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[0:00] Good evening everyone, a warm welcome to the service this evening. Just one thing to say as we begin and that some of you may have heard already but probably most haven't that Ketak, Tini and Marion's granny passed away just in the last few minutes.

[0:21] So another one who has passed on and we can remember Tini and Marion and all of that big family at this time. We'll pray for a moment.

[0:35] Heavenly Father, again we thank you that you are our God. We thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus, who said, I am the resurrection and the life.

[0:50] And we thank you for the promise that we have that when we believe in him we have the assurance that although we die yet shall we live.

[1:04] And what a comfort that is to us and has been over these past weeks. We thank you that in the Bible we have the words of eternal life.

[1:17] And sometimes we wonder how bleak things would be if we did not have that. If this was all that there was.

[1:28] But we thank you that we have no continuing city here. Every day that we are given we can be thankful for and seek to glorify you in and through. But we thank you that this is not our home.

[1:42] But there is a place prepared. The new heavens, the new earth. And we have the assurance that those who are trusting in Christ will go to be with Christ.

[1:54] And we thank you that as hard as it is for us to comprehend this. When we are there we will be like him. So bless us we pray.

[2:05] Comfort we pray. The family in Shillabost. Marion and Tini. And all the wider family. That they would know your hand upon them.

[2:17] Your presence with them. And Lord as we pray again for Donald and Katrina. And all in Scalpy. As we gather around your word in just a while.

[2:29] We ask that we would know once more the help of the Holy Spirit. The counselor, the comforter of our souls. So hear us we pray. Lead us in worship we ask.

[2:41] And we ask all this in Jesus' name. Amen. We'll sing to God's praise. Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[2:53] That man hath perfect blessedness who walketh not astray. In counsel of ungodly men nor stands in sinner's way. Nor sitteth in the scorner's chair.

[3:04] But placeth his delight upon God's law. And meditates on his law day and night. We'll sing these two verses of Psalm 1. And after we have done that.

[3:15] Scott will lead us in a word of prayer please. Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[3:47] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[4:17] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[4:47] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[5:17] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[5:47] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1.

[6:17] Psalm 1 and the first two stanzas of Psalm 1. Amen. The beauty of Jesus Christ.

[6:51] And the richness of this word. We bring your blessing over us as we gather in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. And that we may be receivers of great blessings and promises.

[7:06] That we can hold on to throughout our life. And throughout every stage of our life. And this word is most suitable for us in our young years. Like through the last few moments of our existence together.

[7:21] We pray, mine, for those who have loved us. We pray especially for the family of Keitaq and Hilabhati.

[7:31] We pray also for the family of Elin, Sin, Lys, Sin, Galsea as well. We bring these families before you. And others who have likewise suffered and experienced loss.

[7:47] And we are still mourning the loss in their hearts. In recent days, in nearby villages. And nearby neighbours.

[8:00] And nearby connections to those who have been living elsewhere. And yet known to us. And known to the villages and communities around us. We pray, Lord.

[8:11] If you would wrap your loving arms around us. And may they know you're comforting peasants. We are taught that you are a wonderful counsellor.

[8:25] And there are often times where we don't know how to hide the love of hell. We don't know what to say. Words escape us when we struggle to find what we wish would be meaningful.

[8:39] And so we ask you to guide us. As those who need to receive some and receive a thing.

[8:52] We pray that your spirit would lead us. And it is not about what we say. Always. But we may have an ear to hear.

[9:02] And we may have an ear to hear.

[9:32] This is not at home. This is not an abiding city for us. The believer knows this in their heart. And the believer has their longing for their home.

[9:47] But it is not the case where we are. We feel so at home here. And we like being here. And the blessings that we have received here.

[9:58] And yet, truly they are incompatible to what are we. Those who believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We enter into a home where there will be no more suffering, no more sorrow.

[10:13] There will be no more hostility between each other. And no more distance from them and their Saviour.

[10:24] And there, there will be a loving, peaceful hope. So what we pray, direct our minds, is to reveal to us the witness and beauty of Jesus.

[10:38] We pray for David as he opens up revelation to us in the next coming week. We pray that your spirit would direct him. And to give us words fitting for our ears and suitable for our circumstances.

[10:54] He may devote himself to be an instrument in your hands for your clothes. And Lord, we just ask that you would speak to us.

[11:06] Speak right into the depths of our understanding. Illuminate our minds to the wonder of Jesus Christ. And it needs to be.

[11:16] Take a heart of stone and turn it into a heart of stone. And we pray this for whoever your word, whoever your gospel is in the night, whoever Christ crucified is declared, whether in power, stormy, closer in island, closer in east, closer in world, Lord, we pray, that your spirit would bring these words with meaningful power and effectual calling into the life of God.

[11:49] what in our daily faith, may your spirit pour them, convicting and converting, sinners to our Lord, and encouraging and persuading those to believe in you, to follow the faith, knowing that nothing in this world can compare to the measure of the wicked that is received through Jesus Christ.

[12:25] His righteous man gives us justice in the sight of God. And so, there is no condemning charge raised to the believers.

[12:42] There is no condemnation for those that are in Christ's peace. And so we pray. We have grasped full of His faith, laid in our hearts, that in His dwelling with fear, we have received from Him, and received from Him, and received from Him.

[13:08] Amen. We'll sing again to God's praise in the hymn on the screen. Though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King arguing over all.

[13:20] We stand to sing The Ancient of Days. Though the nations rage, kingdoms rise and fall, there is still one King reigning over all.

[13:52] So I will not fear, for this truth remains, that my God is the Ancient of Days.

[14:05] Run above Him, run before Him, all of time in His hand, for His glory shall we may not ever stand.

[14:21] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.

[14:34] O the night, O the night, overwhelm my soul, He is here with me, I am not alone, though His love is true, and He holds my name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.

[15:08] Run above Him, run before Him, all of time in His hand, for His glory shall remain and ever stand.

[15:21] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.

[15:36] Though I may not see, what the future brings, I will watch and wait, for the Saviour came, when my joy complete, standing face to face, in the presence of the Ancient of Days.

[16:06] None above Him, none before Him, all of time in His hand, for His glory shall remain and ever stand.

[16:22] All the power, all the glory, I will trust in His name, for my God is the Ancient of Days.

[16:43] If you could turn in your Bibles, please, to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1.

[17:08] And I'm reading from the ESV. Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1.

[17:21] Revelation chapter 1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the Word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.

[17:42] Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

[17:55] John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from Him, who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth.

[18:18] To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

[18:32] Amen. Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of Him.

[18:47] 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.

[19:02] Amen. And may God bless that reading of His Word to us. We'll sing again now a prayer, asking for God's help, and for us to be given understanding and ears to hear as we study His Word.

[19:18] Speak, O Lord, as we come to You to receive the food of Your Holy Word. The Lord has begun to you, to receive the food of Your Holy Word.

[19:36] The Lord has begun to you, to receive the food of Your Holy Word.

[19:50] Take your truth, shape and passion out, in Your life, that the light of Christ might be seen today, in our acts of love and our deeds of faith.

[20:15] Speak, O Lord, and proclaim us all Your purposes, for Your glory.

[20:26] Teach us, O Lord, and proclaim us all Your glory. Teach us, O Lord, and proclaim us all Your glory. Teach us, O Lord, and proclaim us all Your glory. To our sin and our sin and our sin and our sin and our sin and our sin and our sin. full obedience yes Christ, in love and authority, Words of love that can never fail, Let their truth prevail over and believe.

[21:19] Speak, O Lord, and renew our minds, There was God's light on your plans for us.

[21:32] To start a change from the dawn of time, That will echo down to eternity, And by grace we'll stand on your promises, And by grace we'll walk as you walk with us.

[21:57] Speak, O Lord, till your church is built, And the earth is built with your holy.

[22:16] Let's pray as we come back to God's Word. Amen. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the fact that you speak to us through your Word.

[22:31] And we thank you that we have the instruction and assurance That as we ask for the help of the Holy Spirit, We will be given that help.

[22:43] He is the one who inspired John to write these things. He is the one who opened the eyes of John to see these visions, And who guided his hand in all that is penned.

[22:57] And we pray that the Holy Spirit himself would be our teacher. That we would understand all that you have for us to understand About the Lord Jesus.

[23:12] So help us, we pray. Cleanse us from the sin that so easily entangles us. Empty us of ourselves.

[23:24] And fill us with the Holy Spirit. That we may be in worship On the Lord's day. And that we may see clearly A fresh vision of the Lord Jesus.

[23:38] We ask this in his name. And for his sake, amen. Sometimes we might find a document or a manual.

[23:53] And we open it up And start to leaf through it. And start to read it. But we're not really sure what it's for. We're not really sure what it is we're reading.

[24:06] We're struggling to understand The thing that's in front of us. And so generally what happens is We close it. And we put it away.

[24:17] And lots of people do that with the book of Revelation. It's probably The least understood book in the Bible. And for most preachers It's one of these books That we tend to shy away from Because it is hard to understand.

[24:38] There are pictures Visions that are Painted for us in this book. There are numbers That are detailed within the Verses of this book.

[24:53] There are things In this book that We probably won't understand No matter how much we study. We won't understand what they mean Until we get to heaven.

[25:08] But as we're reminded in 2 Timothy 3 Verses 16 and 17 It says there All scripture Not just our favourite books But all scripture Is Breathed out by God And profitable For teaching For reproof For correction And for training In righteousness That the man And woman And boy And girl Of God May be competent And equipped For every good work So tonight I'm not sure how far we'll go In our studies in this book But tonight we're launching out Into A sort of big picture study In the front end certainly Of the book of Revelation And I want to start By asking the question What kind of book is this?

[26:00] Because that's a good place To start I think In the Bible We have different genres Of literature We have psalms Songs Prayers Narrative Gospels So what kind of book Is this?

[26:17] And there's five answers To that question Which will take us Our five points For this evening The first point Is that it's A personal book Revelation Is a personal book The second thing We'll see Is it's a pastoral book The third thing We'll see Is it's a prophetic book Fourth thing Presbyterian The book Where the church Has been addressed A presbytery We're stretching the peas Here I know And the last The last point The main point really Is This is a book Full of pictures Of Jesus That's the main thing That we need to see We've got the introduction But this is a book Which is full of pictures Of Jesus But first of all We'll think about the fact That this is a personal book Some people When they

[27:17] When they look at Revelation Some people Become absolutely Fixated with the book Of Revelation And they approach it More like a puzzle book Than a personal book There's visions With strange creatures And hard to understand Pictures There are There are Sayings Which Are very enigmatic And hard for us To really crack There are There are numbers That are given That are difficult If not impossible For us to calculate And some people Will spend Huge amounts Of time Trying to work out Exactly what These visions Mean And how they Connect with Past historical Events And present Goings on And potential Future things That we may be Looking into People will read Revelation And try to Draw lines Between the verses And political Figures That have been And are And may be

[28:17] In the future And some people Become totally Absorbed In that Kind of reading Revelation And trying to Make sense Of the world And what this Book is saying To us about The sway Of the culture And politics And all these Kind of things Some people Become totally Fixated on Trying to work Out what the Numbers mean It says in Revelation 13 And verse 18 Just to give you An example This calls For wisdom This calls For wisdom Let the one Who has Understanding Calculate the Number of the Beast For it is the Number of A man And his Number is 666 You can get A PhD in that I'm not sure You'll be any The wiser At the end Of the PhD But some People That's the Approach They'll take It's a

[29:18] Mystery It's full Of puzzle It's full Of intrigue It's full Of really Hard to Understand Things And they Approach The book Of Revelation Like a Huge Cryptic Puzzle Book But what We can See from The introduction The first Two verses Is that This is not Introduced to Us as a Puzzle Book Rather It's a Personal Book Who's The author The author Is John Almost Certainly John The Disciple Of Jesus Verse 1 Says The revelation Of Jesus Christ Which God Gave him John To show To his Servants The things That must Soon Take place He made It known By sending His angel To his Servant John Who bore Witness To the word Of God And to the Testimony Of Jesus Christ And to All that He saw One commentator Wierspie Says God the Father Gave the Contents Of the Book To Christ Who gave It to

[30:18] His angel Who gave It to The apostle John And John Having Been Given This Is now Writing Down What he Was given So that He can Pass it On To Christians Back Then And Christians Who are Still Living Today So It's a Personal Book This is A letter From God To his People And if we Think about The children's Talk from The morning He uses John As his Postman To deliver This personal Message to Us It's worth Noting as Well That Although there Is some Debate over The time This book Was written The majority View Is that It was written Round about A.D.

[31:08] 95 John At this Point In time Was In exile He had Been sent To the Isle of Patmos Which was Essentially Like a Prison Camp An island Where Prisoners Were sent To do Hard Labour It was Mainly Mining The commentators Think that He'd have Been doing Why was He doing This Why was He sent To this Place To be Exiled Well it Was Essentially Because he Wouldn't Stop Talking About Jesus

[32:10] And there's Some Encouragement For us In this To keep On Keeping On Serving The Lord Whatever Whatever We are At Whatever Our Age Whatever Our Circumstances John Shows Us That we Are Called To be Servants Of Jesus So it's A personal Book That's the First Thing That we See The Second Thing That we See Is That It's A Pastoral Book Look at Verse Three Says In Verse Three Blessed Is The One Who Reads Aloud The Words Of This Prophecy And Blessed Are Those Who Hear And Keep What Is Written In It For The Time Is Near It's A Personal Book Said That And It's A Pastoral Book And That Comes Through As We Begin To See The Purpose That The Book Was Written For

[33:10] What Does God Want For His People Well It's Very Clear That What The Lord Wants For The Recipients Of This Message Is That He Wants Them To Receive Blessing Now The Christians Who Were Living At That Time AD 95 And In The Years Proceeding That If Those Others Wanted To Take A Different Date The Christians Who Were Living At That Time They Were Taking A Battering We Can See That The Emperor Nero Was One Who Detested Christians And He Persecuted Christians Acutely In Rome But Nero Was Now Gone And In AD 95 There Was A New Emperor A New Roman Emperor Called Domitian

[34:10] And He Had Come And He Was Actually Worse Than Nero So He Was Putting Christians Through The Fiery Trial Remember Peter In First Peter Chapter 4 Verse 12 And Following He Warns These Believers About A Fiery Trial That's Coming Well That Fiery Trial Was Delivered Under The Rule Of This Roman Emperor Domitian One Commentator Says Domitian Was As Cold Blooded A Murderer As You Will Ever Meet In The Pages Of History And You Can Read About Them In History We're Not Going To Go Into Much Detail Tonight We'll Just We'll Look At This As We Step Through The Book But What I Want To To Make Clear Is That The Lord's People Were Struggling Because They Were Being Battered Through Persecution And The Lord Saw And

[35:11] So He Reaches Out To Them Through This Personal And This Pastoral Letter And Through This Letter There Was The Promise Of Blessing So How Could They Back In 1895 And How Can We In 2026 How Can We Receive The Blessing Of God Well We're Told In Verse 3 If We Want To Receive The Blessing Of God It's Through The Reading Of God's Word It's Through The Hearing Of God's Word And It's Through Keeping Obeying What Is Written In God's Word That's Where The Blessing Comes We Need To Be Able To Hear God's Word As It's Read Aloud But Not Only Hear It But Believe It And Obey It Revelation 1 3

[36:12] It Connects Very Much With The Psalm That We Read Psalm 1 Psalm 1 That We Sang At The Beginning That Man Hath Perfect Blessedness Who Walketh Not Astray In Council Of Ungodly Men Nor Stands In Sinner's Way Nor Sitteth In The Scornest Chair But Placeth His Delight Upon God's Law And Meditates On His Law Day And Night So This Evening If We Want To Know The Pastoral Care The Pastoral Touch Of God If We Want To Receive A Blessing If We Want The Blessing Of God That He Is More Than Willing To Give We Need To Come To Him As He Meets With Us In The Word And As We Read The Word As

[37:12] We Hear The Word As We Obey The Word There's Blessing Not Complicated Is It It's A Personal Book It's A Pastoral Book And The Third Thing We'll See Here Is That It's A Prophetic Book And Again We Read That In Verse Three John Said Blessed Is The One Who Reads Aloud The Words Of This Prophecy So What's A Prophecy Well I Think We All Understand What A Prophecy Is A Prophecy Is A Prediction Or A Revelation Of Something That Will Happen Not In The Present But In The Future And That Comes Through In

[38:33] Up Until Now Most Of The Events Described In This Revelation Have Not Yet Taken Place However Verse Three The Time Is Near And Now Almost Two Thousand Years Have Passed Since John Wrote These Things And The Time Is Nearer So We Ask The Question What Is The What Is The Main Prophecy In The Book Of Revelation Well The Main Prophecy There's Lots Of Prophecies But The Main Overriding Recurring Prophecy In The Book Of Revelation Is The Return Of Jesus In This Book We Will See The Glory Of The Risen Reigning Jesus It's A Revelation Of Jesus And We're Going To Be Encouraged As We See The Glory Of

[39:33] The Risen Christ Who Is Reigning Over Everything There's Great Encouragement In That And As God Speaks To John He Says To Us Repeatedly In This Book Remember This Jesus He's Coming Back That Is What Will Soon Take Place The Time Of Jesus Return Is Near The Time Of Jesus Return Has Never Been Nearer Than It Is This Moment So Why Do We Need To Know That Why Do We Need This Word Of Prophecy Well For Those Who

[40:34] Aren't Yet Christians It's So That You Can Prepare For That Day That Is Being Prophesied Jesus Is Coming Back It's Absolutely Guaranteed It's Sure It's Certain We Just Don't Know The Day And For Those Who Are Not Yet Christians You Need This Word Of Prophecy So That You Can Prepare For That Day How Do You Prepare For That Day Well By Trusting In Jesus If We Want The Day Of Jesus Return To Be A Day Of Joy And Not A Day Of Horror We Need To Know Jesus And The Reason That Jesus Has Not Yet Return

[41:34] Is Because God Is Patient He's Long Suffering He's Slow To Anger He's Abounding In Love And He Is Still Waiting For Some People To Call Upon The Name Of The Lord To Be Saved And Today If There's Anybody Who's In That Situation Still Not Having Called Today We Have The Opportunity To Do That Today It Is Possible For Every One Of Us To Call Upon The Name Of The Lord Jesus And Be Saved On The Day He Returns Or On The Day That He Calls Us From This World To Stand Before Him It Will Be Too Late For That So We Need This Word Of Prophecy That Jesus Is Coming Back That We Will Stand

[42:34] Before Him And Meet Him So That We Will Be Ready For That Day And That's A Word Particularly! For Those Who Are Christians For Those! Who Are Christians Why Do We Need This Vision Of The Coming The Second Coming Of Jesus Why Do We Need This Prophetic Word Well We Need It So That We Can Be Encouraged Because Today In Our Country As We Scroll Through The Reels On Our Phones Christ Is Mocked And Scorned And Ignored And Dismissed You Can Turn On A TV Program At Any Hour Of The Day And There Are Certain Curse Words That Will Not Be All To Be Heard By The Name Of Jesus That Isn't Censored At Any Time Of The Night That's Blasphemed Anywhere

[43:35] Any Time Any Program And That Is Painful And It's Discouraging When We Live In A World That Tramples The Name Of The Lord Jesus John Is Reminding Us As The Holy Spirit Inspires Them That There Is Coming A Day When Jesus Will Return And Every Eye Will See Him In All His Glory And Every Tongue Every Tongue That Blasphemed Him Every Ruler That Dismissed Him Every Dictator That Railed Against Him Will Bow His Knee And

[44:36] Confess That Jesus Is Lord And King So It's A Prophetic Book And The Prophecy That Runs Through It Is Jesus Is Coming Back He's Coming Soon It's A Personal Book It's A Pastoral Book Fourthly It's A Presbyterian Book Once A Month I Have The Privilege It's Not Always A Privilege But Once A Month I Have The Duty Certainly Of Going To Presbytery For Those Who Are Thinking What On Earth Does Presbytery Mean Well It's It's Just a Word It's A Meeting Where The Churches In The Area Gather Together And Talk About Lots Of Different Issues Some Good Some Bad Some Helpful Some Less So And In This Letter Jesus Through John Writes A Letter To The Presbytery Of Asia Verse 4

[45:38] Says John To The Seven Churches That Are In Asia It's A Letter Personal Letter Pastoral Letter A Letter That Is Packed With Prophecy And That Main Prophecy Of The Return Of Jesus Dominant Through It And It's A Letter Where A Presbytery Is Addressed Seven Churches In Asia Modern Day Turkey Are Addressed And Numbers Of Great Significance Especially In The Book Of Revelation And Seven Is A Number In Revelation That Indicates Completeness And If You Were To Mark The Location Of These Seven Churches On A Map I'm Told That It Makes A Complete Circle And The Message That Runs Through That Is That This Letter Is A Letter That Was For Churches In Asia Back Then

[46:38] And We'll See These Churches Detailed In Chapter 2 And 3 But It's Not Just A Letter For The Presbytery Of Asia It's Not Just A Letter For Ephesus And Thyatira And Pergamum And So On This Is This Is This Is This Is This Is This Is For All Churches Of Jesus Christ In All Places At All Times So This Letter That Jesus Writes To Presbytery Where He Will Say Some Very Hard Things Necessary But Lovingly Hard Things It's a Letter That Is Just as Much For The Presbytery Of The Western Isles As It Is For The Presbytery Of Asia So It's A Presbyterian Letter It's A Letter To The Churches Back Then And We'll Delve Into That In Due Course And It's A Letter To The Church Of Which We Are Part

[47:39] Of Just Right Now Presbyterian Book And Finally This Is A Book That Is Full Of Pictures Of Jesus And This Is Probably The Main Answer To The Question Of What The Book Of Revelation Is It's A Picture Book It's A Book That Is Jam Packed Full Of Pictures Of Jesus Derek Thomas The Commentator Says Revelation Is A Book Of Pictures Designed To Appeal To The Visual Senses As We Turn Over Its Pages We Are Meant To Be Overwhelmed By Its Descriptions Of The Savior Jesus So That's What To Think About Every Time You Open The Book Of Revelation Think

[48:39] About These Pictures That We Are Being Given Of Jesus And If We Rewind Back To AD 95 And Think About The First Christians Who Received This Letter

[49:54] To The To Seven Churches We're Given Lots Of Pictures Of Jesus So Just As We Conclude Let's Just Highlight A Few Of The Things That We Learn Here That We See Here As We Consider Who Jesus Is Who Is Jesus Well The First Thing We Can We Can Say Is In Verses 48 Jesus Is The One Who Gives Grace To You And Peace Verse Four Says Grace To You And Peace From Him From Jesus With Some Products You Know There's Only One Supplier We Bought A Coffee Machine This Week A Coffee Machine Broke So We Bought A New Coffee Machine And It Can Make Some Coffee With Like Espressos Where You Pack It In And You Do The Thing But You

[50:54] Can Also It's Compatible Apparently With These Little Pods You Buy These Pods And You Plug Them In And You Push The Description In The Small Print That If You Want To Use The Pods You Need One Extra Little Part It's Called An ESV Filter Morphe Richards ESE Filter Went To Try And Order It Out Of Stock So We'll Get An Email When It Comes Through But The Thing Is I Looked Everywhere And It's It's Only The One Website That Supplies It There's Only One Supplier Of The And When It Comes To Saving Grace And Sustaining Grace When It Comes To Eternal!

[51:47] Peace John Reminds These Christians Back In AD 95 And He Reminds Us This Evening That We Only Get These Things From Jesus Grace To You Says!

[52:00] John And Peace From Him And Only From Him Jesus Is The One Who Gives Grace To You And Peace So Come And Ask Him Morning By Morning Come And Ask Him For Him Jesus Verse 4 John Continues Is The One Who Is And Who Was And Who Is To Come Jesus Is To Put It Another Way He's The Eternal Son Of God And As We Think About The God That We Worship There's Nothing In Our Past There's Nothing In Our Present There's Nothing That Is In Our Future That Goes Unnoticed By Jesus There Never Was A Time There Never Is A Time There Never Will Be Passing

[53:07] On What A Come For John He's Isolated On The Isle Of Patmos He's Been Torn Away From His Family He's Been Torn Away From The Christian Community He Has No Fellowship And Yet He's Reminded Through This Vision That Jesus Was And Jesus Is And Jesus Always Will Be With Him The Next Thing That John Tells Us About Jesus In Verse 5 As He Gives Us All These Pictures He Says That Jesus Is The Faithful Witness And That Means That If We Want To Know The Truth About Who God Is And Who We Are We Simply Need To Listen To The Word Of Jesus Next

[54:11] Thing John Says Is Jesus Is Verse 5 The Firstborn Of The Dead He's Just Piling Up All These Prices All These Pictures He's The Firstborn Of The Dead And We Remember Week By Week Jesus He He Died To Pay The Wages Of Our Sin We Thought About That This Morning But He's The Firstborn!

[54:34] He's Risen And He Promised That All Who Believe In Him They Too We Too Will Rise And Again Just Imagine The Comfort For Believers In A.D.

[54:55] 95 Who Were Being Killed And Who Were Grieving The Loss Of Loved Ones Who Had Been Brutally Murdered For Jesus Sake And Yet They Have This Promise This Vision Of Jesus As The Firstborn Of The Dead The First One To Be Resurrected And All Who Are In Him They Share In That Resurrection Life And That Comfort Which Was For Them Spills Over To Us In Our Community At This Time We Have Seen So Much Death Death But We Are Being Assured Even Through This Vision That There Is Life Beyond Death When We Are Trusting In Jesus The

[55:57] Next Thing John Says In Verse Five Is That Jesus Is The Ruler Of Kings And Again Think About How That Sounded To These Believers The Roman Emperor Domitian Appeared To Be The Ruler Of All He's Flexing His Political Muscle He's Persecuting The Christians With All The Power And Enthusiasm!

[56:25] That He Could Muster He Pronounced Him To Be A God Like Figure We Are Speed The Commentator Says Domitian Promoted Emperor Worship And Began His Announcements This Way Our Lord And God Domitian Commands But John Reminds Them That Jesus Rules Over Every Emperor And Every King And Every Present And Every Dictator Jesus Is The Ruler Of Kings And With Every Description John Gives The Vision Of Jesus Grows Bigger And Clearer And John Concludes In Verse Six And Following By Telling Them That Glory And Dominion Belong To Jesus Forever And Ever He

[57:26] Is Verse Eight The Alpha The Beginning And The Omega The End He Is Verse Eight The Almighty No One Nothing Over Him And Yet Amazingly And Finally We Can Underline What John Says In Verse Five And That Is That Jesus Is The One Who Loves Us And Who Has Freed Us From Our Sins And What A Blessing For These Battered Christians The World Hated Them But Jesus Through John Says I Love You The World Threw Them In Prison But Jesus Gave Them Freedom That This World

[58:26] Could Never Give And This Jesus Was Coming Back Says John Verse Seven Behold He Is Coming With The Clouds And Every Eye Will See Him Even Those Who Pierced Them And All The Tribes Of The Earth Will Whale On Account Of Him Even So Amen So These Pictures Of Jesus Were A Huge Encouragement To The Believers Of AD 95 Their World Was Telling Them That Jesus Was Dead That He Was In Irrelevance That He Was A Curse And Our World Is Still Telling Us That What Do These Believers In AD 95

[59:27] Need And What Do We Need In Order To Stay Encouraged In Order To Keep On Keeping On We Need Fresh Versions Of Jesus We Need Revelation Of The Risen Reigning And Returning Jesus And That's The Reason That We Are In This Book Let's Pray Heavenly Father Help Us We Pray As We Go From Here Into A World Where Sometimes It Feels Like We Are Being Battered Help Us We Pray As We Go Back Into A World Where The Name Of Jesus Is So Continually Cursed Help

[60:27] Us To See To Have A Fresh Vision Of The Lord Jesus In All His Glory And Power And Authority Thank You Jesus That You Lived For Us And Died For Us And Rose From The Dead Thank You That You Ascended Into!

[60:46] Heaven That You Are At The Right Hand Of The Father Interceding For Us And Thank You For The Promise That One Day Soon You Will Return Help Us We Pray To Live Today And Every Day Remembering That Great Day That Is To Come And May Each Of Us Be Prepared To Embrace You As Our Saviour And Not Stand Before You As The One That We Have Turned Away From And We Pray This In Jesus Name Amen We'll Sing To Finish Mission Praise 51 Be Deep I die.

[62:03] We give us living thy presence my light. Heard my wisdom of my true word.

[62:20] I ever with me I read me Lord. Thou my great Father I die true Son.

[62:36] Thou with me dwelling and I with thee one. He held my hand in my joy for the pride.

[62:53] He held my heart and I through the life. Thou my soul shall turn down tongue down.

[63:09] Praise the me heaven power of my mind. God Precious I need nor not empty grace Thou my inheritance!

[63:30] Thou and always Thou and the holy first in my heart.

[63:42] ! king heaven my treasure Thou I king of heaven after victory won!

[63:57] May I reach heaven's stride O bright O heart of my O whatever he knows will my vision O ruler of all and with the our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all.

[64:31] now and forevermore. Amen.