This book is the revelation of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which he gave to John on the Isle of
Patmos. And that's what the first verse
says, 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. This one verse declares what
the subject of the book is. It's our Lord Jesus Christ. And
the things which must shortly come to pass are the things that
were ordained in their beginning and have their continuance and
will have their fulfillment. in and by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Let's read that in Colossians chapter 1. Colossians, the first
chapter, verses 16 through 19. This is speaking of him who is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature,
our Lord and Savior. Verse 16 says, For by him, by
Christ, where all things, talk about the things which are short
to come to pass, where all things created that are in heaven, that
are in earth, visible, invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things are created by him
and for him, and he is before all things, and by him all things
consist. held together. So they have their
beginnings, and their continuance, and their fulfillment, all things
that God Almighty has decreed and purposed to come to pass
in Christ, by Christ, and for the glory of Christ Jesus. Verse
2, showed this to his servant John,
verse 2, says, John bear record of the word of God. This was
John's special name for Christ. He used it as much or more than
anyone. He said, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God. And all things were made by him,
and without him was not anything made that was made. And he said,
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 and truth. That was the beginning of his
gospel, and then over here in the beginning of his epistle,
back just a few pages in the first epistle of John, he talks
about the Word of God again. John, by a record of the Word
of God, verse 1 of 1 John 1, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, and
which we have looked upon in our hands of handle of the word
of life. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it and bear record and show unto you that
eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested unto
us." The word. And that's what God's servants
are called to do. There are three things here he
says about John in verse 2. He bears record of the word of
God. the written word and the incarnate
word are one. And both the written word and
the incarnate word are called the promise of God. The word
is the precious promises of God, and Christ is the promise of
God which he made to Abraham and all the Old Testament prophets.
So we bear record of the word of God. That's what God called
us to do, to bear record of his word. And then secondly, John
Bull record of the testimony of Jesus Christ. Be not ashamed,
Paul said to Timothy, of the testimony of our Lord. What is
that? That's the gospel of Christ. The gospel of his person, his
work, the reality of the two natures, the God-man and his
work in redemption. Bear record of the word of God,
the promises and the promises. and bear record of the gospel
of the Son of God, and then John bore record of the things that
he saw. Brother Barnard used to say, you can't tell what you
do not know any more than you can come back from where you
haven't been. We can only bear record of what we've seen and
what we've heard. That's what John said. I've seen
him. I preach and bear record of what I've seen. I've seen
Christ. Not in the flesh, but in the
Word, in the Gospel, in God's eternal purpose, in all that
God's made. I've heard Him, and I can tell
you about Him, because I've heard Him. I've heard Him speak through
His Word. I've heard Him speak through His providence and His
purposes. I've heard Him, and I've seen Him. My hands have
never handled Him, but my heart has embraced Him. And I can tell
you what I know. I can't tell you what I don't
know. That's what witnessing is. I hear these three things. That's what witnessing, preaching,
teaching is. We buy record of the Word of
God. I can't speak except as He speaks the Word. If I speak
not according to the Word of God, it's because there's no
light in me. There's no new revelations. If you live to be old as Methuselah,
you don't need any new revelations. You just need what's written
right here. That's all you need. The canon's closed. The book
is completed. There's no new revelations. This
is the Word of God. We're directed to the Word of
God. The incarnate Word and the written Word. Thus saith the
Lord. That's the limitation of my message. Thus saith the Lord.
I've got nothing to add to it. Can't. No need to. That's what
our Lord told the demoniac after he'd cast the demons out of him.
He wanted to go with Christ. He said, let me go with you.
He said, no, you go home. You go home. And you tell them
what the Lord has done for you. That's it. You go home and you
tell them. You tell them what you've seen. You tell them what
you've heard. You tell them what you've experienced. You tell them what the Lord's
done for you. So we buy record of the word of God and the gospel,
that glorious gospel of Christ Jesus. Oh, precious word. Gospel of Christ. Good news.
Good news. And tell them what you saw. Tell
them what you saw, tell them what you saw, what you heard.
And don't try to tell them if you haven't seen anything. If you haven't heard anything, don't
try to tell anybody, you'll mess them up. Tell them what you saw. And then he said, blessed is
he, blessed is he that readeth. Reads what? This word. Blessed
is the man, I've tried and tried and tried, I want you to read
books, I want you to read papers, I want you to read tracts, that's
all fine. But blessed is the man that reads this book. The man or the woman, the young
person who reads God's Word, who reads it privately. And I
tell you, you've got no complaints about your weakness of faith
if you don't read the Word. It's going to stay weak. Faith
comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You've got
no excuse for your lack of comfort. I'm just not comforted. I'm always
in doubt. Well, I understand you don't
read the Word. He said, comfort one another with these words.
But I don't seem to grow. How do you expect to grow? You're
not eaten. Naturally, people are not going to grow who don't
read the Word of God. So I urge you, privately, with your family,
in the house of God, Read the word. Bring that book with you
and read it. And I guarantee you when you
come, it will be read here. It will be read over and over
and over and over again. Not a service will be held without
at least two chapters being read in this book. The word of God. Blessed is the man who reads
the word. That's what says that. And secondly,
blessed is the man better, listen, that hears it. That's all, boy. Now, the greater
blessing You're not only to read it, but to believe what you read,
to hear it. As Bonnie or Dan One said in
the prayer, either back there or out here, we don't want to
just hear with these ears, we want to hear with this eye. Blessed
is the man that really hears the word. Blessed, gosh, Christ
said that to his apostles. He said, they've got ears, but
they don't hear. They've got eyes, but they can't see. They've
got hearts, but they do not understand. But blessed are your ears, they
hear. And blessed are your eyes, they see. The hearing ear and
the seeing eyes of the Lord. Lord, give me ears to hear. Give
me an ear, not just to read. I see people talk about reading
the Bible through every year. That's not the goal. That's not
my goal at all. My goal is to read one verse
and understand it. That's exactly right. not to
see how much material I can read. I want to see how much I can
understand, don't you? And believe and walk therein.
And that's what the next line says, and blessed is the man
that keeps those things that are written in this way. He hears
it, he reads it, he hears it, and the clear evidence that he
has read it and has heard it is he walks in it. He walks in
it. Blessed is the man who reads
this book, who hears it, and who keeps those things. Where?
Keeps them where? Keeps them in his heart. God
said, I'll write my law in his heart. That's the covenant. You
talk about the blessing. That's when you're blessed, when
God writes it in your heart. So you love it. Love it. Treasure it. Write it on my heart. And write it, he said, I'll write
it on their minds, their thoughts. They'll think on these things.
They don't have to be in church. They don't have to be in a religious
environment. My word's written on their hearts.
My word's written on their minds and on their thoughts. They think
on these things and written in their memories. The time's at hand. For the time
is at hand. You see that in verse 3? The
time is at hand. And I believe for this world
the time's at hand. I believe for this country. I
appreciate Dan praying for our country, I do too. Pray for kings,
he said, that we might lead a peaceable life. The heart of the king is
in the hands of the Lord. He's turning, whether so ever
he will. So ask God to straighten him out and lead him, that we
might be at peace. But I don't see it. I don't see
it. I see this nation moving as fast
as it can away from God. I really do. The time's at hand. But the time's at hand for all
flesh. All flesh is grass. All flesh is the flower of the
field. The grass withers and the flower
fades. The time's at hand for everybody in here. And for some
of us, it's literally at the door. If you're over 70 years of age
sitting in this building tonight, I mean, God said three score
and ten. If you have a few more than that,
it's only by his grace. But the time is at hand. It's
time to read and hear and walk in it. The time is at hand. John,
verse 4, he said to the seven churches, which are in Asia.
Those seven churches are named here in this verse up here, verse
11. Write in a book and send it to
the seven churches in Asia, Ephesus, Church of Ephesus, you're familiar
with that, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
Laodicea. Write it to these churches. Now
what's the next line? And tell them grace be unto you
and peace from him Who is this from him? From the Father, from
God the Father. Grace be unto you and peace from
him which is, which was, which is to come. That's the Father. And then he says, and from the
seven spirits which are before the throne. That's one person,
that's the Holy Spirit. Why does it say seven spirits?
Because he's one in his person, but his gifts and graces are
many, many. And signified by this number
seven, it's used frequently in the Word. You can go back to
Genesis, you can go to Leviticus, Franklin, the blood on the mercy
seat seven times and sevenfold and all of this. The number seven
indicates fullness. It indicates perfection. The
seven golden candlesticks. If you take a concordance and
look at the number seven, it's magnificent how many times it
refers to that which is complete, that which is entire, that which
is full, that which is perfect. And the seven spirits before
his throne, that's the Holy Spirit. All right, grace and peace from
the Father, which is, which was, which is to come. from the blessed
Holy Spirit, and from here in verse 5, he says, and from Jesus
Christ. And then he begins, and this
is the heart of my message tonight, then he begins to exalt and magnify
our Lord Jesus Christ. And the benefits and the favors
and the honors and the redemption and the grace
that's bestowed by him upon his people in these next three verses,
verses 5, 6, 7, and 8. And I want to look at these several
names that he applies to our Savior. Verse 5, And from Jesus
Christ, number one, who is the faithful witness. Our Lord is
the faithful witness. What does the word faithful mean?
Well, it has a threefold meaning. Sure, true, and trustworthy. This is a witness that is sure,
that is true. He is the truth, and is trustworthy. He trusts him. Now let's go back
to Deuteronomy, back in the Old Testament, Deuteronomy chapter
18. And here Moses prophesies of this prophet that God will
see him in the last days. In Deuteronomy 18, our Lord Jesus
Christ. Deuteronomy 18, verse 18. I will raise them up, a prophet,
from among their brethren, like unto thee. And I will put my
words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall
command him, and it shall come to pass that whosoever will not
hearken unto my words, which he shall speak in my name, I
require of him." This is our Savior. That's the reason the
Pharisees asked John the Baptist. When John the Baptist had this
great crowd of people following him, one person said that the
whole world's gone out there to hear this prophet. They asked
him, said, are you that prophet? John said, no. Well, then are
you the Christ? No. This is the prophet that
they were talking about. They knew there was a prophet
coming. Then Isaiah 61. And when our Lord read this scripture
in Nazareth, in the synagogue, this is the reason they got so
angry. This is a Messianic prophecy, just like that one of the prophets.
This is the messianic prophecy of the Christ. And he says here
in Isaiah 61 verse 1, The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because
he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek. He's
our witness. He's our faithful witness. Faithful
prophet, faithful priest, faithful king, faithful witness. And then
you know this verse without turning to Hebrews 1. God, who at sundry
times and in divers manners spake to our fathers by the prophets,
hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, who is the
heir of all things, by whom he made the world, whose exact likeness
or image of God, whose the brightness of his glory, after he purged
our sins, sat down at the right hand of God." That's the faithful
witness. Hear him. And when our Lord was
transfigured on the mountain Peter, James and John witnessed
it. The voice from heaven said, This
is my son. Hear him, hear him, hear him. All right, that's the first name
given to him. Then the second name says he's
the first begotten from the dead. See that in Revelation 1, verse
5, he's the faithful witness and he's the first begotten of
the dead. Well, other dead people rose. Lazarus was raised by Christ
before Christ arose. And then he raised Jairus' daughter. He raised the widow's son. But
he's the first to rise by his own power. Others were raised
by him. He was raised by his own power.
Secondly, he's the first begotten from the dead, the first to rise
and never to die again. Lazarus died, Jairus' daughter
died, and the widow's son died, but our Lord arose never to die. He said, I am the resurrection,
I am the life. And then thirdly, he's the first
begotten, he's the first one to rise in glorified flesh. Lazarus came back like he left. The widow's son came back like
he left him, in the flesh. Our Lord arose with glorified
flesh, immortality, first begotten from the dead. And this, and
he's the first begotten from the dead in the fourth place,
he's the first of many just like him. And you're looking at one
that's going to be just like him. The first begotten of many,
he's the Lord of hosts. John saw multitudes which no
man could number, out of every nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue
unto heaven." Don't you ever think for a moment, in a small
way, about the inhabitants of glory. There are going to be
many. As the stars of the sky, as the
sands of the sea show a number which no man can number. That's
right. And they're all going to be conformed
to the image of the Son of God. going to be just like him. He
said, because I live, you live in brethren, it does not yet
appear what we shall be. We talked a little while in there
about what we was going to be like. I wish I could tell you.
But Paul went to heaven itself. Paul the Apostle went to heaven
itself. And he said, when he came back,
he said, I heard things I can't even tell you. It's not possible
to put in words. You couldn't understand it. So
he didn't even say anything. He just said, I've been there.
And I'm anxious to go back. That's why he did say that. I'm
anxious to go back. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ. So he's the first begotten from
the dead. And then look at the next line. It says he's the prince
of the kings of this earth. Now what's a prince? Well, I'm
telling you, I wish everybody here, if you don't have one already,
would get you Get your concordance. We have them in the bookstore
wholesale. We don't make a dime on it. Just
glad for you to have it. And you can do the same things
I do when I prepare a message. I can't speak or read Greek. But I can look it up. And I looked
up this word prince. He's the prince of the kings
of the earth. Very easy to look up prince.
See where it's used in this, Revelation 1, and then see the
number, and turn back to the back, and it says, number 1,
it's first in rank. He's first in power. And the
third word is the chief ruler. That's what the word means. He,
put that down here, he is first in rank of all the kings of the
earth. He is the first in power. He said, I have all authority
over all flesh. told his disciples, said, all
authority is given unto me in heaven and earth. The earth is
the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and all that dwell
therein. He owns everybody and everything.
He rules. He's the Lord. He's the chief
ruler. He's the prince. We're talking
here about all the kings of this earth. That's what we're talking
about. That's what that says. He's the chief ruler. He's the
king. They all receive their kingdoms from him. They rule
by his permission. They get their crowns from him.
They get their authority from him. They are all in his hands. The heart of the king is in the
hands of the Lord. That's Proverbs 21. He turns
it whithersoever he will. Acts 4 says all the kings of
the earth gather together to do what he determined before
to at the cross, kings of this earth. They charged against the
Lord and against his anointed, but they just did what he determined
before to be done. That's right. All right, here's
the next word it says about him. He's the prince of the kings
of the earth, and he is the one who loved us, unto him that loved
us. Nothing said about our love for
him, is there? says he loved us. John said here
in his love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and
sent his son to be the propitiation of our sins. I love him because
he first loved me. And here, I want you to turn
to Ephesians chapter 2. This describes us before and
after. Here in Ephesians chapter 2,
It says in verse 3, Ephesians 2 verse 3, among whom also we
all had our citizenship, our behavior, our conversation in
times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires
of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, by birth,
nature, children of wrath. We hated God. We hated holiness. We hated truth. Yeah, we did.
Yeah, we did. Yes, we did, just like everybody
else, no different. But God, God didn't hate us,
we hated Him. That's right, but God, who's
rich in love, rich in mercy for His great love, where was He
loved us? Even when we were in the shape we were in, in sin,
dead in sin, hating God, enemies, that quickened us together with
Christ. By grace, are you saved? But God, we were children of
wrath, angry, enemies in your mind by wicked works. That's
the way we were described, enemies, without God, without hope, without
Christ in this world. But God, He loved us. How can a holy God love us just
one way? In Christ. That's what it says
here. God who is rich in mercy for
his great love, wherewith he loved us even when we were dead
in sin, quickened us together with Christ. Without Christ he
doesn't love you. He that believeth not on the
Son, the wrath of God abideth on him. Paul said, Who can separate
me from the love of God? Neither tribulation, nor distress,
nor any other creature can separate me from the love of God, which
is in Christ Jesus my Lord. That's the way God can love us. in Christ. How long have you
been in Christ? Well, he said he chose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. That was that. He chose us in Christ before
the foundation of the world. That's how long you've been in
Christ. How long has God loved you? He said, I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness
have I drawn you. I'm not going out here telling
all the people in this world that God loves them. He told
Esau he hated him. He said he hates the workers
of iniquity. That's what scripture says. God loves us in Christ. That's the only place a holy
God can love you, is in Christ. There's nothing lovely about
us, nothing lovely in us, nothing lovely in anything we do. Everything
we do is selfish and sinful and sensual. If God could love you in the
shape you're in without Christ, well, he'd be an unholy God.
That's right. He'd be an unholy, and he's not
an unholy God, he's a holy God. The chief attribute of God is
holiness, not love. The chief attribute of God is
holiness. That's his name, holy and reverent is his name. That's
his temple, his holy temple. That's his angels, the holy angels.
This is his word, the holy word. Everything about God is holy.
And the way that God is enabled to justify us and accept us and
love us is in Christ. And I warn this generation who's
presuming on the love of God and presuming on the mercy of
God, be careful now. It's a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of a living God, a holy God. It's a fearful thing.
I'm not going to fall into his hands. Because I'm in Christ's
hands, and you are too. He said, my sheep are in my hands.
Nobody's going to pluck them out of my hands. As long as you
stay in His hands, as long as you abide in Him, you abide in
His love. He that abides in me abides in
my love. But he that abides not in me
is like the branch that's gathered for the fire. All that preaching today, not
only is not scriptural, it doesn't make any sense. It's not even logical. You've
got God trying to do things that he can't do. Folks won't let
him. What kind of God is that? You have Christ dying on the
cross for people's sins that are already in hell. What kind
of death is that? What kind of salvation is that it can't save?
Preaching today is not only unscriptural, it's ignorant. It's not even
logical. Now, that's just so. And what did he do for those
he loved? He washed us from our sins in his own blood. I don't have any trouble telling
you whom he loved. I'll tell you whom he loved,
those he washed. That's right. It says, unto him
who loved us and washed us. He didn't just love us. The evidence
that he loves us is what he did for us. He washed us. Let me
read you something over here in 1 Corinthians. Listen to this.
Chapter 6. 1 Corinthians chapter 6. It says here in chapter 6, 1
Corinthians verse 9. Know ye not that unrighteousness
shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Now don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor abusers of themselves with
mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers,
nor extortioners, they're not going to inherit the kingdom
of God. And such were some of you. You fit that category, I
fit that category, such we were in that category. We were in
that condition, by nature, by birth. But you're washed. You are washed, not you're going
to be, you are. He loved us and washed us past
tense. You're washed. You're sanctified. The job's done. It's complete. It's finished. You're justified. Watch it now. In the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of God, by the power
of the Spirit of God. It wasn't your work. It wasn't
the preacher's work. If it wasn't something you did
for yourself, it's something He did. He loved me, and He washed
me. And let me tell you something.
If He washes you, you washed. You don't look tattletale gray
or wring around a collar. You are washed. My Lord washes
His people. He washes them. John Gill said
this. This verse shows us the people that are loved because
they were loved before they were washed. They were not loved because they
were washed, they were washed because they were loved. Isn't
that right, Roderick? That's what it says. God committed his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. For God so loved the world, he
gave. Love preceded the gift. God so loved, he justified. God
so loved, he called us. God so loved, he washed us. God
so loved, he kept us. God so loved, he'll glorify us. Then it says here in verse 6,
And he hath made us kings and priests under God. He's made
us kings and priests under God and his Father. Some of the old
translations, even before this King James translation, But back
in some of the old translations, it says he has made us a kingdom
of priests, a kingdom of priests. Now, that's pretty good there,
because Exodus 19, let me read this to you, Exodus 19, he talks
about Israel, and he said in verse 5 of Exodus 19, Now therefore,
if you obey my voice, indeed, and keep my covenant, Then you
shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for
the earth is mine. And you shall be unto me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation." See, that's what Peter says we
are. We are royal priesthood. A royal
priesthood is a kingly priesthood, a kingdom of priests, a holy
nation, a chosen people, a particular people. So he says, he hath made
us kings, a kingdom of priests. with kings. Somebody wrote this
one time, all sons of God are kings. All sons of the king of
kings are kings, because they have a crown of righteousness.
And they wear a royal robe of righteousness, the king's apparel.
And they are seated with Christ on a throne. And the Word of
God says they are going to reign with Him. That makes me a king,
Jim. I've got a crown. I've got a royal robe. I'm seated
on a throne. And I'm going to reign with Christ.
What about that priest? Are we priests? Oh, yes. I'm
a priest. You're a priest if you're saved.
What sacrifices do we offer? Well, not blood sacrifices. That's
been offered on Calvary, putting an end to all the sacrifices.
God never had any pleasure in those sacrifices. His pleasures
and the sacrifice of his son pleased him to bruise Christ.
But we offer sacrifices, the scripture says, of praise. We
offer sacrifices of thanksgiving. We come before God, he says,
come and worship God and bring an offering. That's not talking
about money. No, you can come and bring money and God won't
even tolerate you. A lot of folks do that. This
is come and worship and bring an offering, bring an offering
of praise. He's got all the money he needs.
God said if I was hungry I wouldn't ask you. The cattle are a thousand
hills of mine. What I need, I'm going to do
something for God. No, you're not either. Not the
only thing you can do for Him is praise Him. Now you can do
that. You can bring an offering of
praise. That's the reason I tell folks, I say, when we're singing
up here, don't sit there with your mouth closed. Sing. But
I can't carry a tune. I didn't say you had to carry
a tune. Just sing. Say the word. Praise God. Don't
sit there like a mummy. You're a priest, and a priest
ought to have something to sacrifice. Praise Him. Whistle if you can't
sing. Do something, though. Let them
know whose side you're on. That's what priests offer up,
sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving and praise. Our souls and bodies
are living sacrifice acceptable to God through Jesus Christ our
Lord. Your body is a temple of the
Holy Spirit. Don't give it to the world. With kings and priests,
here's an interesting word, unto God and his Father. That's all the glory and praise
unto him. I'm going to close in a minute.
Amen. Verse 7, Behold, he cometh, he
cometh with clouds. Behold, you see, that's another
word. Behold, attention. Behold, the Lord himself will
give you a sign. Attention. Behold, the angel said to the
shepherds, we bring you good tidings of great joy. Behold,
he's coming. It says three things about his
coming, the certainty of it. Behold, he cometh. That's as
sure as the throne of God. He cometh. He said, I'll come
again. The Lord himself shall descend
from heaven with a shout. Behold, he comes with the clouds.
That's the manner of his coming. That's the way he went away,
in the clouds. As the disciples stood on top of that mountain,
it says the clouds received him. He ascended and the clouds received
him out of their sight. And the angels appeared to those
disciples and said, Ye men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing
up into heaven? This same Jesus which is taken
up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you
see him go. He's coming in the clouds. He's
coming in the clouds. That's the way he went away.
Daniel said that. Listen to Daniel. Over here in
Daniel chapter 7. Daniel said that. Chapter 7,
verse 13. Daniel 7, verse 13. Listen to
this. I saw, Daniel said, in the night
visions, behold one like the Son of Man. He came with the
clouds of heaven. That wasn't his first coming,
because he came through the womb the first time. He didn't come
through the clouds, he came through the womb and lay in a manger. But I saw him coming with the
clouds of heaven and came to the Ancient of Days. And they
brought him near before him, and there was given unto him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, languages
should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, that which
shall not be destroyed." He's coming. He's coming with clouds. It's sure, the manner of his
coming with the clouds, and the importance of his coming. Verse
7, Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye is going to see
him. Our Lord's not going to slip in here and take a bunch
of people off, nobody knows he's been here. Now just get that
out of your mind. That rapture business was made
up by somebody. But this says every eye is going
to see him. Every eye. And they did pierce
him. And all the kindred of the earth
are going to wail because of Him. Even so, amen, amen, and
amen, so be it. It's going to be the importance
of His coming to believers. They're going to rejoice because
John closed this book with these words, Even so, come, Lord Jesus.
That suits me fine. We'll welcome Him with joy and
praise. But everybody's not going to
welcome Him. They're going to cry for the rocks and mountains
to fall on them and hide them from the face of him that sitteth
on the throne. They're going to wail, wail, wail. Wail over what? Three words.
Because of him. They don't know him. He's not
their mediator and he doesn't know them. And the wailing is
going to be because of him. That's exactly right. Our joy
is going to be what? because of him. That's it. Our joy is going to be because
of him. And their terror, can you imagine somebody terrified
at the coming of the Lord? Can you imagine? Sure. If you
didn't know him, you'd be terrified too. They thought they reigned. They didn't know he was reigning.
Look at the last verse, and I'll quit. I'm Alpha and Omega. Alpha
is the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last letter.
And Christ is saying here, I'm the beginning and the end, and
everything in between. He's the first and the last.
And you remember a while ago when I read grace and peace from
the Father, which is, which was, which is to come? This same attribute
is given to Christ. Look at verse 8. I am Alpha and
Omega, I'm the beginning and the end, saith the Lord Jesus
Christ. I am which is, which was, which
is to come. I am the Almighty." That's what I'm, the Almighty.
Under us a child is born, a son is given, his name is Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Almighty, the Everlasting Father,
the Prince of Peace. Jesus Christ is God by his name,
Jehovah, by his works, creation, by his worship. God said, let
the angels worship him. By the testimony of the Father,
thy throne, O God, is forever. By the resurrection from the
dead, he's the Almighty. Oh, I rejoice in that, don't
you? I rejoice in that. I rejoice to preach it, to believe
it, to proclaim it.