The Revelation of Jesus Christ: How it Came to Us and Why - Revelation 1: 1-3

0:47I'm going to read the first three verses, Revelation chapter 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. And he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant, John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.

1:24Well, as we begin, again, looking at this book. And that's what we will be doing for the next couple of weeks. Certainly next week, Tim will be here. But as I pick this back up, we'll be spending some time just orienting ourselves to this wonderful magisterial book. We know at the outset that the times and the epics belong to God. Daniel 2.21 makes that very clear. It is God who controls the times and the epics. He's the one who raises up kings. He's the one who changes the times, the seasons. He is the one who has set history in motion. He is the one who concludes history. And he knows what takes place in between. And he is the one guiding history to its ultimate conclusion. We know that.

2:23We know that. And so what we have in Revelation is the bookend, right? One of the bookends. We have Genesis, the beginning bookend. We have Revelation, the end bookend. We have history. It's not just a book. It is human history, the beginning of it and its conclusion. And it is the God of the Bible who directs all of these events of history to their conclusion. You know, life doesn't always turn out like we hope for, does it?

3:01It could be a lot of disappointments. I think as we approach this 21st century, I'm hearing more and more some of the underlying fears of uncertainties, fears. Yesterday was 9-11, and we remember that our nation has enemies. We're still processing the full impacts of the fall of Kabul and what that has on the new epoch going forward for planet Earth. We see tensions in our own homeland, and we see our government handing down unprecedented executive mandates.

3:56Yes, things don't always turn out like we had hoped on a political front, but also on a very personal front. We recognize that life doesn't always go the way we want. We recognize that marriage doesn't always turn out like we had hoped, not in my case, beyond, but as I recognize there's a lot. Of disappointments, right? Unmet expectations, dashed hopes, our health. Sometimes our health doesn't go the way we would like for it to go. And even in our times of this COVID running around, there's great fears. Maybe life is going to turn out according to my worst fears.

4:58Some of the questions that are being asked as people approach me communicate this kind of fear. Whether it's politically, the country that we have enjoyed as a haven for many years, that the world has enjoyed as a haven for many years, now is more seemingly unstable than it ever has. And there is this question within many of us: how can things not turn out according to our worst fears? So if you're less than 15 years old and have sent an email, please raise your hand. Okay. If you're less than 10 years old and have sent an email, please raise your hand. Less than 10. Oh, we have one right here. Okay.

5:45Anybody less than 9? 8. It looks like a tie. Anybody under 8 that has actually sent an email? Oh, we got one. Okay. Okay, so we've got a tie. All right, we've got a tie. Okay, so think about now. So most of y'all have sent an email, right? I could go the other way and say, okay, now who's the oldest one that hasn't? Don't want to embarrass anybody. But one of the things that's nice about email, antiquated as it is, is there's this subject line, right? And so you don't even have to open up the email to know what it's all about, right? So if John was writing this letter, this prophecy, this prophetic letter, complicated book, if he was using email today, you know what it would start with in the subject line? The revelation of Jesus Christ. If he's going to write to encourage his people, it's going to be the revelation of Jesus Christ. The opening line informs us what the book is all about. It is about the revealing, the unveiling, the full disclosure of Jesus Christ in all of his glory. You know, the last time that the world saw Jesus Christ, he was crucified as a Roman criminal, as if to say to the whole world, you do not follow him.

7:25Relatively few people actually saw him after his resurrection. His friends, quite a number, but relatively few. But God has purposed that all will see him in his future glory. The world is not done seeing Jesus Christ. And you know why? Because in John 5:23, Jesus gives us the answer: because the Father wants all to honor the Son even as they honor the Father. They will behold Jesus Christ in all his glory because the Father wants him to be honored to the highest place.

8:22And so Revelation has come to us so that we will live expectantly for Christ's return. And I am confident that we are right in the center of God's will to go through this book and the timing of God's book. God wants us to read it. He wants us to study it. He wants us to obey the things that are written in it. Why? Because he wants to bless us. He wants to bless us. The only book.

9:00Written that has a promised blessing for those who read it. It's evident in the first three verses as we look at it this morning. First three verses, it's evident that God wants us to know how the book of Revelation came to us and why it came to us. He wants us to know how it came, why it came, so that we will receive it with joy, because it truly is a gift. What a marvelous gift this book is. It's to be opened. It's to be opened by reading, by hearing, by heeding.

9:48What a gift. What a gift. Nowhere else do we see Christ revealed in all his glory. Nowhere else do we see the depictions of Christ so vividly painted and portrayed as they are in the book of Revelation. Where else do we see this one with the eyes of fire, the feet of bronze, the one who stands among the lamp stands? The one who is the lion, the one who is the lamb, the one who holds the churches in his hand.

10:30The one who is of the root of David, the one who comes on a white horse, the one who is the very word of God who slices his enemies to pieces, the bridegroom. Where else do we see him portrayed as king of kings, Lord of Lords, Alpha and Omega? And there is no greater gift to strengthen and encourage people than the unfolding, the revealing of Jesus Christ. You need a vision of Jesus Christ in his glory.

11:17That will strengthen you. That will strengthen the church of our day, of John's day, and of any day. So this morning I want us to look at how and why the book of Revelation has come to us so that these words, so you will bind these words to your soul. For they are a blessing. The revealing of Jesus Christ, how it came to us and why. First of all, let's look at how it came to us.

12:01And the first two verses tell us who the ultimate author is, his primary purpose, and his expressed aim. And then all the intermediate agency that takes place. It shows us who the ultimate agents involve, and it shows us who the intermediate agents are. First of all, look at verse 1: the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. So, who is the ultimate author? God is. God gave, right? The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave.

12:50This revelation belonged first to God. It's his possession. This revelation is God's possession. It belonged to God. It doesn't even say that it belonged to Jesus. It belonged to God. And he gave it to Jesus. Look back. He gave it to Jesus. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him. There is no other him that that him can be than Jesus Christ, which God gave to him. You see, the relationship of the Father and the Son stays the same. You remember Christ? Remember some of the things that he said while he was on earth? John 5:30, I can do nothing on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge. John 8, 28, I do nothing on my own initian, but I speak these things as the Father taught me. John 14, 10, the word that I say to you, I do not speak on my own initiative, but the Father abiding in me does his work. You can see, even in glory, this relationship hasn't changed. The Son is communicating, he is speaking, what has been given to him by the Father.

14:22I love the consistency. You see, the consistency between what John wrote in the Gospel and what John is writing here. There's a consistency because it originates from the same mind, the same author, God himself. But look back. Look who the ultimate audience is. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants, his slaves. This is the word. To show them, to the, yes, it's written to the seven churches, and verse 4 says, John to the seven churches. Certainly, there is an agency there to whom the letter comes, but right here in the first verses, it's not the primary audience. The primary audience that the ultimate author, or let me say, the ultimate audience are the slaves, the bondservants of Jesus Christ, which certainly includes the seven churches of Asia Minor, but there were more there. Talk about that weeks to come.

15:42But it includes all his slaves of all times. Slaves. It's a word we don't like to use. It's because we have such a bad association with it. But the idea, like, and so the translators turn this into bondservants, because the idea of bondservant is one that has willingly entered into a subservient relationship because of a love for the master. That's the idea, and provision was made for this way back in Exodus. But here you have this love.

16:17These are individuals who have come willingly. They have been bought. They love the master. They delight in Christ. They delight to do his will. And for them, it's a delight, it's a joy. It's in contrast to our time. We get this idea: I don't bow to anybody. I do my own thing. And if anybody comes in, and if I have to do the will of anybody else, I am a slave. That's no, in the Bible, it's all about who you serve. We're all subservient, believe it or not. We're all dependent. We all serve a master. It's not about the fact that you are subservient. The fact is, who is your master?

17:13And if you go around, I bow to no one, your master is, you may think it's yourself, but you are bound to the principle and power of God's adversary. But the truly free find salvation. The definition of biblical freedom is being a slave of Jesus Christ. Very graphic language. This is for the slaves of Jesus Christ, those who delight in him and have bound themselves to him. Look at the ultimate aim. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. So the ultimate aim is to show his bondservants the things which must soon take place.

18:20Things that take place. What does the things which must soon take place refer to? That brings us to really one of the first significant interpretive issues. What does it mean? Must come about. In fact, if I was to translate this literally, I would make it sound something like this. What must come about in haste? What must come about quickly? What must come about soon? Very soon. Well, there are four options. I'm going to move through them fairly quickly because I want to meter our time carefully, but really four options. What does very soon refer to here? Does it mean immediately?

19:10Like it's immediately going to happen? Or does it mean rapidly, like once they start, these things are going to rapidly move along? Or does it mean something like very soon and really related to that imminently, something that it can just happen at any time? I think right off the bat we can rule out that it's not immediately. The word, look at chapter 4 and verse 2. John uses the word here to speak about, uses a different word to describe immediately. After these things, I looked and behold, a door standing open in heaven. The first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet, speaking with me, said, Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, behold, a throne was standing. So different word. It's the first time marker in this section, back to chapter 1 and verse 1.

20:17The time marker. It's the same, the things which must soon take place. Also, look again in chapter 22, verse 6. Just circle, you can circle these phrases. They will help set up what John is doing. Chapter 22 and 6. And he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. So you get what I love about John, like I said, he tells us at the beginning, it's about the things of the Lord. Which are soon to take place. And then he tells us at the end, it's about the things which must soon take place.

21:08But the idea of this word for taking place soon is the word we get tachometer from. You know, like our speedometer, RPMs really fast. You ever had a, you know, teaching one of your kids how to drive and say, okay, start the car and put your foot on the gas. No, no, no, not that much, not that much gas. I don't know if you've ever been there before, but you will if you have kids and you go there. But the idea is something that's going to happen in haste. And so there are a number that would say that, okay, these events are going to happen in haste. You remember in Mark 13 28, Jesus said this: Now learn the parable from the fig tree. When its branches have already become tender and puts forth it leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that he is near right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. So the idea is that it can happen, these things, once they start, they will quickly happen.

22:27Well, that's certainly true. You can even You can see in Scripture that when these events happen that Jesus has talked about several times and that John is talking about, once they kick into gear, yes, they are going to happen rapidly. In fact, the days are going to have to be cut short. So these events will happen rapidly. I'm not quite sure that that would offer so much comfort. I think that's a, I'm just being straightforward in how I would just try to understand this word. I don't, there's trying to comfort this church in this day, and I think that's certainly true, that the events are going to happen rapidly. But he's also talking to a church there that it may be a little bit, yeah, something down the road, you know, eons from now, something's going to happen real fast.

23:23How does that comfort the church of the day? Well, I think it could, would, but maybe there's a little bit more here. It could mean these things will happen in the near future. Look at a second time marker in the passage. Look at the end of verse 3. For the time is near. For the time is near. The way I might translate that is: the epoch is near. The time, the time for these events is near.

23:58One thing's very Clear here. What John is communicating is that the events which are certainly going to happen quickly are themselves the epic, the time, is close at hand, so close that you need to be on the alert for it. They can happen. These words are not sealed up. You remember in Daniel, the book of Daniel, these words, many words were sealed up. But in Revelation 22, right, and 10, he said to me, Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Again, there's no time to seal up these books. The time is now. In fact, if you will remember in 1 John 2:18, John says, friends, it is the last hour. We know it's the last hour because many Antichrists have already gone out into the world. The epic of the rise of the Antichrist has already begun. It has already begun in John's mind with many Antichrists going out, denying the Christ preached by the apostles. And so that begins an epic that culminates in one organized, complete system or the Antichrist proper. Come. So John has already said that.

25:30The last hour is, it's come. And so it's best, I believe, to take this as the nearness. It implies that it can happen at any time, so be on the lookout. Imminency. I remember living in Southern California, and you know what we were always afraid of? The big one, right? The big earthquake, right? In fact, they would tell you: make sure that you are prepared for the big one. You got to have water, you got to have all these kinds of certain resources and supplies on hand because the big one can happen at any moment. I think you have a similar concept here.

26:30And the emphasis is not when so much that. It's certain that it will, and it's close enough. It could happen at any time. You need to be on your alert, on the alert. It's not when this really happens, but it's that it happens that becomes very important. Are you going to live? Your life in the light of the reality of these events, or not? That becomes the emphasis here. You see, prophecy, John has said, this is a prophecy, and it calls us to action. That's what prophecy does. It calls us to listen, it calls us to hear, it calls us to obey and respond, to live in light of the nearness of these events. In fact, in Revelation 22:6, again, the book ends.

27:31Read these words. And he said to me, These words are faithful and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent his angel to show to his bondservants the things which must soon take place. And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. So just because it's happening very soon, so soon that you need to live in light that it could happen at any time, doesn't mean it had to all be fulfilled in the first century. There are many systems that we will have to deal with as we go through the book of Revelation, and we'll come to them as we need to, and as we have to deal with them. But there is one view that believes that all of these events were fulfilled. In the first century, even the second coming. Full preterism.

28:38No, the word doesn't necessitate that. We'll deal with this more in the future, but for time I want to move on through. So as we look at this section, who is the ultimate author? God. Who is the ultimate audience? His slaves. What is his ultimate aim? Showing them what is about to happen. It's very straightforward. That's the ultimate agency. Now I want to look at the immediate or the intermediate agency. And you have three: you have Jesus, you have the angel, and you have John. Look back. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bondservants, the thing which must take place. And he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. So it's first it comes to Jesus, which God gave him, Jesus. God gave Jesus the revelation for the purpose of making it known to his people.

29:58You see, Jesus does not. God desires and Jesus desires to show these things to his people. In fact, do you remember John 15, 15? Jesus said this, No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing, but I have called you friends. For all things that I have heard from my Father, I have made known to you. It doesn't mean we cease being slaves. He says, I have stopped calling you slaves. I call you friends because I'm telling you everything that's coming. I don't keep things from you. You don't keep things from friends.

30:45But he uses this word to signify, to show to his, God gave to him to show to his servants, and he communicated it. The word is literally signified it. He indicated. Remember Jesus in John 12, 32, he says, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself. But he was saying this to indicate, that's the word, to indicate the kind of death which he was to die. Of course, that went over a lot of the heads of the disciples. But imagine yourself one of those disciples, and Jesus says something like that, and you're kind of like, don't know what he was talking about. Had no idea this crucifixion. Was coming. And yet, over and over, you see that Jesus indicated it. He signified it. In fact, he told John, same word, or he told Peter in John 21:18, but when you grow old, Peter, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will gird you and bring you where you do not wish to go. Now, he said this, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.

32:00So Jesus is indicating to his disciples. It's a very appropriate word because much of the signs, much of the indications come to us in a language that is signifying it. It's appropriate. And so Jesus has given the book of Revelation to His servants, signifying the things that are going to take place. But it comes to an angel, right? He sent it and communicated it by his angel. So an angel communicated, even though we really don't see this angel show up until chapter 17, and right at the very end of chapter 21 and 22. And remember in verse 8, 22, chapter 22, I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship. At the feet of the angel who showed me these things. But he said to me, Do not do that. I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren, the prophets.

33:11So it comes from Jesus by an angel to John. Look back. And he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John. Very straightforward, right? The human recipient is John. And he's going to send it to the seven churches, right? That's going to be that audience. So think about how this is happening. Jesus comes from God to Jesus, to the angel, to John, to the seven churches, to us. That's how it comes to us.

33:46And John is the one who first received it, and John is the one who testified. Look at verse 2: who testified to the Word of God, the logos of God, language very reminiscent of the gospel, testified to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. So John is expressing what he is testifying to, the scope, as far as all that he saw. Notice he doesn't say less than what he saw, nor does he say more than what he saw.

34:24There's no other book really like this when you think about it. Remember, revelation belongs to God. It's about Jesus. It's by Jesus. Jesus is the one revealing, so it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's about him, but he's also the one revealing it. So he is in once the revelation. He is also the revealer. And all this revelation comes from God. It's the possession of God for the blessing of his people. Helps us get an idea how and why.

35:04Because the epic is near. The time is near. And you need to be living your life in light of the nearness of these events. But what a picture. The only other place that you have anything in comparison to this is: you remember when Moses goes up to Mount Sinai, right? And the angel of the Lord sees him, right? Calls to him from the bush, the angel of the Lord, and we find out that the angel of the Lord was Yahweh Himself, right?

35:40And so, and then later you see the finger of God writing on the tablets. This is an unusual form of inspiration. It isn't like you have in some of the others. You have a situation where Jesus Christ Himself gives a revelation to John via. The agency of the angel to show his people. We have something of a very similar nature as Moses bringing down revelation from the mountain. That's how it came to us. Now I want to look at why it came to us. Why it came to us. Look at verse 3. Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it, for the time is near.

36:34So it's come to us very clearly for blessing. As I said earlier, no other book is like this that comes with the promised blessing. It comes to blessing for those to read and those who hear and those who heed. But I want to make a couple of observations here, several observations. First of all, notice that this blessing is for us to share. Blessed is the one who reads. And the word there is reads aloud. Blessed is the one who reads, the individual, singular, and the ones who are hearing. It has congregation in mind. These truths are congregational in nature. There's a dynamic. There's a talking about them. There's a blessing that comes from reading, which is what we're going to do. We're going to read. There is a blessing for reading. And there is a blessing for hearing and sharing.

37:36But notice a second observation: the blessing is connected to the words of the prophecy. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. It's very easy to get to the book of Revelation and start paying attention to a lot of words of men who've systematized and to spend a lot of your time there. But the promised blessing is right here to the words. Look at the words, they have meaning. Don't change their meaning. That's to take away. Don't add to their meaning. That changes the meaning as well. Just it's the words. Let the words of this prophecy, it's a prophecy. There's a lot of commentary out there that says it's apocalyptic literature and it has its own criteria for understanding it. Let me tell you those rules. No. John makes it very clear: it is a prophecy. And like all prophecy, it is to be read, it is to be understood, it is to be heeded. It's the nature of prophecy. It's also a letter because he writes this to the churches. So it's a pastoral, prophetic letter. It has all those elements.

39:03But I want to the blessing is for those, look back, the observation, the blessing is for those who read, listen, and heed. You see, reading is necessary for heeding. Heeding is necessary for one to realize the promised blessing. We come to this verse, blessed. Verse 3, blessed, blessed. This is the first of seven announcements of blessing in the book of Revelation. There are seven of them. I want to quickly give you a sense of who the blessed of earth are.

39:49Revelation 14:13, there are many of those who are worshiping the beast, who are taking his mark. And you can expect that during that time they may seem, they're the ones who can buy, sell, they're the ones with all the privileges, right, they belong to, and all the power that the beast and false prophet enjoy, they also are party to. And then you hear this Revelation 14, 13. And I heard a voice from heaven saying, Write, blessed are those who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, so they may. Rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them. These are the ones who don't receive the mark, and yet they are the blessed ones of the earth. It's not the ones who receive the mark, the blessed ones. Now, think about this. We all have to die sometime, right?

40:50Have you ever had those morbid conversations usually asked by one of the kids, if you had to die, would you rather be burned, drowned, eaten by a shark? How would you rather have you ever had those conversations? No one ever does. Just my kids bring that stuff up, right? How would you like to, well, think about this. How would you like to die? You know, it's like, is dying by COVID, that could be a very painful thing. Would you rather die, maybe lose your mind and go into a period of long decline? Or would you rather it be quick? Would you rather it be, or beheading? You know, I mean, goes pretty quick, right? You know, you think about it, it's like, okay, what real difference does it make?

41:54What matters is what you live for and why you die, right? And what Jesus is saying here, what God is saying, blessed are those who die in the Lord. Blessed. They are the blessed. That's not the ones who go with the worldly system. They are not the blessed ones of the earth. Even those who die in the Lord for whatever reason during this time, blessed are they. That's the testimony of Scripture. Revelation 16:15, Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes so that he will not walk about naked and men not see his shame. The blessed one who is covered in the righteousness of Christ. Revelation 19:9. Then he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are true words of God. The blessed are the ones who are invited, who come to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Revelation 26, Blessed and holy is the one who is a part in the first resurrection. Over these, the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years. Blessed are they who have part in this first resurrection. Revelation 22, 7, and behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words. Of the prophecy of this book, Revelation 22, 14, Blessed are those who wash their robes so that they may have the right to eat of the tree of life and may enter by the gates into the city. These are the blessed. So, reading and hearing are necessary for heeding. Heeding is necessary for realizing the promises. So, the whole blessing comes down to how blessed are those who have received this gift and who are reading and who are hearing and who are heeding. They are the blessed of the earth.

44:15The revelation of Jesus Christ is also the revelation of his people. We will be glorified together with them. I'm looking at y'all in your humility. One day you will be clothed in his majesty. The vision of the revelation of Jesus Christ is also a vision of the glorification of his people with him. So, we look at the revelation of Jesus Christ, how it came and why it came. It's important that we know so that we will joyfully bind ourselves to these words. I hope you are inspired to come, to listen. You know, as we look around our world and we see things unfolding, we might be tempted to despair, right? We might, even as we see end-time events or things looking like end-time events coming into play, we might be discouraged. But in reality, they should encourage us. Why should they encourage us? Because they attest to the veracity of the prophecy, which concludes beautifully. And so when we start seeing these things happen, just like Jesus said they would, we know there is a conclusion that ends beautifully.

45:47So even the events themselves should encourage us if you are informed by Scripture. Because these things will take place because there is a king of kings and there is a Lord of lords and he will not tolerate unrighteousness on the earth. You see, the outlook for Christianity today is not any more bleak than it was at the end of the first century. Church is in decline, internal turmoil, a growing hostility in governments, compromise, and even among the faith. Who are trying to stand, there are now growing points of persecution.

46:37Revelation is still God's answer. Revelation, you've got to see this. It concludes. There's something in the book of Revelation for us, but there's also something in Revelation for the world. Look at Revelation 22. Look at verse 17. Revelation includes with the most generous invitation. I just got a really beautiful invitation the other day, a real beautiful card. It has information about the invitation, and I've got to do what? RSVP. I've got to respond, right? In able to be part of it. But look at what Revelation 22, 17 says. The Spirit and the bride say, Come. Both the Spirit and the bride. That's us, right? The bride, come. And let the one who hears say, come, and let the one who is thirsty come. Let the one who wishes to take of the water of life, let him come and take it without cost. This is a picture of Jesus in glory and his invitation from glory. Does that invitation sound familiar? You remember in his humility, Jesus said this, Matthew 11:27, all things have been handed over. To me, by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him. Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Do you see? It's the same yesterday, today, and he will be tomorrow.

48:32A most glorious future awaits God's people where all the longings are abundantly satisfied. Whether our situation is political or personal, Revelation is the answer. So, as we conclude this morning, just remember this revelation? How did it come to us? By God, to Jesus, by the angel, to John, to the seven churches, to us, to bless us, and to invite the world. I hope you will come and enjoy this journey and invite. Fight your friends. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your goodness. Thank you for the truth which we have sat and been able to look upon this morning. And, Father, may your people be encouraged by what's ahead. And may those who do not know you be alarmed and yet at the same token hear your invitation to come.

50:02For you generously accept all who come. It's in Jesus' name. Amen.