“Jesus in His Glory”
(Rev. 1:4-8)
Dr. Richard S. Koole
Chapel Pointe #2
March 18, 2007 a.m.
I. Introduction
A. Understanding the mysteries of Revelation
1. My third time to preach it
a. Things have changed since 9 years ago
b. The corner pieces of the puzzle have moved into place
c. The nations of the world moving into position
2. Will be using a number of charts
a. Should help us understand it better
3. Will lay the foundation the first few weeks
4. This week and next, Jesus in His present Glory
B. Incorrect images of Jesus while he was on earth
1. The Middle Ages
a. Gaunt
b. All bones
c. Wimpy
d. Hollow-eyed
2. Namby – Pamby preaching
3. WRONG VIEW of Jesus while on earth!
a. Jesus shocked the establishment
b. Soldiers fell at the sound of His voice
c. The Temple merchants ran from the sting of his whip
d. Stared down the leaders of his day with confident power
e. Refused to yield ground even at the threat of death
C. But wait until the world sees Him at His next coming!
1. When we see His coronation
2. When they hear the voice of Jesus Christ thundering from Heaven
3. When they see “The Ancient of Days”
4. Not in a tomb somewhere
D. “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
1. Television special
1. Claim to have discovered the bones of Jesus
2. All kinds of reasons to doubt the assertion
a. James Cameron: Titanic and Terminator
b. No reputable Israeli Archeologist agrees
c. Bones found 27 years ago
3. Most common name during that time
4. “Mary Magdalene”
a. Actually “Mary and Martha”
b. “Martha” added later
*”Mara” a nickname for “Martha”
5. Michael Medved in Monday’s “USA Today” (March 12, 2007, p.9A)
nearly all prominent Israeli archaeologists reject such reasoning. Amos Kloner, who conducted the original excavation, has denounced the project as sloppy, exploitative and Irresponsible. Dr. Zias, who was the curator at Jerusalem’s Rockefeller Museum for 25 years and personally numbered the now controversial bone boxes, has said this of Jacobovici: “He’s pimping off the Bible….Projects like these make a mockery of the archeological profession.”
E. What does Jesus look like right now???
1. We sang, “I see the Lord, seated on his throne…in glory”
2. Revelation will let us see Jesus in his glory
F. Meant to encourage the saints of all ages
1. Revelation written during Domitian’s reign of terror
a. 95 AD
2. Other sufferings
a. The Inquisition
b. The persecuted church of today
c. The suffering of the coming Tribulation
3. The suffering Christians of Burma
a. Special speaker today
4. Hang on brothers – you are a child of the King of kings
II. Review
A. The Purpose – Encouragement (v. 1)
B. The Penman – Apostle John (v. 2)
C. The Promise – Blessing (v. 3)
now
D. The Pre-eminence (v. 4 – 8)
1. ….of Jesus
III. Text
A. Introduction
1. “John” (v.4)
a. The aged apostle
b. Also wrote the Gospel of John, and I,II, III John
c. On the Isle of Patmos
1. Aegean Sea – between modern Greece and Turkey
d. Brother of James, the son of Zebedee & Sal õ me
1. called “The Sons of Thunder”
f. The Inner Circle (Peter – James – John)
g. The one that Jesus loved
h. Known simply as “John”
2. “to the seven churches in the province of Asia:”
a. Asia Minor
1. Modern Turkey
2. A peninsula
b. Seven postal districts
1. A major city in each of them
a. Ephesus
b. Smyrna
c. Pergamum
d. Thýatira
e. Sardis
f. Philadelphia
g. Laodicea
2. Communication went out from each of the seven
3. Seven major churches (listed in v. 11)
b. Formed a ring
c. They were very familiar to John
1. He was their pastor
2. A circuit rider
3. “Grace and Peace to you” (v.4)
a. Standard greeting
b. Grace = Unmerited favor
c. Peace = peace with God through Jesus
4. Greetings from the Trinity
a. God the Father (v.4)
1. “from him who is – who was – who is to come”
2. The Eternal Father
a. Jesus is mentioned separately in v.5
3. Paraphrase for O.T. name “Jehovah”
· The verb “to be”
· Past – present – future
b. God the Spirit (v.4)
1. “And from the seven Spirits before His throne”
2. The Holy Spirit
3. Jews considered the Holy Spirit to have seven characteristics according to (Isa. 11:2)
a. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him
b. The Spirit of wisdom
c. The Spirit of Understanding
d. The Spirit of counsel
e. The Spirit of Might
f. The Spirit of Knowledge
g. The Spirit of the Fear of the Lord
c. God the Son (v.5)
1. “and from Jesus Christ”
2. Meet the star of the passage
3. Now proceeds to describe Jesus
B. The Pre-Eminence of Jesus
#1 Jesus is God (v.4)
a. A member of the trinity
b. God the Father is described as “Who is – who was – who is to come”
1. Now listen to the description of Jesus in v.8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
2. Same exact phrase used to describe God the Father in v. 4
c. His names scream His deity in v.8
1. The Alpha and Omega
2. The Beginning and the End
a. first and last letters of the Greek alphabet
3. Lord God
4. Jehovah – (was – is – will be)
5. Almighty God – El Shaddai
d. That is what sets our faith apart
1. Jesus is God!
#2 Jesus is the Faithful Witness (v. 5)
a. Faithful
1. Always tells the truth
b. Witness
1. “martus”
a. “martyr”
2. Tell it to the death
3. (John 18:37) “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth…”
#3 Jesus is the 1st born from the dead (v. 5)
a. “prõ to to´ kos”
1. “prototype”
b. Two-fold meaning
1. First in importance
a. (Col. 1:15) “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
2. First in chronological order
a. Remember Enoch & Elijah never died
b. Those whom He raised later died
c. We will some day rise from the dead
1. Revelation tells how and when
2. We will ascend to a place called heaven
a. We’ll describe it in detail later
d. The foolishness of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus”
1. The disciples knew the tomb was empty
2. They talked with Jesus for 40 days
3. They saw him ascend into heaven
4. They were willing to die for a resurrected Savior
#4 Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth (v.5)
a. The purpose of Revelation
1. Jesus will reclaim what is rightfully His
b. Satan’s offer (Mt. 4:8 & 9)
1. “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
c. Jesus didn’t and won’t need Satan’s help!!!
d. Revelation tells how He takes it back
1. (Rev. 11:15) -- “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”
e. Encouragement – Hang in there!
1. Satan appears to be winning --- but don’t forget to read the end of the Book
#5 Jesus is the Savior of Mankind (v.5b)
a. He loves us
1. “to him who loves us” (v.5b)
b. He proved his love by dying for us
1. “and has freed us from our sins by his blood,”
2. Literally – “bought you out of sin”
3. The price He paid was His own blood
*salvation
*Easter
c. He made us a kingdom and priests
1. We await the kingdom
a. Revelation tells how the Kingdom will be established
2. We are “priests”
a. You are a Royal Priest
3. The O.T. Priesthood
a. The need to make sacrifices
b. Offered by temple priests
c. The Temple
1. Ct. of Gentiles
2. Ct. of Women
3. Ct. of Jews
4. Ct. of Priests
a. Only priests
b. Sacrifices
5. Holy of Holies
a. The High Priest only
b. Symbolized presence of God
d. Separated by a veil
1. Massive
2. Six inches thick
3. Loose folds; never stretched
4. Only on Day of Atonement
5. High Priest
e. Jesus on the Cross (Mt. 27:50 & 51)
50“Jesus, when He had cried out again with a loud voice, yielded up His spirit. 51And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from the top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split…”
f. We now have direct access to God
1. The ultimate sacrifice had just been made
2. Jesus – the High Priest
3. No more sacrifices ever needed again
4. No more need for the Temple or the Priests
5. Absolutely destroyed by Rome in AD 70 by Titus
g. Jesus ended the need for the Temple
1. Hebrews 10:14 – “For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.”
2. Jesus the Great High Priest
3. We are called a royal priesthood
4. The veil is gone
6. The Great Reformation 1500’s
a. The Roman Catholic Church had absolute control over the lives of the people
1. The Priests were the arm
2. Developed during the Medieval Period
3. Powerful
a. Politically (Holy Roman Empire)
b. Financially
c. Spiritually
b. The priest controlled access to God
1. The Confessional
The Roman “confessional” is the weapon that enables the Roman Church to exercise complete control of the minds and thoughts of its people. In the Roman book, Instructions for Non-Catholics, page 93, this statement:
“The priest does not have to ask God to forgive your sins. The priest himself has the power to do so in Christ’s name. Your sins are forgiven by the priest the same as if you knelt before Christ and told them to Christ himself.”
3. The doctrine of Purgatory
a. Confession took care of the guilt (culpa) but not the penalty (poena) of sin
b. Thus, “purgatory”
c. The selling of indulgences and Martin Luther
d. Tetzel
e. Getting dead parents our of Purgatory
f. Money used to rebuild St. Peters in Rome
4. The baptism of children
5. The marriage ceremony
6. The last rites
a. Couldn’t even die without a priest
7. The horror of excommunication
a. Couldn’t get to Heaven
b. Cut off from the sacraments of the Church
c. Priests controlled access to God
#6 Jesus is coming back (v.7)
a. “he is coming with the clouds”
1. The Shekinah glory
2. The unveiled brilliance of God
b. “every eye will see him”
1. “even those who pierced him”
a. Old Testament prophecy (Zechariah 12:10)
b. The Jewish people
2. “and all will mourn because of him”
a. His coming to judge
c. The rest of the Book shares details regarding “how”
#7 Jesus is exalted (v.8)
a. He closes by reminding who is make these claims
1. “Alpha and Omega”
2. Who is and who was,
3. “and who is to come, the almighty”
b. Next time we’ll see what Jesus looks like right now
1. Stunning!
c. He is exalted!