation of
John. This is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. And throughout the book of the
Revelation, that which we do see is what we see in all of
the word of God. All of God's word from Genesis
1 to Revelation chapter 22 is all about the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. And to focus in especially upon
the book of the Revelation, this is just as it is the singular
subject of all the Bible, this is the singular subject of the
book of the Revelation. We're not looking for the USA
and Revelation, we're not looking for China, we're not looking
for Russia, we're not looking for anybody except the Savior.
And when you read the Word of God, wherever it is that the
Spirit of God has led you to read, you're never to look for
anybody else except the Son of God who loved us and who gave
Himself for us. He's to be found right in the
beginning of the Bible. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth, and we learn in John chapter one,
in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. In Hebrews
chapter 1, Thou, Lord, in the beginning has laid the foundations
of the earth. And in the end, He's going to
roll up the heavens like He's going to roll up a book or a
scroll. So the whole book of God is about
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the beginning of it, He's
the end of it, and He's everything in between. Now, to the young
people, I wanna say to you, everybody in here, everybody in here knows
your ABCs. Well, when it says here, Christ
says, I'm alpha and omega. That's the first letter of the
Greek alphabet. Alpha and omega is the last letter
of the Greek alphabet. And we'll just say, he's the
A to Z of everything, of all of the Bible. of all of creation,
of all of divine providence, of all of salvation, the Lord
Jesus Christ, you need to learn this. And from the youngest to
the oldest, we can all lay hold to this in the word of God and
in the book of the revelation, our Lord Jesus Christ is everything
from A to Z and everything in between. That's what we need
to know. And most people don't know that. Most people don't see that. Actually,
this expression, alpha and omega, is found four times in the book
of the Revelation. It's found a couple of times
over in Chapter 1. It's found in Chapter 1, verse
8. Chapter 1, verse 11. And then it's found in Chapter
21, in verse 6. And it's found here in Chapter
22 and verse 13. He is the one who began everything. He's Alpha. He's A. He's the beginning. He started
everything. You see, in the beginning, there
had to be somebody there to begin everything, to begin the beginning.
And He's the one who began the beginning. When there was no
such thing as time, When none existed save God Himself and
the Trinity of His persons, it pleased God the Father and the
Spirit that the Son of God, along with the Father and the Son,
should create all things by the Word of His power. So in Genesis
chapter 1 and verse 1, we see Him being the Alpha, the Beginning,
the First, of creation. Nobody preceded Him. When none
existed save God, Christ was there. Read Proverbs chapter
8. When all things were made, He
said, I was there too. That's the Son of God. He is
the eternal Word. Now hear me now. None can save
us except one who is equal with God. And the one who is equal
with God, in order to be God, he had to be from everlasting,
everlasting this way and everlasting out this way. I refer to it as
eternity past and eternity future. This is talking about our Lord
Jesus Christ. He's A. He's A. He's alpha. He's first. He's
the beginning. And He is the end. He's the one
who will terminate all things. That's what the word end, that's
the final ending. He was there, he started everything
right from the beginning. When he set that first clock,
he said it. And when the end shall come, Somebody says, do you think we're
close to the end? I'll tell you what I'm absolutely
sure of. We're closer than we were yesterday. I'm sure of that. Well, what about the signs, preacher? What kind of sign are you looking
for? If you're looking for a sign, you're in pursuit of the wrong
thing. We're to be looking unto Jesus,
the author and the finisher of our faith. When the Lord Jesus said in verse
20 here, surely I come quickly, amen. John said, even so come
Lord Jesus. And all of the saints of God
for the last 2,000 years should have been doing this, standing
as it were on the tiptoes of faith. Even so come Lord Jesus,
we're looking for you. I'm expecting it. And he will
come someday. My daddy had a lot of good expressions,
and he had pancreatic cancer, passed away in 1975. And he said
to me, he said, you know, and I'd heard him say this before,
he said, people ask me, am I looking for the undertaker? He said,
no, I'm looking for the upper taker. I'm looking for the upper
taker. I'm always looking for Christ. Aren't you looking for Christ?
I talked to somebody the other day, said, I long to see Christ
face to face. What is eternity? What's eternity
all about? It's all about this one who is
alpha and omega. Because you see, as he's everything
in creation, and is everything in providence, and providence
is our Lord bringing to pass His eternal purpose. He's everything
in creation. He's everything in providence.
He's the beginning and the end. He's everything in salvation. He began salvation. He ended
salvation. Did He not say it is finished
upon the cross of Calvary? He's the beginning and the end.
Our salvation is all of Him. He began it, He is the fulfillment
of it, and He's the end of it. He's the goal of it. The goal
of faith is to be with Him and see Him face to face. That's
the goal of faith. He's the beginning and He's the
end. Look down here. make a couple
of statements about a verse down here in verse 21. John says,
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all, amen. These
are the last words of God to his people. You think about that. These are
the last words of God, the last inspired words of God to his
people. And he leads John to write, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. That's continual. Be with you all. Amen. Do you know when grace was given
to us? Hold your place here and now
look back at 2 Timothy chapter one. When was grace given to
us? You remember, we know it's given us in Christ. Well, when
was it given us? 2 Timothy 1 in verse 9. 2 Timothy 1, 9, who hath saved
us and called us with unholy calling, not according to our
works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was
given us in Christ Jesus, when was this grace given to us? I know in whom it was given to
us, it was given to us in Christ. Now, when was it given to us?
Before the world began, before the beginning, before the beginning. And here John is led of the Spirit
of God to write that this grace that was given to us in Christ
from before the beginning, from the foundation of the world,
this grace, John prays that it will continue and it will continue
all the way to the end, all the way to the termination of time. Grace. We need it every day,
don't we? Grace was given us in the beginning. When there was an election of
grace. When the Lord chose us unto salvation
in Christ Jesus. And grace pursued us. Grace was
after us. When we were conceived in our
mother's womb. Grace was watching over us. No
harm could come to the children of God. During your life, perhaps you
lived a reckless life, or maybe you lived a tame life, I don't
know. But grace was watching over you. That no real harm would come
to you. Remember that close call you
had? Remember that near fatal accident you were almost involved
in? See the protection of God by
his grace over you all your life. And see the grace of God that
was effectual in sending you to hear the gospel of his free
grace. Somebody told you the truth.
I don't know who it was. It really doesn't matter, does
it? It doesn't matter the name of the individual that told you
about the grace of God, but I promise you this, before this world began,
God ordained that you'd hear about His saving grace, His justifying
grace, His pardoning grace. You'd hear about the grace of
God revealed in, through, and by the Lord Jesus Christ. You'd
find out who was gracious. You'll find out how God could
be just and yet justify you, be gracious to you through the
doing and the dying of a suitable substitute, God ordained that
you would be confronted with the true gospel of grace, not
this false gospel that makes salvation dependent upon you.
Not this false message, this other gospel that teaches that
God's done all He can do and now you've got to do the rest.
There's no gospel in that. I'm talking about the gospel
that says salvation is of the Lord. Salvation's of God. His election
of grace, His redemption by grace, His calling by grace. Here in
2 Timothy 1-9 that we read, who has saved us and called us. We say, well, Paul got that wrong,
didn't he? No, he didn't. He had the order
just right. He saved us first. You know how
long we've been saved? Eternally. You see, that's when God gave
us to Christ Jesus in eternity. We received grace in him. We've
always been looked upon by God according to the riches of his
grace in Christ Jesus. And our Lord who chose us redeemed
us. Oh, the riches of God's grace
paid you debt, paid you debt, drew you to the Savior, and grace
watches over you. God the Holy Spirit had John
write these words, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. And I say to all the children
of God, don't know what you're going through, and you may be
fighting some battles, or you may have smooth sailing right
now. Maybe there are no real storm-tossed waves ahead that
you're in right now, but I promise you, they will come. Well, what
will sustain us? What does sustain us as the children
of God as we make our journey across the troublesome sea of
life? It's the continuity of the grace
of God. Grace that will never desert
us. And whose grace is it? It's the
grace of Him who is A to Z. He is the embodiment of the fullness
of God's grace. In fact, in John 1, that's what
it says. Look with me over in John 1.
Let me read these verses to you. John 1. Okay, verse 14. John 1, 14, and the word. He begins this passage of scripture,
you know. John chapter one, in the beginning
was the word. He's the full alphabet of God. Now he says, and the word was
made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the
glory as of the only begotten of the Father. Full of grace. Full of grace. Mary's not full
of grace. She can't give you grace. That's
a false gospel. Don't listen to that. The one who is full of grace
must be alpha and omega. He's the only one full of grace.
And it says here, full of grace and truth. Now look at verse
15, John bear witness of him and cried, this was he of whom
I speak. He that cometh after me is preferred
before me for he was before me. And of his fullness have we,
have all we received and grace for grace, for the law was given
by Moses, but grace and truth, grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. He is the total embodiment of
the grace of God. And I'll tell you, if Christ
is yours, well, first of all, it's because
you were his. you were his. And since he is
A to Z, when it comes to salvation and the grace of God, and the
fullness of God's grace dwells in him, hear me child of God,
in Christ Jesus, you have all the grace that God can give. Now that is utterly amazing. He can't give you any more than
his son. and all grace is in him. And
John says, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. The grace of our Lord, he's ours. He's ours. Well, let me talk
just a little bit about the fact that Christ says, I am alpha
and omega. Here's the first thing I see
here, back in my text, I'll go quickly here. You hang with me. Chapter 22 and verse 13, I am
Alpha and Omega. Here's his eternal being. I am. I am Alpha and Omega. Here's the eternality of Christ
who was and is and is to come. We read in the book of Hebrews
chapter 13, Jesus Christ The same yesterday, today, and forever. That's who He is. That's who
He is. This is His eternal being. What
He is, He always has been, and He shall be forevermore. His
person, His love, His virtue, His person are all immutable. That means unchangeable. This
text sets forth the preeminence of our Lord Jesus Christ. He
is alpha, He's first. He's the beginning, He started
everything. He's first, and He's last, and
He's the end, and He's Omega. This is His eternal being. He's
the creator. He's the sustainer. He's the
ruler of all things. He's the one whose blood and
righteousness we have come to trust, to whose dominion we gladly
submit, and to whose hands we have committed the welfare of
our souls. He is Himself God over all, blessed
forever. He is the Almighty One. Our Savior
is God. Our Savior is Alpha. Our Savior
is the beginning. Our Savior is the one who got
everything started and who will end everything. Our Savior is
the God over all, blessed forever. We have nothing to fear. His eternal being, I am. I am, he said. Secondly, I want
to show you something of his great glory. Alpha. And that sets forth, first of
all, his dignity. He's before all things. I said in the beginning he began
everything. Since Christ is said to have
made all things, He's everlasting. Alpha. And the word alpha not only presents
the idea of the beginning, but it also presents the idea of
chief, or the head, or the master, the preeminent one. Lots of times
you Maybe you're working with somebody or somebody in your
family, you'll say, well, he's an alpha male. Or sometimes they'll
say, she's an alpha female. And what that means is, that's
the one in charge. That's the one who leads. That's the one who heads up everything. Our Lord takes the lead. He heads
up everything. He's the one in charge. He's
the sovereign. All things obey His will. He
is alpha, alpha. And He's the only alpha there
is. Now, He was alpha before He ever came into this world, but He willingly laid down His
life. He was obedient. to fulfill His
covenant promises, that He would be the substitute for His people
and lay down His life to pay the ransom price that we owe.
And as a result and as a reward for His obedience unto death,
He has been rewarded, the God-man has been rewarded to be the Alpha. He's in charge of everything. He governs all things from the
least little bitty insignificant things to the big events, the
greatest things that happen in the world, the things that bring
the biggest headlines. He governs all things. He's Lord. That's who He is. You see, when you say he's alpha,
it's to say he's the Lord of glory. He's the preeminent one. And then alpha also presents
the idea of the best. He's the best. He's better than
everybody. And really, isn't that the theme
of the book of Hebrews? That's one of the key words in
the book of Hebrews. He's better. Anybody you're talking
about, he's better. What about the angels? He's better.
Because the father didn't say to any of the angels, said here
at my right hand, till I make you enemies of your footstool,
said to the son, the son is better. He's better than all the angels.
All the angels put together. Well, what about all the prophets
of the Old Testament? Well, they were great men. He's
better. He's the prophet that Moses wrote
about. You see, the prophets of the
Old Testament, they delivered the Word of God. He is himself
the Word of God. He's the prophet. He's the message. He's the message. Our Lord Jesus
Christ. He's the best. You wanna talk about the priests
of the Old Testament? What about Aaron? Well, he was
somebody special, wasn't he? Well, yeah. But consider the
high priest of our profession. He's the Lord of glory. And his sacrifice. I know those
sacrifices in the Old Testament. They were all important. There's
no question about that. But every one of those sacrifices,
as you read about them in the Old Testament, it's like they
had a little heir appointed. To thee, the best sacrifice was
yet to come. The alpha. The one that would
actually get the job done. That's why Paul said in Hebrews
chapter 10, the blood of bulls and goats couldn't put away sin.
Well, we have no idea. We couldn't even compute all
the animals that died on altars in the Old Testament. And all
of them together, with thousands and thousands and thousands of
sacrifices, rivers of blood flowed, and they never put one cent away.
But this man, the best man. After he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, he sat down. Why'd he sit down? All the rest of the priests,
they had no words, sat in the tabernacle and in the temple. Why'd he sit down? He sat down
because his work was done. He didn't sit down because he's
weary. He didn't sit down because he got tired. He sat down because
he finished the work of redemption to the full satisfaction of God.
and he saved his people from our sins. He's the best. He's the best. Is he the builder of the church?
He's the wise master builder. Is he the shepherd of the sheep?
He's the good shepherd, the chief shepherd, and the great shepherd. Is he a foundation? He's the
tribe foundation. He's the sure foundation. Is
He the cornerstone? Well, He's gotta be the chief
cornerstone. Is He the rock? Well, then He's
the rock of ages and He's the rock of safety. He's the rock
of our salvation. Is He the water? He's the water
of life. Is He the bread? He's the bread
that came down from heaven. Is he light? He's the light of
the world. In his light, Christ, the son
of righteousness, causes the rest of the stars to just fade
into insignificance. Nobody compares with him. He's
alpha. He's A1. I was looking at, just glanced
at some won ads the other day, and somebody was selling a card
that says, A1 condition. A1 condition. You know what that
means. Boy, that means that's really
good. Let me tell you something. Our Lord Jesus Christ is in actuality
A number one. He's the best. But I got to tell you this too,
he's not only Alpha, he's Omega. Omega means the last and the
lowest. He was made lower than the angels
for the suffering of death. Paul writes, he was made like
unto sinful flesh, Romans chapter eight. In Psalm 22, our Savior
said, I'm a worm. I'm a worm and no man. Paul says he humbled himself. How low did he humble himself?
So low that he took our sins upon himself. All of our iniquities were put
to his account. And God killed him. He was made the lowest. From the highest heaven he came
down as made a servant. A servant. He who is Alpha made
Omega the lowest. He was made the lowest of the
lowest for me, for you, for you, for you. How low. How low. Even unto death. buried him in a borrowed tomb. That's his humiliation. He stooped
to be the lowest in order to lift us up to the highest. He's Alpha and Omega. In the
eternal purpose of God he is. He's Alpha and Omega. In the
Bible, he is Alpha and Omega. In creation, he's Alpha and Omega. In God's holy law, he's Alpha
and Omega. He's the one who wrote it. He's
the one who fulfilled it. Law of God's not made for a righteous
man. Don't you try to put me under
law of Sinai. It has nothing to do with me. Not in salvation. Now hear me,
and not in sanctification. Because we read in 1 Corinthians
1, Christ Jesus is made of God unto us, wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification. That's holiness, do you know
that? That's holiness. And redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. He's Alpha and Omega in the law.
He's Alpha and Omega in our salvation. He began it and he's gonna perfect
it. Because he's gonna take us to glory one day. And we'll be
perfect. Perfect. He's gonna raise our
vile bodies and it's not gonna be vile anymore. And he is Alpha
and Omega in eternity. because we're going to honor
him. He's A to Z in heaven. Tell you what, going to heaven,
I want to go because he's A to Z up there. You're not going to be. It's
not going to be a great reunion for you and your family. I'll
get to see my aunts and my, or aunts if you want to say it that
way. My aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa and all those,
those people in your family tree, you figuring on sin. If that's
your idea, I just don't believe you go with it. Christ is Alpha and Omega in
heaven. And we'll worship him there.