Lesson 1 November 26 th, Alpha and Omega. Study Scripture Revelation 22:11-21 Background Scripture Revelation 21-22

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1 Lesson 1 November 26 th, 2016 Alpha and Omega Study Scripture Revelation 22:11-21 Background Scripture Revelation I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. INTRODUCTION Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the classic Greek alphabet. The letters, given their position in the alphabet, are used as a title of Christ and God in several Books of the Bible, including the Bok of Revelation. The term in the Topic Title we currently are using Alpha and Omega comes from the phrase I am the Alpha and the Omega found in every manuscript with Revelation 1:8 and is clearly a name or title of Jesus Christ. Note that the Book of Revelation as are other books in the New Testament were written in Greek. It signifies that Jesus has existed for all eternity. It is important to note that the meaning of the term is explained in Revelation 21:6, and 22:13 with the addition of the phrase the beginning and the end. It was common practice to also use the first and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet to mean the whole of everything. The meaning would therefore be that Jesus like the Father always existed and would always exist. God was at the beginning of all things and would be there at the close. Specifically, then, as God, Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit have no beginning, and as far as time is concerned will not have an end, as God is from everlasting to everlasting. Note though that the title applies both to Jesus and to the Father. References to this term is found in Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, 48:12 The Isaiah passages identify Jesus as the God of the Old Testament, given Jesus nature as part of the triune God. Only God incarnate could make such a statement about Himself. In practical terms then, Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith according to Hebrews 12:2, for He begins it and maintains our faith to its completion. John 1:1 and 14 tells us He can 49 Brydon Drive Toronto ON M9W 4N3 (416) Pastor H. Condison Toronto SDB

2 be seen actively working in the first verse of Scripture, Genesis 1 and in the final Book in Scripture Revelation 22. Everything in Scripture applies to Him and the Law and the Gospel have meaning only in Him. One unerringly clear explanation of what the term in our Subject Title means is given by one writer who declares: These terms together mean that Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end for the Christian. Charles Spurgeon further amplifies this: Preach orthodoxy, or any form of doxy; if you have left out Christ, there is no manna from heaven, no water from the rock, no refuge from the storm, no healing for the sick, no life from the dead. If you leave out Christ, you have left the sun out of the day, and the moon out of the night, you have left the waters out of the sea, and the foods out of the river, you have left the harvest out of the year, the soul out of the body, you have left joy out of heaven, yea, you have robbed all of its all. There is no gospel worth thinking of, much less worth proclaiming in Jehovah s name, if Jesus be forgotten. The grandest vision of the new heaven and the new earth, with its New City of Jerusalem, and life therein, in given in Chapter 22. We are shown A pure river of life, clear as crystal proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb The Tree of life with its twelve fruits and the leaves for the healing or health-giving of the nations. There will be no more curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be right there. Those in this new heaven and earth will see the face of God and the Lamb and they will carry the His mark showing they belong to Him. There will be no night there for the Lord God gives all the light that is needed in this magnificent Jewel- like City and in the whole earth. Imagine a city that looks like a giant jewel, magnificent and glorified, a beautiful cube with perfect symmetry, with a wall made of precious stones 6 thousand miles long and 250 feet high. The city stretches 1500 hundred miles on one side and 1500 miles on another and then 1500 miles high. Believers will reign forever and ever. They will work and serve God and His people and find fulfillment and pleasure in this work of ministry and worship. Clearly then there the Triune God will bring about the complete Restoration of divine harmony. The saints will be under a perfect administration and rule, having been perfectly transformed and identified with their God and Saviour. Now perfectly illumined by the divine Presence, they will live in a condition of perfect and complete exultation. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

3 The dream of a new, perfect, heaven and earth will meet man s longings. THE TEXT It is to be clearly noted as one writer has stated: There is a difference between the death of the righteous and the death of the wicked. Even Balaam, the unsaved prophet, spoke about the fact that he wished that his death might be the death of the righteous and that his last end might be like theirs. We surely have a great future, the eternal state, the resurrection, the new heavens, the new earth. Well it s really going home, that s what it is, going home for Christians. That s our place, the New Jerusalem. Let us therefore realize our need. Let us not count on the gifts we have been given, and the knowledge we have. For if we do not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have accepted His offer of His atoning sacrifice, we will meet the same horrible fate of Balaam, and all this, despite our knowledge of the true God, and our tasting of the work of the Holy Spirit. The warning is given that we must never forget our life really consist in working for two destinies. We can follow the way of evil, the broad road, or we can walk with Christ. There is a great hopelessness in the state of the wicked, and hence we are warned to note and keep the sayings of this letter, for the words are guaranteed true and faithful One writer warns: The states of both the evil and the good are now fixed forever. There is no word here about a second chance hereafter. And another writer adds the chilling words: If the warnings of this book are not sufficient, there is no more that God has to say.. Verse 11. Given that warning that Jesus is coming suddenly (verse10 for the time is at hand) there will not be time for change and last minute repentance, and therefore the time for repentance is now. There is an irreparableness to our choices and our subsequent actions. Psalms 36:12 warns: There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise. In the book of Wisdom, Proverbs 6:12-16 describes the way of the wicked and the calamities that are certain: A naughty person, a wicked man, walketh with a forward mouth. He winketh with his eyes, he speaketh with his feet, he teacheth with his fingers; Frowardness is in his heart, he deviseth mischief continually; he soweth discord. Therefore, shall his calamity come suddenly; suddenly shall he be broken without remedy. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

4 The unjust person will remain unjust. This word is defined as not in conformity with or observant with custom, rule, right. The unjust do not fulfill their duties to either God, agreeing with His nature and His acts, the standard for all men, or their duties to men. Proverbs 11:7 describes them and what happens to them: When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth. Romans 6:19 confirms this statement. Those that are filthy means to be corrupt in a moral sense. Psalm 14:3 describes: The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good... They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one. See also Psalm 53:3; Ezekiel 22:15; Lamentations 1:9. Those that do righteousness are those that act in accordance with what is right. Romans 1:17, 2:13; 3:26; Psalm 1:6; 64:10 Holiness conveys in the first place the notion of separation from the world and a consecration to God...The New Testament leaves no room for the thought of holiness divorced from those moral qualities which the holy God demands of those whom He has called to be His people. Verse 12. There is a great emphasis on this Second Advent of Jesus Christ and this idea is repeated in verse 7, verse 12, and verse 20. This is a renewal of the promise that when He come the great blessings will follow. It is used by the Spirit to encourage believers and to motivate believers to have every virtue found in Scripture. It keeps believers secure though they are in dark and perilous times, and satisfies their longings. It encourages believers to look forward to the day when they will see Jesus as He is and will come to look as how He looked. Unbelievers are therefore warned not to put off accepting Jesus as Saviour. They are told to reject the many theories that there will not be a real Second Coming. They should be directed to the testimony of the Apostle Peter and the facts of history which record that whatever Scriptures predicted has always come true. The Apostle testified, and the angels testified that the Second Advent is true. The writings of the book of Revelation are reliable. In this note of urgency and warning believers are warned to live constantly in full expectation of the coming of the Lord. The word used for quickly really has the emphasis of coming suddenly but early believers preferred to accept the concept of Jesus their Saviour coming soon. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

5 The important matter is to understand that Jesus will come when we least expect. See His warning in Matthew 24: The Parable of the Virgins in Matthew 25, note verse 13 particularly, speaks also of this. The Parable of the Talents, verse 19, speaks of Jesus long delay in Coming again. There are rewards that will be given to the saints, for once they have been saved, their living faith will be shown by their works. See James 2:20, and Titus 3:8. Note the New Testament speaks of crowns given for different reasons. This is not to be interpreted to mean some will walk around dangling multiple literal and physical crowns on their heads. But Scripture does speak of The crown of joy or the The Soul winners crown. 1 Thessalonians 2 The crown of righteousness for those who love His appearing. 2 Timothy 4:5 The crown of glory, the Sheppard s reward. 1 Peter 5:4 The elder s crown 1 Peter 5 The incorruptible crown, the athlete s reward for striving to please God. 1 Corinthians 9:25 The crown of life, the reward of the martyr. James 1:12 One writer warns us as we look at the idea of rewards: Now... you might tend to think that this kind of thing savors of quid pro quo morality. That is, we do something and then God does something in response to it, but that is not the sense of these words. The Christian life is not a mercenary affair... So rewards in the New Testament are not something that we gain by our deeds. They are the result of the kinds of activity that please the Lord, and the power of the Lord, and they are the natural consummation of them so that we think of the crown of joy, the soul winners reward. The soul winner does not do his work in order to mercenarily have this reward, but he s a soul winner and, the natural result of his activity is the joy of being the instrumentality of bringing someone to the Lord, and the same pertains to all of these other rewards. Remember also that all of our activity is done through the power of Christ and we therefore will cast our crowns at His feet in recognition of this. The crowns are not all of our doing, and we will not have sinful pride at the success of our activities for God. Verse 13. We are now told who Jesus is, and this should be all the incentive we need to do what we are required to do as we await His Return. Jesus is great. The Father is great. The Spirit is great. This term includes the idea that there is authority, completeness, life and eternity in all the Triune God. Everything from A to Z belongs to Him. We should therefore never forget our basic Doctrines. One writer states: First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

6 We Christians, we worship one God, one being, but three persons. The three persons share in the one being of God, so we worship one God who subsists in three persons, and each one of these persons may be called Yahweh, Lord, but the personal distinctions still pertain, and the Father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Spirit, and the Spirit is not the Father. They re distinct in their persons, but they share the same being, so he s the alpha and the omega. When you get to heaven and see the Father and the Son and the Spirit on the throne you will better understand reality. God is the alpha and omega. Verse 14. Remember that we do not earn eternal life by doing the commandments, but doing them is evidence that we have been granted eternal life. The commandments of the Lord are good and right, and keeping them will bring us considerable blessing personally. A person cannot keep on doing evil and then claim they have a right to eternal life. Those that belong to God are transformed, and are continually being changed into the image of Christ. The Apostle Paul in Romans 7 and 8 makes our position in Christ absolutely clear and shows us the things that we cannot indulge in. The existence of the Tree of Life shows us what awaits the redeemed. It is life giving, and a glorious and complete life is open to all those who partake of this Tree of Life. Those who obey the Lord in their doings will have the right of access to this Tree whose leaf never withers and whose fruit never fails. One commentator believes that we need this Tree to remind us of what we are, and so throughout eternity evidentially, and the new heavens and the new earth, and the New Jerusalem there is a tree of life. John tells us it is for the healing of the nations, but it s a reminder, my Christian friend, of the fact that you are a creature... We are creatures. We are always creatures. You think you are going to meet the Lord in the air and you are going to be given a new body like unto his own glorious body, and that is marvelous. I won t have to do with this one anymore, but you are still a creature. You are still a creature throughout the ages of eternity. A million years from now, you ll still be a creature. Therefore, you are dependent upon the eternal God forever. How marvelous that is. How would you like to be on your own? How wonderful it is to be a dependent creature, and know it, and have the inner man to live it out, sin gone. So you re a creature and so you ll be coming to the tree of life, and you will be constantly at the tree of life because that s the ordinance of eternity to remind us of our creatureliness. The right to the tree comes to mean there is immortal existence, and a relationship with the Triune God and with the saints who have been transformed. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

7 Verse 15. Outside the gates are none of the sinners. This is the language of imagery used to reinforce what exists. They do not exist in this new earth. The descriptions of sinners are clear and easily understood. We should never be like this. Dogs are unclean animals and the term according to the Dictionary is used as a term of reproach or of humiliation. Those so designated are shut out of the Kingdom of God. They are held in low esteem. Sorcerers are mutterers, men who professed to have power with evil spirits. They claim magical powers, and profess to know the art of witchcraft. They were said to use drugs, spells, enchantments and potions. Whoremongers are sexually immoral persons. They are into adultery and sensuality. Murderers are manslayers. They hate. The word is used of Satan. Those who are murderers do not have eternal life. Idolaters are those who turn away from God openly or secretly, consciously or unconsciously. They worship images and given honor to created objects. They might worship the sun, moon, stars and the powers of nature. Or they might engage in hero worship, the worship of deceased ancestors. Some worship trees, rivers, hills and so on. Scriptures tells us idolatry is heathen. It answers the cravings for visible forms to express religious ideas. Anything given honour and precedence over God is called idolatry. Liars are false people who use false words to deceive. They are those who practice deception, falsehood, and hypocrisy. They inherit their craft from Satan. Proverbs 17:4 describes their way of life: An evildoer gives heed to false lips; A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue. Psalm 119:163 and Proverbs 6:17 condemn lying. Proverbs 12:22 is emphatic Lying lips are an abomination to the LORD, But those who deal truthfully are His delight. This chapter in Proverbs warns a great deal about the dangers posed by lying persons. Verse 16. Jesus now gives His testimony. He declares the book of Revelation to be the complete truth. It is inspired writing. It was not written to be privately held and hidden, but was sent to all the churches to be known by all believers. Jesus uses a Messianic title to emphasize He is the promised covenantal descendant of David as well as David s Creator. He is the root of David and is also from the stock of David as promised and prophesied by the Spirit. See Matthew 22: First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

8 He then uses another Messianic title from Numbers 24:17 declaring that He is the Bright and Morning star. This was an attack on the pagan belief that Venus was the star of sovereignty. Verse 17. The Spirit and the Bride call on Jesus to come and complete His work. He is the only one that can complete the promised redemption. The language indicates the invitation is really to Jesus. But there is also the invitation that those who thirsts can come to Him for salvation. Anyone who hears can come who feels that they are thirsty. Note however that men can only come to God only if God draws him. The water of life is freely offered. The price has been already paid. The invitation is open. Anyone who comes to Jesus will not be turned away. A man is given an opportunity but he is also responsible to accept the invitation and avoid the consequences of rejecting the offer. Spurgeon comments on this text: But mark thee, sinner, it says, whosoever. What a big word that is! Whosoever! There is no standard height here. It is of any height and any size. Little sinners, big sinners, black sinners, fair sinners, sinners double dyed, old sinners, aggravated sinners, sinners who have committed every crime in the whole catalogue- whosoever. It s really simple. Do not worry about whether or not you are worthy, whether or not you heart is hard and you cannot weep over your sins anymore, or whether you are not sure you can live the Christian life. You just come to Him. Give Him your problem and your situation and leave it with Him. Especially, leave you guilt feelings with Him. Do not hold on to them. He will handle things. He has the strength you do not have. Just take the water of life for this is free to you. Verses John now warns that it will bring a disastrous effect on anyone who tampers with the Book of Revelation. It is most dangerous to interfere with the invitation of God to men that they take the water of life which He freely offers to them. Any doctrine which teaches that a person can justify or commend themselves to God instead of taking His offer of the free water of life is offensive to God and will bring most serious punishment to those that teach such a thing. The teachers or preachers of that abomination will never see their names in the Book of Life and they will never have access to the New Jerusalem. The plagues, the wrath of God poured out as recorded in the book of Revelation will bring calamity to those heretics. Nothing can be added to or subtracted from this Book. The warning therefore goes out to all those who love to speculate and add and subtract from the teachings given by the Apostle and the prophets. Many do this to draw away disciples after them. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

9 This declaration that there will be a high price to pay for tampering with this book implies that it is not difficult to understand. It can be understood if read carefully by any individual. So be careful of self-promoting interpreters. One should also beware of those critics who are arrogant and feel they are intellectually superior to all others and can determine what is true and what is not in this Book. Verses This book of Revelation insists that we should be always watching and ready. Jesus wants us to learn the lessons from the Matthew 24 and 25 teachings and the Parables there. The interesting thing about human nature is that we always like to leave out uncomfortable things from our consideration and to emphasize the good and beneficial things. He states what He wishes to emphasize with Surely so we cannot ignore His warnings that He will come suddenly, when we least expect. It might seem so easy to read the signs of the times and predict when and how the Father will act. But we should examine the history of believers who lived in Israel and anticipated the coming of the Messiah, and the errors in timing made over and over again by believers in modern times who seem to be led by the Spirit. Frankly, the existing prophetic interpretations have varying flaws and the record of what they have taught and promised is not at all good. So let us be ready and watching, knowing that Jesus will come a Second time. He will come for He alone can solve the human problems. The grace of God is thus emphasized to close this Book. Grace has always described the dealings of God with His human creation both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And we are happy for that grace. CONCLUSION Read the Book of Revelation for yourselves several times and you will find it gets less and less confusing. You might not like the idea you might suffer and die for Christ and so you look forward to being spirited away while others suffer. Do not take the difficult parts out. If you are a Christian prepare for the world and Satan to be against you. There clearly is a great temptation for us to make the book of Revelation mean the opposite to what it says, but remember the warnings of the Apostle John. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)

10 This is undoubtedly a dangerous book for leaders and many people will not like its message. But true believers must calm their fears by trusting and relying on Jesus, the Father, and the Spirit, and look forward to being an overcomer, and thus have the right to the tree of life, and to enter into the gates into that amazing city. Salvation is too beautiful to walk away from. There is more waiting for you than you can ever imagine. So dream big dreams, and stay with Christ. Let us go together into that City of Glory. First Seventh Day Baptist Church of Toronto (416)