Revelation 1:4–8

[0:00] Today's scripture reading is from Revelation 1, verses 4 to 8. It's found on page 1028 of the Bibles, and the team tots and kids may be dismissed.

[0:20] So Revelation 1, 4 to 8, you can stand for the reading of God's word, please. 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.

[0:47] To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us a kingdom priest to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

[1:00] Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him.

[1:12] Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. The word of the Lord.

[1:23] Thanks be to God. You may be seated. Good afternoon to you.

[1:37] It's good to be here with this portion of our faith family. We were with our downtown congregation this morning and shared there, but we are here at home with you.

[1:53] Before I get into the message, I did want to give an announcement that was not in our bulletin board. Some of you are aware, but Arlen Troyer has accepted a senior pastor position in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and they are in making plans for transition in that direction.

[2:17] He was voted in on last week to that position. As he mentioned on this morning, it's somewhat of a bittersweet kind of thing. Arlen and Kathy are such a delightful couple, and we have embraced them.

[2:33] They have embraced us. But let's be praying for them as they transition, that things would go well as they enter into community life there in Tennessee. The pastorate is where he wants to be, feels that he needs to be there right now.

[2:48] We affirm that for him. So join us in prayer for them. Let's look to the Lord in prayer as we approach his word. Great God that you are.

[3:01] Praise you for the vocal and instrumental praises that have been offered up to you. Lord, and you are worth every note and chord and strand.

[3:16] Lord, you are worthy, and we bless you. We pray, Lord, not only with our lips and hands instrumentally, but with our lives, would make a statement of your worth.

[3:29] And may even this afternoon the proclamation of your word lend itself to your purposes in our lives as individuals, families, and as a church.

[3:40] We pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Well, I have a goal, as we normally do when we come before the people of God.

[3:51] But let me state what I would like to see take place. And, of course, if the Lord doesn't help us, none of these things will happen. But on the human side, my goal this afternoon would be to inform, to instruct, to inspire, and to challenge us as a congregation.

[4:16] Dave got our series started on last week in the book of Revelation. And someone may say, well, Pastor, why Revelation? Why Revelation at this time?

[4:28] Honestly, do we have to go there? Well, as we thought about where we need to go sermonically, we wanted to lift up Christ and God before you that you might see the glory that attends and that is appropriate to the living God.

[4:50] Revelation is a marvelous book that does nothing less than that. And as I continue to study Revelation, boy, it is so, I believe, strategically placed in Holy Scripture.

[5:08] And hopefully we will be able to really defend and support that over the messages that we will be giving to our congregation over the next weeks.

[5:21] Revelation for many is rather scary. I remember coming to Christ. And, well, I think of the evangelist. I believe one of the messages he was preaching was in Revelation 9.

[5:35] And that's been many years ago. But I remember that. I don't, I just remember sort of being, I mean, talking about dragons and all of those kind of things. So I'm not sure if it's the best tool for evangelism, but some perhaps have used it.

[5:49] But Revelation has been called a prophetic epistle. It's best understood when we see it as prophecy in apocalyptic garb.

[6:05] It comes to us. It's prophecy at its core. But its dress is a little strange. We're familiar with the prophetic, but we're relatively strangers to the apocalyptic.

[6:23] We're like blind people in need of a cane trying to feel our way the best that we can, oftentimes, when we come to the book of Revelation, strangers to the apocalyptic with its images and symbols and numbers and glimpses into the heavenlies.

[6:42] Huh? Strange territory for the student of scripture. Prophecy, we understand, in the day that it was spoken, it spoke to real-time situations to the people of God in that day.

[6:59] It spoke to them in their situations. And God, prophecy has a couple of dimensions to it. It foretells, speaking forth the word of God to those real-time situations, while at the same time there is this foretelling element that looks into the future.

[7:19] God is saying it's going to be okay with the people of God. The people of God, eventually, they're going to enter into a time of ultimate blessedness, but those who are unfaithful and those who know not God will eventually enter into a time of judgment.

[7:38] In the course of today's message, I want to note three realities. I want to give three rules for reading the book of Revelation.

[7:52] We're going to be giving rules for reading Revelation along the way, so these three rules are not exclusive. These are the first three, hopefully in a series, that will help to equip you when you, in your own study of Revelation, come to this book that has been intimidating for some, but hopefully you will be equipped on your own, perhaps as that blind man with a cane, to find your way around.

[8:23] And then, in alliteration, I want to give you three recommendations, but in reality, they are exhortations. Preachers, I don't think it's too wise for preachers to recommend.

[8:37] We need to exhort on the basis of Scripture and the authority of God's Word. And if someone said, God, there are not ten suggestions, there are ten commandments, and we need to have the force and the authority of God's Word in speaking forth the Word of God.

[8:53] We said, well, Pastor Jay, what about those three realities? Three realities. First thing we want to look at is the things that come from Him. Look at chapter 1, verses 4 and 5.

[9:05] Grace to you and peace from Him. David, on last week, he introduced the book in verses 1 through 3, and it is spoken of as a revelation.

[9:19] It is a divine disclosure. It is an unveiling given to Jesus from His Father to show to His servants those things that must come to pass.

[9:32] There is this chain as far as the path of the revelation. Human writer is identified in verse 4. You see it there? John 2, the seven churches that are in Asia.

[9:47] And we're not going to get into authorship now, though traditionally, and as far as I could see from way back then, well, who else but John the Apostle?

[10:02] Well, as much as we have held that, it's not as certain as many of us would have liked to think that he, in fact, was the author. But nonetheless, that does not diminish from the authority.

[10:15] As one writer said, there are some who feel about revelation as we feel about Hebrews. Only God knows who wrote Hebrews, and only God knows who wrote Revelation.

[10:30] Province known as Asia. Asia Minor. Western Turkey today was the destination. That was where the place of these churches were. They were there.

[10:41] Then these seven churches were probably representative of the church of that day, as well as the church of the ages. And we'll get back to that in a bit as we go walk through this particular message today.

[10:55] But someone has also said that Revelation was a track for the times. It spoke powerfully, mightily, a message from heaven to the people of God of that day, to the church of that day.

[11:08] But also, it is a very fitting track for the ages because as we look into this book, there is a message here for you and me and for the church today. And guess what?

[11:18] It will be a message for the church tomorrow from the book of Revelation. John, in these verses, he gives greetings on heaven's behalf.

[11:29] Just like in other New Testament letters, we see the familiar words there, grace to you and peace.

[11:41] And notice the source, from him. As a matter of fact, it comes from God. It is from heaven. John desires and invites and in essence prays for the blessing of God from heaven.

[11:57] It is God's favor and God's peace upon his readers. The realm from which this true blessedness proceeds is nothing less. It comes from heaven itself.

[12:09] James reminds us in chapter 1 of his book, verse 17, that every good and perfect gift comes down from heaven. And grace and peace are among the perfect gifts of God that come down.

[12:23] Heaven's gift package, as I would like to say. I mean, and it's very, how many of you ever gotten a gift package? I know our students may be gone, but oh, it's wonderful to get a gift package, isn't it?

[12:35] We call them a care package. I remember when I was a recruit in the army. And all of us recruits would love when someone else would get a care package because we knew that goodies had come to the barracks.

[12:48] And I remember my mother fixing me those good homemade oatmeal cookies. Now, my wife can make better cookies than mom these days. Don't tell her that I said that. But it was good getting those cookies then, a care package.

[13:03] But God has given to us something better, exceedingly better, than any kind of package that you and I would get, huh? Heaven's gift package includes grace.

[13:15] And through that grace, forgiveness is extended. And peace. And peace is the result of that forgiveness. And they come from them, from Him. These are among heaven's priceless, matchless, incomparable kinds of gifts.

[13:33] Have you received God's grace and peace? Huh? It comes with the salvation package. But then there are ongoing installments of grace and peace that God gives to us as His people.

[13:46] Huh? Priceless kinds of things. Huh? God's undeserved kindness and peace are beyond comprehension. They're available to those of us who have trusted Him.

[13:59] Guess what, too? The eternal shelf life of grace and peace are good. They never get old. Huh? The gifts that we have that you may get down on Michigan Avenue or wherever you shop and drop and all of those things.

[14:18] Now, they have a shelf life to them. But not these things that come from God. They have an eternal shelf life because of their service. And as a pastor, boy, these are the kind of things.

[14:30] I can understand why Paul and John and Peter would pray and bless the people of God and desire that these things would be their portion. Because these are the things that pastors want for their people.

[14:42] They want them to be positioned themselves to receive God's favor and God's peace. Huh? We can pray for it and desire it for ourselves and others, but hey, friends, only God can give it.

[14:55] But you can position yourself for it. If you were to check the postmark on this message or on this greeting, it was a postmark from heaven.

[15:07] The sources of these, the source of these blessings are divine favors that came from one place, ultimately from him. But look there as this, what could be called a Trinitarian kind of greeting.

[15:22] We see there, grace to you and peace from him. And notice this description of God who is and who was and who is to come.

[15:33] It's from him. It is from this eternal one. And biblically, the one referred to is the same one that revealed himself to Moses in Exodus chapter 3.

[15:47] Turn with me, page 46. You'll see it there in your Bibles that's been provided for you. This is a point of reference that goes way back and it's not simply this point of reference that identifies this being, this divine being, God here in Revelation with the same one in Exodus chapter 3.

[16:11] Notice what it says. God said to Moses and this was when God was about was up to something big and needed someone to go and Moses was a little reluctant and God revealed himself to him and God says to Moses, I am who I am.

[16:27] And he said, say this to the people of Israel, I am has sent me to you. So there, here in Revelation chapter 1, back to it, and in places like Isaiah 41 and 4, these speak of the fact that God is eternally present.

[16:47] There's never been a time when God wasn't, nor will there ever be a time where God isn't, huh? He is not just the Lord of history, but he is Lord over all of history.

[16:58] God will pass in the present and will be and is already the Lord of the future, huh? Now, that God and his son, Christ, in these verses, this comes from them is clear.

[17:12] But then we see this mysterious from the seven spirits who are before his throne, huh? Well, here's one of those ways in which we're sort of feeling our way here, that God and Jesus are in view is clear.

[17:29] The question surrounds these seven spirits of God. Some believe that what we have here is the Holy Spirit in the fullness of his activity and power in his perfection.

[17:42] And of course, that would make certain that, yeah, this is certainly a Trinitarian kind of greeting. Others would see these as a reference to angels before the throne.

[17:53] Another source says that referring to the seven spirits is probably a way of underscoring the majesty of God as in chapter 4, verse 5, where they stand as God's explanation of the seven lamps of blazing fire before the throne or in 5, 6, where they're identified with the seven eyes of the Lamb of God.

[18:11] So, again, there's a measure of ambiguity. Some would see it then as oppositional. This is God and this just sort of explains something about him. So, therefore, this greeting would be equal to other greetings that we see from the Father in the Son, but others would see it as a Trinitarian greeting and I think there is a measure of a legitimacy to that.

[18:35] But here's rule number one for reading Revelation and it concerns symbols and numbers. Here it is. To accurately interpret and apply the book of Revelation, we must have eyes to see the symbols that include numbers and to seek to understand their significance.

[18:56] You and I cannot ignore the symbolic kinds of things that we see in Revelation and expect to understand it. Let me say it again. To accurately interpret and apply the book of Revelation, we must have eyes to see the symbols and these symbols include these numeric kind of things and to understand their significance.

[19:17] So, we've encountered the, you might even say, the primary number of the Bible in both. We see the seven churches that are in Asia as well as the seven spirits who are before the throne.

[19:31] What's the significance then of seven? It's a symbolic number that represents fullness or completion. In writing to the seven churches which were representative, he in fact was writing to all the churches.

[19:50] here we encounter the most significant number in the Bible, let alone in the book itself. Fifty-four times in the book of Revelation the number seven is mentioned.

[20:02] In chapter one, in addition to the seven churches and the seven spirits of God, note with me, look at chapter one of verse twelve. then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands.

[20:21] Look at chapter one verse sixteen. 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.

[20:39] Look at chapter four, a few pages over, and verse five where you see seven lamps. From the throne came flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire which are the seven spirits of God.

[21:02] If you look at chapter five in verse six, and between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain with seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.

[21:19] And you could go on in Revelation and you can see in chapter ten seven thunders and chapter fifteen angels plagues and bowls, seven of these things. so, while there may be some ambiguity surrounding the identity of the seven spirits, we don't want to get caught up there because there's so many things that in fact are clear in this particular text.

[21:43] The clarity of what we see here more than compensates for the ambiguity. As a matter of fact, look as we begin at verse five.

[21:54] Again, that's where, again, it's crystal clear there. As a matter of fact, Jesus becomes the center of this greeting and from Jesus Christ and he is described in three different ways.

[22:08] They speak of Christ's identity and his function. They are found in the verse. First of all, you see he is the faithful witness. This speaks of his reliability.

[22:21] How was Jesus? How was Christ a faithful witness? chapter one of John verse 18. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten God who is in the bosom of the father.

[22:34] He has declared him. He has made him known. He has revealed him. He was faithful in his witness to who the father was. Similarly, in John chapter 14 verse nine.

[22:49] Jesus said to him, that's Philip. Have I not been with you so long, Philip, and still you don't know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the father. How can you say, show us the father?

[23:00] He was faithful to reveal the father. He was faithfully bore witness to what he had seen and heard according to John chapter three. Bore witness to his kingship and his mission in John 18.

[23:16] Not only was he the faithful witness, but he's the firstborn out of death. Yes, say, then what sense was Christ, the firstborn from the dead, out of death.

[23:27] Here it refers to his resurrection and the honorable designation he received because of it. As such, he is the supreme authority over the realm of death.

[23:39] He's also the source of the resurrection. Again, these are the ideas in the word firstborn. He stands at the head of this new order of beings, the first and the new order that will follow him in resurrection.

[23:53] He's the ruler of the kings of the earth. This speaks of Jesus as the supreme ruler over the kings of the earth. Bush does have a boss. He may not know it, but he does, and all the world rulers and leaders do.

[24:07] Speaks of him as the supreme ruler. He is ruler over the authorities, and this is both in the seen realm as well as the unseen realm. Jesus is the ruler.

[24:18] You remember what he did in the gospels? All of those various accounts when in the unseen realm, demonic powers were challenging them, and Jesus put them in their place.

[24:29] Jesus, what have I to do with you? Have you come to torment us before the time was their cry to him? He's the ruler. He is king of kings indeed, and lord of lords.

[24:44] They, from him, but also, notice in the next part of five, the things that rightfully belong to him. That's another reality that we see in this passage.

[24:57] The mention of the supremacy of Christ in the first part of verse five causes John to do a little pause.

[25:09] He pauses here for praise. What he has done, he has scanned, in a sense, the glories of Christ in his being, in his faithful witness, in his power in resurrection, in his preeminent rule.

[25:25] And it's like he can't go any further. He says, to him, and if you just sort of skip around, he talks about to him who loves us, and he speaks about Christ, but ultimately saying, to him be eternal glory and dominion forever and ever.

[25:45] For John, this is what could be called a good moment. He just can't go on. I mean, it's like when it's a home run moment that demands some kind of celebration.

[26:00] It is a hosanna moment. It is a moment for praise because he has just scanned and seen these things about the glorious Christ, this Jesus Christ who sent this grace peace and peace and these things that had come from him.

[26:15] So he begins to praise him in another way and to speak of his glory. Let me ask you a question this afternoon. Have you ever paused for praise? Have you ever perhaps maybe during the course of, say, reading scripture, and it really ministers, it really perhaps speaks to you where you are.

[26:37] You just can't go on. And you have to pause. And when you think of the goodness of Jesus and all that he's done for you, it sort of gets good to you.

[26:49] It gets lip smacking good. It gets juices flowing kind of good. I mean, he's all of that and more.

[27:00] I mean, when you see his glory, and this is what John does. And here he is right up front at the beginning of this letter. Well, it's sort of like God is putting his signature here.

[27:11] And you're going to see the signature. Matter of fact, you see it at the end of the letter too. Turn with me. See things that are similar.

[27:27] Look at verse 13, 12 and 13. It says, Behold, I'm coming soon, bringing my reward or recompense with me to pay everyone for what he has done.

[27:39] This is prophetic language. He says, I am the alpha and omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. And then look at verse 20. He who testifies to these things saying, Surely I'm coming.

[27:52] Amen. Come, Lord Jesus, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. So you sort of got these bookends where that place Jesus here. And again, you're talking and speaking about these things that are placarded all over the book that refer to him.

[28:10] But what's he talking about here? Savior's love unto him who loves us. His love for unlovely people like you and me.

[28:23] And no, perhaps when you left home this afternoon, you took one final look in the mirror to see that you had it all together. You know, you do want to make sure that things were in place when you left.

[28:35] But did you know all to you is not simply how you look on the inside? Well, but God loves us or loved us in spite of the ugly.

[28:48] It says, and this is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the sin atoning sacrifice for our sin. He loved us. The Savior's love is in view, but not only that, look at there, unto him that loved us and loosed us or freed us, the Savior's liberation is in view.

[29:07] That's something to sing about. He's the one who's loosed us or released us from our sins by his own blood. We have been released from the penalty of sin, which is death.

[29:19] But not only the love and the liberation, but also the coronation. Look at there. He says, and what he has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion.

[29:32] Oh, it was good at that point. We're a group of people over whom God exercises his rule. We are a kingdom. I'm going to appreciate it. Dorothy and Peter's prayer speaking about the kingdom, your kingdom come.

[29:48] We are a part of that kingdom. Here's second rule. Not only do we need eyes to see and to recognize symbols, we need to accurately interpret and apply revelation, we must read with an ear to hear the voices of the writers of the Old Testament scriptures.

[30:12] We need to see the symbols, but we need an ear to hear the voices of the writers of the Old Testament. And if you will find this, that the roots of revelation are deep in the soil of Old Testament scripture, and seeing and understanding John's critical and specific and masterful use of the Old Testament is needed to have the correct interpretation of the book here.

[30:41] And though you're hard-pressed to find a direct quotation from the Old Testament, there are roughly 250 allusions to Old Testament scripture in the book.

[30:54] verse 4 alone, you have, as we've mentioned, a reference to Exodus 3 and 14, that's in view. And also, Isaiah 2, 11, verse 2 and following, that speaks of the sevenfold spirit of God, that's in view.

[31:13] Zachariah's message is speaking about the four lampstands, and the spirit of God is in that scene also, not by might or power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord, that's in view.

[31:24] Huh? And then let me take you to a scripture in Psalm 89, page 496, that speaks of the Davidic ruler.

[31:39] And the scripture, I think it's verse 5, speaks of that in the language of Psalm 89. John brings that language to Revelation in speaking about Christ.

[31:55] Look at there, Psalm 89. Look first of all at verse 27. It says, I will make him, this Davidic ruler, the firstborn, there it is, and the highest of the kings of the earth.

[32:15] Look at verse 37. Like the moon, it shall be established forever. What? A faithful witness in the skies.

[32:27] So you see there, he deeply rooted in the soil. Indeed, one of the keys of understanding Revelation is to see that the foundation of it has been laid in redemptive history as recorded in the Old Testament.

[32:43] Testament. And so John, what he does, he takes his information and his cues from Old Testament writers and particularly Old Testament writers of prophecy, and he writes to encourage the readers of his day.

[32:57] What he does is he continues their story, using their words, using their images, and it applies the things foretold and clearly places Christ in the story.

[33:11] That's what he does. That's what he does. Things that are rightly attributed to him, but also look with me at the things, the future things that will be orchestrated by him in verses 7 and 8.

[33:29] Oh, look at this powerful announcement that he makes in verse 7. behold, he is coming with the clouds.

[33:41] That's an echo of Daniel chapter 7, verse 13. Jesus uses it. Matthew 24, verse 30. It's an echo of that.

[33:53] So he said the reality and the nature of Christ's coming is the focus in verse 7. John has just given glory to Christ, exalting him in the loftiest term.

[34:03] But then he proceeded to make this prophetic announcement. And again, an announcement that is rooted in the prophecies of the Old Testament.

[34:14] He will come with the clouds. Daniel chapter 7. His coming will be visible to the eye and such that all will see him, even those who pierced him. Zachariah chapter 12, verse 10 is in view.

[34:28] The last two clauses here, a reference there, back to Revelation chapter 1. But the scope goes beyond the nation of Israel. The nation will be included, but it's broader than the nation alone.

[34:41] Furthermore, all the earth's people will mourn either in repentance or judgment. But nonetheless, a universal or international kind of mourning that will be forthcoming because of him.

[34:55] Let me give you the third and the final rule for reading. Huh? Eyes to see the symbols. Ears to hear the voices of the Old Testament writers. But then, to accurately interpret and apply Revelation, we must read with a heart to understand the Lord is revealed in the names of deity in the book.

[35:17] Huh? With a heart to understand him, the Lord is revealed in the names of deity. And we come to some of those names in verse 8. I am the A and the Z.

[35:32] The Aleph and the Tav. The Alpha and Omega. The first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. And guess what, folks? He's everything in between. Huh? This designation notes that all comes from him.

[35:47] He is the initiator and all in with him as the Terminator, not Arnold Schwarzenegger. Huh? He is the origin and the goal of history. He has the first word and the last word.

[36:00] The buck stops with him. Huh? Look at these pictures. He's the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Lord God. He is the Almighty or the Omnipotent One.

[36:13] Translates the Lord of hosts is found in Old Testament. scriptures like Jeremiah 5, 14, Amos 4, 13, used only in the epistles in 2 Corinthians chapter 6 and verse 18.

[36:28] Huh? Nine times as used in Revelation. John wants us to see the living God cast in this role as the Almighty. Even the Almighty is distinguished from the Lamb in Revelation chapter 21, verse 22.

[36:42] Huh? The Lord, I mean, it's sort of like he's putting his signature. You remember the guy who does the men's warehouse commercial. He said, you're going to look good. I guarantee it.

[36:53] Well, this is God's signature here. He guarantees it. Who will bring these awesome things to pass? He speaks in the verse. He's the first, the last, the Almighty. None can prevent him.

[37:04] Huh? Does what he will. Huh? And it will come to pass. Let me give you the exhortations now. When you and I look at this particular scene, and wow, what a great scene it is.

[37:25] What a, what a, I mean, this is like a sneak preview kind of scene. This is like the movies and the credits, upfront credits had begun to roll. This is what you're going to, this is the taste and see kind of thing that you're going to see in the rest of the book.

[37:40] In view of these things, you and I should take fresh courage. Huh? Because the Lord of the past and the present, guess what folks?

[37:50] He's the Lord of the future. He is God with a track record. Huh? He has a track record in redemptive history. But you and I don't have to go back that far to see the hand of God.

[38:03] If you were to look in your life, in your history, you probably could see the fingerprints of God all over your life and all over your history. He's the God with a track record.

[38:15] There's so many points of reference in history of his working. He's the primary, the primary one is the revelation of his grace and mercy in Christ.

[38:27] As they say, when a woman makes a good cake, say, honey, you really stuck your foot in that one, huh? That was so good.

[38:39] Well, God showed out in Christ, huh? In the revelation of himself through his son. Revelation of grace and mercy and power.

[38:50] Of course, his hands are all over. The heavens declare the glory of God. Creation is his word. But then the consummation to come will have his signature on it too.

[39:02] And in view of all of these things that you and I are though in this world with devils filled should threaten to undo it. All you need to do is get a glimpse of God as we see him here.

[39:16] Get a glimpse of him and then just sort of put that up against your present situation. Guess what? It says a way of dwarfing it when you see the reality of the living God as he set forth here and shown forth here and in other places of scripture.

[39:33] Take fresh courage. That's a message for you and me. But then you are now to allow the example of Jesus as faithful witness. Does that ring a bell?

[39:44] To inspire us to be a faithful witness for the Father and the Son in this world. Jesus put it well in Matthew let your light so shine before men so they can see your good works and then pat you on the back and see what a good fellow you are.

[40:03] No. It doesn't say that does it? So that they will glorify your Father who is in heaven. So your good works put God on display so that people will give God a standing ovation for the kind of God that he is.

[40:22] Your faithful witness has that kind of potential. So we should find ourselves walking in the steps of our Lord in that regard. And then there's one more thing.

[40:33] You and I need to pause a little bit for wholehearted praise based on the contemplation and meditation on the person and work of Jesus. It doesn't have to be on the basis of this particular scripture.

[40:47] But you can meditate on Jesus in Genesis. Because all the prophets, the law and the prophets, Jesus said, they testify about me. Sort of a little hit in there but he is there.

[41:03] We can celebrate him. We can celebrate his fulfilling those prophecies. He's worthy of wholehearted praise.

[41:15] Shirley and I were in Oak Park the other day and drove past a sermon sign in First Baptist of Oak Park and said, half-hearted hosannas. He needs more than half-hearted hosannas.

[41:33] He needs informed, wholehearted hosannas that can come forth from people like you and me. early on in Revelation, you and I, centuries removed from this awesome book rooted in the soil of Old Testament that helps come to life when we see that that in fact is what we're seeing here.

[42:04] We're going to see more in the days ahead. We're going to read it aloud in our family gatherings. We're going to hear God's voice to us today from this great prophetic letter in the garb of the apocalyptic.

[42:20] Pray with me if you would, please. Lord, we worship you this afternoon and love and delight ourselves in you. We celebrate you, Lord Jesus.

[42:33] you, the one who loved us and loosed us and lifted us, Lord, as a part of your kingdom.

[42:44] Kings are a part of the kingdom. Priests, people with access to God. We bless you this day. We give you praise and worship.

[42:56] Blessed be your name. Amen. Amen.