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So, as I said, please go listen to the intro on our YouTube or on the podcast if you missed that last week. That is gonna be really important for understanding the book as a whole as we jump into the revelation. And I gave it a very long intro last week, and so today I want to jump right into the text itself. So look down with me if you would, starting in verse one of the revelation. It says this the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that soon must take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. So notice, uh, well, last week we we talked about that word revelation. That word revelation in the Greek language is the word apocalypsis. It's where we get the word apocalypse, and I talked about how apocalypse isn't scary, ooh, into the world, we're all gonna die, AI, robots, terminator. It's none of that. Apocalypse simply means unveiling. That's why the teaching series is called the unveiling. It is where here on earth we catch a window into the eternal perspective. It is where God shows us a glimpse of what is real, what is ultimate reality, where we are filled with the Spirit of God and eyes to see what he's doing. So this is this is a revelation and unveiling, notice of Jesus Christ. And that word of, that preposition, it carries a double meaning. It means that the revelation comes by Jesus Christ or from Jesus Christ, but it is also the revelation about Jesus Christ. Does that make sense? So it's it's it's twofold here. Jesus is both the content of the revelation, and Jesus is also the agent of the revelation. Jesus is God revealing himself to us, and this is the way that the book works. When we read through it, everything we're gonna see, it is Jesus revealing himself to us uh through the scriptures, which is really amazing. Now, if that is primarily what this is about, which it is, because it says this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, it means that revelation is not primarily a report about the bad world that we live in. It means revelation is not primarily a report on the hardship that the first century church was facing and the persecution that they were going through. It means the revelation is not primarily a prediction book about how the future is exactly gonna end. It means it is a proclamation about Jesus by the person of Jesus to give us fresh revelation of Jesus. And so I shared this last week and I shared this this week again. If you're here and you're hoping to have all the answers to the end of the world as we go through this series, you're gonna be really disappointed. But if you show up every week and you're saying, I want to have fresh revelation of Jesus, I want to hear from Jesus, I want to see Jesus, you will not be disappointed any week when you show up as we continue in this series. So this Jesus is, notice again, just I know we're going through word by word, we're not gonna do that through the whole thing, but the revelation of double preposition, Jesus Christ, that word Christ, that is the anointed one, the Christos, who in the Old Testament, it's really interesting, the the Christ was promised in the law, the Christ was prophesied by the prophets, the Christ was prayed for in the intertestamental period, that is the period between the Old Testament and the New Testament, the Christ was presented in the Gospels, the Christ was preached and proclaimed in the epistles, and now he is being revealed in the present to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which is amazing that throughout history people were waiting for the Christ. And now, today, now, even as we read this, the revelation of Jesus Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, we get to see Jesus. We have a real encounter with the risen Jesus as we open the revelation and as we say, God, open our hearts that we may see more of you. Open our hearts that we may behold your glory. When we read the revelation, we're not just reading a book, we're having an encounter with a person, and that is the person of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. So it's the revelation of Jesus Christ, verse one, which God showed him uh to his servants, the things that must soon take place. Now, this book we talked about last week was written almost about 2,000 years ago, somewhere in the uh 80, 90s, and it says this is a vision of what must soon take place. And I want to touch on that a little bit more. The word soon there is a relative term, right? If I said, hey, I'm coming over to your house soon, you might mean, well, okay, in five minutes. I might mean in five hours, or someone might mean in five days, you know? So soon is like that is not a definite. Soon simply means imminent. It means it is, it is going to happen. It is already in motion. And it means really it could happen at any time. If I say I'm coming over soon, I could show up in a minute, I could show up in two minutes, I could show up in two hours, but I'm gonna show up. And so that's what this means. These are the things that must soon take place. And so, soon, a relative term, also must be understood from a heavenly perspective rather than an earthly perspective. Because the revelation of Jesus Christ, the unveiling is we're catching a window into a heavenly reality. And how many of y'all know that God works on a different timeline than us? How many of y'all know the way that we see soon and the way that God sees soon are very different? In fact, we see this very clearly in 2 Peter chapter 3, verse 8 through 9, which says this do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promises as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. So some people would would mock or not trust the book right from the beginning, because they say, these are the things that are soon gonna take place, and it's been two thousand years. Well, remember that with the Lord, a thousand years is as one day. So on God's calendar, it's been like two days. So soon is still soon. And if the Lord should tarry for another thousand years, which I don't think he will, but if he should tarry another thousand yeah, that's still three days, it's still very soon. It's imminent, it is going to happen. And so, again, when soon doesn't line up with our understanding of what we think soon is, we have to understand again, we we need a heavenly perspective and to understand that God has a purpose and a plan for his timing. And the reason that God we see in 1 Peter is partially has not returned yet is because he is being patient towards us because he doesn't want any to perish. God wants all men to come to repentance. Why hasn't God come back today in this very moment? Well, probably because there's someone in the room who he wants to save, probably because there's someone in the community who he wants to share the gospel with. God is still working in people's hearts, and so we have to go off of his timeline and not our own. Amen. So this is the revelation of Jesus. These things are soon gonna take place. They are imminent, they are they are coming, they are happening. And then look at verse 3 what he says. He says, Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. Well, that's me right now. I guess I'm blessed. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear. Wow, I guess you're blessed right now. Double blessing, praise God, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. Now, here's what's interesting: the revelation is the only book that I know of, and I even asked Chat, and Chat can't find anything else either. It is the only book that opens with a promise and it ends with a warning. Did you know that? It opens with the promise. The promise is, Blessed are you if you if you read these words and if you hear these words and if you keep these words, but spoiler alert, if you haven't got to the end of the book, I want to warn you right now. Because the revelation ends in chapter 22, verse 18 and 19. The warning is this it says, I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book. If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book. So where we live is in the middle. There is the the question for us is what do we want? Do we want to be those who are blessed or do we want to be those who are cursed? And your decision is this Am I gonna be the person who reads and hears and walks in obedience to what I'm hearing in this book? Am I gonna take this book seriously? And am I gonna believe this as the revelation of Jesus, believing Jesus wants to reveal himself to me? Or am I gonna not take it seriously and go, I don't really trust the book? And you know what? I'm gonna write future, I'm gonna write my own book. I'm gonna write my own. Here's who I think God is to me, and here's the way that I think God works. And he says, Whoa, be careful. I warn you, if you add to or take away any of the words of this book, he says that you will have your name taken out of the book of life, and you will have your uh share taken away from the tree of life in the Holy City. So my prayer for you is that we would take seriously and heed the words of Jesus himself. And what he says is, blessed is the one who reads and who hears and keeps what is written. Now, that word blessed is used seven times in the revelation. We're gonna see it coming up over and over. And this is actually a word that Jesus himself used very often as well, particularly in the Sermon on the Mount. Does anybody know which portion of the Sermon on the Mount we see Jesus saying, blessed is and blessed are? The Beatitudes, yes, yes, the beatitudes. So Jesus showed us what the blessed life looks like as well. And this word blessed, it is always in the present tense. Blessed is a present reality. And a lot of people just think of blessed as that means like you're just really happy. Like, yeah, but how you doing, brother? Oh, I'm blessed. Okay, yeah, I'm happy. No, but that's not what the biblical idea of blessed is. The biblical idea of blessed is to have a deep inner peace and a deep inner joy that transcends our outward circumstances. That is that that is what biblically blessed is. Biblically blessed is I have peace and joy internally, despite what is happening around me externally. And again, that's important to understand the biblical concept of blessed because in our world, the world sees blessed in a very different way. The the world says to be blessed means that you've got a lot of money. That the more money a person makes, we're like, wow, man, that person must be really blessed. The more success a person has, wow, look how the they're really blessed. The more power or the more prominence or the more greater status. That's the way that the world sees blessed. We're like, look at those people, they have so much bigger houses, bigger paychecks, and bigger influence, bigger social media following. The world looks at them and says, they are so blessed. But that is not the idea of what the biblical concept of blessed is. The biblical concept is we are blessed when you have internal peace, and you are blessed when you have internal joy. And that is something that all of the worldly people who are blessed, they don't have that. This is a blessing that we can only receive through the person of Jesus. And notice there are three qualifiers. There are three ways that we become the person or the one or those who are blessed. He says, Blessed is number one, the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. Number two is blessed are those who hear. And number three is blessed are those who keep what is written in it. Now, what's interesting is in the first century, and often and throughout history as well, not as much in our time, but there were always two categories of people. There were people who were literate and could read, and there were people who were illiterate and could not read. And especially in the first century, to be able to read was very uncommon. So when this is a letter the apostle John is writing to churches, as this letter went into circulation, not anybody could just get it and read it. It would there'd be manuscripts and copies of it that would go to the various churches, and when it showed up, they would find who is the person in the room who's able to read. Can anybody read this? Can anybody read this letter that Pastor John has sent out to our churches? And there'd be a person who would stand up and read. And in the first century and also throughout history, typically, if you were illiterate, that would mean like you were you were kind of the upper class. You're kind of more educated, you're kind of better than everybody else. But notice what's so beautiful here, he says, Blessed is the one who reads a word the louds of this book. As somebody got the letter, they said, Hey, I know how to read. And wow, what a blessing to be able to stand up and read this letter with the people in the little home churches that gathered at that time. But then he said, Also, hey, blessed are those who hear these words. So notice how the the playing field is equal. It's not, well, that guy's better and better than me because he's more educated and smarter and he's able to read, and I just I can't, so I just get to sit here and and listen, and that's it. No, they're equal. Blessed is the one who reads the words of the prophecy, and blessed is the one who hears it. And I love how the playing field is leveled in that way. Now the question is, how, especially in the first century, to the seven uh churches that the letter was written to, how would they actually be blessed by just reading the revelation and and by listening to it? How would that actually bless them? And the way it would bless them is simply this that it would give them a fresh revelation of Jesus. They would see what God is doing in their cultural context. And when they looked with natural eyes around them, they would say, We're not blessed. When they looked with natural eyes around them, they'd say, We're being persecuted. We talked about this last week, Emperor Domitian killing over 400,000 Christians at this time. They would look around and go, Wow, the Christians are dying off. Wow, the church is dying out. And while Rome just keeps usurping its thor authority and power and killing more Christians, it doesn't look like we're very blessed. But they would start reading the book, they would start reading the revelation, they would get a fresh vision of Jesus, and they would see that at the end of the day, Rome does not win. At the end of the day, the emperor does not win. At the end of the day, the Church of Jesus Christ wins. And we now get to look back on that and go, Wow, the greatest empire in history has now come to nothing. Rome is now ruins. People go to see it as a tourist site. You see the ruins of what was once the greatest kingdom on earth, but the Christian message of the gospel has spread to the ends of the earth. So we know that the way that they were blessed by reading it is again, it gave them hope. It gave them peace, it gave them perspective, it gave them joy. The natural eye says, We're losing. But as they read the revelation of Jesus Christ, they realized there's one who sits on the throne who's in control of all of this. And so we can have hope and we can have peace and we can have joy even in the midst of persecution. And this is what the revelation will do for you, by the way. Blessed are you if you read it, and blessed are you if you hear it, and blessed are you if you do in accordance with it. Why? Because what it will do for your life is this whatever's happening in your life. Again, we're blessed that we live in a time where the churches are being persecuted. We have freedom of religion, we have freedom to come and worship. Praise God. But I know you're probably going through something. You're probably facing some sort of hardship or pain or suffering. And if you're not right now, there will be a season where you are. And the revelation of Jesus Christ gives you perspective as to what God is doing in your life. It gives you perspective for how to suffer well. It gives you perspective to see as to how God redeems and uses all of our suffering, all of our pain and all of our brokenness for his glory. So he says, Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, blessed are those who hear it, and third, the one who keeps what is written in it. So notice the blessing isn't only those who read it, which by the way, we challenged our church that as we're going through the series, I would challenge you if you want to grow in a deeper revelation of Jesus, don't just wait till Sunday. Read the book for yourself once a week. And we put together, by the way, a kind of uh a background, a phone, photo, bookmark, or whatever for a reading plan. It's also on the front page of our website. You can scroll down and it says the revelation reading plan. It's just simple. Mondays, chapters one through three, Tuesdays, chapter four through six, Wednesday, chapter. I don't know, I can't count right now, but you know what I'm saying? Every day we're going through it. So if you want to do that, it's free on the website. You can download it. That's blessed are those who read. We want to be people who continue to read and listen. But the greatest blessing is not just reading the book and not just listening to the book, which we're doing right now. We're reading and we're listening, but it says also those who keep what is written in it. And this is really important. While there is a blessing just for reading the book itself, and where there, while there is a blessing for listening to the words of the book being read, I believe that the greatest blessing that we experience is when we actually begin to live out and put into practice the things that God is revealing in our lives. This this book was meant to bring our whole being and our our whole entire life into alignment with the ultimate reality of Jesus Christ. And so my question for you, which I will continue to bring up this question through the series, is simply this Is there anything that you are reading? Is there anything that you are hearing? Is there anything that Jesus is revealing or speaking that you're not yet doing? And I want to just ask you that even right now. Like right now in your relationship with God, is there anything that you've been maybe reading not only in the revelation, all scripture is revelation. It is God's revelation, God's design of Himself. Is there anything that you've been reading in the scripture that is revealing a part of you that's broken that you have not yet submitted to God, that you have not yet surrendered to Christ? Is there anything that you're hearing that you feel you just know the Holy Spirit is speaking to you? And he's like, hey, I I don't have this for you. I don't want this for you. And you keep doing and I want to encourage you, I want to encourage us to not just be even as James says, to not be hearers of the word only, but to be doers. The greatest blessing is when our lives actually come into uh alignment with the things that we're reading and hearing, and we're transformed from one degree of glory to another. So if there's anything in your life right now that you have been reading, is there if there's anything in your life that you have been hearing that you are not yet actually living out, as he says, blessed is the one who keeps what is written. My prayer is that we would be a church who keeps what is written, that we walk in alignment with the revelation that we have received. Amen. Amen. Now, here's what's really interesting. Blessed is the one who reads, blessed is the one who hears. But what's interesting is that the word of God was spoken before it was written. Isn't that interesting? Like all we have right now before us is the written text. But before we have the written text, the word was first spoken, just as Jesus himself was both seen and touched and heard before he was written about. All we have right now is the stories of Jesus. We have the apostles recording the firsthand accounts of Jesus when he was on the earth. But before Jesus was written about, Jesus was experienced, Jesus was touched, Jesus was heard, Jesus was seen. And here's what Eugene Peterson says about this. I love this quote. This is really amazing. He says, From the moment that a word is written, it is separated from the voice that spoke it and is therefore depersonalized. Yet the very essence of word is personal. It is the means by which what is within one person is shared with another person. So here's the danger of only reading, and the danger of only hearing is we remove the person from it. There there becomes this distance and this gap, and we can read the word just for information. Here's stories about Jesus, and here's a story in a letter that John got about Jesus, and it becomes depersonalized. But the word, a word spoken, was meant to be a person shared. And so the big idea is this the intent of the revelation is not to inform us about God, it is to involve us in God. And if you miss that, you're gonna miss everything else that comes after this. The intent of this entire book is not to inform you about God, it is to involve you in God, it is to conform us into the image of his son, Jesus Christ. And so the reason you are blessed when you read this book, and the reason you are blessed when you hear the words of this book being read, and the reason you are blessed when you actually keep the revelation is because it all of that leads you to an encounter with the person of Jesus Christ. And if you miss that and don't get that, you're missing the point of the entire thing. Reading, hearing, obeying, all of that comes from the place of encounter. It is a relation. I'm reading this not to read, I'm reading it because I want an encounter with Jesus, and that's why he spoke it. I'm listening not because I'm just supposed to go to church and listen to a message on Sunday, because I'm trying to hear the voice of Jesus and I believe Jesus is speaking today. I'm walking in obedience, I'm trying to keep it, not so that I can earn favor or brownie points with God, but because I've had an encounter with Jesus and He has changed my life and he is transforming the way that I live day by day and moment by moment. So here's my question for you. Why do you read the Bible? Why do you read the scriptures? Do you read the word just to read the word and gain some sort of information or enlightenment? Or do you read the word because you want to encounter Jesus? Why do you listen to the word? Why do you listen to Christian podcasts? Why do you come to church on Sunday and listen to me for 45 minutes on a rant? Why do you do is it just because you're like, oh well, that's what I'm supposed to do? I guess I'm supposed to go to church, I'm supposed to like why do you or is it because you want to hear from Jesus? What why why do you why do you keep and why do you obey the things that you're taught? Is it well because I'm a I'm supposed to do that? Like As a Christian, I'm supposed to do that. I want to be a good moral person and I want to let God know, like, yeah, I did that, I kind of checked that box. Or is the reason we keep what is written because we've encountered Jesus and He's transformed our lives? People can do the right things from a wrong understanding. So you can do good things. You can read the Bible, you can read the Word, you can listen to the words taught. Listen, those are all good things. But if you're not doing it to get to the person of Jesus, if you're not doing it because you need revelation of Jesus, you'll miss the point entirely. So let us be a church, not just a church who reads to read. Let us be a church who reads because we want an encounter. Let us be a church who listens not just because that's good to learn more information, but because we're listening for the voice of the Holy Spirit. We're listening for Jesus and what he wants to say. Let us be a church who keeps what is written, not just because that's what Christians are supposed to do, and so that we can feel better about ourselves, but because we've had an encounter with Jesus and He's transforming our lives day by day, moment by moment. Amen. So the reason you're blessed when you read, the reason you're blessed when you hear, the reason you're blessed when you keep what's in it, is because it has led you to the person of Jesus. You've had an encounter with Jesus Christ. Verse 4, he says, 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 of the earth. So just to give you a little bit of context here, notice he says, John to the seven churches that are in Asia. When you read Asia in the scriptures in the New Testament, primarily, this is Western Asia Minor, modern day Turkey, which I had a friend who was a missionary in Turkey for seven years and he's doing some really cool stuff. But by the end of the first century, this is pri the early church began to spread primarily in the region of Turkey, Asia Minor, and churches, in spite of persecution, were being planted all over the Roman Empire. But when John writes this letter, notice it is to the seven churches that are in Asia. Although there were a lot more than seven churches at that time, John writes this letter to seven of the most prominent and churches that were in most strategic cities, so that when word got to them, a letter like this would circulate to all the other churches as well. So while it is addressed and intended first and foremost to the seven he's writing, it would have made it to all the churches eventually, once copies of the manuscript would have been translated over time. So John writes this letter to the seven churches, and the opening greeting is this look at verse four. Grace to you and peace from him who is and was and is to come, from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ. So the opening greeting, grace and peace, I want you to see this, is a Trinitarian invocation. A Trinitarian invocation. What I mean by that is this grace and peace come from the triune God. Do you want grace in your life? Do you want peace in your life? You can only have that when you are in relationship with the Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that's not just my opinion, that's what the text says, because we see the full Trinity right here in these two verses. Notice grace to you and peace from, who does grace and peace come from? Number one, from the one who was and is and is to come. That is God the Father. And we are going to see that repeated over and over in the book, and I'll unpack that more as we get there. I don't have time for all that right now, but that is the Father, the one who was and is and is to come. He is the great I am, he is the eternal, the alpha, the omega, God the Father. But notice grace and peace also comes from verse 4. It says, from the seven spirits who are before his throne. Okay, so here's the first woo-woo moment in the revelation, right? Y'all know we're gonna get into some crazy stuff. This is the first one. Okay, from the seven spirits who are before his throne. So people read this and they're like, what does that mean? Hey, welcome to the club, okay, y'all? Like, I don't know, I don't know all this stuff off the top of my head. This is why studying the scripture is important. What is the seven spirits before his throne? Well, if you missed the intro, I'm gonna remind you of this. There is not a single part of the book of the revelation that is unique to the revelation. Every single verse has references or direct quotes back to the Old Testament. So whenever we get to the symbolism in the Revelation, we don't just make up what do we think that means or what's happening in the news, and it must be that. No, no, we go back to the Old Testament symbol. So when we see this, the seven spirits who are before his throne, which by the way, in the New Testament, this is the only mention of it, is in the Revelation. The seven spirits before the throne are mentioned here in chapter 1, chapter 3, chapter 4, and chapter 5, no other New Testament books. But the only other place where this would be mentioned is in the Old Testament in Isaiah chapter 11. And so the seven spirits before the throne are a reference to the seven characteristics of the Holy Spirit mentioned in Isaiah chapter 11. I want you to see this. Isaiah chapter 11, verse 2. Here's the 11 care uh the seven characteristics of what the Holy Spirit does. Notice Isaiah 11, 2, and the spirit of the Lord, number one, shall rest upon him. He would come and rest upon Jesus. The spirit of wisdom, number two, the spirit of understanding, number three, the spirit of counsel, number four, the spirit of might, number five, the spirit of knowledge, number six, and the fear of the Lord, number seven. So here's the sevenfold ministry, if you would, of the Holy Spirit. It would rest upon Jesus. He's the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, might, knowledge, and the fear of the Lord. So when you see seven spirits before the throne, all of this is quotations from the Old Testament. That is the only mention in the Old Testament. So that is most likely what this is talking about. He's talking about the Holy Spirit. So grace and peace comes from the Father. That is the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was, is, is to come. It comes from the Holy Spirit, who is the seven characteristics, the spirit of God before the throne, and finally, verse five, from Jesus Christ, which is the Son. So all that's to say, this this opening line, grace and peace from the Father, from the Holy Spirit, from the Son. If you want grace in your life, and if you want grace and peace in your life, you cannot have that apart from being in relationship with the triune God. Grace and peace flows from the Father. It flows through the finished work of the Son, and it is realized in our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit. So if you don't know the Father, and if you haven't trusted in the finished work of the Son, and if you have not been filled by the Holy Spirit, you cannot have true peace in your life. And there is not true grace upon your life. I'm good. I don't need no water. Thank you, Scott. My voice is always just dead on Sundays. It is what it is. And I'm going extra fast because y'all snuck up in on me. So I gotta, you know, I gotta get people about here. So sorry about that. But that's where grace and peace comes from. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit. You want grace? You want peace? It comes through relationship with the one true triune God. Amen. Now, notice he started with the three qualifiers of those who are blessed. Blessed are those who hear the word. Blessed are those who read the word, and blessed are those who keep the word. Now, look what we see here. We see three titles of Jesus Christ. There's three sets of three in this passage, by the way. It's really cool. I don't have time to unpack all that, but it says, and from Jesus Christ, verse five, look at verse five. From Jesus Christ, three titles the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Now here's the thing: each one of these titles would have provided significant encouragement to the seven churches that were suffering in Asia Minor. These are not just random titles taken out of nowhere. These are Jesus revealing three specific titles of himself to give specific encouragement for the hardship that the churches were facing. So the first one is that Jesus Christ is the faithful witness. This is a title of Christ. Who is Christ? He's the faithful witness. Now I want you to imagine for a second, if, and maybe so you don't have to imagine. Maybe this is you've experienced this. We live in a broken, dark, sad world. Imagine if just the most horrific and horrendous and unjust evil happened to you. Somebody did something that was unspeakable. And and your heart longed for justice, but there was nobody there. There was nobody there to give an account. There was nobody who witnessed. And maybe this is your real life experience. Maybe some horrible things have happened to you in your past, and you're like, man, I just wish somebody was there because I just wish that that person would be locked up or I wish that justice could be served. Well, imagine if you were on trial before this person, so to speak. And imagine if somebody walked into the room and they said, I was there and I witnessed firsthand what happened, and what this person is saying is true. What this person is accusing them of, they did that. What this person is accusing them of, this is true. And I have firsthand witness, I'm a firsthand witness, I have evidence of this. The freedom that that would bring to you, because you know now that justice is going to be served, would be absolutely there would be nothing greater than that. And so Jesus Christ, first and foremost, announces himself to a church that is being persecuted, to a church that is literally being killed, Christians being killed. And he says, I am the faithful witness. Meaning it may look like they're getting away with this. It may look like they've just gotten off the hook, but Jesus says, I am the faithful witness. And for Christ to be a faithful witness is one of the greatest gifts that God has given to us through his son. Christ was not only a faithful witness to what they were going through in the first century, to anything and everything that has ever happened in your life, that anyone has ever done. Any ways that you've been mistreated, any ways that you've been wronged, any things that were done in the darkness, Christ is a faithful witness, and they will be held account to that one day when they stand before the throne of God. That is the God that we serve, a God who is a faithful witness on our behalf. Secondly, he is the second title, he is the firstborn from the dead. That word firstborn carries the idea of the one who received the inheritance. It was a title of supremacy. We don't really do this in our culture. It's like if I well, my son bears the oldest, so he kind of gets everything. We don't really do that, right? But that's how things used to work. You guys know the story of Esau and Jacob, right? Esau was the firstborn. Jacob wanted the birthright and he made him a pot of stew and he traded, which is really weird. It's like you trade your birthright for a bowl of soup. Like soup's not even that great. It's like, give me a burger or something, right? But he trades, he trades his birthright to be the firstborn because the firstborn got the inheritance. So we see of Christ, it says he is the firstborn what? From the dead. Jesus is the firstborn resurrected from the dead. He's the first resurrected human in history. And some of you might say, well, not really the first resurrected human because he rose Lazarus from the dead, right? Yeah, that's true. He rose Lazarus from the dead, but Lazarus died again. The firstborn from the dead means Jesus is the first one to come back from the dead who never died again. So this is a title that he carries. He is the beginning of the regeneration of the universe itself. Death and evil, uh, death was a result of evil. The only reason people die is because sin came into the world. If there was never sin, God's plan for humanity was that we would live eternally, that we were made in the image of God, who is an eternal God. Ecclesiastes said he has put he has put eternity in our hearts. We are eternal beings. The only reason we die is because if sin cut us off from relationship with God. But Jesus being the firstborn from the dead, he did that because when he went to the grave, when he actually died, he took the sin that was our the wages of what are our consequence. He he took death's sting away. Death no longer has a sting on Jesus. That's why he stays alive after death. Death no longer has a sting on us either when we are in Christ because he paid for it on the cross. And so what this would have done for the first century church who was persecuted is this. Hey, some of you, you are gonna be martyred even unto death. Some of you, you are gonna be killed. Some of them were being killed. Family members, friends, brothers, sisters, sons, daughters were murdered at the hand of the Roman Empire because of their faith. But Jesus shows up through the revelation given to John, and he says, I am the firstborn from the dead. Which means even if your suffering leads to death, death ultimately has no power over you. Death is not the final say. And that would have given them hope. And again, praise God, we don't face that type of persecution where we live today. But the reality is this whatever you may go through and whatever life may bring your way, whatever hardship and suffering, one day your life will end, but death is not the end of your story if you've placed your faith in the resurrected work of Christ. Amen. So he is the faithful witness, he is the firstborn from the dead, and number three, the ruler of the kings of the earth. Jesus' throne is higher than all other thrones. Jesus was humbled lower than any human who ever walked the face of the earth, and so God has highly exalted him and he's given him the name that's above all names. His throne rules and reigns over all rulers. If you want to read later, you can write down Psalm chapter two. Jesus is the ruler even over the most evil and wicked kings in the world. He has all authority, he has the final say. You can read Psalm chapter two, Psalm chapter two. So ultimate reality, again, the revelation of Jesus Christ, it is it is giving us a picture of ultimate reality. It is a window into what's really happening. And ultimate reality is this when we look at the titles of Christ. It is this number one, you have a faithful witness. Number two, death is not the end of your story. And number three, the king that you serve is on the throne, and he is in control and sovereign over all things. That is ultimate reality. And you know what's amazing? Most people don't think this way. Most people do not see this because the veil has not been torn, they haven't had a revelation of Jesus. They think, well, whatever happens to me, these people got away with it. There's gonna be no justice. No, there is justice because we have a faithful witness. Most people live in fear of death. I only have this small life and I gotta do something, or I die. I don't know. I guess maybe I'll become like a grazing cow, or maybe I'll become a beetle, or what maybe nothing happens. And it's like, what? That's your hope. No, no, the hope that we have is death isn't the end of the story. Christ is the firstborn from the dead, which means there are many to follow. Isn't that amazing? Like that's ultimate reality. No fear of death, doesn't matter. It's the beginning of a new chapter, and Jesus is on the throne. Like that, that that is what's real. That's why I don't get I don't get all worried and freaked out during election season. People are like, oh no, if he wins, if they win, if she wins, who cares? Jesus knew what was gonna happen. He's on the throne. He he he he he he he's not caught by surprise like we are, Christians are surprised, like, oh my gosh, Biden's in office, Trump's in office. Wow, why is that shocking? God's on the throne, who cares? Move on with your life, please. And here's the thing ready? Are you ready? If that reality does not give you peace, that Jesus is your faithful witness, death is not the end of your story, and Jesus is on the throne. If that does not give you peace, nothing else on earth will. That is ultimate reality. Until you catch a vision of that, you will just keep spiraling and going through the motions and doing your thing. That is the vision of what Jesus wants to give you today. And that, when you hold on to that, will give you peace and will give you a joy that nothing and no one can rob from you. Amen. Now I was gonna go all the way through verse 8, but in first service I couldn't because I was running late. But I did give them this final piece, which I'll give to you today, too, so that you guys can both end in the first section. There's just, man, the revelation is so good. So I gotta slow down a little bit. And people tell me that every week, by the way. Thank you for the feedback. I'm trying, I'm trying. They say, listen to you, it's like drinking out of a fire hydrant. I know I'm trying to tighten it up a little bit. Maybe that's prophetic because we just got a new fire hydrant out front. See, I'm rabbit trailing. Okay. Here's what I'm closing with. Ready? The three, the three titles of Christ, he's the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. And now I'll close with this: three statements about his work. Three statements about his work if you're a note taker. Look what he says in the second half of verse five. Number one, to him who loves us, number two, and has freed us from our sins by his blood. Number three, and made us a kingdom. Priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So we saw the three qualifiers for being blessed. Blessed the one who reads aloud the words of the book, blessed the one who hears, blessed is the one who keeps them. We see the three titles of Christ, that he's the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead. Um, and uh, what's the third one? The ruler of the kings of the earth. Thank you. And now, again, three statements about his work. And I'll just close with this. Number one, notice verse 5b to him who loves us. Number one is this God loves us. This is this is revelation, a window of what is ultimate reality. What is ultimate reality? God loves us. And that word loves us, by the way, is a present participle. It is the only mention, this right here is the only mention in all the New Testament of God presently loving us. Only mention of God presently loving us in the entire New Testament. That is amazing. And this for the church being persecuted in the first century, this would have given so much encouragement to those suffering believers. Hey, I know you're suffering, but I presently love you. Not did love you, but I don't anymore because you're kind of fallen short. Not will love you if you get your act together. No, he ultimate reality right now is he presently loves you. He he loves us presently. If you don't see that, you haven't seen Jesus. If you don't believe that, it's because you haven't believed in Jesus. But that is what's ultimate reality because of what he did on the cross, he loves us presently. That is amazing. Secondly, it says he has freed us, verse five. He's freed us from our sins by his blood. Now, the reality is this many people's freedom throughout history has come at the cost of much spilled blood. Much of the freedoms that we experience in this country are because of the spilled blood of those who have given their lives. And not just our country, uh countries throughout history. It is often blood that has protected or preserved people's freedoms. However, only the blood of Christ could purchase our spiritual freedom, which is true freedom, by the way. You think freedom is living in America, you don't know what freedom is until you've applied the blood. He has purchased our spiritual freedom, that we are no longer enslaved and in control and in bondage by the sins and by our past and by our mistakes, which is why the word says, as far as the east is from the west, so far as he removed our transgressions from us. Ultimate reality is this God has purchased you and God has freed you, and he gave the blood of his own son so that you might walk in spiritual freedom. That is ultimate reality. And then third and finally is this. Notice the end of verse 5, he says, or verse 6, and he made us a kingdom, priests to God his Father, to him be glory, dominion, forever and ever. Amen. The third piece of ultimate reality of what Christ did is this He made us a kingdom of priests. This is so important, especially in our cultural context right now. There is a trend where some evangelicals are going more Catholic or are going more orthodox, and in those traditions, they believe in the priesthood of the priest. The only the priest is the priest, and only the priest can bless the community. You can't take communion on your own and you can't lead communion because you're not a priest. Only Zav's the priest. That's what they would say. No, no, but the reality is this we are all priests. The priesthood of the believer. He has made us a kingdom and priests. So this is a reminder: salvation isn't just what we've been saved from. Salvation is also what we've been saved to. We have been saved to something. Yes, we've been saved from something, sin and death, but we've been also saved to something. We are a kingdom of priests. I'm not the only minister in this house. You all are. We're all priests. That's what it says in 1 Peter 2.9. I might take you up on that water in a second. No, I'm closing. You are a chosen race, 1 Peter 2 9, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. The church is a royal priesthood because of what Christ has done. That is ultimate reality. You don't need to confess to a priest, you are a priest. That's why we can confess our sins to one another, the book of James says. Sorry, I'm going on a tangent because I know there's this trend, but that's the reality. We are priests who are ministering in the kingdom of God. I'll close with this: the greatest quote from the greatest theologian ever, Dr. Rick Boya from Pacific Bible College. Here's what this passage sums up. Are you ready? The glory of the gift of Christ is that he loves us continually, forgave us permanently, promoted us cosmically. That's he loves us, freed us from our sins with his blood, and made us a kingdom of priests. He loves us continually, he forgave us permanently, and he promoted us cosmically. Now, here's the only question that I have to close with. Is this the reality of how you see yourself? This is ultimate reality. This is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Actively today, he loves you presently. Do you believe you're loved? Do you know you're loved? If not, look to the cross where he proved it. Do you know you're forgiven? Are you or are you living and walking in shame and condemnation and the enemy has a stronghold on your life? No, ultimate reality is this: you are forgiven permanently. You are not defined by your sin anymore. You are not defined by your past. You are not defined by your mistakes. He has forgiven you. That is ultimate reality. You're a new creation in Christ Jesus, and you are royalty. A royal priesthood, members of the household and the family of God. If you do not see yourself this way, it's because you have not had an apocalypse, a revelation of Jesus Christ. Because once you look Jesus in the face, this is what you see. I am loved, I am forgiven, and I am royalty because of his finished work. So my prayer for you today is that today he will give you a fresh revelation of that reality. You'll know how loved you are. You will not be condemned and weighed down by the burden and the weight of your sin. You'll know you're forgiven, and we will walk out of here, knowing we are a royal priesthood called and commissioned to continue to spread the gospel and the good news and the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Let's pray. Jesus, thank you that although we're a little bit over time, you work on a different timeline. Although I said we're gonna be out of here soon, it's a little few minutes later, but we're good to go because it's still soon, Lord. And so I just pray for each person here right now, God. Thank you for the revelation of Jesus Christ. Thank you for giving us a fresh window and a fresh unveiling, a picture today, God, of what is real. A real picture of what it is to be blessed. Not more wealth, not more power, not more status, but a deep inner peace, a deep inner joy, in spite of whatever hardship and pain and suffering we may be going through, because we're in relationship with the triune God, the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit. Thank you, Holy Trinity, for inviting us into our loving relationship with you. Thank you for sharing your love with us. Thank you for demonstrating on the cross Christ how much you love us. And God, I pray above all else that this is what we would see today. This we would know. We would know how loved we are. We would know and trust we're forgiven. We would know the calling on our lives to be priests and a royal priesthood, to continue to share your good news and your kingdom and invite other people to come and be a part of the the the royal kingdom that you are continuing to grow and expand throughout history. God, thank you that you're a faithful witness. Thank you for whatever has happened in our life. You see it and you know it, and one day there will be justice. Thank you that death is not the end of our story. Thank you that you are on the throne and you're in control of all things. You're the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. So as we go out today, as we live this week, God, as we go to work and go to our families and go to our roommates and whatever we do, God, we know beyond the shadow of a doubt you're on the throne and you love us, and that that would change the way that we live our lives every single day. So we pray this all in Jesus' name. Everyone said, Amen.