Israel's Future

Revelation 1:2-6

The Future!

Revelation 1:1-6, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, ² who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. ³ Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. ⁴ John, to the seven churches which 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, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. No book in the Bible reveals more of the glory of God, or more of the splendour of Jesus Christ than this book.

It is a sealed book. Some things God intends to be sealed.

Daniel 12:9, And he said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.

But this book is not to be sealed up.

Revelation 22:10, And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. ➢ Don’t lock it up. ➢ Don’t hide it away. ➢ Don’t cover it. ➢ Don’t seal it. Furthermore, it is the only book in the Bible that opens and closes with a blessing on the reader! Revelation also is the last book in the divine library.

What began in Genesis ends in Revelation.

• In Genesis we have the commencement of heaven and earth.
• In Revelation we have the consummation of heaven and earth.

• In Genesis we have the entrance of sin and the curse.
• In Revelation we have the end of sin and the curse. ➢ In Genesis we have the dawn of Satan and his activities. ➢ In Revelation we have the doom of Satan and his activities. In Genesis we have the tree of life relinquished. In Revelation we have the tree of life regained. ❖ In Genesis death enters. ❖ In Revelation death exits.
• In Genesis sorrow begins.
• In Revelation sorrow is banished.
• In Genesis paradise is lost,
• In Revelation paradise is regained. In Genesis the Saviour is promised. In Revelation the Saviour is preeminent.

We are in for the journey of our lives to see the glory of what is to come as God brings all redemptive history to its great climax.

1. Uncovering. 2. Theme of Revelation. 3. Source. 4. Recipient. 5. Prophetical. This book focuses on the return of Jesus Christ in all His glory, and all of the attendant events and circumstances. ➢ We are going to see things thrilling.

➢ We are going to see things troubling. ➢ We are going to see things joyful. ➢ We are going to see things painful. ➢ We are going to see things encouraging. ➢ We are going to see things disturbing. ➢ We are going to see things blessed.

What we are going to see could never be known if it weren’t for this book. This is not an evangelistic book. It is not designed really for unbelievers, though its power will impact unbelievers who hear its truths God will use it to save.

But it is a book of hope for Christians. This book was given to Christ for Him to know fully. The record to be laid down before the eyes of His children, His people, the future glory that will belong to Him.

Everyone wants to know the future. That’s why they go and read their horoscopes. That’s why they go to people who supposedly read tarot cards and tell fortunes. But only God knows the future and, in this book, He gives it to us.

V 1, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, “Shortly.” It can mean “in a brief time,” or “quickly.”

It is the word from which we get the English word “tachometer.” Some of you have on your car a tachometer. It measures velocity of your engine, the revolutions per minute. (RPM) We could see the word in that sense as a word that speaks about the velocity of this book.

When we come to chapter 6, things happen at rapid speed. Within 7 years, an unbelievable spectacle of judgments take place that sweep the earth.

Then in a 1,000-year period called the millennial kingdom, some amazing things take place until the whole of the universe is destroyed and a new heaven and a new earth is created. There is a certain shortness about these events.

There is a certain velocity with which they happen. From Chapter 6 it will be like the speed of light, because it goes so fast. In just seven years the whole world’s system of man and Satan is overwhelmed with the horrific wrath of God.

But the main meaning of this word is the idea of soon. If we go to the end of Revelation, it helps us to make this interpretation.

Revelation 22:12, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. Here our Lord is not talking about the velocity with which He comes, but the nearness of His return.

Revelation 22:20, He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! He is speaking about the velocity of His coming, but rather He’s speaking about the nearness, or the soon. Writing to the angel of the church at Ephesus, the minister in that church, the Lord speaks to the church.

Revelation 2:5, Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent. He did come, and removed the lampstand.

Again, the emphasis is on the nearness of His coming. Writing to the angel of the church at Pergamum, the minister in that church, the Lord speaks to the church.

Revelation 2:16, Repent, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.

Again, it isn’t the velocity of His coming, but the nearness. His coming is imminent. Writing to the angel of the church at Philadelphia, the minister in that church, the Lord speaks to the church.

Revelation 3:11, Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.

The emphasis is on the soon coming of Christ. The same word used again.

Revelation 11:14, The second woe is past. Behold, the third woe is coming quickly.

It seems then best to see this word as a designation of the nearness of the coming of Christ and not the velocity with which He comes. Now the velocity with which He comes in the rapture is amazing, because He comes and takes His church in the twinkling of an eye.

But when you compare the use of tacheós in its other forms throughout the book of Revelation, it seems best to see it as the nearness rather than the quickness.

2 Timothy 4:9, Be diligent to come to me quickly;

What we have then here is this idea of imminence. The next event on God’s redemptive schedule is the coming of Christ. It doesn’t necessarily mean that He is coming in a brief period of time. It means that this is the next on the schedule of events.

It does not preclude a waiting time.

Revelation 6:10, And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?”

They were white robe to each one of them. They were told that they should rest for a little while longer. So, the fact that He is coming soon, that His coming is near, does not necessarily preclude a waiting time. The church has always lived in this expectancy.

The apostle Paul in 1 Thessalonians, assumed that Jesus could come in his life time. He uses the plural pronoun “we” and “us” and “our” to speak of those who would be taken in the rapture. The church has always lived in this expectancy.

1 Peter 4:7, But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. Peter was living in the sense of immanency. Acts ¹ we find Jesus having ascended into heaven.

The angel says to those who are watching Him go into heaven.

Acts 1:11, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

They were always living in that sense of expectancy.

1 Corinthians 15:51-52, Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— ⁵² in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

Hebrews 10:24-25, And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

The church has always lived in the anticipation of this event. We don’t know when it’s going to happen.

Acts 1:7, And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority.

We live in ongoing expectancy, knowing that the next great messianic event is the coming of Jesus Christ in glory.

Luke 12:35-40, “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; ³⁶ and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately. ³⁷ Blessed are those servants whom the master, when he comes, will find watching. Assuredly, I say to you that he will gird himself and have them sit down to eat, and will come and serve them. ³⁸ And if he should come in the second watch, or come in the third

watch, and find them so, blessed are those servants. ³⁹ But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. ⁴⁰ Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

We all live in continual expectancy all the time. 1. Delivered by Angels. V 1, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John The supernatural delivery by the angels.

Very unusual. This is the only book in the whole New Testament that was delivered and transmitted by angels. This sets this thing apart. But the Lord has chosen to bring the message of this book down to us by means of angels.

What other revelation was delivered by angels? The law of Moses.

Acts 7:53, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

We have this incredible book delivered by angels.

Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

This book is sent by an angel. The word “sent,” aposteilas; from which we get “apostle,” has the idea of a commissioned representative with authority on a mission. There is angelic ministry. God turns loose angelic beings to bring this revelation of Jesus Christ to John, to his pen, and now to us. He sent and communicated it by His angels.

Angels appear in almost every chapter. They are in chapter 4-20, in every chapter. 67 Times in the book of Revelation. We are going to get closely acquainted with the angels.

2. Recipient of the vision.

To whom do the angels give the vision? V 1, “communicated by His angel to His bond-servant John,” By the angel who belongs to Christ to the bondservant who belongs to Christ, namely John. John is absolutely overwhelmed. He never stops being overwhelmed.

Revelation 1:9, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 21:1, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Revelation 22:8, Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things. How many times does John refer to himself in his gospel? None. John was a humble person.

By the time the book of Revelation was written around 96 A.D he was very old. He was a teenager at the Last Supper in 33 A.D. Almost over 60 years later he was exiled in island of Patmos there he was by himself and he could not believe about what he was seeing, hearing and overwhelmed truly.

V 2, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. John was always faithful whether he is young, or old.

1 John 1:1-2, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— ² the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— John is saying that I am talking about it exactly the way I saw it and exactly the way I heard it and exactly the way it felt when I touched it. This is a true witness.

What is a witness means? Somebody who saw something happen and talks about it is a witness. John was a faithful witness.

He bore witness to the Word of God. He saw the Word of God coming to him through these visions brought by angels. He bore witness to the testimony from Jesus Christ. As we go through the book of Revelation, we will find these two together several times.

Revelation 1:9, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 12:17, And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 19:10, And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Because the Word of God is the testimony from Jesus. It’s the testimony from Jesus Christ to His church.

The other revelation that comes in the rest of the book, from chapter 4 to the end. All of this comes from Jesus Christ.

Revelation 22:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”

It comes from God, but it also comes from Christ. John bore witness to the Word of God, and to the testimony coming from Jesus Christ. Exactly what He saw in these visions brought to him by angels is exactly what he wrote down. He is a faithful witness.

3. Spiritual blessedness. V 3, Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. If you listen to this being read and explained, and you hear it with obedient ears, and you heed it in your life, you are going to be blessed. That is the promise of God in this book.

Revelation 22:7, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”

At the beginning is the blessing. At the end is the blessing. Both from the beginning to the end, the promise that we are blessed. Chapter 1: “Blessed is the one who reads.” Chapter 14: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”

Chapter 16: “Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes on.” Chapter 19: “Blessed are those invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb.” Chapter 20: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection.”

Chapter 22: “Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” Chapter 22: “Blessed are those who wash their robes.” Lots of blessing. Seven blessings in this book. V 3, reads, hear, heed. All present participles, continuous action.

It represents a church service. Somebody reads, somebody hears, and then they apply. That’s what he is asking you to do. I am reading which includes the explanation. You are hearing it.

Revelation 2:7, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat

from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’ You must hear it! It’s God’s last word. We don’t have anything beyond this of Revelation. Throughout the book of Revelation, you find a lot of things that come in sevens.

We just read seven blessings that are in it. There are a lot of things that come in sevens. There are ➢ seven churches, ➢ seven spirits, ➢ seven candlesticks, ➢ seven stars, ➢ seven lamps, ➢ seven seals, ➢ seven horns, ➢ seven eyes, ➢ seven angels, ➢ seven trumpets, ➢ seven thunders, ➢ seven-thousand, ➢ seven heads, ➢ seven crowns, ➢ seven angels,

➢ seven plagues, ➢ seven vials or bowls, ➢ seven mountains, and ➢ seven kings. There are other sevens,

• seven blessings,
• seven years of judgments,
• seven divisions of each of the letters to the seven churches,
• seven “I AMs” about Christ, and
• seven doxologies in heaven.

By the time we finish this book we will be wondering what is happening with 7?

What is seven?

Genesis 2:3, “God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” If seven means it’s over. Seven is the number of completions. Seven is the number of fullness. All the sevens in this book tells us that this is the completion.

Revelation 22:18-19, For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these

things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; ¹⁹ and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

This is the book of sevens. This is the book of fullness. This is the end, when God is finished. The essential nature of the book: it is the revelation. The central theme: Jesus Christ. The divine source: God. The specific recipients: His bondservants, namely believers.

The prophetic character: things which must shortly take place. The supernatural delivery comes through angels. The human agent is John. Spiritual blessedness is to those who hear and heed. 4. Compelling urgency. V 3, Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

The word “time” here; not Chronos, that’s calendar time. The word is Kairos. That’s “epochal time,” “eras,” “epochs,” “seasons.”

God’s redemptive history is near!

Revelation 22:6, Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. It’s going to happen shortly.

Revelation 22:10, And he said to me, “Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

What the Holy Spirit is trying to do is to force everybody in the church to live in the light of the next event. Since we don’t know when it’s going to happen, we have to live as if it were going to happen in the immediate future.

This is not a concept unfamiliar to Scripture.

2 Peter 3:3-4, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”

2 Peter 3:8, But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

James 5:7-8, Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Two thousand years have passed, it’s still near. It is nearer now than it ever was.

Romans 16:20, And the God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen. It’s next.

Luke 18:7-8, And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? ⁸ I tell you that He will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” All the godly people are crying about persecution and injustice.

The delay could be so long that people will begin to believe He’s not coming at all. It’s near and next, but it could be delayed so long people will question whether He is ever going to come. Jesus is coming. There is no question about it.

His coming is next in redemptive planning.

You don’t let this one fact escape from your notice that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. It’s been two thousand years, that’s two days to God. He’s coming. 5. Trinitarian benediction.

V 4, “John to the seven churches that are in Asia” Which is Asia Minor, modern Turkey, seven churches located there in the western half of Asia Minor. These seven churches are named in verse 11.

Revelation 1:11, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

They were the direct, earthly recipients of this letter. V 4-6, John, to the seven churches which 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, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and

has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. This is the Trinity! An unbelievable benediction from the Trinity. Benediction means “blessing.” Here comes grace and here comes peace from the whole Trinity to these seven churches and the true believers in them, and all true believers.

This is a love letter. ✓ God’s sending you, His blessing. ✓ The Holy Spirit is sending you, His blessing. ✓ Jesus Christ is sending you, His blessing. All three members of the Trinity are sending you grace and sending you peace.

Their wish for you that you have grace. ✓ God’s wish, ✓ The Spirit’s wish, ✓ Son’s wish. It’s their wish that you have peace. ✓ God’s wish, ✓ The Spirit’s wish, ✓ Son’s wish.

First, God is identified. “From Him who is and who was and who is to come.” The eternal God is the source of all blessing, all grace, and all peace. God is timeless, because that’s the only way we can understand Him. He is eternal.

He was, He is, He is to come. The past, the present, and the future. This title is used many times. V 8, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Revelation 4:8, The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

Revelation 11:17, saying: “We give You thanks, O Lord God Almighty, The One who is and who was and who is to come, Because You have taken Your great power and reigned. It’s not future anymore.

Revelation 16:5, And I heard the angel of the waters saying: “You are righteous, O Lord, The One who is and who was and who is to be, Because You have judged these things.

The eternal God who is sending us grace and peace. Then John moves to the second member of the Trinity. V 4, “And from the seven Spirits who are before His throne.” I thought there was one Holy Spirit. Why is it seven Spirits here?

Seven is the number of fullness, and so He is identifying the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 11:2, “And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

There you have seven aspects of the Holy Spirit. 1. He is the Spirit of the Lord, 2. The spirit of wisdom, 3. The spirit of understanding, 4. The spirit of counsel, 5. The spirit of strength,

6. The spirit of knowledge, and

7. The spirit of the fear of the Lord. The seven-fold ministry of the Spirit.

Zechariah 4:1-10. the idea of the seven spirits.

Zechariah 4:2, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps that are on the top of it.” Seven lamps. A Jewish menorah has seven candles. One in the middle, three on each side. They have one out in front of the Knesset, a huge one in Jerusalem Parliament.

The seven are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.

Zechariah 4:6, “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” Revelation ⁴ and 5, carry very similar symbolism to Zechariah 4. The Holy Spirit’s work is very prominent in Zechariah 4.

There is a connection there.

Revelation 5:6 talks about the seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits. That’s almost an interpretation of Zechariah 4. Zechariah talks about seven lamps that is the light of God.

It talks about seven eyes, which are the Spirit.

Isaiah 11, Zechariah 4, Revelation 5, all of this refers to the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit in all His glory and fullness sends us grace and peace. If we belong to the church, if we belong to God, if we belong to Christ, the Father and the Spirit are sending us Their wishes for grace and peace.

John moves into the remaining member of the Trinity. V 5, “Grace and peace from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” What a glorious description! John takes a little more time with Christ than he did with the Spirit or with the Father, because after all, Jesus Christ is the theme. He does dominate the book.

The entire book is a vision of Christ sent to the persecuted, disheartened Christians in Asia Minor who were suffering immensely. This was to encourage them about the future. ✓ The first thing that would encourage them would be that God the Eternal One hadn’t forgotten them but sends them grace and peace.

✓ The second thing that would encourage them would be that God the Holy Spirit loves them and sends them grace and peace. He hasn’t forgotten them either. ✓ The third and most wonderful, that the Son, Jesus Christ, hasn’t forgotten them. He too sends them grace and peace.

John says He is the faithful witness.

Isaiah 55:4, Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people, A leader and commander for the people.

The Messiah would be a witness to the people. A faithful witness is one who always speaks the truth. Christ always speaks the truth, always the faithful witness, never deviates from what is true.

Revelation 3:14, “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God:

John 18:37, Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”

Jesus is sending us His testimony here in this book, and He is a faithful witness. John gives Jesus the second title “the firstborn of the dead.” Firstborn doesn’t mean He is the first one ever to be raised from the dead. No, others had been raised in time before Him. But it means of all those who were ever raised He is the preeminent one.

Firstborn, Prōtotokos, means “preeminent,” that of all who have ever been raised before or after, He is the preeminent one.

Psalm 89:27, Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.

This book is the story of that event. This book is the testimony of a faithful witness. This book is the story of God exalting the prōtotokos, the chief of all who have ever been or ever will be raised from the dead. John gives Him a third title: “The ruler of the kings of the earth.”

The word ruler some translations are “prince.” But “ruler,” a more generic term. God will make Jesus the ruler of the kings of the earth.

Revelation 19:16, And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Daniel 4:37, calls Him the King of heaven.

Matthew 2:2, the King of the Jews.

John 1:49, the King of Israel.

1 Timothy 1:17, the King of ages.

Psalm 24:7, the King of glory.

Revelation 15:3, the King of the saints. Finally, the King of kings. ✓ “Faithful witness” speaks of His past. To what God has to say in the past, He gives faithful witness. ✓ “Resurrected Lord,” that is the chief of all who have ever been raised, is His present role. ✓ “Ruler of the kings of the earth,” His future. ➢ He witnesses faithfully to the truth of God, and so His witness is true. ➢ He presently, in resurrection glory, is the Chief of all who have ever been raised, and therefore sits at the right hand of the Father. ➢ Some day in the future will be the Ruler of all the kings of the earth. We shall see all of that future glory unfold.

It is also true that He will become that ruler, because He is the chief of all who have ever been raised. He will become that ruler because He has been a faithful witness. The Trinity sends us a benediction.

6. Doxology. John can’t contain himself. He has only into six verses but he can’t contain himself. V6, “To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.”

Why does John say that? Because, “Jesus Christ is the one who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father and thus, to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

This is an exalted hymn of praise. It is “unto Him who loves us,” present tense, abiding love. Paul said nothing will separate us from the love of Christ. God’s love is not a past experience, it is a present reality. His love for us at this present moment is in as full a force as it was when Jesus died on Calvary. He loved us when we hated Him.

He keeps on loving us now that we belong to Him. He loves us. In the past, at the cross, “released us from our sins by His blood.” Blood is a term referring to His entire atoning work. When we see the reference to the blood of Christ in Scripture, it is a reference to His full atonement.

Blood signifies death of Christ, sacrificial, substitutionary death for sin. Through His death, His atoning work on the cross, He released us from our sins. It wasn’t just a negative thing. It wasn’t just what He saved us from.

The positive in verse 6: “Made us to be a kingdom.” We constitute a kingdom now. We have a King, and we have common life under that King, under His authority. This is a collective designation for all believers. We who believe are all in this sphere of God’s rule through Christ, and that kingdom is entered by faith in Jesus Christ.

He loves us. He loves us so much that He released us from our sins through His blood, through His atonement on the cross. He loves us so much that He made us into a community of saints forever, bound together in the confines of a kingdom over which He rules.

We enjoy His loving rule and His loving sovereign, almighty protection. He has given us the privilege of being ruled by the King of kings, and reigning with Him.

“He made us priests to His God and Father.” Having been released from our sins, we have become a kingdom, a part of a kingdom we have entered by faith, and we are under His rule. We have also become priests. Now we have direct access to God as a priest, who had the right to enter God’s presence.

In Israel, the priest and the priest alone could go into the Holy Place. Once a year, the high priest into the Holy of Holies where God was. We now are all priests. That’s why we say we believe in the priesthood of believers; we all enter into the Holy Place.

We all have access to God. To Him who loves us and who released us from our sins by His blood, and then made us to be a kingdom over which He rules, and made us priests who have immediate and direct access to God the Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.

This One who has given us all of this has the right to everlasting praise, everlasting glory, everlasting sovereignty. John adds that wonderful solemn response, “Amen.”

Means, “Let it be.” John concludes his introduction, and by sweeping us into the future to grasp the richness of this incredible book. John can’t even get out of his introduction without being lost in praise. This book will give to the ✓ One who loves us ✓ One who released us from our sins by His blood, ✓ One who made us into a kingdom and ✓ One who made us priests before God.

This book will give to Him the glory and the dominion that He deserves forever and ever.