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Good morning again. Please take your Bibles and turn to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Welcome to the book of Revelation. Five years ago, we started John's Gospel. We've been sitting at the feet of John the Apostle ever since. We've looked at his gospel, we've looked at his letters, and now we step into the world of Revelation.

Let me just read the first eight verses this morning. I in no way intend to teach these today. It will take probably weeks, if not a month or so, to just even really introduce this book and get our minds around what we have before us. Revelation chapter 1, verse 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 bond servant, 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. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth, to him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood, and he has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father.

To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. So it is to be. Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we come to this book because it is indeed the revealing of your Son Jesus Christ. We desire to know its contents. We desire the blessing for reading. The blessing for hearing, and we look to you to provide it in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, welcome.

Welcome to the book of Revelation. There are many approaches to this book. In fact, the traditional way that a lot of people approach this book is to first understand which system you belong to and then read the book of Revelation. Seems to be backwards, doesn't it? As if the Holy Spirit and Christ Himself was such a poor communicator that He couldn't just communicate to us through the words and expect us to understand them.

It's very clear that this book is written to give us insight, to give us clarity. And so we're just going to start reading it and let it do its thing. I know of no other way to start. But as you read, even as we've just began to read, we understand that this is a book about power, authority, who's in charge.

To whom belongs the authority over your life? Who has the right to rule you? Who has the right to rule the nations? What force, what individual, what government has the right to expect from you compliance? That's what the book's about. This is certainly a question being asked in our world today, right?

Specifically, if you're looking at what's going on in Afghanistan, it's a question: who has the right to rule here? To whom belongs the power? Just in the last couple of months, I want to draw your attention to three flags that have been flying in Afghanistan, Kabul, that will indicate some of this ideological collision.

The American flag flying not long ago over the embassy in Kabul. What does it represent? Well, based upon the very first right, or the very first promise guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, when this government was established, it elevates that which is first, right, to the highest priority.

From that, we derive, or certainly I derive, what is most important, what the flag stands for. It's a right to a freedom to worship God as God expects or as conscience dictates you to worship your God. That is first right, first promise guaranteed that you have the right, the freedom to worship God as your conscience dictates, and all the discipline that goes along with that.

To me, that will be what the American flag always stands for, even if some don't always live up to it. Then, in June, in the celebration of gay pride, another flag, as is showing. Up at some of the embassies around the world, a rainbow flag was waving. In fact, a tweet from the U.S.

Embassy in Kabul had a picture of the rainbow flag. It's a very different flag. It represents the freedom to celebrate that which God forbids, taking freedom to another extreme. Freedom to celebrate what God forbids. I don't know who was in charge. Obviously, that's not going to endear us.

And then, just recently, to perhaps the shock and embarrassment to the United States, a white flag has been raised with a black inscription, the Taliban flag. I need to pronounce this best I can. The Asa Heda. The Asa Heda. Really translated the testimony. The testimony. It's words. And this is what the testimony says.

It's an Islamic oath. I bear witness that none deserves worship. Except Allah. And I bear witness that Mohammed is the messenger of Allah. A very different ideological commitment. And you look at some of the horrible sights that have been coming out, some I can't even mention. You're very much aware of them.

The Taliban knows nothing about freedom of conscience, nothing about the separation of religious ideologies and state policies. Church state one, civil order wedded to an anti-Christ religion, anti-Jewish religion. And together with the religion and the government, you have a commitment to enforce compliance. Another axis of power has come into stepped on the stage of the world.

In fact, you have the embassy of Russia there. You have the embassy of China there. Very few embassies, even in Kabul. You have the embassy of Iran. And some fear a whole nother axis of power in time beginning to coalesce together, one that is profoundly antichrist. We've just been spending time in John's letters.

He made it very clear who is the Antichrist, the one that denies the relationship between the Father and the Son. Could you imagine what it's like being a Christian there today? And friends, we do have brothers and sisters there today. Some of them are waiting for the Taliban to come to their house.

They are there. Is there any hope for them? They face a very similar situation to the seven churches that Revelation was written to. Let me tell you a little bit about Asia Minor, the area of modern-day Turkey. In John's day, I'll take more time to unpack this in the weeks ahead.

Right now, I just feel like just an oversight of a brief introduction to start talking about this book as an order. I'll talk a little more in depth about some of these things, specifically the date. By the way, can I get the clock up there? I mean, we won't end.

If I start Revelation with no clock, we just don't end because the Revelation goes on. But historians agree that the Emperor Domitian was an individual who not only revived emperor worship, but he actually takes it to new heights. So at the end of the first century, you have the reign of this figure, Domitian, the emperor.

And he is the one who began to ascribe to himself the attributes of God. And he is the one who established, certainly took it to new heights, a form of religion that involved citizen worship. In fact, two historians, Cassius and Suetonius, say that Domitian officially gave himself the title Lord and God.

Dominus et Deus, Lord and God. And he effectively challenges God Himself, specifically Christ. That is where he met with the greatest resistance. In fact, one historian, Stauffer, says it like this: He describes the difference between Nero and Domitian in this manner. He says, Domitian was the first emperor to wage a proper campaign against Christ.

Nero had Paul and Peter destroyed, but he looked upon them as seditious Jews, that is, revolutionaries. Domitian was the first emperor to understand that behind the Christian movement there stood an enematic figure who threatened the glory of the emperors, and rightfully so. There is a figure behind the Christian movement that will not bow because he is king of kings and lord of lords.

But imagine what those churches were facing in that first century. Domitian had declared. Declared war upon the Christ behind Christianity. And he was the first to lose that war. He was assassinated. But you can imagine what it was like. You know, you cannot worship, you're not to worship any other God.

And yet, the political forces and the religious forces of the day are set against you, much like they are today in many parts of the world, to denounce God, not only denounce, but to worship a false God. Is there any hope? Well, it's against this background that John wrote to encourage these churches with these words.

Look back at him. The revelation of Jesus Christ. It's the title of the book. And that's as far as we're going to get today in this text. The revelation of Jesus Christ. Sometimes you see the word apocalypse, right? The apocalypse. The apocalypse. And sometimes we get in our mind apocalypse.

We see. Like an atom bomb or some sort of end time devastation. But that's really kind of a misuse of the word. The word really simply means revealing, unveiling, unfolding, taking something which is hidden and making it known. The revealing of Jesus Christ. The revealing of Jesus Christ.

Sorry, I think I kind of the revealing of Jesus Christ. And John's opening words immediately tell us what this book is all about. It's all about Jesus, right? The revealing, the revealing of Jesus Christ, the full disclosure of who He is, the full disclosure, and the events that are going to bring about this full disclosure of who Jesus Christ is.

And all the nations are going to see him. The revealing, the revealing. And it's important as you begin this book, as we begin this journey together, that we understand with all the contributions that this book makes to eschatology. And it adds much. Eschatology, the study of the end times, the things to come.

This book adds much to the eschatology, to the study of eschatology. But keep in mind and never lose sight of its Christology. John tells us right at the very beginning: this book is about the revealing of Jesus Christ. I think of Revelation as a very unique book. It's clearly prophecy, and it's clearly a letter.

It's a letter, it's an epistle, and it's also prophecy. And I think of it as a pastoral prophecy. It's a pastoral effort to encourage churches by giving them a prophetic glimpse of Jesus Christ in all of his glory. Nothing strengthens his churches more than a vision of Christ in all of his glory.

Nothing strengthens an individual, an individual follower of Christ, more than seeing Christ in all of his glory. It is pastoral to encourage you. It is prophetic to show you the things that Are to come so that you will live today in light of these realities and to be able to stand firm against all forces, all beasts and false prophets that join themselves together against God's holy anointed one.

And there have been many. And we see in the book of Revelation there will be a final expression: the beast, governmental entity joining hands with an antichrist, a false prophet, and so bringing about a satanic theocracy. But in the midst of that, John shows us and strengthens us and strengthens the churches with a vision of Christ in all of his glory that has comforted and strengthened churches and those going through the most difficult times of persecution throughout the last 2,000 years, and he will continue to do so no matter how bad it ever gets.

That's what this book does. So John tells us it's. It's about the full disclosure of Jesus Christ in all of his glory. And it takes us from John's time to the breaking in and full establishment of God's kingdom on earth and the new heavens and the new earth.

And it is here, it is here that we see the answer to the prayer and the prayers that have been lifted up throughout the church ages. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. It was Jesus who taught us to pray that way, right?

Matthew 6, 9, 10. Your kingdom come. This is how you are to pray. Your will be done. It was Jesus who, by his own example, taught us to pray that way, even in the garden of Gethsemane. He says, Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink it, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It's in Revelation 4. Let me read you a little picture of what this looks like. What does God's will look like in heaven? What does this commitment to the will of God look like? Well, let me just read to you beginning in verse 8, chapter 4. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within.

And day and night they do not cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come. And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, O Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and because of Your will they existed.

There's a picture of God's commitment in heaven to do God's will. And when Jesus breaks in, that will be the case of earth as well. But it was also Jesus, if you will remember, who prayed that his disciples would see his glory. You remember that in John 17:24?

Father, I desire that they also whom you have given me, and this involves you and me who believe through the words of the apostles, that they will be with me where I am, so that they may see my glory which you have given me, for you loved me before the foundation of the world.

So Jesus Himself wants us to see him in his glory. And just look over into chapter 5 and verse 12. And it gives you a picture. We see this figure, the Lamb, Lamb who was slain. And hear these words in heaven shouted about him. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.

And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea and all things in them. I heard saying, To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and glory and honor and dominion forever and ever.

And the four living creatures kept saying, Amen. And the elders fell down and worshiped. You see, Revelation is a prophetic preview of Christ's glory that all of his people will witness, but also the whole world. The book of Revelation is the account of the events that must take place leading up to his second coming and the events that will happen thereafter.

Some of the most blessed times in human history are the times when God inserts Himself into our world. That is true on a big picture. That is true upon an individual picture. The greatest moments in my life have been when God has inserted Himself into my world. And I want us to look back over biblical history and highlight a few of the special instances where God broke into our world and has revealed Himself in His Christ so that we will look forward to the time when He will once again break into our world.

And that this book will set before you a vision of the glory of Christ that will encourage your hearts, that will cause you to stand and look forward to the coming day because it is coming. So that's what we're going to do this morning. Just look at the revealing of Jesus Christ in a few of the special instances.

I'll be looking at how He revealed Himself in the Old Testament, how the revealing of Jesus Christ showed up in the Old Testament at His first Advent and then at His second Advent. And what does the word? Advent means? Coming, right? So I want to look at how Jesus Christ or how the Christ was revealed in the Old Testament at his first coming and at his second coming.

So first of all, in the Old Testament. It's here in the Old Testament that we behold Christ in promise, in type, or in prophecy. It's here where, you remember, right after the fall, after Adam and Eve did what they should not have done, they broke God's command. And immediately after the fall, in Genesis 3, 14, God stepped in and he cursed the devil.

The Lord God said to the serpent, Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle and more than every beast of the field. On your belly you will go, and dust you will eat all the days of your life. Listen, anyone who serves the ruler of this world is serving someone who is cursed.

God stepped in and cursed the devil. And then he says, And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. God stepped in and Cursed the devil and promised a Savior who would come and completely crush, or an individual who would come and crush, who would destroy the power and the influence of the evil one over all humanity.

But in that same place, God also shows us, gives us a foreshadow of God's forgiving ministry to fallen people. Genesis 3:21, the Lord God made garments of skin for Adam, and He clothed them. He covered their shame. So, right out of the very beginning, God inserts Himself, and we know what God is like right after the fall.

And that's going to be developed more and more. Give us more and more specifics. Remember in Noah's time, the wickedness of man had gotten so great upon the earth that God could say that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And God says, Okay, enough.

And he steps into the world, and he's going to cleanse the world of wickedness. And how does he do that? Through judgment. Through judgment. He is going to cleanse the earth through judgment. And so he sends the flood. But he also delivers one family, takes that family through the flood.

Genesis 7:1. Then the Lord said to Noah, Enter the ark, you and all your household, for you alone I have seen to be righteous before me in this time. One righteous man. And he delivers this man and his family from God's judgment. He doesn't remove the man from God's judgment, he puts him in a place of safety through the judgment.

So when the world is being judged, Noah goes through it. Righteous one. And God remembered Noah and all that were with him. So God judges, and God delivers from his own judgment and foreshadows God's cleansing of the inhabitants of earth through judgment and through deliverance. That's how he's going to do it.

God will destroy the power and influence of evil by destroying, that is, rendering ineffective all workers of evil. And he is going to deliver the righteous, those who do not. Belong to the power of the evil one. But then the question becomes: who are the righteous? Right? Who are the righteous, and how does one become righteous?

Well, then keep reading, and God steps in and calls out an individual named Abram. God again steps into the world, right? And he calls this individual Abraham. Abram, and he calls him out, go out of your country. I will make a great nation out of you. And in you, all the families of the earth will be blessed.

And he says, go out, Genesis 15, see if you can count the stars, so your descendants shall be. And he believed in the Lord. And he, speaking of the Lord, reckoned it to him as righteousness. This one, the blessed family on the earth are those who have faith.

They are the ones who believe God's word. Do you have faith? Do you believe God's Word? And you see this family of faith, those who believe God's Word, and it doesn't come without struggle, but you see they believe Abraham, Isaac. Jacob, right? And out of Jacob, a family, rather dysfunctional, comes into existence, right?

God takes, they end up down in Egypt, right? 400 years of cruel bondage, and what is happening there? This family gets welded together as a nation, a great number of people. And then God again steps into human history. He says, it's time for my people to come out, as I promised.

And so he steps in to deliver them from cruel bondage. And so he calls forth a people. And what is the distinguishing mark that he puts upon these people? The blood of a lamb. That is how God distinguished between Israel and Egypt. The blood of an innocent sacrifice.

A people. Then he takes them and he gives them a law. Not only do these people have a distinguishing mark, they have a distinguishing law that helps them distinguish between what is right and what is wrong, what is holy and what is profane, what is unclean and what is clean.

Because the law reflects the character of the lawgiver. He wants his people to walk, to live, to imitate his character, because he is good, and he is right, and he is glorious. So God steps in and he calls out a people and he gives them a law, but then he steps in again and he promises to give them a king, a distinguished individual.

2 Samuel 7:10 says, This, I will also appoint a place for my people, Israel, and will plant them that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them anymore as formerly. What nation doesn't want this? Peace. Not to be disturbed by wicked intents.

So God is going to step in and he's going to raise up a king that's going to take them there to the place, both physically and spiritually. 2 Samuel 7:16 says, This, Your house and your kingdom shall endure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever. That's the Davidic hope.

Peace, kingdom of peace, that lasts. Who wants a kingdom that's here for them? It's over. Remember the good old days, right? No, a kingdom that, last. But he goes on to further distinguish this individual. In Jeremiah 23, 5, God says, This, Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous branch, and he will reign as king and act wisely and do justice and righteousness in the land.

In his days, Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely, and this is his name by which he will be called the Lord, Yahweh, our righteousness. So God has purposed to give them a king who is none other than God Himself. Peace, endurance, the place where God Himself rules.

God stepped in to the nations. In fact, Dr. Michael Vlock, one of our professors at the seminary, says it like this: Israel is God's beachhead to the nations. He is God's beachhead to the nations. So, in the Old Testament, we behold Christ in promise, in type, and in prophecy.

Now, I want to talk to you about the real. Revealing of Jesus Christ at his first advent. This is where God personally steps into our humanity. John 1:11 says, He came to his own, and those who were his own did not receive him. But as many as received him to them, he gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in his name, who were born not of blood or of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of God.

He came in humanity, he came in humility. It is here at his first advent that we behold Christ in his humility. And many rejected him. He came to his own. He came to gather people. Some received him, though. And those who did became part of the family of faith.

Listen, you can only receive Christ in his humility. You can only receive him by faith. When he comes in all of his glory, you cannot receive him by faith. You can only see him and be terrified, and in your fright bow down to him out of personal. Preservation.

When you see him revealed in your glory, you cannot love him for who he is. You immediately fall. So now is the day that you can be drawn to him. Now is the day that you can come to him by faith. Now we see him in his humility.

Now you must trust him by faith. This is how the king is gathering his people. Because when you see him coming in glory and you bow down before him, it's out of fright and out of self-preservation, not out of love for the king. Now is the time for salvation.

I love that exchange when Nathanael sees Jesus. And Jesus says, Nathanael, before Philip called you, when you were under the tree, I saw you. Nathanael had just said, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And Nathanael answered him, Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the king of Israel.

And Jesus answered him and said, And I believe smiling. This is one of those places where you see Jesus smiling. Jesus answered and said to him, Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.

And indeed, he did. He witnessed that in this king, in this king of Israel, the power and authority over time, space, and matter exists. That this individual, this king, has the power and authority over death and over the grave. That's what Nathaniel witnessed and the others. Not only that, that he has power and authority over his own life.

He made it very clear, no one takes it away from him. And so, if he laid it down for some reason, you need to pay attention. He laid down his life for the well-being of his people, not only at the cross, but he continues to lay down his life for the well-being of his people, being their high priest, their advocate, their shepherd.

He has power and authority over all life. Great power. He has the power and authority to forgive sin. The king is the lamb. The king is the creator. The king is life itself. And whoever believes in him belongs to him. It's the message. And not just for the Jews.

But for the whole world, we see again God stepping into the nations through the proclamation of Christ, changing the courses of history. We know where humanity is going. It's going back to Genesis 6, where every thought is only evil always, unless God steps in. And so he goes to the nations with the message of Israel's king, the Messiah, God's King.

And he breaks into the nations through the apostle's voice, and is continuing to go through the nations like yeast working through a whole lump of dough. The gospel is going through the nations, inviting all to come to him. He has been breaking into individual lives ever since. So at the revealing of Jesus Christ, we've seen him revealed in the Old Testament.

We see him revealed at his first advent. And now we'll see him again revealed at his second advent. And this is where we behold Christ in his glory. See, the book of Revelation gives us a preview of the events leading up to Christ's second coming. God will again invade our world.

And as you look at the first three chapters of Revelation, you realize there's a high priest, an advocate, our shepherd. Christ is there. Looking at chapters 4 and 5, you see Christ described as the lion of Judah, the root of David, the Lamb, and he is worthy to be worshipped.

And then we come to the climax of the book. Not the way my wife likes for me to read a novel, but I'll take you to the climax of the book right here. Chapter 19, verse 11 through 16, the climax, really, of his coming. Revelation 19:11. And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat on it is called faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war.

His eyes are a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems. And he has a name written on him, which no one knows except himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, White and clean, we're following him on white horses.

From his mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it he may strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, and he treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of Kings, Lord of Lords.

So the high priest that we read about, the advocate, the shepherd, the lion, the root of David, the lamb, is also king of kings and lord of lords. It is he who has the right. It is he who has the authority. It is he who has the power, so that all nations will bow down to him.

All things, all creatures under the earth, on the earth, in heaven, under heaven, all of them will worship him. That is Revelation's. That is the revealing of Jesus Christ. And you and me. He who has the authority over your life. This one does. Jesus Christ. And you can really break Revelation down into two major divisions.

That which takes place before His great coming and that. Which takes place after. You know what happens before he comes? Chapters 6 through 18. You know what chapters 6 through 18 are about? Very simple. Seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls. And all of these lead up to the coming of Christ, prepares the world to receive the king.

It's a time to look forward to. Sometimes we approach Revelation and we get tripped up over all the imageries and get a little bit frightened, right? No, if you know what this is about, this is a book of encouragement. This is an exciting book. Can you say 7-7-7?

You know much of what the book is about. You know the divisions. It's very straightforward. It doesn't need to be complicated. It wasn't intended to be complicated. It was intended to reveal Jesus Christ and for you to know the events that would take place, or certainly the generation take place.

But there's a second major division. So there are those things that take place right before chapters 6 through 18. Then there are those things that Take place right after. And that's what chapters 19 to 22 is about. All opposition will be crushed. There is a thousand-year reign. Afterwards, there is the great white throne judgment.

Again, very much like Noah's flood. It's not going to be water this time, it's going to be fire, where all wickedness is going to be removed. But God's righteous, God's people will be, those in the book of life will be spared. Those not in the book of life will go into the lake of fire.

There will be new heavens, new earth, new Jerusalem, and an eternal state. That's what happens after he comes. It's not intended to be a complicated book. The revealing of Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament, we behold Christ in promise, in type, and in prophecy. At his first advent, we behold Christ in his humility.

At his second advent, we behold Christ in his glory. And this is much of what the book of Revelation gives us: a preview of that. What a good and fitting, perfect conclusion to Scripture. And what an encouragement for those seven churches facing the difficult. Times they were in.

Back to Afghanistan. Is there any kind of hope there? You know what I'd like to see if I could write history. I would like to see another nation come into Afghanistan. One that is just, one that does what is right, one whose armies cannot be defeated. One who loves people.

A nation where every single individual is valued to the same degree as the king himself. I would love to see another nation like that step in. One whose leader can make the land prosperous. One who can bring out the very best in humanity. That's what I'd like to see enter in.

One that will cause people to live up to their full potential. One that will cause people to live to an old age, to enjoy children, and to enjoy their children's children and to enjoy relationships. One who will bring about such a transformation that there's no need to. Study war anymore.

I don't need a security system anymore. I don't need special forces anymore. That's the kind of army I would love to see enter into Afghanistan and not just Afghanistan, but our whole world. So that we could look and say with honesty, now, now is the time when God's will is done on earth, just as it is in heaven.

But where? I look at the nations upon the earth. From where would they come? Where should we look for such a nation? It's not us, is it? But maybe it is us. It's not the U.S. No, only from heaven, only such an army will come. And they will follow the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords.

Welcome to the book of Revelation. I hope this brief survey has awakened your desire to welcome Jesus in your world today. And I hope it's awakened a desire for you to spend some time with us as we walk through this book, verse by verse. There's no book like Revelation.

Listen, he is again going to break into. Our world. But knowing that, here we are today, I want you to welcome him into your world now. The best times in history are when God breaks into an individual's life and he's here today to break into your life. He is drawn near through the preaching of his word and he calls you, just like he called Abraham, come out of your world, come to Christ.

To whom belongs the power to Christ. Sometimes God breaks in in times of great distress, personal distress, but whenever he draws near, it is always good. Welcome him. He is the one to whom the nations will ultimately bow. He is the one who has the right to rule your life now.

Yield it all to him. He is good in every sense of the word. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you. We thank you for this revealing of your Christ, our God and King. Help us to welcome your dominion over us in every sense of the word, and help us not to be discouraged to face what you have before us.

We know what comes. Come, Lord Jesus. Amen.