Okay. Shalom, everyone. I want today to start to speak a little bit from the New Testament, the last book of the Bible, the book of the Revelation. And I tell you the reason that I thought I'm going to share with you today or begin to talk about that last book of the Bible, the book of the Revelation, or as we call it, the Chazon, the Chazon in Hebrew, the Revelation, Because, you know, some of us have just spent 17 days in Turkey and in Greece and in Israel. We just came back from a tour, a Bible tour, that dealt specifically with the book of the Revelation.

We have visited in Turkey the seven churches that we have in Revelation chapter 2 and chapter 3. But we also visited in Greece, in the island called Patmos. We have visited the island from which the Apostle Yohanan, the Apostle John, just received that special Revelation from the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the glorified Messiah from heaven. And I would like to share with you, at least we can start today with dealing with the first few verses of the book of the Revelation. So please open the book of the Revelation to the first chapter, and I want to read with you the first eight verses this moment, and we'll kind of get some introduction to the book and see what lessons we can learn from that particular book.

So I'm reading, beloved brothers and sisters, the Revelation chapter 1, verses 1 to 8. The Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, or Yohanan, who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus the Messiah, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. John unto the seven assemblies, seven churches, which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come, and from the seven spirits which are before his throne, And from Yeshua the Messiah, who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the Kings of the earth, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood.

And hath made us Kings and priests unto God and his Father. To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with clouds, and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him, and all the kinders or the tribes of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is, to come, the Almighty. Now, stopping with the reading for us today in this passage, Revelation chapter 1, verses 1 to 8. Now, beloved, it is important when we study such a book as the book of Revelation to realize that there is a reason why God had given the apostle John, or his Hebrew name, Yohanan, there is a reason why God, why the Lord Yeshua, the Lord Jesus, had given this book of Revelation to John in order that you and I will benefit from this today.

There is a reason. By the way, the book of Chazon, or Chazon Yochanan, the book of the Revelation, is the last book in the New Covenant, in the Brit HaChadasha. Just the same like the last book in the Old Testament is Malachi, Malachi, or Malachi or Malachi in English, we have the last book of the Bible is the book of the Revelation. In the New Testament it is the finality, it's the last book. But there is a reason why the Lord Jesus the Messiah had given to us this book. Turn to chapter 22, the last chapter in the Bible. Revelation 22. And you notice what it says in verse 10.

Here we see what the Lord is telling John what to do with that particular letter or book that he had given him to write. And here he is speaking to him that the angel was telling John, it says in verse 10, And he saith unto me, John is saying, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. John, do not seal, as it says here, the sayings of the prophecy of this book, because the time is at hand. John, do not seal this particular book, because there is a time, the time is at hand. It's quickly the events that are spoken by the Lord in this particular book are going to come shortly to pass the time is at hand you remember we read today from the book of Daniel we read in chapter 9 but in another passage in the book of Daniel chapter 12 the Lord telling him God the God of Israel through the angel telling Daniel the prophet of Israel he says Daniel seal the book Daniel chapter 12 and verse 4 and 9, 8 and 9, seal the books that I have given to you, seal the writings.

But to Yohanan, to John, the angel says to him, do not seal this book because the time is at hand. There is an information, beloved brothers and sisters, that you and I have in this book of the Revelation that is very important to understand. You know, we live in a time where people have a lot of difficulties in understanding where is Israel in the plan of God, where is the church, the assembly in the plan of God, where is the world in the plan of God, and there's a lot of mishmash, a lot of mixing of things, even among professing believers, professing Christians, not rightly dividing the word of truth.

In the book of the Revelation, we have information that God want you and I to know, not that we will fantasize not that we will think about certain things and we will be occupied with all kind of mysteries and all kind of things no but that we will learn the signs and the times in which we live in the Lord Jesus is coming soon he's coming soon and he's going to take the heavenly company the church of Yeshua the Messiah to be with him and he is going to begin a time of tribulation such as have never, ever happened before in this universe, in this world.

And those of us that belong to the Lord will be wise to know how we are to behave in a time in which we live here in this world. We will discern as we've studied the book of the Revelation. We will get discernment about the events that are happening and what is going to happen that it will teach us how do we conduct ourselves. How do we speak a word in due season? How do we communicate the Gospel? What we tell people about the person and the work of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. You see, this book, when you study this book, you know that this book, beloved, began and ends with the promise of blessing.

By the way, that's the only book in the Bible, that when you read Revelation 1 verse 3, and when you read Revelation 22 verses 7 and 8, you will find out that this book began and end with the promise of blessings. Look, Revelation 1 and verse 3. Blessed is he that readeth. Blessed are they that hear the words that are written in this prophecy. You know, I'm blessed right now when I read these particular eight verses. And you are blessed by listening to what I have to say, or what I should say, what the Bible have to say. You are blessed. This is the only book in the Bible that began and end with the promise of blessing.

Look at chapter 22 and verse 7 where it says, listen, Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the things of the prophecy of this book. Verse 14 says to us, Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life. There is a promise of blessings associated with those who read this particular book. And I hope that you recognize, I don't know how much time you spend in reading the Bible, and I know that sometimes you feel that the book of the Revelation is the kind of a book that is a little bit difficult to understand. When you read the book of the Revelation, and you read it with the right understanding, It will help you to grasp what God has for you, and it will encourage you as you walk in this world for the Lord Jesus the Messiah.

Now, another thing by way of introduction about the book of the Revelation, you notice the first verse, it says the Revelation of Jesus the Messiah. It doesn't say the Revelation of John the Divine. That somebody put it here or there in the Bible. Somebody wanted to make it as if it is John. It is the Revelation that John gave. No. It is the Revelation that God gave us about the person of the glorified Messiah. It's not the Revelation of John the Divine. It's not the Revelation of John. It is the Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, as we call Him in Hebrew, Yeshua HaMashiach. God wants to reveal Him to us.

You see, He wants us to be understanding who is this person, what He has done for us, how precious He is to the heart of God the Father. And God reveals Him to you and I. It is the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah. By the way, another word in the Greek is the apocalypse. The word apocalypse in the Greek means the unveiling. You see, God is unveiling before us the beauty of the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. You know, we read in the prophet Isaiah, when we looked upon him, there was no beauty that we should behold. You see, Israel, when they looked upon the Messiah at his first coming, they didn't recognize who he really is, who he was.

That's why he was eventually not accepted by the nation of Israel. But God wants us to understand. I want to unveil before you the beauty of the Messiah. Before we became believers in Yeshua the Messiah, we never loved him. We never understood who he was. But when God unveiled before us his beauty, and he showed us that this is God, this is the Son of God. He came from heaven to die on the tree for your sins and mine. And God opened to us understanding, unveiled before us the beauty of this person, the loveliness of this person, of Yeshua. The name of this book is the Revelation of Jesus the Messiah, Yeshua HaMashiach.

And by the way, again, by way of introduction, it doesn't use the plural here. It's not the revelations no it's one Revelation which unfolds before us about the person of the Messiah the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah God unveiled before us the beauty of the person of Yeshua the Messiah. What a precious truth for us to get a hold of as we having this particular book set before us. Now you notice another thing by way of introduction about this book of the Revelation. The book of the Revelation is the book of last things. It is the last book of the Bible. We have the book of Bereshit.

Genesis is the first book of the Bible. And we have the Revelation as the last book of the Bible it is the book of last things you see in Genesis we had creation in Revelation we have new creation in the last chapters of the book of Revelation we have a new heavens and new earth has been made and created in Genesis we have the lost of paradise sin came into this world in the book of the Revelation we have paradise regained the Messiah Yeshua have given us not only paradise beyond paradise beyond gan Eden he gave us the eternal order the eternal state where sin will be no more in Genesis we have the first men and him and his wife Eve Adam and Eve they were ruling over the first creation and look what happened they failed sin came in they did not rule in a proper way they have make a mess out of the responsibility that God had given to them but what we have in the book of the Revelation we have that.

Men from heaven Yeshua the Messiah and the bride of Christ the bride of the Messiah are together ruling over the affairs of this universe because of what the Messiah have done for us in Genesis we have the first time that we have the sacrificial lamb we have there in Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15 after sin came into this world God provided the garment of skin for Adam and Eve and he had to kill the first lamb in the book of the Revelation we have the lamb which was slain from the foundation of the world we read in chapter 5 i saw a lamb as if it was freshly slain we have the type in Genesis but we have the anti-type in the book of the Revelation it is the book of last things in the book of Genesis we have Babylon rising up you remember Genesis chapter 11 the tower that they built the tower of Babel which God had to judge because men did not obey him and in the book of the Revelation we have Babylon destroyed.

Completely destroyed God is going to set aside the human effort man's way have to be set aside and he's going to establish his own man his own glory through the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah in Genesis we have men who produce his own city his own power in the book of the the Revelation, we have the city of God coming down from heaven, the new Jerusalem, where God will set himself there. In Genesis, we have the beginning of sorrows and sadness and weeping and crying and death and all that which came to this world because of sin. But in the book of the Revelation, we have a time that we hear of no more sorrow, no more sadness, no more suffering, no more sin, and no more death.

And beloved, it is wonderful to study the book of the Revelation and see how it is teaching us of things that God wants to reveal to us through the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah and so this is just some thoughts in introduction to that book. And let me just move into the first verses here we read the first eight verses but i want just to mention one or two more things before i'm going to begin to deal with this verse by verse we are going to enable you to listen to this on a cd and if you're not succeeding to make notes enough You will be able to look it over in your own leisure, in your own time.

You see, John was a Hebrew believer in Yeshua, the Messiah. John, his name in Hebrew is Yohanan. Yohanan was that man, that young man, that Yeshua, at his death, have asked him or commanded him to take care of his own mother. And John became the one that had been entrusted with the responsibility to take care of the Messiah's mother, Miriam. In the Gospel of John, the same writer, we read in verse 25, Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Miriam, the wife of Clophas, and Miriam, Magdalene. When Yeshua therefore saw his mother, and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son.

Then he saith unto the disciples, this is Yohanan, this is John, Behold thy mother. And from this hour, that disciple took hell into his own home. Just think, here we have the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, on the cross, on the tree, ready to live this sin, ready to die, to give his life a ransom for many. There was one disciple by the name of Yohanan, standing by that cross. There were the other Marys, there was Miriam, his mother, and here Yeshua on the tree, on the cross, crucified by the hand of man. The one thing that he made sure to take care is of his own mother.

And what does he do? He is looking at his mother and he is saying to his mother, Miriam, look at your son, pointing to Yohanan or addressing Yohanan, John, there. And then he's looking at Yohanan, and he says, Yohanan, look, this is your mother now. You take care of her. And from that time, John took her into his own house, and he became responsible over Miriam, the mother of Yeshua, the Messiah. And Yeshua, the Messiah, died. And as you know, he was buried. And he rose on the third day, and he had gone to heaven. And then the Spirit of God came down and formed the body of Messiah in Acts chapter 2 and the beginning of what we know today as the assembly, as the ecclesia, the called out ones, the church of Yeshua, the Messiah.

And some of those disciples that were with the Lord Jesus in the upper room in the city of Jerusalem, he sent them all over the world to preach the message of the gospel. And one of these persons that he sent was a man by the name of Yohanan, John. James was his brother. And this John apparently had gone out to preach the message of the word of God and he settled in a place called Ephesus. Apparently, he was so faithful there that there was the establishment of the local assembly there in the city called Ephesus and he was one of the leading brothers in that particular local assembly.

Being an apostle, he was the leader, brother there, and he was there faithfully teaching the Word of God. In sometime about 95, 96 A.D., quite a few years after the Lord Jesus the Messiah gone to heaven, quite a few years after the church, the assembly was born, John was exiled to an island called Patmos. And why was he exiled? Why was John exiled to the island called Patmos? He was exiled by the emperor Domitian because he was faithful to preach the word of God. And when he went to that island, and I tell you, we have just visited that island, just about two weeks ago or so, or more, three weeks ago, John, while there today, it's a very interesting island.

At that time, it was an island, it was like a jail. It was like a place where you would exile somebody, you put him away from the public and you make him work there. He became like a slave in all kind of work that he had perhaps to do, but they exiled him, put him away lest he will talk to people about Yeshua, the Messiah. And there, on that island, the Lord Jesus gave him a Revelation. The whole book that we have before us, the glorified Messiah gave this man by the name of John a Revelation that for almost 2,000 years, beloved brothers and sisters, many like you and I are blessed to read, blessed to understand the plan and the purposes of God for mankind.

Here is John on exile, like in jail, like in prison, separated from the people he loved so much. He's sitting there, and he's receiving a Revelation from the glorified Messiah. And he's writing it down. And that information that he wrote down, we have it today in the canon of Scripture, in the Bible, what we know the Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim, and the New Covenant, the Berit Hadashah, you and I are benefiting from what happened about 2,000 years ago, 1,900 years ago, to a man by the name of Yohanan, a Hebrew man, a Jewish man, an Israeli man, who was used by the Lord to the preaching of the gospel to the people in the area that he was responsible of, and he was faithful.

He took the mother of Yeshua to his own house, and he was faithful, And God used him because of his faithfulness. And they thought that if they would take him to the island of Patmos, they're going to get rid of him. And he will not be able to share the word anymore. But look what we have before us. The Revelation of Jesus the Messiah. And here at about 96, 95 AD, Yohanan received that special Revelation from the Lord Jesus the Messiah. And now I want you to follow with me. I want you to notice in the introduction, in the first three verses of Revelation 1, you notice, first of all, the first three verses notice the subject that the book is all about.

It is not about John, but it is about Jesus. It is not about John, it is about Yeshua, the Messiah. Notice it says, The Revelation of Yeshua, the Messiah, which God gave unto him to show unto his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and he signified it by his angel unto his servant Yohanan. You notice the process, beloved brothers and sisters? Notice the process. It is God the Father giving it to Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah. He gives it unto His angel. The angel give it unto Yohanan, unto John. And John give it unto the servants, unto you and I.

You notice how it is? You notice the order? The Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah, which God gave unto him, this is unto Yeshua, to show unto his servants things which might shortly come to pass. And he, this is Yeshua the Messiah, sent it and signified by his angel unto his servant John. You notice the progress? God the Father, Yeshua the Messiah, the Angel, to John, and to the servants. By the way, it is so precious to see that God have given this Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah to you and I because He wanted us to understand what He has in mind and how precious His Son is to Him.

So the Revelation one Revelation which is unfolding of Jesus the Messiah which God gave unto him to show unto his servant things which must shortly come to pass and sometimes we ask us of the question what does that mean things which must shortly come to pass didn't already 1900 years pass by, how could it be shortly come to pass? Well, if you understand the book of the Revelation, the vast majority of the book of the Revelation deal with the tribulation period. In fact, from chapter 4 all the way to the end of chapter 19, we have really seven years there. Chapter 4 to chapter 19 deals with seven years of the tribulation period that deal with what's going to happen in this world the judgment that's going to fall upon the face of this world the restoration of the nation of Israel after the greatest holocaust that ever have been or ever will be will happen then we have the things will happen very shortly very fast is going to come one thing after another will happen once it's going to start so the things which must shortly come to pass.

So he sent it and he signified by an angel and the angel gave it to Yohanan. Now let's talk for a moment about the angels. You see the angels according to the Bible and I know you and I often don't think about it but do you know that the law was given to Israel through an angel? Do you know that angels even when it's come to the law angels had the responsibility of giving it to Moses God gave it to Moses through angels now I know we don't read it in the Old Testament but in the New Testament we find it very quickly in chapter 7 and verse 55 and 56 where we read but being full of the Holy Spirit this is Stephen he looked steadfastly into heaven and he saw the glory of God and Jesus the Messiah standing at his right hand and we find out him talking about the fact that Israel received the law through an angel if you just read it in chapter 7 you will notice that in fact if you read verse 53 you have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it angels always had a responsibility as servants of the people of God so here we see God giving it to Jesus or to Yeshua Yeshua giving it to an angel an angel giving it.

To John and John giving it to the servants which is including you and i that's how the book of the Revelation had been brought to our attention to ourselves so angels had a lot as a ministering spirit in Hebrew we read of them in Hebrews 2 we read of them as a ministering spirits they are responsible to minister to the people of God so the Revelation of Yeshua the Messiah chapter one and verse one and in verse two we see that John is bearing record to what he saw it says in verse two who this is John Yohanan bear record of the word of God and of the testimony of Yeshua the Messiah and of all the things that he saw see here was John he was on the island of Patmos hae we call it Patmos and he received the Revelation from the Lord through that angel and he's bearing record he's putting it down he's recording all what he received from the glorified Messiah he's bearing record and the record is the testimony of Jesus the Messiah i know we we.

Sometimes don't realize that that perhaps we neglect sometime to mention it really the Bible the theme of the Bible is the person of the Lord Jesus the Messiah he is the central theme he is the one that God want to present before you and before me and so here in verse 3 by way of introduction after we know that the subject of the book is Yeshua the Messiah after we learn that Yohanan is the one that bearing the testimony, bearing record to the testimony of Yeshua, here we find the promised blessing, as I've already mentioned to you in verse 3. Blessed is he that readeth. Now let me ask you, when was the last time you read the book of the Revelation?

When was the last time that you opened the Bible and you said, I'm going to do a sitting today and I'm going to read the book of the Revelation? You might say, wow, brother Gideon, It is such a confusing book. There are so many symbols there. There are so many things that are very confusing here. Gideon, I have a hard time to understand. Listen, the Bible say to us, blessed is he that readeth. If you read it, God is able to explain to you, to explain to us what he has in mind. Blessed is he that read that particular book. But not only read. And they that hear the words of this prophecy.

You see, the words that are mentioned here is a prophecy. It has to do with events that are yet to come. Now, many times we read the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, we read Ezekiel, we read Daniel, we read the major prophets and the minor prophets, and we have a hard time to understand how events are going to come to pass. And it is difficult. It's not easy. The Spirit of God has to help us. But when we study the book of the Revelation, we begin to understand the events, the order of the events in which the Old Testament Scripture, the Tanakh, was speaking about.

But future days, the book of the Revelation help us to put it in order. And so whatever we read in the Old Testament Scripture, in the Tanakh, in the Hebrew Scriptures, When we read the book of the Revelation, it helps us to understand what God meant for Israel, for the world, in the prophets of Israel. And so, he says, blessed is he that readeth, this is very personal. Then they that hear the words of this prophecy, these are those of us that have listened and heard the words of that prophecy in this particular book. But listen, he doesn't stop here. He says, and keep those sayings which are written therein.

See, it's not only to read it. It's not only to hear it, but it's also to keep it, to obey it. You see, when we study the book of the Revelation, we also need the help of the Lord to obey the Word of God, to be obedient to what He says. If He teaches us certain things, and you will see when we're going to get to chapter 2 and chapter 3 concerning the church age, to seek to obey what he has for you and I in this present day. Also, when he's speaking about Israel and the future of Israel in the rest of the portion of the book that deals with the world and the events that are going to happen in the world and to the nation of Israel, we are also to seek to obey the words that the Lord has given us in the Scriptures, in this prophecy.

Why, he said, because the time is at hand. Why? Because quickly it's going to come and the events that are promised in that book are going to quickly come to pass. And so that is the first three verses of chapter 1. The subject is Yeshua the Messiah. John bear record to the Messiahship of Jesus, to the Lordship of Jesus, to the beauty of Jesus. And he gives us the assurance that there is blessing if we read, and if we hear, and if we obey. And it's very difficult for us. You know, we are many times our hearers of the word, but not the doers of the word.

And that's why he had that word obeying, because obedience is very important. God finds pleasure in those that seek to obey his word, not only to be hearers of the word, but also to obey the Word of God. Now, after we finish that introduction, the Revelation, the unveiling of Yeshua the Messiah in verses 1 to 3, then he gives us the greetings that he is writing to the seven churches. Now, for a moment, let's listen. What happened when the Gospel had been preached? When those apostles from Jerusalem, beginning from Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of this earth, as we have in the book of Acts, there was a preaching of the gospel that have gone throughout the world.

But what happened? As the gospel had been preached, people got saved. People became believers in the Lord Jesus. They realized that he loved them and he died for them on the cross and they confessed their sins and accepted him. And what happened when a person accepts the Lord? He become a member of the body of Christ, the body of Messiah. When he or she believe in what Yeshua have done for them, they become believers. Well, if a person becomes a believer, he doesn't stay only somewhere alone, at home, somewhere, without to be connected with other believers. Well, immediately, believers or Christians or Messiah followers find each other.

And as they find each other, they say, listen, You love the Lord and I love the Lord. And the Lord wants us to meet together and to have fellowship with each other. Well, let's meet together. Let's gather together in this local place. If it is any city in this world, any town, any village. Well, as the gospel had been preached and people got saved, they found each other and they began to meet in a local area. And what we have here in verses 4 to 8, There is greetings that are given to those seven local churches that have been founded by believers. Now, let me mention here something that is very important.

A church is not a building. Let me repeat myself. I know people oftentimes say, I go to church. No, you don't go to church. You can't go to church. A church, it simply in the Greek means ekklesia, called out ones. People are being called out from among the nation of Israel, Jewish people like myself. And non-Jewish people like some of you and others in the world are being called out from their own nation, whatever nation they come from. They are called out. And that's the church. The called out ones are people, individuals, not buildings, not brick and stones, not wood and plywood, not two by four.

He doesn't talk at all about building. He's talking about believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And that's why he said in verse 4, notice, I, John, he says, Yohanan, to the seven churches. He doesn't write to buildings. He doesn't write to brick and stone and cement. He's writing to believers. Seven local groups of people who met in various cities. And so we read, by the way, these cities were in the place which is called Asia. It's modern day, present day Turkey. Asia Minor. It is in these places that there were formed local assemblies. Now there were more than seven local assemblies in those seven cities, but he's writing specifically to those seven cities.

Why? Because he wanted to convey seven messages to those seven local assemblies who had seven different conditions, seven different period of time in the history of the church age. And so he's writing to those particular seven churches. But by the way, he did not only write to them information about their age or our age. He gave them all the book of the Revelation. That they will know also what God is going to do here in this world after the church is going to be taken out of here. He's writing to them how Israel is going to be restored. He's writing to them how the new heaven and earth is going to come to pass in a future day.

He gives them information about all the events that are going to happen in a future day. And so he's writing to them. And you notice, John, verse 4 and 5a, notice the letter is addressed to those seven churches. Verses 4 and verse 5a, the first part. Yohanan, to the seven assemblies which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne and from Yeshua the Messiah who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead the prince of the Kings of the earth I'm going to pause here with this part of verse 5 notice John is writing greeting to those seven assemblies but the greetings actually coming from the triune God.

From all the three persons of the Godhead. Now, a lot of us have a problem with it. I should not say us here. But a lot of people have a problem with the triunity of God. Our own Jewish people have a problem with the triunity of God. Our own families have a problem with it. As far as our people are concerned, Israel, we have only one God. And we do have only one God. But he exists and consists in three persons Abba, Ben, Ruach HaKodesh the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit and so you notice how John said that please follow up with me in verse 4 again please John or Yohanan to the servant assembly the seven churches which are in Asia grace be unto you and peace and notice three times the word from notice three times Number one, from Him which is and which was and which is to come.

That's God the Father. I'm repeating that. From Him which is and which was and which is to come. This is God the Father. Number two, and from the seven spirits which are before His throne. This is God the Holy Spirit. Revealed in the fullness of the Spirit of God. Sevenfold Spirit of God that we have very clearly given to us in the prophet Isaiah chapter 11 I'm going to read the verses in Isaiah 11 the sevenfold Spirit of God Isaiah 11 and verse 1 and 2 and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots And notice that, and the Spirit of God, or the Spirit of the Lord, shall rest upon him the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

You notice the seventh fold? The Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom, the Spirit of understanding, the Spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God, the fullness of the Holy Spirit of God. And so what we have here, we have these greetings, the John passing to the seven churches, which comes from number one, from him, this is God the Father, who was and is and who is to come. That's number one. Number two is from the sevenfold Spirit of God which is before His throne. This is the Holy Spirit of God.

And number three in verse five, And from Yeshua the Messiah, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the Kings of the earth. You notice how precious, beloved, the greetings that those seven local assemblies receive. It comes from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All the three persons of the Godhead give greetings to those seven local assemblies. And you know what I tell you? It is so important to understand because every one of us or every local assembly, whenever we meet together as believers, the Lord Jesus promised to be in the midst of his own people.

But not only that he is in our midst, also the holy Spirit of God is indwelling each and every one of the believers but he's also the one who lead the meeting he's the one who is in assembly leading the worship and the songs to the son of God to the Messiah but also God the father who is issuing the blessing upon his own people he never he never left us alone and what we really have the whole three persons of the Godhead involved here in the greeting to those seven local assembly very precious and to understand it so here we have in verse 4 and verse 5a the greeting or the letter is being addressed to those seven churches and it comes from all the three persons of the garden the triune God the father the son and the spirit now look what he talks about the son the Messiah Jesus he talks about his humanity it says and from Jesus you notice as it says in verse 5 and from Yeshua the Messiah.

Now who is Yeshua the Messiah he is not only the eternal son of God but he became a man and it says about him in verse 5a who is the faithful witness you know what beloved brothers and sisters you know the one that truly to the full measure of the truth revealed the father revealed God is the Lord Jesus the Messiah if you want to see the father look at the son he that has seen the son has seen the father when we look at Yeshua we see all the fullness of the God and we see the beauty of God but we gotta look at the Lord Jesus the Messiah he is the faithful witness he's a faithful witness you know you and i are also called to be witnesses but oh how sad how many times we haven't been faithful witnesses to the person of the Lord and to God the father we haven't been faithful how many times yes sometimes we are faithful Thank God for that.

But there was one that had been a faithful witness all along. From the time that he was born in Bethlehem till the time that he died outside of the city of Jerusalem, he had been a faithful witness to who God is. That's the one that God wants to reveal before us. But he's not only the faithful witness in verse 5a, he's also the first begotten of the dead you know a lot of people have a problem with what does that mean the first begotten he's the one that was rose first well a lot of people have a problem they say how could it be he only rose about 1900 years ago 2000 years ago but the people that rose from among the dead before the Messiah rose like Eliezer Lazarus like Talitha where he raised her from the dead like even in Old Testament you remember in the time of Elijah and Elisha and so on how people that have been resurrected from among death but you see beloved all the ones that have been resurrected endowed to go back to die but there was only one that had been resurrected the first begotten resurrected from the dead never to die anymore but not only that when it says first begotten It's not at all has to do with the order in which it happened.

No, because he was not the first one who rose from the dead. But when it's come to rank, when it's come to position, he's first. He's before anyone and everyone. And so when he rose, God placed him as the first above everything and everyone else. He's the first begotten. He is the first one in rank. He is the first one in position. He is the first one in everything, in the order in which God presents things. Yeshua, the Messiah, is number one. He is first. If the Queen of England will come to visit Canada today, they're going to roll for her the red carpet and she become the first person.

She become number one, the first one from all those in the Commonwealth. She is the first one she is the queen well she was not born first there are people who are older than her there are people who were in England long before she was born but she take the first place well that's what happened when it's come to our blessed Lord Yeshua the Messiah he is the first one the first one in rank the first one in order the first one in position I should say he is the one that God had placed him as number one and that's why it's so precious to be occupied with him so he's not only the faithful witness he's not only the one who the first begotten of the dead the one who had been placed as number one in rank and the one in position but you notice it's also said that he is the prince of the Kings of the earth that speaks about his rulership do you know that Jesus the Messiah though rejected today though despised today he's the one who is.

The ruler of all things do you know beloved brothers and sisters that God said to him sit down on my right hand he placed him in the pinnacle of the universe and he said to him i will make everyone bow their knees before you that's what God did he's the ruler over this world he is the one that is going to be in full control over everything people despise him people reject him and yet he is as it says here he is the prince of all Kings of this world of this earth he's the prince of Kings he's the king of Kings when he was born the wise men came to Bethlehem and they said or to Jerusalem and they say where is he that was born the king of the Jews when he died they put upon the sign upon his cross was this is Yeshua Jesus the king of the Jews he's the ruler he's the one that the Bible teaches us that he's going to judge everything in.

Accordance with his will look what just come to my mind as i'm thinking about these verses in the book of Psalm we read ask of me Psalm 2 verse 8 ask of me and i shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession this is verse 8 thou shalt break them with a rod of iron thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessels I will declare a decree God said, the Lord has said or Jesus said, the Lord said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten thee, God have given him the place in this universe, as the one that is the prince of the Kings of this earth, he is the one that writing to the seven local assemblies to understand who is the one that we are involved with the father the son and the Spirit of God but the son became a man his name is Jesus his name is Yeshua and he is the faithful witness the first begotten of the dead in rank and.

Position and he's the prince of the Kings of the universe but now quickly in verse 5b look at this it says about him in verse 5b it says unto him that loved us now brothers and sisters listen to this you know there's somebody that love you and i like no one ever loved you before when he writes to the churches about the Lord about the father the spirit and the son he pauses here and he's offering kind of a words of worship and adoration unto him that loved us you know he's saying to those churches you see the one that write to you the one that the Revelation is all about is the one that loved you loved us John including himself how did he love us how did he love us you know what?

He didn't only say it in words, I love you, like we sometimes say. But you see, love must be a sacrificial love. It's not enough to say I love you. It's important to say it. But it's not a love. We read here, unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins sins in his own blood you see what John is saying you see local assemblies this particular letter that i'm writing have been dictated it is for you from the father from the spirit and from Jesus the Messiah who loved us and how did he love us he washed our sins away How did he wash our sins away?

It cost him his precious blood. He end up came to this world and he went to the cross and God judged him on that cross, on that tree for my sins and for yours. And he washed them away and he gave us raiment, the garment white as snow. And God, look at us, look at John, look at you, look at me, look at those seven churches of true Bible believers. And you know, He made a white snow, cleansed us and washed our sins away. Give us a standing before God. How precious John is kind of pausing here. Unto Him that loved us. And some say it's not only loved, past tense, But his ongoing loveth us.

He didn't only loved us before when he died 2,000 years ago for our sins to be washed away, but he loves us right now. He loves us right this moment. As we read these first few verses of Revelation chapter 1, unto him that loved us and washed our sins away with his precious blood. You see, the blood of Jesus, the blood of Yeshua, the blood of the Lamb of God had to be shed on the cross, on the tree. And when He shed this blood of His, and we read it in the Scripture, He says, Father, unto Thee I commit my spirit. You remember we read in Matthew 27, My God, my God, why have Thou forsaken me?

He was forsaken that you and i will never need to be forsaken that's what we read here he washed us in the way completely removed them as far as the east is from the west when we belong to him when we trusted him and that's what happened when he died for us on the tree so John is pausing here and giving us this climax or this i should say this expression of praise unto him Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins with his own or in his own blood. And not only that, in verse 6 notice, Jesus made us Kings and priests unto God.

Verse 6 says, And he has made us Kings and priests unto God his Father. To him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. You notice, beloved, He made you and I Kings and priests. Now we learn something new here that now in this present day every one of us is a king and a priest. Now you and I don't have crowns on our heads. We might not look like Kings and priests but according to the Bible we are Kings and we are priests unto God. We are servants of God. We are to represent the Lord and to represent people before the Father, before God we are Kings and we are priests because of what the Lord Jesus have done for those of us who accepted him and accepted him as our Lord and Savior and now quickly in verse 7 Yeshua is coming back very quickly it says here and by the way this is the theme of the book is the coming of the Lord the book of the Revelation is the theme of the coming of the Lord it says behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all the kinders of the earth shall wail because of him even so Amen i am Alpha and Omega the beginning and the ending says the Lord which is and which was and which is to come the almighty now there's a few things that need to be said about those verses these verses seven and eight and i'm not going to say it now because.

Have gone over time but beloved listen how precious it is for us to understand that the Lord Jesus the Messiah the one that wrote the book the father the spirit the Messiah himself and it is because he wants us to understand what God has in mind for us for believers but he washed our sins away with his own blood that had been shed when he died for us on the cross and so by way of introduction this is as it were just a fresh start on that particular book the book of the Revelation and i trust that as the Lord give us the grace we'll be able to kind of move on and get at least some of the first chapters of this particular book so may the Lord bless those thoughts to all of us and i hope and trust that you will be encouraged to continue to read that book on your own as time move on.

Can you say Amen to that?