WHO WE ARE-II—Revelation 1:4-8
A man returns from a foreign holiday and is feeling very ill. He goes to see his doctor, and is immediately rushed to the hospital to undergo tests.
The man wakes up after the tests in a private room at the hospital, shuffles to the door & finds it locked from the outside!/Just then the phone by his bed rings.
"This is your doctor. We’ve had the results back from your tests and we’ve found you have an extremely nasty virus who’s progress, so far, we are completely helpless to destroy or even slow down!"
"Oh my goodness," cried the man, "What are you going to do, doctor?"
"Well we’re going to put you on a diet of pizzas, pancakes, tortillas & pita bread."
"Will that cure me???" asked the man.
The doctor replied, "Well no, but... it’s the only food we can get under the door!"
Ralph was made aware of who he was in the doctor’s eyes.
Ralph was made aware of what kind of man his doctor was.
The Doctor was well aware of who his patient(Ralph) was.
Likewise, the Church must be made aware of who she is in God’s eyes.
Prior to informing the 7 churches of the revelation of Jesus, John greeted them with encouragement & exhortation reminding them of who they were in Christ.
The revelation of Jesus Christ informs us of the Church’s identity.
Who Are We?
The Church is a Family of Unparalleled...
1. Grace(:4)
2. Peace(:4)
3. Presence(:4c)
4. Resourcefulness(:4d)
5—The Church is a family of
UNPARALLELED SALVATION(:5-7)
—Explanation:(:5-7)
:5—“& from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, & the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us, & released us from our sins by His blood,”
:6—"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."
:7—"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. Amen.”
—a. UNPARALLELED MESSENGER—
“& from Jesus Christ”
“Jesus”—IhsouV—from Heb. —ewvwhy(Joshua)— meaning ‘Jehovah is Salvation’
Mat. 1:21—“And she will bear a Son; & you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins.”
“Christ”—Messiah—Anointed One(of God)
—b. UNPARALLELED EVIDENCE—
“The Faithful witness”—Consistently, Faithfully represents God’s truth.
Jn. 3:31-36—JTB of Jesus—“He who comes from above is above all, he who is of the earth is from the earth & speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all. “What He has seen & heard, of that He bears witness; & no man receives His witness. “He who has received His witness has set his seal to this, that God is true. “For He whom God has sent speaks the words of God; for He gives the Spirit without measure. “The Father loves the Son, & has given all things into His hand. “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
Always faithful to God’s word regardless of Pressures— Social, Family, Friends, Job, Religious, Civil, National...
—c. UNPARALLELED HOPE—
“First-born of the dead”—
1Cor. 15:20-23—“But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who are asleep. For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, after that those who are Christ’s at His coming,”
—d. UNPARALLELED SOVEREIGNTY/AUTHORITY—
“Ruler of the kings of the earth”—
“Ruler”—arcwn—Chief, Leader
Rev. 17:14 & 19:16—“These will wage war against the Lamb, & the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords & King of kings, & those who are with Him are the called & chosen & faithful.....“And on His robe & on His thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”
Isa. 45:5-7—“I am the LORD, & there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the LORD, & there is no other, The One forming light & creating darkness, Causing well-being & creating calamity; I am the LORD who does all these.”
1Pet. 5:4—“And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”
Mat. 28:19—“...All authority has been given to Me in heaven & on earth.”
Jn. 3;35—“The Father loves the Son, & has given all things into His hand.”
—e. UNPARALLELED LOVE—
“Him who Loves us”—agapaw—Love dearly; Untainted, intimate, involved love.
1Jn. 4:16-19—“And we have come to know & have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, & the one who abides in love abides in God, & God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, & the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.”
Jn. 15:9—“Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”
—f. UNPARALLELED RELEASE—
“Released us from our sins”—
1Jn. 4:10—“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us & sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1Jn. 1:7—“but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, & the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
Col. 2:13-14— “And when you were dead in your transgressions & the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us & which was hostile to us; & He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.”
Isa. 53:5-6—“But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.”
“By His blood”—
—g. UNPARALLELED REFLECTION/REPRESENTATION—
“Made us to be a kingdom, priests/Kings & priests”—
“A kingdom, priests”—basileian iereiV
“Kings & priests”—Received Text(KJV) reads—basileiV kai iereiV—.
Jesus caused us to stand as God’s kingdom on earth—bound together around Christ?). Jesus’ kingdom consists of “priests” to Jesus’ God & Father or Jesus’ God who is also His Father. Ex. 19:6—“& you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests & a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.”
Mat. 16:15-19—“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered & said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered & said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh & blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. “And I also say to you that you are Peter, & upon this rock I will build My church; & the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; & whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, & whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
All Christians are to REFLECT/REPRESENT God’s will & desires so that we become
—h. UNPARALLELED RECOGNITION—
“Glory & dominion”—
“Glory”—‘A good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise & honor.’
“Dominion”—kratoV—‘Power, force, might, strength.’
—i. UNPARALLELED PROMISE—
“He is coming”—
Matt. 24:3—“And as He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, & what will be the sign of Your coming, & of the end of the age?”
Rev. 3:11— “I am coming quickly”; 16:15—“I am coming like a thief”; 22:7—“Behold, I am coming quickly”; 22:12—“Behold, I am coming quickly”; 22:20—“Yes, I am coming quickly”
Jn. 14:3—“And if I go & prepare a place for you, I will come again, & receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.”
—j. UNPARALLELED ATTENTION/Reach—
“Every eye will see Him”—All peoples
Mat. 24:23-27, 29-30—“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the Christ,’ or ‘There He is,’ do not believe him. “For false Christs & false prophets will arise & will show great signs & wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. “Behold, I have told you in advance. “If therefore they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go forth, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. “For just as the lightning comes from the east, & flashes even to the west, so shall the coming of the Son of Man be....“But immediately after the tribulation of those days THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, AND THE STARS WILL FALL from the sky, & the powers of the heavens will be shaken, & then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, & then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, & they will see the SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF THE SKY with power & great glory.”—6th seal—7 trumpets
Christ will return in glory
“Even those who pierced Him;”
“Even” meaning...
1)‘More Specifically’?—The Jews—Yes
OR
2)‘Including’?—Every age of mankind?—Yes
Unparalleled SORROW/DISTRESS
“And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him”—
“Mourn”—koptw— ‘to beat the breast in grief, ordinarily for the dead.’—Physical involvement. In Zech 12—dpom—Wailing.
1)They will realize that they missed Him while opportunity presented itself;
2)He will bring the final era to God’s plan of redemption for mankind & that will involve disaster, turmoil & death;
3)Their time of temporal reward is at an end.
Isa. 55:6-7—“Seek the LORD while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts; And let him return to the LORD, And He will have compassion on him; And to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”
Lk. 19:41-44—“And when He approached, He saw the city & wept over it, saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes. “For the days shall come upon you when your enemies will throw up a bank before you, & surround you, & hem you in on every side, & will level you to the ground & your children within you, & they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.”
—k. UNPARALLELED RESIGNATION/Acceptance—
“Mourn over Him. Even so. Amen.”—
“Even so”—Though His coming is an occasion for us to mourn, His coming is still a needed coming! And one all Christians yearn for knowing their portion is with the One who loves them.
“Amen”—amhn—From Hebrew—Nma amen—meaning to Support, Confirm, be Faithful, Verify, Uphold
—Illustration:
Swept away by stream/
Drunk/Rescued from self/
Stop direction of their nature
—Application:
?You the recipient of God’s Unparalleled SALVATION?
?You part of the Church family?
6—The Church is a family of
UNPARALLELED CONTAINMENT(:8)
—Explanation:(:8) Enclosure
“I am the Alpha & the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is & who was & who is to come, the Almighty.”
“Alpha & Omega”—First & last letters of the Greek alphabet.—Possessor of the beginning, end & all between as well! The only One who is.
“Is...was...is to come”—Present—Past—Future wrapped up in the “Lord God”
We cannot discern a beginning without Him nor an end without Him. All is contained in Christ.
“Almighty”—pantokratwr— ‘All Dominion’ as in :6.
—Argumentation:
Ps. 139:3-6—“Thou dost scrutinize my path & my lying down, And art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, Thou dost know it all. Thou hast enclosed me behind & before, And laid Thy hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it.”
—Illustration:
Cattle or Sheep out west/100’s of acres fenced in/CONTAINMENT
Pet Dog/Limit its wandering/Unparalleled CONTAINMENT
Great Wall of China/Unparalleled CONTAINMENT
—Application:
?You the recipient of God’s Unparalleled CONTAINMENT?
?You part of the Church family?
CONCLUSION
The Church is a Family of Unparalleled...
SALVATION(:5-7)
CONTAINMENT(:8)
GRACE(:4)
PEACE(:4)
PRESENCE(:4c)
RESOURCEFULNESS(:4d)
CHILDREN’S—‘Apples Are Good Witnesses’
Bite an apple leaving your tooth marks in the skin of it.
The apple is a ‘faithful witness’ to your action.
Likewise, Jesus is the faithful witness to mankind of God’s action.
Presented 01/20/02am to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 31797
