Mesa Hills Bible Church

Pastor Tim Dane: Children can go to children's church. Last week I was out, and I visited Peak Bible Church. It was the first time I had gotten to go to the church plant since they started a year and a half ago, so that was overdue. It was a great time to be with them.

I gave my finger a rest. I had that surgery on February 28th, and it was successful. They took off about a half-inch of the tip, including the edge of the bone, and got rid of that cancer that was in there. I know the lab results have been done, but they haven't called me back. I'm supposed to go back and they're going to do one more thing where they'll do a skin flap that completes it. I think he held off on doing that until they got the lab results so they didn't have to go back in if there was something more. Thank you for your prayers on that.

Over the last three days, they had a big conference at Grace Community Church called the Shepherds’ Conference. They have a bunch of pastors come in for John MacArthur's church. They've been doing this for 40 years or so. MacArthur had to have five stents put in about a month ago for his arteries.

A week or two ago, he fell and broke his wrist, but he was able to come in and be the last speaker in the conference. It was great to see MacArthur keep going at almost 83 years old. He's not going to stop. We can't let stuff stop us. By the way, if you see me doing this, I'm not giving you the bird; I just have to put my finger to the side.

We went out yesterday and did some evangelism after our men's Bible study. we went down to Acacia Park on Tejon Street where they have the St. Patrick's Day parade. It was a great time. About 10 of us went out and shared the gospel. There are thousands of people down there, so it's a great opportunity. It's like fishing in a stock pond.

Regarding Saint Patrick, part of what we did yesterday was put together a quiz. It was a gospel quiz with $20 if you get all the answers right. I already know you know them. Here is question number one: Where was Patrick born? He was born in England. Second question: What was Patrick's birth name? It wasn't Patrick. It was Maewyn Succat.

Third question: Why did Patrick go to Ireland? He was captured by Irish pirates and turned into a slave in Ireland. Why did Patrick leave Ireland? He escaped. But he went back to Ireland. Why did he go back? It is because he had become a believer.

He grew up in a Christian family, but he got saved and became a believer in Christ. When he came to understand God's forgiveness in Christ, that God forgives unworthy sinners, he said, "I must take this message back to the people in Ireland that enslaved me. I must bring the gospel to Ireland."

He went back and poured his life out bringing the gospel to the Irish. We used this as a springboard for bringing the gospel and engaging people. Nobody got all the answers right, so we didn't have to give away any money. But then we would pull out a church flyer and invite them to Mesa Hills Bible Church.

We're in Revelation chapter 1. Please open with me to Revelation chapter 1, verses 4 to 8. When I was here in Revelation two weeks ago, we got down to verse 1, which is the introduction and the salutation of the book. In verses 4 to 8, there's a greeting that comes from God, a gracious greeting that comes from God.

In verse 4, we see: "Grace and peace to you from him who is and who was and who is to come, God the Father, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, God the Spirit." This morning we're going to come to verse 5: "Grace and peace to you from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth."

"To him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood and has made us into 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. Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

Father, we thank you for this message. You have extended grace and peace to us, and that grace and peace comes because Jesus Christ has paid the price to restore us to you. We thank you for giving your Son, and we thank you, Jesus, for laying down your life.

We thank you, O God, that your Son not only laid down his life, but he had the authority to raise it up again. He conquered death. Lord, we have a certain hope and an eternal inheritance that will never fade away because you have purchased this redemption by his blood. I pray that you would draw us to yourself as we look to your Word this morning. We ask this in Christ's name. Amen.

What we're doing is picking up because this broke the message in two from two weeks ago. We're going to look at the description of Christ the Son, a doxology to Christ the Son, a theme statement about this entire book in verse 7, and then a declaration about God the Son in verse 8.

First of all, we're going to look at verse 5 where John describes Jesus Christ. There are three descriptions that we have right here in verse 5 about Jesus Christ. First of all, he's called the faithful witness. We went out yesterday, a group of us, and it was a great time to talk to people and engage people.

I don't think any of us got beaten up or punched in the face for sharing the gospel. You get a few people who might not want to hear what you have to say. I remember when Chuck was talking to one guy on the edge of the corner. Chuck's talking to the guy about Christ, and the guy says, "Well, I'm an atheist." Chuck just kept on engaging him, and I jumped in a little bit to share a few things before I went over to talk to some other people.

You always get opposition from unsaved people because they don't want to hear about Jesus Christ. When you start bringing the gospel of Christ to people, what you're telling them is, "You're on the wrong side of the fence." You're a sinner that needs to submit to the lordship of Christ. You need to be forgiven; you need to trust in Christ. Our sinful hearts don't like that message, so you get pushback.

Think about Jesus Christ. First of all, he grows up in a big family with a number of brothers and sisters. It says in the Bible that not even his own siblings believed in him before the resurrection. At least his brothers did not. You grow up and your brothers are always mocking you.

Then you look at the wider audience of the whole nation of Israel. It says in John 1:10, "He came to his own, but his own did not receive him." They said, "You were born from an adulterous relationship. You are demon-possessed." They said the worst stuff about Jesus Christ. They hated him, despised him, and rejected him, but Jesus Christ stayed faithful to the very end.

He is the faithful witness. The language itself draws heavily from Old Testament imagery and language. In Psalm 89:37, there's a statement in a Messianic psalm: "The witness in the sky is faithful." In all likelihood, John is drawing off of that statement here to call Jesus the faithful witness.

He was completely faithful to the very end. Remember when he was standing before Pontius Pilate? Pilate knew that Jesus was not a criminal. Pilate was trying to get out of that whole situation and doing anything he could to try to release Jesus because he knew that the Jewish leaders hated him and were jealous of him.

Pilate said to Jesus in John 18: "So, are you a king?" Jesus answered and said, "You correctly say that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify of the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." In 1 Timothy 6, it says that Jesus testified the good testimony before Pontius Pilate all the way to the very end. He was faithful to God, bringing the message of God's redemption to the world.

Furthermore, it says here that he is the firstborn of the dead. Firstborn many times would refer to the first child born to somebody, but the idea of firstborn in scripture many times has the idea of one that has preeminence. The Greek word is prototokos; it means the preeminent one.

For example, when you look at Colossians 1:15, it says that Christ is the firstborn of all creation. It doesn't mean that he's the first one born, but he's the preeminent one over all creation. He's the firstborn of all creation. Why? In the very next verse, Paul says, "Because all things were made by him."

Why is he the Lord of creation? He made it. If you make something, it's yours; it belongs to you. But the term firstborn is also used in Colossians 1:18 where Paul says that Christ is the firstborn of the dead. He's the Lord of the resurrection. He's not just the Lord right now, but he's Lord of the life to come. He's the firstborn of the resurrection.

Death is the tyrant that threatens all creation with irreplaceable loss and ultimate meaninglessness. But the one who brings this prophecy has dealt with death and rendered death helpless by becoming the firstborn of the dead. You don't have to worry about death. It's not good to seek death, not even as a martyr of Christ. There were times in church history where you had a martyr complex because it was just so intensely difficult to be a Christian.

I was reading this article on the news about a high school kid in Canada who goes to a Roman Catholic school. The school is pushing a lot of queer ideology, and this high school kid said, "We shouldn't have boys going into the girls' bathrooms here. Men are different from women." That's what he said: "Men are different from women; boys are different from girls." The Catholic school called the police and had him arrested.

Can you imagine that in a Catholic school? We're headed in a direction where this is going to be an increasingly significant part of the persecution of Christians. If you say that there's a difference between men and women, they're going to arrest you and throw you in jail. This is so weird. But in any case, when we think about persecution, even if it means persecution to the point of death, there is no need to fear.

Look at Revelation 1:17. When Jesus appeared to John, John was overwhelmed with the glory of Christ. He fell at his feet as a dead man, and Jesus put his hand on him and said, "Do not be afraid. I'm the first and the last. I'm the living one, and I became dead, but behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades."

I have authority over death itself. I'm the Lord of life; I'm the Lord of the resurrection. There's a whole message here for us about trusting the Lord and not falling to pieces with a world that is falling to pieces. There is no need to fear what's coming. Look at the third description here. He's called the ruler of the kings of the earth.

This world has its kings, presidents, and prime ministers, and a lot of them are really wicked people. Not everybody, but here's what the Bible tells us: Jesus Christ is the ruler of all of them. Here's what's going to happen when Jesus Christ returns at the end of the age.

When Jesus Christ returns, those that have embraced him, whether they're a leader, a ruler, or a non-ruler, are going to be in his kingdom. But for those that refuse to bow the knee to Jesus Christ, the Bible says they're going to be cast out. They're going to be cast out into the place of outer darkness where there's weeping and gnashing of teeth.

He's the ruler of the kings of the earth. This also comes out of Psalm 89. In Psalm 89:27, God says, "I'm going to make this one, my promised Son, the ruler of all the kings of the earth." It uses that Hebrew term; he's the firstborn, the ruler of all the kings of the earth.

As we look at this world that is falling apart and we see all kinds of things that are happening, I am sure that you get anxious like I do. You say, "This is wrong. This should not be happening." We get frustrated with all of the evil that's taking over. God's going to take care of this one day. It's not happening right now.

Right now, sin is having its party. But like the Beach Boys said, "We'll have fun, fun, fun till your daddy takes the T-Bird away." Well, Daddy's going to send his Son, Jesus Christ, and so the party's going to come to an end one day. In Revelation 19:16, it says that on Christ's robe and on his thigh, he has a name written: King of kings and Lord of lords.

In Psalm 2, King David looked ahead to this day and he says, "You are my Son." And when the kingdom arrives, it says, "You are my Son. Today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give all the nations as your inheritance, the very ends of the earth as your possession. And you're going to shatter them like you'll shatter a clay pot with an iron rod."

Right now, we may see things happening where criminals are doing all kinds of evil and nothing happens to them. I'm sure that gets under your skin because you say that's wrong. They're punishing the guys that are trying to stop the crime. You say, "Somebody's got to do something about this." Jesus is going to do something about it when he returns.

In Zechariah 14:9, it says, "The Lord will be the king over all the earth, and he will be the only one." In Philippians 2, Paul says that every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It's going to happen; you can be sure of it.

Don't get too anxious. God tells us what he's going to do so that we can say, "Okay, I can just trust this good and sovereign Lord. He's going to deal with it." We can't stop this stuff. If there's ever been a place in the world that you've had a prime opportunity for seeing the gospel of Jesus Christ flourish, it's been the United States of America.

For 400 years, we had the gospel being heavily centered in American culture, and yet look at what it's turning into. Let's move on here and come down to verses 5 and 6. After John gives this declaration of grace and peace from Christ, he breaks into some praise. This focuses here on what Christ has done for us, not just who he is.

First of all, it says that he loves us. Most of the time when you go through the Gospels, it often says Christ loved us. Like in Galatians 2:20, Paul says, "Christ loved me and gave himself for me." Usually, that past tense looks back at the cross. But here, it's actually a present tense. He still loves us.

Secondly, it also says here that he is the one who has released us from our sins. The idea is that you've been set free from the penalty. In Colossians 2:14, the Apostle Paul says that he cancelled out that certificate of debt by nailing it to the cross. When you get in trouble, you wish the penalty could be taken away.

Tim Dane had to come to the principal's office. Or you get a speeding ticket. I did get pulled over last week from a trooper going up the pass. I literally said, "Oh, please don't give me a ticket." He said, "I'm not going to give you a ticket." When you get a penalty and you want to have it removed, what a great thing it is if somebody said, "Case dismissed."

This is what the gospel is. God says, "Case dismissed." You're headed for capital punishment; you're headed for the death penalty. That's what our sin has done to us; it has made us all worthy of death, and that's called hell. But what God says right here is that he released us from our sins.

MacArthur made a comment on this verse: "Here's the heart of the gospel. Sinners are forgiven by God, set free from sin, death, and hell by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ because God made him our substitute. God took his life so that the penalty would be paid for us." Praise God for that. Everybody needs forgiveness.

But there's still more to this good news here. Not only did he release us from the penalty of our sin, but he also equipped us to serve. Verse 6 says, "He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to his God and Father." If you belong to Jesus Christ, you belong to his kingdom.

The kingdom of God has not been established on this earth yet, but the church is part of God's kingdom. When Jesus Christ comes and begins to reign on this earth, you are going to be there with him in his kingdom. It also says here that individually he has made us into his priests.

I'm going to ask you to pray for my brother-in-law Kyle. It looks like he's going to live, but this past week he was on the edge of death. He had a perforated ulcer and almost died. They took him into emergency surgery, and after the surgery, he ended up on a ventilator.

I need to go back and visit with my brother-in-law and my sister in Vegas. Think about the people in your life that you can be a priest unto by bringing the message of the gospel, praying for them, and telling them. We went out yesterday, and I don't know how many hundreds of gospel tracts we gave out.

Every one of you, your greatest missionary field is going to be the people that are part of your life. Maybe you can make a hit list. When I went into the life insurance business, they gave me something called a Project 100. Write down 100 people that you can go talk to. Make out your hit list for people that you want to pray for.

The better news is that he has made us into a kingdom. Here's what's going to happen. In Matthew 19:28, Jesus said to the 12 apostles: "You who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man takes his seat on his glorious throne, you 12 apostles will sit on 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel."

You guys are going to rule with me in the kingdom. The 12 apostles get leadership, ruling, and reigning over the nation of Israel. You're going to rule with Christ. Look at Revelation chapter 2, verse 26: "As for he who overcomes, I will give him authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron."

Look at chapter 3, verse 21: "He who overcomes, I will grant him to sit down with me on my throne, as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne." Look at chapter 5, verse 10. It says, "They will reign upon the earth." This is called premillennialism. Christ is going to establish a 1,000-year millennial kingdom.

His kingdom is eternal, and so at the end of the 1,000-year millennium, there's going to be a recreated universe. But there's going to be a kingdom on this earth for 1,000 years. Look at Revelation chapter 20, verse 4. It says those that would not receive the mark of the beast came to life and they reigned with Christ for 1,000 years.

Verse 7: we come to the theme verse of the whole book. Chapter 1, verse 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. So it is to be. Amen." Now, there's really a combination of two major Messianic prophecies.

One of them is Daniel 7, and the other is Zechariah chapter 12, verse 10. Daniel 7:13 is a very significant Messianic prophecy where Daniel sees the coming Messiah. What Daniel sees is Christ at the end of the age when he's coming up to the Ancient of Days, to God the Father, and was presented before him.

The Son of Man became Jesus' favorite title to speak about himself. More than any other title, he called himself the Son of Man. It comes right from here because Daniel is in heaven looking at Almighty God, and then he sees a human figure coming to receive the kingdom. Jesus is God, but he's a man.

To him, the Son of Man, was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His kingdom is universal. Every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. His kingdom is never going to pass away, and it's one that will never be destroyed.

Revelation chapter 1 is showing us that Jesus Christ is this Son of Man. In Matthew chapter 26, when Jesus was on trial, the high priest and the Jewish leaders were trying to condemn him. They said, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the living God?" Jesus said, "Yes, that is true. But from now on, you are going to see the Son of Man coming on the right hand of power."

They said, "Are you the divine Messiah?" And what was their response? The high priest ripped his clothes and said, "Blasphemy! He's claiming to be the divine Messiah." He got crucified for telling the truth about who he is. In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus is talking about the tribulation period.

There's going to be a 7-year time period that comes upon this earth after the rapture of the church. This 7-year time period is called the Day of the Lord, sometimes we call it the tribulation period. The physical return of Christ is going to be at the end of that seven years.

Jesus described this in Matthew 24: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory."

When you get to the book of Revelation, it says in chapter 19:11: "I saw heaven open and behold, a white horse, and he who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and wages war." Christ is going to return. Spirit will draw people to faith in Christ.

When it says here that all the tribes of the earth are going to mourn, that very well best understood as being the repentance that comes by the work of the Spirit. Zechariah chapter 12 is talking about Israel coming to its knees. This nation that for thousands of years has hated the name of Jesus.

What's going to happen is that God is going to bring his elect to Christ. When the Spirit brings them to repentance, they're going to say, "Oh, what have we done? He is the promised one. Oh, God, forgive me and save me." Make sure that you're ready because if you die, there's no make-up test.

Verse 8: we close with this declaration coming directly from God: "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." The focus here appears to be on God the Father. He calls himself, first of all, the Alpha and the Omega.

In Isaiah's prophecy, Yahweh says, "I am the first and the last." This is the same idea. This title is reused in chapter 21 and chapter 22. Secondly, he identifies himself as the Lord God. In Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve committed sin, they heard the sound of the Lord God.

Look at the third title here. He calls himself the one who is and who was and who is to come. Go back to chapter 1, verse 4. "Grace to you and peace from him who is and was and who is to come," which is God the Father. This expression is Almighty God the Father.

Lastly, he calls himself the Almighty. In the Old Testament, it would either come from the name El Shaddai, or it's called the Lord of Hosts. Almighty God is found eight times in Revelation, underscoring that God's power is supreme. He exercises sovereign control over every person, object, and event.

That's why you can trust him. If it was all random chaos, what a terrifying thing. But it's not random chaos; he is the Almighty. So when stuff happens and you say you don't like this, we don't have to erase the idea that there's bad. But Paul did say he works all things for good.

The Lord is coming and he's coming soon. We don't know when, but he's coming soon. Let me tell you four things that you can take with you right now. Number one, if you have never understood your need for Jesus Christ and opened your heart to ask his forgiveness, do so right now.

Number two, stay close to the Lord. Stay in the Word of God every day. Stay in prayer. Charles Spurgeon said, "I don't know, what's more important, breathing in or breathing out?" Stay in the Word of God, stay in prayer, come to church, and serve God.

Number three: when you look at this world that's falling apart, hakuna matata, no worries. It is going to fall apart, but just don't get too anxious. Lastly, tell others about this message, especially your hit list. Amen.

Lord, help us to be faithful to you. I know that we fall and sin in many ways, and we're not what we should be. So forgive us for our sins, O Lord, and help us to be faithful in following and serving your Son until he comes. We pray it in his name. Amen.