WEBVTT 00:00:00.400 --> 00:00:05.200 Hi, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsong Churches Podcast. 00:00:05.440 --> 00:00:16.160 We're a biblically faithful, gospel-centered Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors. 00:00:16.320 --> 00:00:20.239 You can learn more about us at Newsongportperry.ca. 00:00:20.879 --> 00:00:24.239 May God bless you today through his life-giving word. 00:00:26.079 --> 00:00:30.320 A reading from the book of Revelation, chapter 1. 00:00:32.560 --> 00:00:41.119 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. 00:00:42.079 --> 00:00:54.960 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. 00:00:55.520 --> 00:01:07.680 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 00:01:09.120 --> 00:01:12.000 John to the seven churches that are in Asia. 00:01:13.200 --> 00:01:47.680 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 kings on earth, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:48.879 Amen. 00:01:50.560 --> 00:02:02.239 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:03.920 Even so. 00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:05.519 Amen. 00:02:15.039 --> 00:02:16.240 The Almighty. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:19.039 The word of the Lord. 00:02:23.520 --> 00:02:24.000 Amen. 00:02:24.159 --> 00:02:33.520 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it. 00:02:33.840 --> 00:02:35.680 For the time is near. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:37.120 Let's pray. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:44.479 Gracious Lord Jesus, we believe that you are good. 00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:49.199 We believe that you are king, and we believe that you will come again in glory. 00:02:49.520 --> 00:03:00.400 We believe, Lord, that you have given us your word and your Holy Spirit for our good to knit us together into your body and to call us to anticipate and labor towards the coming of your kingdom. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:06.800 So we pray, Lord, as we open up the words of this book in Revelation, we pray, Father, that you would speak to us. 00:03:07.039 --> 00:03:09.840 Speak to us by your word, speak to us by your Holy Spirit. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:22.960 Illumine this word to our hearts, that we would understand it rightly, that we would have a greater sense of Christ's glory, a greater reassurance by way of his gospel. 00:03:23.439 --> 00:03:25.599 And all of this we pray in Jesus' name. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:26.560 Amen. 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:28.319 Please be seated. 00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:36.080 Well, we're heading into the summer months, which is very exciting. 00:03:36.319 --> 00:03:45.680 Of course, summer is usually a time for rest and rhythm, and programs at churches tend to scale back and uh go into rest mode, which is an important thing. 00:03:45.840 --> 00:03:54.319 And that's why we thought we would do a book club on Athanasius and why we would study Revelation together on Sunday mornings. 00:03:55.120 --> 00:04:06.479 Yeah, I probably should do the math these sometimes, but the Revelation, of course, is uh, if you know it, you probably know it has a reputation of being a particularly challenging book. 00:04:06.719 --> 00:04:14.560 It's got uh a sometimes a wild, sometimes a um an undeserved reputation. 00:04:14.800 --> 00:04:20.079 But nevertheless, it's a formidable book, and it intimidates many from reading it. 00:04:20.399 --> 00:04:23.759 Truth is, I think Revelation may be a challenging book. 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:30.000 It requires certainly some humility on behalf of us, those who read it, those who do our best to interpret it. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:37.600 We have the advantage, of course, of reading it with the whole church and letting the church speak into how we understand this book rightly. 00:04:38.160 --> 00:04:40.720 But it's too important to ignore, I think. 00:04:40.959 --> 00:04:47.920 I think we should not be intimidated by revelation such that we leave it on the shelf and we never touch it. 00:04:48.560 --> 00:04:56.639 We shouldn't do that because of what John himself writes, well, what he receives from the Lord Jesus in verse 3. 00:04:56.879 --> 00:04:59.839 We see a wonderful blessing pronounced, don't we? 00:05:00.079 --> 00:05:03.680 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:09.920 Adrian, you are blessed for having read Revelation in our midst today, and we are blessed in its hearing, aren't we? 00:05:10.240 --> 00:05:11.680 Blessed are those who keep it. 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:14.560 This book is a blessing. 00:05:14.800 --> 00:05:28.480 It's a blessing to the church in the day that it was written, in the hard times that the church was experiencing towards the end of the first century, but it's a blessing to our church here in Port Perry in the 21st century as well. 00:05:28.639 --> 00:05:32.480 This book is a blessing, and it is a blessing that is too important to ignore. 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:41.120 I think it's a blessing because Revelation represents what Jesus wants to say to his church. 00:05:41.279 --> 00:05:42.959 I mean, that's true of all of Scripture. 00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:45.680 We know all of Scripture is God breathed. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:48.480 All of Scripture is God's word to us. 00:05:48.720 --> 00:06:00.959 But only the book of Revelation opens up by telling us exactly what it is and how it is we should receive it as a blessing, as God's own word to us through Christ. 00:06:02.480 --> 00:06:04.160 Boy, that sounds important. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.839 God wants us to receive a blessing in reading Revelation. 00:06:10.079 --> 00:06:14.959 Sometimes it seems like popular readings of Revelation or TikTok videos that get made about Revelation. 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:16.800 Don't make it sound like a blessing. 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:18.800 But I think this is how we need to read it. 00:06:18.959 --> 00:06:20.639 How is it that God wants us to be blessed? 00:06:20.800 --> 00:06:23.519 He wants us to be blessed in the hearing of his word. 00:06:23.839 --> 00:06:27.040 We also see words like testimony or prophecy being applied. 00:06:27.199 --> 00:06:28.160 That's true as well. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:34.000 God wants us to be blessed with his word as we encounter his word in revelation. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:45.040 And here in the introduction to Revelation, as John is setting up the rest of what's to follow, we see at least three things John introduces us to, three ways in which we are blessed. 00:06:45.279 --> 00:06:56.160 We are blessed in knowing Jesus' revelation, we are blessed in knowing Jesus' redemption, and we are blessed in knowing Jesus' return. 00:06:56.319 --> 00:07:02.720 This is God's word to us: Jesus' revelation, Jesus' redemption, and Jesus' return. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:11.759 I want us to look at the introduction to this very important book together today in our time, and then we will set up what's to follow. 00:07:12.160 --> 00:07:17.040 It'll be a blessing to us, friends, as Christians and as a church family. 00:07:17.279 --> 00:07:17.600 Okay. 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:24.639 Open up your Bibles, if you will, to page 965 or open up your order of service to our revelation reading this morning. 00:07:25.360 --> 00:07:30.720 We're going to see that God wants us to be blessed by Jesus' revelation, his redemption, and his return. 00:07:30.959 --> 00:07:34.160 Let's look at Jesus' revelation, verses 1 to 3. 00:07:35.040 --> 00:07:44.800 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:56.240 He that is God 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. 00:07:56.480 --> 00:07:57.439 Here it is. 00:07:57.759 --> 00:08:06.800 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:10.800 Okay, so what do we have in our hands here when we look at Revelation? 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:22.399 John, the human author, wants us to know we have a revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to, which God gave him to show his servants, and that includes us. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:26.079 That's the church of the first century to whom this letter is addressed. 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:31.040 It's also the church for all time, and that includes us here in Port Perry as well. 00:08:31.199 --> 00:08:34.960 Imagine receiving a letter written by Jesus addressed to the church. 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.200 That's what we have here in Revelation. 00:08:37.440 --> 00:08:41.120 The Greek word for revelation is uh a fun word. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:42.960 It's the word apocalypse. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:45.600 We've probably heard that word before, right? 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:50.559 Older translations of the Bible often call this book the apocalypse of St. 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.360 John, rather than say the revelation of Jesus Christ to John or what have you. 00:08:56.320 --> 00:09:01.759 Now ask someone what we mean by apocalypse, and you'll probably hear something like this. 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:04.240 It means the end of the world, right? 00:09:04.879 --> 00:09:23.360 Which is not entirely unrelated to what revelation is about, but ask them what's envisioned by the apocalypse, the end of the world, and you'll get some startling answers about what apocalypse might mean, say a nuclear bomb, or say zombies, or something like that, right? 00:09:23.440 --> 00:09:25.919 These sorts of apocalyptic scenarios. 00:09:26.240 --> 00:09:35.840 But this word apocalypse, though it may be suggestive of the end of the world, literally means this: an unveiling or a disclosure. 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:42.960 It's less like burning the house down and more like lifting up the curtains to see what's really going on on stage. 00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.399 Something like that. 00:09:45.519 --> 00:09:52.320 It's time for Jesus to pull up the stage curtain and for us to see what is really going on. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:57.840 Both in the present time when John is writing, but for all time as well. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:04.240 So this might suggest something about the genre of the book that we're about to read in Revelation. 00:10:04.480 --> 00:10:08.080 The genre here is no accident or mistake. 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:18.080 God actually wants to disclose something to us, not just confuse us, but it is God's prerogative to choose how he communicates with us. 00:10:18.399 --> 00:10:26.000 And God, in his wisdom, has chosen to communicate his truth to us in a densely symbolic way. 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:39.600 It's a way that should set our imaginations on fire and make biblical truth so vivid to us that it affects us in such a way that it inspires hope. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:41.679 It inspires a sense of longing. 00:10:41.919 --> 00:10:47.840 I heard an anecdote about a young boy hearing his pastor preach about Revelation, and he goes, I loved your sermon. 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:50.320 I wasn't bored a single time, you know? 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.679 And that's high praise for a preacher, I think. 00:10:53.919 --> 00:10:57.440 But the idea is the imagery here so vivid, that's purposeful. 00:10:57.519 --> 00:10:59.679 It's supposed to ignite our imagination. 00:10:59.759 --> 00:11:09.759 We're supposed to long to see the conflicts that we see portrayed here resolved, and we're meant to long for that happy ending that Revelation promises us here. 00:11:10.000 --> 00:11:12.799 Nothing we read in Revelation is a mistake. 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:17.679 It's meant to point us to the great truth that God wants us to have in Christ. 00:11:17.919 --> 00:11:19.840 It is a revelation. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:21.840 A revelation of what, we might ask? 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:23.679 Well, John has the answer for us. 00:11:23.759 --> 00:11:26.799 It's the things that must soon take place. 00:11:27.120 --> 00:11:35.200 Things like persecutions, but also promises made and fulfilled, especially Christ's return and Christ's kingdom. 00:11:35.440 --> 00:11:37.279 When are these things going to take place? 00:11:37.440 --> 00:11:39.039 John gives us a time frame. 00:11:39.360 --> 00:11:40.000 Soon. 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.320 Soon is the key word here. 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:45.679 Along with the phrase the time is near, which we read in verse 3. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.799 It's an urgency to the cataclysmic events that are being described here. 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:59.120 And for those of us who want to know how to interpret Revelation well, this might be an important clue for us to consider. 00:11:59.440 --> 00:12:03.279 There are at least four major ways to sort of interpret revelation. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:14.559 There are those who would say revelation portrays a sort of, I shouldn't say eternal, I should say an ongoing spiritual battle between forces of good and evil. 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:21.840 It's not historically grounded, it's meant to be more of a kind of cosmic scale taking place beside history. 00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:25.759 And then there are those who would interpret it more as a kind of future tense. 00:12:25.919 --> 00:12:32.000 What we read here is still yet to take place, and perhaps that's still true for us who are reading the 21st century. 00:12:32.159 --> 00:12:45.039 There are those who would also say, number three, that revelation should be mapped onto the course of church history, and you can identify certain periods of church history with certain texts in Revelation. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:13:05.039 And then there are those who would say perhaps revelation is best interpreted when it refers principally to John's first century context and then points us forward in some important ways to how the conflicts being experienced at present will be resolved at Christ's return. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:15.360 Just for those who are interested, theologians call those the idealist, futurist, historicist, and partial preterist interpretations. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:25.279 Partial because, yes, most of what's being described here has a first century referent, but important to note that Christ's return is still yet to happen, right? 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:28.480 There is still future tense to be found here in Revelation. 00:13:28.720 --> 00:13:38.559 For what it's worth, I find the fourth option most helpful, but I think all four have their tensions to them, and we should listen to those in dialogue with one another. 00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:42.399 All have advantages, disadvantages, tensions, but here's what we shouldn't hear. 00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:45.519 We shouldn't hear, so there's four ways to interpret Revelation. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:46.720 What can we know? 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:49.679 There's nothing we can really know about Revelation, is there? 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:51.519 That shouldn't be our conclusion. 00:13:51.759 --> 00:14:01.039 Though we may debate certain texts, though we may debate certain passages or how they reflect on this and that, the essential message of Revelation is so clear. 00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:10.799 And we need to hear what those interpretations, when those interpretations agree with one another, we need to stand on rock solid ground, right? 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.120 We need to say together, this is what it means. 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:14.799 And what does revelation mean? 00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:18.960 It put simply, it means this: Jesus wins. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.799 Jesus wins. 00:14:22.720 --> 00:14:36.080 So as an interpretive principle, perhaps it's best to keep in mind that John is addressing first century persecution or first century letter to first century Christians facing real first century persecution and calling them to persevere. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:46.480 Insofar as we Christians participate in the spiritual struggle that has been going on since John's time, yes, we too can be called to persevere. 00:14:46.639 --> 00:14:50.399 Yes, we too can anticipate the fulfillment of Christ's promises. 00:14:50.799 --> 00:14:55.279 Revelation conveys God's eternal truth to us as well. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:10.799 But I'll humbly suggest that we risk misinterpreting the book if we fail to keep the first century context in mind as our principal point of reference, even while we anticipate God's promises to be fulfilled completely in the future. 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:13.200 Okay, that's a lot to say this. 00:15:13.679 --> 00:15:16.480 This is a revelation of what's about to happen, right? 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:18.320 What's imminent in John's time. 00:15:18.559 --> 00:15:20.320 How does God convey it? 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:24.399 Through John, his servant, through this human author. 00:15:24.559 --> 00:15:28.879 He, Jesus Christ, made this revelation known by sending an angel to his servant John. 00:15:29.039 --> 00:15:36.159 Verse 2, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all he saw. 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:42.559 So, we know that Jesus is the divine author of Revelation, and we meet now the human author, John. 00:15:42.720 --> 00:15:47.840 This could well have been the same John who wrote the gospel or the letters of John in the New Testament. 00:15:48.080 --> 00:15:54.960 Could also be someone who shares this common name, John, but certainly shares the same faith as the evangelist. 00:15:55.679 --> 00:15:56.639 What do we know? 00:15:56.960 --> 00:16:00.480 Pardon me, what we know, one more time. 00:16:00.879 --> 00:16:11.759 What we do know from verse 9, which we'll get into next Sunday, is that John is in exile on the island of Patmos, which is about 10 miles off the coast of modern-day Turkey, right? 00:16:12.000 --> 00:16:22.159 Patmos is where unwanted criminals were sent, which included many Christians who refused to capitulate to the Roman government and confess that Caesar is Lord, right? 00:16:22.320 --> 00:16:25.679 The confession for Christians is that Christ is Lord. 00:16:25.919 --> 00:16:35.840 So John could well have been one of those Christians who knew very well the hardship that comes with persevering as a Christian who's living in hostile times. 00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:41.759 If you feel like you're a Christian sometimes, living in hostile times, then revelation is a message for you. 00:16:42.000 --> 00:16:51.360 This is a message of hope for John's fellow Christians who know what it is to struggle, sometimes even despair, over hostile times. 00:16:51.600 --> 00:16:54.080 So, what is it that God wants us to be blessed with? 00:16:54.240 --> 00:17:06.640 He wants us to be blessed with a revelation of Jesus, a disclosure, an unveiling of who Jesus is for Christians who experience hostile times. 00:17:06.960 --> 00:17:09.200 And that means we need to pay attention. 00:17:09.359 --> 00:17:12.319 We need to pay close attention to what's being said to us here. 00:17:12.559 --> 00:17:16.400 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. 00:17:16.640 --> 00:17:21.359 Blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 00:17:21.519 --> 00:17:24.000 That word keep, I think, is so important, isn't it? 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:29.359 Have you ever had someone say to you, you know, you're hearing me, but you're not listening, right? 00:17:29.599 --> 00:17:31.359 We know what that distinction means. 00:17:31.519 --> 00:17:35.279 We can say plenty of things, but our actions don't necessarily follow. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.559 What we're going to read calls us to action. 00:17:38.720 --> 00:17:40.960 Principally, it calls us to persevere. 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:48.160 Don't give up until promises are fulfilled and we find ourselves in God's everlasting kingdom. 00:17:48.400 --> 00:17:51.839 Listen, pay attention, and keep these words. 00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:54.079 Keep might also have another sense. 00:17:54.240 --> 00:18:00.559 It might also suggest that we don't just follow through with our actions, but we treasure these words in our hearts. 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:05.599 A little like Mary treasures the words spoken about Christ at his incarnation, right? 00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:14.160 We can treasure these things in our hearts, and they can be to us a great source of confidence and assurance whenever life is the hardest. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:22.000 Whenever we feel hopeless, whenever we feel despairing about the world we live in, revelation can remind us who really is large and in charge. 00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:23.599 You know what I mean? 00:18:23.920 --> 00:18:25.680 We can keep these words. 00:18:25.839 --> 00:18:27.119 We pay attention. 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:29.200 God wants us to be blessed. 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:31.839 He wants us to be blessed by Jesus' revelation. 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:35.680 He wants us to be blessed in knowing Jesus' redemption. 00:18:35.839 --> 00:18:37.440 Okay, that was a lot to begin with. 00:18:37.599 --> 00:18:39.680 Let's uh make some tracks here. 00:18:40.400 --> 00:18:47.359 God wants us to be blessed in knowing Jesus' redemption, and there's sort of two sides to this coin of redemption. 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:53.039 There's what God has done toward us, and there is what we are called to do towards God. 00:18:53.200 --> 00:18:54.799 First, from God to us. 00:18:54.960 --> 00:18:56.480 What's Jesus' redemption about? 00:18:56.640 --> 00:18:59.920 It's reassurance of our salvation. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:01.279 Verse 4. 00:19:01.680 --> 00:19:22.000 John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is, 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 kings on earth. 00:19:22.319 --> 00:19:30.160 So John, our human author, John in exile, writes to seven churches that are in Asia, what would be modern-day Turkey. 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:32.559 And this is what we're going to be looking at, by the way. 00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:37.119 We're going to be looking at this is, we need to understand what this is. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:49.039 This is one cyclical letter that churches would be passing around all together, but there are within this one letter seven individual letters addressed to these seven individual churches. 00:19:49.279 --> 00:19:53.440 I think if we're going to ask the question, what does Jesus have to say to his church? 00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:55.119 This is a fine way to answer. 00:19:55.359 --> 00:20:00.000 Because these are letters given from Jesus through John to his church. 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:00.640 Okay. 00:20:01.920 --> 00:20:03.680 Now, why seven churches? 00:20:03.839 --> 00:20:06.720 There's more than seven churches in the first century. 00:20:06.880 --> 00:20:08.319 Why these seven? 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:15.279 So here's another important interpretive thing to keep in mind as we go through Revelation. 00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:21.200 Often, numbers in Revelation are more symbolic than quantitative. 00:20:21.440 --> 00:20:24.960 So seven suggests a sense of completion or fullness, right? 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.599 Seven days in a week makes for one complete week. 00:20:27.839 --> 00:20:40.640 Seven spirits, which we see in the next verse, suggests less that there are seven individual Holy Spirits, and more like there is a completeness or fullness to God, the one Holy Spirit, right? 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:46.240 So when we read numbers like this, we shouldn't necessarily jump to quantity. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:49.680 We should think symbol before we think quantity. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:21:02.880 So these seven churches probably suggest that this is what Jesus has to say, not just to seven individual congregations, but to the whole church, to the whole church through all time, and that would include us, new song. 00:21:03.279 --> 00:21:06.000 What does John want to convey as he writes? 00:21:06.160 --> 00:21:10.960 Well, he tells us, verse 4, Grace to you and peace. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:12.880 What does John want us to hear? 00:21:13.039 --> 00:21:16.799 He wants us to hear a word of grace and peace. 00:21:17.279 --> 00:21:26.960 God's favor, God's kindness, God's gentleness in Christ, and peace, his reassurance, his confidence, this rock solidness, right? 00:21:27.119 --> 00:21:32.480 Peace which passes understanding, coming from God Himself, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:35.039 And it is very Trinitarian here, isn't it? 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:42.960 From him who was and who, pardon me, who is and who was and who is to come, the eternal God, the source of all being, right? 00:21:43.200 --> 00:21:54.880 And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, which again I would humbly suggest is the fullness of God the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, Father, Holy Spirit, Son. 00:21:55.119 --> 00:21:59.279 And then three very important qualifiers of who Jesus Christ is, right? 00:22:00.319 --> 00:22:02.160 Christ, the faithful witness. 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:06.240 Maybe that reminds us of John chapter 1, verse 14, the Gospel of John. 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.200 The word became flesh and dwelt among us. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:12.480 Jesus didn't become flesh just to tell us about God. 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.559 He came to bear witness to the life of God as a human being. 00:22:16.880 --> 00:22:22.880 God became human to bear witness to humans of the life and heart of God Himself. 00:22:23.119 --> 00:22:29.279 He is the faithful witness because he is the witness to the life of God as God Himself. 00:22:29.519 --> 00:22:32.960 So perhaps John is signaling Christ's incarnation here. 00:22:33.279 --> 00:22:36.319 Second, Jesus is the firstborn of the dead. 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:40.000 This is the same phrase that we find in Colossians chapter 1. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:43.119 And it should remind us of Christ's resurrection. 00:22:43.279 --> 00:22:51.920 After Jesus is crucified, three days later, he rose again on that first Easter Sunday, triumphing over sin and death. 00:22:52.960 --> 00:23:04.960 Jesus' incarnation, Jesus' resurrection, and then John, I think, signals Jesus' ascension as well, because Jesus Christ, he says, is the ruler of kings on earth. 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:13.759 We know from Ephesians chapter 1 that Jesus is seated far above all rule and authority and power and dominion. 00:23:14.000 --> 00:23:19.279 Jesus, it's not that Jesus will be king someday, it's that he is king. 00:23:19.519 --> 00:23:23.279 And we the church are making his kingship known. 00:23:23.680 --> 00:23:36.240 Faithful witness, firstborn, ruler of kings on earth, incarnation, resurrection, ascension, John is signaling the fullness, the full narrative of our salvation in and through Christ here. 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:40.000 No wonder he's talking about grace and peace. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.240 What greater grace could there be to us? 00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:49.440 What greater peace can we find than in the gospel itself, than in who Jesus is and what he has accomplished? 00:23:49.759 --> 00:23:53.039 Grace and peace to you and to me. 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:55.279 That is a great reassurance, isn't it? 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.279 That's John's purpose in writing. 00:23:57.519 --> 00:23:59.119 And then it evokes a response. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:00.720 This is the other side of the coin. 00:24:00.880 --> 00:24:04.000 There is a response that we are called to make to our redemption. 00:24:04.240 --> 00:24:06.400 This is the second half of verse 5. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:18.240 To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.119 Amen. 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:22.079 So what does God's work of redemption mean? 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.519 Well, God in Christ, number one, loves us. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:37.599 Ephesians chapter 2, though you were once dead in your sins and transgressions, God being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, made us alive together in Christ. 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:48.720 If we know God's work in Christ, we know how greatly we are loved by God the Father, in the Son, by the Holy Spirit. 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:55.680 And we know what it is to be free, free from our sins, freedom from sin by way of his blood. 00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:59.759 Perhaps that suggests to us what we read in the Exodus story. 00:24:59.920 --> 00:25:00.640 Do you remember? 00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:02.880 Do you remember the Passover? 00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:12.880 A lamb was sacrificed as a symbol of sin and putting away sin in this household, and then the blood of the lamb would be put over the doorposts of that home. 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:17.599 It was a signal that a substitution had been made for this home. 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:26.400 And so for us, Jesus is our great substitute who frees us from oppression, from sin and from death. 00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:31.759 He is our sacrificial lamb, and he has made us a kingdom, priests to God the Father. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:40.799 He has given us a citizenship in heaven, and he has given us a vocation to minister his holy gospel to the world which so greatly needs it. 00:25:40.960 --> 00:25:45.680 This is a fulfillment of the vocation of God's people that we read about in Exodus 19. 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.559 Whoops, when we're called a kingdom of priests. 00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:52.640 So how do we respond to all of this? 00:25:52.799 --> 00:25:54.960 This is what God's work has done for us. 00:25:55.119 --> 00:25:57.920 He has loved us and freed us and made a kingdom and priests. 00:25:58.079 --> 00:25:58.960 How do we respond? 00:25:59.119 --> 00:26:04.400 Well, we respond like John responds to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:05.359 Amen. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:12.000 It's this worshipful response that we read about in greater detail in chapters four and five. 00:26:12.559 --> 00:26:28.400 We see of John sees a vision of the heavenly throne room where all of creation is called into worshiping God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit with great choruses of worthy, worthy, worthy, holy, holy, holy. 00:26:29.440 --> 00:26:35.119 One of the things I get asked about heaven, especially when I was doing youth ministry, was uh is heaven going to be boring? 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:37.200 You know, have you ever wondered that? 00:26:37.279 --> 00:26:45.839 That's a good thing to wonder, I think, because, you know, even the best things in life, if that's all we ever do all the time, we sort of think, I'll get tired of that, won't I? 00:26:46.640 --> 00:26:58.240 So junior high students, you know, that I used to pastor would say things like, you know, I hope there's hockey in heaven, but if there's only hockey in heaven, that would be pretty boring, you know, which is an honest thing, I think, for a seventh grader to say. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.839 Will heaven be as boring as a never-ending worship service? 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:03.039 Consider this. 00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:14.240 Perhaps in heaven we will understand God's love, God, the freedom that God's love has wrought for us, his kingdom, God's holiness. 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:29.519 Perhaps we will understand these truths of the gospel ever more fully and fully, and therefore we will give ourselves over more and more to worship this God who is inexhaustibly good and inexhaustibly good to us. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:41.599 Worship is our greatest purpose because worship beholds how good and great this God is and cannot help but erupt into song, erupt into worship. 00:27:42.160 --> 00:27:44.079 This is going to be all eternity. 00:27:44.319 --> 00:27:51.599 Seeing God's goodness on a greater and greater scale and being called to delight ourselves in it ever more and more. 00:27:51.759 --> 00:27:57.119 Friends, I think that is a far from boring thing to know how greatly we are loved by God. 00:27:57.279 --> 00:28:08.480 Imagine being in heaven for 10,000 years and saying, I understand God's love towards me even better now than I did when I first started, and I will understand it even more in 10,000 more years. 00:28:08.640 --> 00:28:13.200 I mean, it's mind-boggling to think, but I think that that's the vision here. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:21.279 See, Jesus' redemption is our great reassurance, and it calls us to respond in worship. 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.000 And friends, I think this suggests to us what reading Revelation rightly looks like. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:32.160 Reading Revelation rightly should increase our reassurance of the gospel. 00:28:32.319 --> 00:28:36.960 That sense of grace and peace that God wants to give us through what's written here. 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:44.960 And friends, I have to think often, at least what I see on YouTube videos, is not a greater increase of grace and peace from Revelation. 00:28:45.119 --> 00:28:48.319 I see a greater increase of anxiety and paranoia. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.759 Do you find that? 00:28:50.079 --> 00:28:58.559 You know, a greater sense of, I need to scour it for the right kind of clues, the right kind of codes that's going to unlock the frame of history. 00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:02.000 Well, friends, what's written to us is meant to be a great reassurance. 00:29:02.079 --> 00:29:09.920 It's not meant to be a code we unlock, it's meant to point us to the cross, where God has done for us what we could not do for ourselves. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.519 And that inspires our response to worship God. 00:29:13.680 --> 00:29:29.359 Friends, as we worship today, we are participating in the life of heaven and training ourselves to enjoy the life of heaven, where we will delight ourselves in God's word and where we will come to God's table and feast with Christ in person. 00:29:31.200 --> 00:29:33.359 Revelation is a blessing to us. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:40.319 It is a blessing in knowing Jesus' revelation, it is a blessing in knowing Jesus' redemption, and this is where we're going to land. 00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:43.119 It is a blessing to know Jesus' return. 00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:44.400 Verse 7. 00:29:44.640 --> 00:29:54.640 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. 00:29:55.039 --> 00:29:56.960 Even so, Amen. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:04.000 I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 00:30:04.240 --> 00:30:09.440 Friends, you've heard me say before, Christianity, our Christian faith, is a forward-looking faith. 00:30:09.599 --> 00:30:19.039 We take great reassurance from the promises we find in God's Word, but they point us forward to the realization, to the fulfillment of those promises on the last great day. 00:30:19.279 --> 00:30:20.720 What are we looking forward to? 00:30:20.880 --> 00:30:30.880 Chiefly, Revelation tells us we are looking forward to Christ's return, his coming again, which is repeated three times in chapters, chapter 22. 00:30:31.839 --> 00:30:32.640 He is coming. 00:30:32.799 --> 00:30:34.319 He is coming with the clouds. 00:30:34.559 --> 00:30:40.480 Maybe this reminds us of Jesus' ascension and the promise that he will return to us in the way that he has ascended. 00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:51.839 Maybe this idea of clouds is meant to suggest to us the kind of glory with which Jesus returns, because remember, the glory of God filled the Old Testament temple with a great cloud of glory. 00:30:52.079 --> 00:30:57.839 Whatever way it's going to be, Jesus is going to return in a glorious and undeniable way. 00:30:58.319 --> 00:31:00.960 Every eye will see him, we're told. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:05.920 We will know he is Lord over all creation, undeniably. 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:11.359 Every eye will see him, John says, even those who pierced him. 00:31:11.920 --> 00:31:18.559 And consequently, all tribes of the earth will, they'll wail, or they'll weep, or they'll mourn on account of him. 00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:30.480 See, the greatest joy for those who've received Christ as their Lord will also be the greatest sorrow for those who have rejected Christ as their Lord on that last day. 00:31:31.119 --> 00:31:38.960 We are told that Jesus will come again to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. 00:31:39.200 --> 00:31:42.079 This is what Revelation is pointing us towards. 00:31:42.319 --> 00:31:46.480 So, friends, what can we expect but expect to see Jesus? 00:31:47.039 --> 00:31:51.599 To live our Christian life in such a way that we anticipate that last great day. 00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:59.680 But friends, if we wonder to ourselves, will that be a day for me of joy, or will it be a day of weeping and wailing and mourning? 00:31:59.920 --> 00:32:10.240 Friends, I have a suspicion that the secret fear of many Christians is that we will stand before Christ on that last great day and we will hear him say, Yeah, I don't think so. 00:32:10.960 --> 00:32:12.880 You just don't make the cut. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:23.119 Maybe if you had tried just a little bit harder, done a few more good works, loved your neighbor with a little bit more sincerity, maybe, but I just don't think so. 00:32:23.680 --> 00:32:29.599 So, friends, when we think about Christ's return, often that's a great source of fear and anxiety, isn't it? 00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:33.440 But the reassurance we find in these words is quite the opposite. 00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:38.559 It is not our sincerity or our bootstraps, so to speak, that makes the difference. 00:32:38.720 --> 00:32:45.599 What makes the difference between rejection on that last great day and entering into the joy of our master? 00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:48.319 The difference is the cross. 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:56.640 See, friends, Jesus took our sin, our guilt upon the cross and cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:01.039 He cried out those words of Psalm 22 so that we would not have to. 00:33:01.279 --> 00:33:15.200 So that if our trust is in the risen Lord Jesus, we can rest assured that God will fulfill his promises that we just saw in verse 5, to love us, to free us, to make us a kingdom of priests to God the Father. 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:23.279 As surely as God was faithful to our Lord Jesus, he will be faithful to us, and we can be as sure of these promises as Christ Himself. 00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:33.200 He is the Alpha, He is the Omega, He is the beginning and the end, He is the archetype of all creation, He is the purpose for which all creation exists. 00:33:33.359 --> 00:33:38.720 He is the eternal God, and He will not waver in His promises to us. 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:44.240 So, friends, what we have to look forward to is great indeed. 00:33:44.960 --> 00:33:53.039 Jesus has promised us that we will be in His kingdom with Him if our trust is in Him and He will not forsake us. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:34:08.480 So today, friends, God wants us to be blessed with His Word, His testimony, His prophecy that we find in Revelation, His Word to all Christians, including us, knowing Jesus' revelation, His redemption, and His return. 00:34:08.639 --> 00:34:10.559 This, friends, is a blessed book. 00:34:10.639 --> 00:34:13.840 And I hope we're catching a glimpse for what that means for us. 00:34:14.079 --> 00:34:16.960 Because here at New Song, Summer might bring rhythms of rest. 00:34:17.039 --> 00:34:18.079 I hope they do. 00:34:18.320 --> 00:34:23.760 But growing in Christ and working together as his people never stops. 00:34:24.239 --> 00:34:37.440 And as a growing church, I wonder if we are at a if we are at an important point in our life as a church family together, where we are preparing for the great work that God wants to do in our midst, what he wants to accomplish next. 00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:42.960 And if we want to be about that mission, then we need to ask, what is Jesus saying to us? 00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:45.519 And are we going to be faithful in that? 00:34:45.760 --> 00:35:01.280 What better way can we answer that question than by looking at this book of great blessing towards us, where Jesus wants us, his church, to know the blessed hope of his word, his revelation, his redemption, and his return. 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:05.199 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy. 00:35:05.440 --> 00:35:10.480 Blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 00:35:10.800 --> 00:35:11.360 Amen. 00:35:13.920 --> 00:35:16.480 We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today. 00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:22.159 If you live in the area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m. 00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:26.400 If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you. 00:35:26.559 --> 00:35:31.920 Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us. 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:38.400 Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us. 00:35:38.639 --> 00:35:46.800 If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to Newsongportperry.ca giving to make your contribution. 00:35:47.199 --> 00:35:50.480 Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.