A Closer Look at Christ

No more the name of the name of Jesus No more the name of the name Of the glory, no one that name, but the name of Jesus is worth of gl and wor of all that Welcome to Living Word, the broadcast ministry of Christ Community Church Each week at this time, it's our privilege to bring you Pastor Lance Sparks as he opens the living and abiding Word of God. I invite you to join us as we explore the highly symbolic yet very significant series on the book of Revelation As we continue our study of the book of Revelation, verses 4 to 8, we want to get a closer look At the Christ

In fact, if someone asked me, Can you describe for me Jesus Christ, your Lord? I would take them to Revelation chapter 1 Read them verses 4 to 8 and then explain to them who Jesus Christ is based on these verses Let's look at them together Revelation chapter 1, verse number 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 the 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 priest To his God and Father To him be the glory and the dominion for ever 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, even so Am. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty There's something interesting about this passage It begins with a benediction

Last week we gave the introduction to the book of Revelation, the first three verses And as the book opens, it begins with a benediction It begins with a blessing And then from that benediction, we move to a description of our Lord Jesus Christ And then the exaltation of our king, and we'll talk about that tonight Those are our three points But first of all, I want you to look with me at the benediction, it's in verse number four At the very beginning of the book of Revelation, God gives a blessing John to the seven churches That are in Asia

The seven churches, they're listed in verse number 11 We'll talk about them in great detail in the weeks to come With the direct recipients Of this letter from the Apostle John They're located in Asia Today it's modern-day Turkey, the western half of Asia Minor But John is the one who receives from the Lord Jesus Christ this letter, that he in turn might write down the things that he sees And then give them, of course, to these seven churches As you recall, John is around 80 years of age He was a teenager at the upper room when Christ was

Had that Last Supper with his men, and now he's in his 80s He's an old man, he's exiled on the island of Patmos because he was a faithful witness He was committed to sticking with the truth no matter what And God is going to bless this man But as he begins to write down what he sees, it begins with a benediction And look at the substance of that benediction, and then we'll look at the source of that benediction First of all, the substance: it says, John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace The substance of this benediction is twofold, one of grace and one of peace

Now you might think that as just another standard greeting that a writer might give But I want you to remember something This is a book that deals with the judgment of God The wrath of God. A book that deals with the devastation of all mankind It deals with the destiny of everyone who deser hell And yet it begins with a benediction It begins with a blessing The blessing of grace God begins at the outset of this book dealing with wrath and dealing with judgment By telling these people that they can have what they do not deserve, and that is grace

That's the substance of the benediction, grace and peace But what's the source of it? What's the source of the benediction? It tells us Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come Who's that? That's the eternal God The source of this grace, the source of this peace is the eternal God We have a hard time grasping God's eternity So He describes Himself in a time dimension He describes him as a way in which we can understand him He is the God who is and who was

And who is to come? Same thing down in verse number 8: I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come Not only is there the eternal God who offers this grace and peace as the source of this benediction, but there's something else Look what it says It says, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne The number seven, of course, describing the fullness of that spirit And then it says, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness This is a tri benediction This is from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit

They all three in one are offering to you grace and peace That's how the book begins God wants you to be blessed God wants you to experience His grace that you might then experience the peace of God, especially for those who will read this book in the midst of the tribulation That they will understand that their God is one who offers grace Point number two: I want you to look with me at the description of Christ We're going to get a real close look at our Lord Jesus Christ here And I want you to notice with me six features that describe Him Six of them Number one is this

He says he is the faithful witness The faithful Witness We live in a world where it's characterized by unfaithfulness Is that not true? Non-commitment It's hard to find a faithful person It's hard to find a trustworthy person It's hard to find somebody who's dependable But I want to let you know something My Lord is the faithful witness He is the rel one It speaks of his credibility Our God is credible What he says always happens exactly as he says it's going to happen He's the rel one It speaks of his credibility Number two, he is the resurrected one, and that speaks of his superiority

Look what it says It says, Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead He is the firstborn of the dead It's a word prot, which refers to rank or position And that is this: He is the leader of all who will rise from the dead through him to everlasting life Jesus Christ was not the first one to rise from the dead There are many who rose from the dead before him The word firstborn prot speaks of preeminency Of all the people who rose from the dead, he is the one who is superior He is the pre one

It says over in Psalm 89, verse number 27: I also shall make him my firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth Revelation is a book about exalting Jesus Christ, the King, the one who is superior He is the resurrected one It speaks of his superiority He is the rel one It speaks of his credibility Number three, he is the ruling one This speaks of his sovereignty It says that he is the ruler of the kings of the earth He is the ruler of the kings of the earth He is the ruling one Over in Revelation:, he is called the king of kings and lord of lords

In Daniel 4:3, he's called the king of heaven Matthew 2. 2, the king of the Jews John 1. 4, the king of Israel. 1 Timothy 1. the king of the ages Psalm 24, verse number 7, the king of glory Revelation 15. the king of the nations He is a sovereign one He is the one with all authority because he rules over all the kings of the earth That's good news Because he rules over your boss, doesn't he? Your boss might think he's the king or she thinks she's the queen, but Jesus Christ him is the king

And all of the earthly kings and queens are subject to the superior one of the universe, the king of kings and lord of lords Isaiah 43, verse number 13 God says, I act, and who can reverse it, saith the Lord The bottom line is, you serve the sovereign king You see, we have a low view of God, don't we? We're not sure God can handle my family We're not sure God can give me another job We're not sure God can keep my marriage together We're not sure He can do that We're not really sure He is the king We're not really sure He is the sovereign one

We're not really sure He is Ruling one, we think he is We're not really sure about it And so, when John pens the words in Revelation chapter 1, he says, I'm going let you know something: Jesus Christ He's the reliable one It speaks of his credibility Jesus Christ, he's the resurrected one It speaks of his superiority Jesus Christ, He's the ruling one It speaks of His sovereignty It speaks of His authority He cont everything And that means everything that happens from Revelation 1 on is a complete control of God

Every famine, every earthquake, every war, all the blood that's shed, every pestilence, every demon that's let loose, all happens because a sovereign God is in control You have nothing Nothing to worry about And then he says, To him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood John says, He is the Redeeming One This speaks of His ministry Because he's the redeeming one, it tells us of his ministry Look at it He loves us Sir, we wish to see Jesus

We got to ask ourselves the question: do we see Jesus? Have we seen him as the pages of Scripture depict him? Have we seen Him as the rel one? Have we seen Him as the resurrected one? Have we seen Him as the ruling one? Have we seen Him as the Redeeming One who lo Loves us with an everlasting love Paul would pray about it in Ephesians chapter 3, verses 17 to 19, that we would understand that God's love never lets us go It end forever It's kind It suffers long And somehow we would understand the love of God

One man said, well, if our greatest need had been information, God would have sent us an educator If our greatest need had been technology, God would have sent us a scientist If our greatest need had been money, God would have sent us an economist But since our greatest need was forgiveness, God sent us a Savior And that was our need One who loves us with an everlasting love Greater love hath no man than this than to lay down his life for his friends John 15:13 He's the Redeeming One Are you ready? Who loves us? Number two, who liberates us

What's it say? Who loves us and released us from our sin? Isn't that good? He liberates us, he sets us free From the bondage of sin We have been released from that curse We have been washed, loosed, set free from the slavery Of sin How? By His own blood It says, He released us from our sins by His own bl Folks, listen The book of Revelation, are you ready for this? Is a book of redemption It's the book about redemption He is called the Lamb of God And John the Baptist will say, Behold, the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world This is the Lamb of God

Jesus Christ is referred to as the Lamb once in the Old Testament, Isaiah 53, verse number 7 Twice in the Gospels, John chapter 1, verse number 27, and verse number 36 Twice in the epistles, Acts chapter 8, verse number 32, 1 Peter 1, verse number 19, and 28 times in the book of Revelation alone. 28 times That's his apocalyptic name, the Lamb of God He wants to be known as a Lamb of God for all eternity So they sing, wor is the Lamb who was slain to receive glory and honor and praise It's the Lamb of God That's how he wants to be known

Because his ministry was to love us and to liberate us from our sin, to release us from that which enslaved us That we might be set free to be exactly what he wants us to be This is the greatest story known to man The book of Revelation is a book about redemption We talked about it last week That's why Satan doesn't want you to read the book of Revelation It's about the Lamb of God who wants to set you free from your bondage of sin And it depicts how He does that by giving His life through His own blood, washing us and cleansing us

Oh, it says in 1 Peter 1 that we are redeemed by what? The precious blood of the Lamb You see, you have blood, right? We all have blood in our bodies Your blood is not precious to me It's precious to you If you lose your blood, you die If you lose your blood, I don't die You die Your blood is precious to you Your blood is only precious to you But Jesus Christ, His blood, was precious for all mankind Why? Because it was only his blood that would be shed for the remission of sins, that we would be set free

Free from that one thing that kept us from having a relationship with the living God that happened way back in Genesis chapter 3 And the book of Revelation is a book about redemption The Lamb of God who liberates us If you're a believer, you should live a guilt-free life Folks, listen, if you have guilt about anything, Guilt about anything, any sin, then you need to go back and understand the Lamb of God who has set you free and released you from your sin You should not have any guilt Sure you should have sorrow for your sin Sure you should repent of your sin

Ask forgiveness from God for your sin But when Jesus Christ says, I have forgiven you, I have set you free from that He's the Redeeming One It speaks of His ministry He is the one who loves us He is the one who liberates us Follow very carefully He is the one who lifts us Look what it says It says, He made us to be a kingdom Again, if you've got the New King James Version, it says kings, wrong translation That's why you to get a num standard Bible Kingdom That's a proper translation He has lifted us to be a part of what? His kingdom, the place where the king rules

Isn't that good? I mean, we're a part of his kingdom He lifted us from the pit of despair From being dead in our trespasses and sin, He lifted us up to be a part of His holy kingdom That's our God That's who we serve He lifted us That's the redeeming one And lastly, are you ready for this? He licensed us, he made us priests Every one of you who know Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, are ordained priests in the kingdom of God Nic? He made us priests Priests have what? Access to God into the Holy of Holies You have access to God to draw near to Him

To go before him boldly because he made you a priest He licensed you He ordained you That's the Redeemer of the world. 1 Peter 2:9 says that we are a royal priesthood Designed to declare and proclaim the praises of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light That's our God, the Redeeming One who loves us Who liberates us, who lifts us, and who licensed us to be his priests Folks, this is so good This is who Jesus Christ is And this is what He did for you and me What a tremendous passage of Scripture And fifthly, he is the returning one It speaks of his glory

He's the returning one Look what it says: behold He is coming Present tense It's not he will come It's not he shall come It is what? He is Coming, present tense That's amazing He is the returning one Meaning, the process of his coming is already in operation Did you know that? That's why you got to be alert You got to be looking to the heavens because he's on his way And the Bible says that every eye will see him Every eye will see him Matthew 24, verse number 30 tells us that everything will be pitch black before Jesus Christ returns

Everything is going to be black, and all of a sudden, there's going to be blazing light that comes out of glory It'll be Jesus Christ Himself Coming, and every eye will see him And look what it says Even those who pierced him Who's that? Even those who pierced him Who's that? Say, well, that's the Roman soldiers, those five guys who nailed them to the cross No, they're dead already They're gone Well, who is it? The Bible tells us over in John chapter 19: For these things came to pass, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, not a bone of him shall be broken

And again, another scripture says, they shall look on him in whom they pierced Who's that? That's the Jews That's Jews And look with me for a moment over to Zach chapter 12, verse number 10 And I will pour out on the house of David And on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on me whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only son And they will weep bitterly over him like the bitter weeping over a firstborn That's the nation of Israel

They're going to see the Son of Man coming in all of his glory, and they are going to weep bitterly as if they lost their only son Why? Because they will recognize for the very first time that the one they pierced, the one they hung on the tree, was truly the Messiah And God says, I will give them the spirit of Grace and of supplic That is a spirit of grace and repentance They will plead with me for forgiveness They will beg from me forgiveness, and I will grant it to them

You see, there's already going to be 144,000 Jews that are saved, and they're going to be the greatest witnesses the world has ever seen. 12,000 from every tribe But when Jesus Christ comes back at the end of the tribulation, all those other Jews will see him And be saved And the fulfillment of Romans 11:2 will be fulfilled Which is what? All Israel will be sa They'll look upon him and whom they have pierced, and they will mourn, they'll weep And God says, I will grant to them the spirit of supplication In the spirit of grace

Verse number one in chapter 13: In that day, a fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for impurity On that day, when they see me, When they see me, there will be a cleansing of the nation of Israel Because every Jew that has not given their life to Christ will be born again They will realize that Jesus Christ is their Messiah And they will praise his name and weep bitterly over what they have done, and God will save their souls Praise Be to God His coming He is the returning one It will be visible And number two, it will be vengeful

The book of Revelation speaks of that, Romans 12, verse number 19 Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord There is a just retribution that will take place for every unbeliever But lastly, it will be victorious It will be victorious The Bible says, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him Now, note this: who are all the tribes of the earth? That's everybody else And their mourning will be different than the mourning of the Jewish people Their mourning is not going to be one of repentance, it's going to be one of bitterness All you got to do is read Revelation:

Well, they will not repent of their immorality They will not repent of their murders They will not repent of their thefts They will not repent of their sorceries They won't repent over anything, even though God has poured out his wrath upon them through pestilence And through demons and through earthquakes and all kinds of tragedy, they still won't mourn over their sin because they love their sin too much And last, and I must hurry, he is the reigning one He says, I am the alpha and the omega, says the Lord God, who is And who was, and who is to come the Al It speaks of his eternality

That's our description Of our God What a tremendous picture of Jesus Christ, our Lord When Jesus Christ Came to earth the first time, he came to redeem man When he comes a second time, he comes to reign over man Lastly, notice with me the exaltation Back up with me if you would, to verse number six It says, To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever Amen That's the exaltation John says, it's time to shout It's time to do, number one, give God the glory And number two, declare his dominion And John says, Am

So be it. I trust that you have given God the glory. I trust that He has dominion in your life, that you might declare His rulership, His ownership of you, because He has made you One of his kingdom's people, a priest to serve and to honor his glorious name. I trust that you know Jesus Christ. I trust That you would have seen him this evening in all of his glory Let's pray Thank you for joining us today If this broadcast has been a blessing to you, take a moment right now to drop us a line

It's only through the encouragement of your faithful donations that we're able to bring these broadcasts to you Because Living Word is an edited version of Pastor Lance's sermons. be sure to get the complete fifty minute message by calling us today Our phone number is six two six nine six zero forty four forty four Christ Community Church is located at 1432 West Puent Avenue, on the corner of Sunset and Puente Avenues in Wesco. and our Sunday morning services are at 9 and 10. 4 a.m Currently, Pastor Lance is preaching through the book of Genesis

We'd love to have you visit our church, and we especially want to invite you on Wednesday evenings at 6 While children are learning God's Word in our kids' club, Pastor Lance is teaching through the book of Revelation Be sure to join us each Sunday at this time and weekdays at 6 p. as Pastor Lance brings a message from God's Word It will enable you to grow and glorify Him Of the L come and name the name of Jesus is worth of love and worth of honor And part of your power and no p.