Revelation 1:1-8

Hello, City Church.

Good morning to you.

Hope you got your coffee before you.

It's great having Lizzie come stay with myself and Becky.

Means that I can get her to read passages for us.

So as we come to this passage, please do keep it in front of you as we dive into Revelation 1 and these opening verses.

But as we do, let me pray for us as we come to this passage.

Loving Father, I thank you for your word.

I thank you for who you are.

I thank you for what you've done.

And I pray now, as we come to this passage, would you speak to us?

Would you help us to see your beauty, your glory, and what you have done and what you will do for your name's sake and our good.

Amen.

On the 2nd of November 2013, I planned out a full day for myself and Becky.

Now she didn't know it at the start of the day, but it led to us coming to a beach where I asked Becky to marry me.

As for a couple of any couple at this time, it's an exciting time, it's a joyful time.

And then after that day begins the planning, the preparation for getting married.

Now for me, my engagement uh kind of sucked in a way.

It wasn't the best period in my life.

Not the day itself, not when we actually got engaged, but actually after that.

It felt quite pressured.

There was uh lots of things that you need to think about.

And during your engagement, many people have expectations and opinions that are placed on you.

Many people feel uh that it should go a certain way, and it can feel overwhelming.

At times it felt emotionally draining.

The initial period of time after you get engaged is wonderful, it's exciting.

But then reality hits.

You've got to organize, you've got to plan for the wedding day itself.

Now the danger can be that the stress, tension, and the struggle can begin to overshadow you, to take a grip of you, to blind you from the goal that is ahead.

And as we jump into this letter, we find John writing to these seven churches.

They are located in Asia Minor, which is an area of modern-day Turkey.

These churches are struggling.

There are good things happening, yes, but they are facing all kinds of challenges.

I'm sure at the beginning of these churches, when they first came to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, they had joy, they had excitement.

Because if you're listening and you are a Christian, you'll know what that is like.

When you first realized that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior of your life, when it became not just something you heard or something you knew in terms of your mind, but you became to know it internally in your heart.

That you knew that as you turned to him in faith, that you could not live without him.

And initially it feels so easy to live for him.

Initially, it feels so easy to walk with him and to prioritize him in your life.

You're just excited to know more, to experience more deeply who Jesus Christ is, just as it would have been for these churches.

But that fades, that lessens in time as you settle into life.

Life is a Christian, life is part of a local church.

And here, as we open up this book, this letter to these churches, we need to understand the context, understanding the different challenges and struggles that they are facing.

Some are being tempted by sin, tempted to believe that Jesus Christ is not enough for them, that living for what this world has to offer is going to be better.

They can believe that the world is going to do a better job at satisfying them.

Some are being swayed by false teachers, and some are facing persecution, and some are just facing dullness of faith.

They have slipped into just going through the motions.

The question can begin to rise: Is Jesus Christ really enough?

Is Jesus Christ really worth it?

And what is striking is how God responds.

My desire for us all is to be just overwhelmed, to be overwhelmed by the way in which God responds to his people.

Through Jesus Christ's revelation, because after all he has done, you can imagine after all God has done for these churches, that He He looks upon them and sees what they are doing and how they are acting and how they are responding.

And if you and I were God and we saw these churches, we would give up on them after everything that they've that God has done for them.

And in the New Testament, we find churches that are constantly being reminded and needing to be reminded of the gospel and called back to the gospel because these churches continually muck up.

And yet we see a God who doesn't just get frustrated and just decide, I'm done with you, but continues to reveal who he is.

The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding his steadfast love.

That is who we see him to be in how he responds to the church, to his people.

But if we are honest, we are much like these churches.

I know what it is like to feel the temptation of sin.

The temptation to go away from Jesus Christ, to believe the lie that sin is better for me.

I know what it is like to feel weak in faith.

I know what it is like to face different struggles in my life and wonder: is it worth it to live this way?

To cling to Christ Jesus.

And what is beautiful in this opening of this letter, Jesus Christ Himself comes to his church with words of comfort.

And there are three things that I want to draw out and point to.

Blessed, assured, and hopefully.

Blessed.

Look at verse one with me.

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon 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.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

As John writes this letter, we see that it comes to him through Jesus Christ.

The Father has given it to his son to reveal to his people, to his servants.

Often we can treat lightly the words of this book.

When we consider Revelation, the last book of the Bible, if you've been a Christian for any amount of time, I know that this will not be a book you naturally run toward, that you run toward in time with the Lord.

Yet how we should long to hear what Jesus Christ has to say to us, how we should be desperate to want to hear from our Lord and Savior as his people.

Revelation, though, is a bit of a strange book.

Let's be real, it is.

It's a hard book of the Bible to try and work out what's going on, to try and delve into what Jesus Christ is saying to us.

It is full of imagery and an apocalyptic writing.

And yet, as we open these first few verses, we need to see that Jesus Christ has things for us to read, to hear, to obey, to act upon.

For us to neglect this, is to neglect his word, to neglect him.

But more than that, he has a good purpose for us in this book for our blessing.

This is the promise toward us from Jesus Christ Himself.

As you read aloud, as you hear, as you obey it, he says it will be a blessing, that you will be blessed.

Why would we not want that?

Why would I not want that?

Why would we not long for that?

How we should chase after every possible blessing that there is on offer.

God continues to show and reveal blessings towards us as his children, and we should long to know them and see them and experience them.

It would be foolish for us not to desire to receive blessings from God through this book.

Foolish for us to neglect this book because it might be a bit more difficult for us to grasp.

We should strive to hear, to understand, praying for the Holy Spirit to illuminate our minds and our hearts as we seek to know Jesus Christ through his word.

This is the risen Christ Himself, the one who has conquered, declaring there are blessings for you.

That should build an anticipation in us.

Anticipation to grab hold of these blessings that are from God through Jesus Christ, that we would see them and know them and cherish them.

And in this series, in this series in revelation, that we are going through and hear from longing and excitement within by what he's gonna say.

What is he gonna say to me?

How is he gonna speak to me?

Knowing he has promised to do so.

We all know what anticipation feels like.

We experience it in different things.

Just think about the best possible day you might plan for yourself, whatever that might be doing, or a holiday you might be going on, the best possible holiday.

And what happens is you know what is happening tomorrow.

You know what enjoyment awaits you, and you know what you've planned, and it's gonna bring you joy, and you feel excited, you feel an anticipation for what is ahead.

And the morning comes and it doesn't feel hard to get out of bed.

You ping up out of bed, like whoo, let's go! I'm ready, I'm ready for this day, eager to see all that this has in store for me.

Knowing that what is before you is excitement and joy and goodness, that it's gonna bring good toward you.

And I'll be honest, I don't default toward that place when I consider revelation.

I didn't I wasn't struggling to sleep the night before I began to prepare for this sermon.

I wasn't thinking in bed or oh wow, I get to delve in and think through what God has to say to us in Revelation.

Oh, I wonder what I'm gonna see, I wonder what He has to say to me, I wonder the ways in which He's gonna bless me.

And my guess is that's the same for you.

Last night, I'm sure none of you, if any, struggled to sleep, wondering, oh man, how is God gonna speak?

How is he gonna choose to bless me tomorrow through his word?

I just can't wait.

Rather, for some of you, you probably struggle to actually get out of bed, to wake up, to actually come and hear and listen.

Maybe that was more due to the preacher than the book itself that we're studying.

But anyway, my heart for myself, my heart for you, my my longing, and I think God's longing for us as we come to this, is that it will be stirred, that our hearts would be captivated, our hearts will be able to have a right anticipation to hear from our Lord and Savior, knowing He longs for us to receive blessing.

In the midst of our struggle, in the midst of our weakness, and in our temptation, just like these churches, Jesus Christ's heart is to bring blessing, not ridicule.

His heart and his character before us to see.

A God who longs to bless his people.

So, brother, sister in Christ, be excited.

As we begin this series, I want you to have an anticipation of what God might do and how he might choose to bless you.

Anticipate the blessings God might reveal towards you as you hear, as you read, as you obey what is written.

Jesus Christ desires blessing for his people, but he also brings assurance.

Look at verse 4.

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, the and the ruler of kings on earth.

As John writes to these churches, he opens up with an offer of grace and peace, rooted in the Trinity.

Father, Son, and Spirit, the Father being described as who is and who was and who is to come, the Spirit described as the seven spirits, which is used throughout the book of Revelation to describe the Holy Spirit Himself.

And Jesus Christ is there.

Often when we consider how we might find assurance in moments of struggle in moments of weakness, the natural position we go to, the natural response for us is to turn inward.

I do it, and I know you will do it too.

We feel helpless, we feel sorry for ourselves, and in some senses we can feel utterly crippled by what we are facing, by the situation.

But for us, we all know that that doesn't actually work.

That doesn't help you.

When I turn inward, when you turn inward, it doesn't bring you assurance, it doesn't bring me assurance because we are created beings and and assurance is not found within.

Maybe you try and conjure up in your own efforts, in your own power, in your own strength, assurance.

And maybe for a moment you feel assured, confident, but that is so weak and momentary.

Assurance comes from outside of ourselves.

As the Trinitarian God sees his people struggling, he sees them in their weakness, and he declares grace and peace toward them.

Because this is who he is.

For these struggling churches, the call is to look up, to see, to see the God that they serve, to see the one who is eternal, to see the one who is above all.

And these are not just words because this is the triune God, the only one who can offer and give lasting grace and peace toward his people.

Peace that is not determined by the situation before us, but in the God you love, and more importantly, in the God that loves you.

Do you see this is beautiful to know that his longing, the longing of the trying in God for his people, is to know grace and peace in your struggles, in your pains, in your sorrows, in your failings, in this season of tension, as we feel the unknown before us, as we seek to try and work out what to do, as we struggle to know what we'll do after COVID-19 or even in the midst of it, as we struggle to know how to find satisfaction in the monotony of the restrictions, as we struggle to not allow our anxieties and our worries to overcome us, there is assurance for us, there is grace and peace for us.

This is not being written to churches that are remarkable, churches that are just smashing it for Jesus.

It is written to churches that have significant issues and struggles.

It is written to churches that feel weak in their faith.

It is written to us as his church, declaring his desire, his heart for us, to know his grace, his peace, the the grace and peace of the triune God.

How beautiful, how glorious this is.

Right now, for some of us, we will be struggling in our faith, wondering, questioning, is this enough?

And as God addresses the same feelings, the same questions in of these churches, they are pointed to Jesus Himself.

Look at verse 5.

Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood.

When we place our faith in Jesus.

Completing his work.

That he saw, he knew the suffering, he knew the rejection, he knew what would happen on that cross as the nails were driven through him.

He was not caught unaware.

He went straight to the cross itself.

The cross did not defeat Jesus, but rather the defeat of sin and death itself, driven to the grave by the faithful witness, who displays his faithfulness for all to see.

As we wrestle in our unfaithfulness, we look to the one who is faithful, the one who lived the life of faithfulness, a life without sin, a life in perfect relationship to the Father, a life in perfect obedience to his father.

But though it drove him to the grave, it did not keep him there.

He is the firstborn from the dead.

He is the one who has victory over death itself.

The grave did not have the strength to hold him.

That is what we celebrated last week.

That the tomb is empty.

Death and sin has been dealt with.

Satan himself is defeated.

Because he, Jesus Christ, is the firstborn from the dead.

He is given this title, declaring who he is, the one who made a way for us to know life, but also the one who will inherit all creation itself, the one who is in the place of honor, the one whom the Father delights in.

And not only that, he is the one who rules.

There is none above Jesus Christ, the ruler of kings on earth.

Do you hear this?

Do you see him for who he is?

All earthly rule will pass away, all empires will fall, all governments will fail, but his complete rule is final.

His complete rule is eternal.

What is there for you to fear?

Because we do not just rest in who he is, but what he has done as we've been seen.

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.

Amen.

Every time we look to the cross, we need to see our assurance being displayed for you, for us, our sin being dealt with, our savior declaring his love for us, our identity being transformed by him, knowing that he does not just call us to trust him, but we are also his kingdom.

We are priests to the living God, those who have been called to declare the glory of him to the world around us, just as he did.

If you long for assurance, brother, sister, in Christ, look to the conquering King.

Look to Jesus Christ, who is, and who he is, and what he has done.

The greatest love displayed in his blood shed for you and me and our brokenness.

Knowing that this is the promise and seal of God's grace and peace to be given to us, that he has made it possible for us to know the greatest peace.

Peace between us and the Creator God.

Peace between us and the Lord God Himself.

He is shown the greatest grace as He died for us, taking our sin, taking our rejection, so that we might know His peace.

He saves us from His selfless sacrificial love for us.

He saves you from His selfless sacrificial love for you.

So often we lose sight of this glory, of his glory, his beauty, the one who is above all, who knew no sin, and who did not need us.

But he chose us, rescued us, loved us.

As you sit in your home, as you have been wrestling in the different ways in these past weeks with the situation before you.

Don't you long to know his grace is sufficient for you?

Don't you long to know peace in the craziness?

Jesus Christ has made it possible because our loving God does not withhold good from us, He brings it to us, He achieves it for us at the cross by His death.

We can wonder what this season is for.

What's happening here?

But one thing I do know in every season of your life, if you are a Christian, it is to grow in your assurance of Christ.

It is to grow in your knowledge that His grace is sufficient for you.

His peace can quiet the deepest fears and anxieties you feel.

The assurance he has bought is secure.

The bloodshed declares that the debt is paid.

And because of it, we can be hopeful.

Look down at verse 7.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him, even so are men.

I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Hear this wherever you are, because if we don't keep central the fact that Jesus is returning, we will easily be shaken.

If we don't keep central that this day is approaching, we will not live as we ought to live.

Because God has not hidden this from us, he has revealed it to us.

The day is coming when Jesus will return.

No longer as a baby, but as the reigning king of all, the one in which all will see and know that He reigns.

As these churches hear these words, what a comfort to them.

In the midst of their struggle, in the midst of their weakness of faith, in the midst of temptation, in the midst of false teaching, there is so much that is seeking to pull them away from Jesus Christ, so much that is being put before them as saying, this is better for you, this is for your good.

You should do this, you should reject him and go here.

Yet, as we open in these first verses in this book, Jesus Christ has been expressing his longing for them, his desire for them to be blessed, his desire for them to be assured, his desire for them to know their true hope.

It is all centering on him, a hope that never and will never disappoint.

Because the hope of the Bible is not like our earthly hopes.

When we say, I hope I will do this or that.

No, the hope of the Bible is sure and secure.

As Jesus Christ calls out to them, no, I am returning, I am coming again, I am coming as the conquering king, the one who rules over all, the one who has defeated sin and death and Satan himself, the one in that day that all will give an account to me, all will know who I am, none will deny who I am on that day, and all will bow before me.

And for the Christian, this day, this day will be glorious.

This day is the day that from the depths of our souls we should long for.

From the this day, this day is the day in which the deepest longings, the deepest cravings of your soul are going to be met and satisfied fully and completely in the risen Lord, Savior, and King, Jesus Christ Himself.

As we began our time, I shared the situation when we got engaged in that period of time, and there was struggle, there was difficulty.

It wasn't crazy, but it was there.

And there was a time that you had to go through to get to the day that we actually got married.

But on the 22nd of August 2014, when I stood, and I can remember it plain as day right here now, as I stand in my living room.

I stood in the church in York where my wife Becky's from.

And I remember looking straight ahead because I had decided in my mind I wasn't going to try and see Becky through the people and try and get glimpses.

I was going to wait until she was there and that I could see her and she could see me.

And when I saw her for the first time that day, I cannot articulate the joy I felt and experienced.

In many ways, it was so overwhelming.

It was so inexpressible when I saw her.

And you see, in the midst of the difficulty of engagement, if I did not have a better view in mind, if I did not have a goal before me, if I did not realize what this was for, why would I bother?

Why would I keep going?

Why would I go through that?

But the fact is, I knew where we were headed.

I knew what was coming, and I knew what it was always gonna be for.

That I got to marry Becky.

I didn't think when I married her, well, that was a letdown.

That was another disappointment.

No, that day did not disappoint me in the slightest.

I'm so blessed and thankful to be married to my wife.

It brought me such joy, deep lasting joy.

And yet for us as God's people, and for these churches in Asia Minor, they need to have their gaze fixed on the goal, on the truth that though they felt weak, though they experienced temptation, though they struggled with false teaching, staying fixed on Christ Jesus, remaining faithful to him, knowing he would be worth it, he is worth it, he is enough for them.

Because though my wedding brought me joy, there is a day coming for those who cling to Jesus Christ in faith.

That will not compare to any earthly joy you can experience.

It will not let you down, it will not let us down.

It will not be underwhelming for us.

Brother, sister, when we see him coming in the clouds, your heart will be captured, your heart will be overwhelmed with joy.

Your heart will know the deepest longings met in your glorious Savior and King.

Don't lose sight of him.

Don't lose sight of that day.

Let that spur you on, let it be an anchor in the brokenness of this world, in your weaknesses, in your struggle.

Because this is who Jesus Christ is.

He is enough for us today, and he will always be enough for us.

Know the blessing he offers, know the assurance he gives, and know the hope that is secure.

Let me pray for us.

Lord Jesus, we just give you praise, honor, and glory.

That is due your name.

We just praise you for who you are.

We praise you for what you have done.

You are so beautiful, you are so glorious in what you've done for us, in redeeming us, to call us to yourself.

And I pray, I pray in the midst of everything that we go through in this season and every season of our life that those who are listening would know this to be true in the very depths of their being.

I pray for those who are right now struggling, feeling so weak and fragile, would you reveal yourself to them by your Holy Spirit who dwells within them?

Would they know that you are more than enough?

Would they rejoice in you, rejoice in your goodness, and know that they can receive blessing, assurance, and true hope in you alone.

I pray that you would bless us all in Jesus' name.

Amen.