This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

(upbeat music) - This is day four together of our look through Revelation
chapter 22. I've been looking forward to this day. We're going to focus today on
Jesus Christ.

Now, as we focus on Jesus Christ, there is the reality of who he is that I hope
and pray will overwhelm our hearts, our minds, our souls, as we look through
this today. Let me read for you Revelation 22 verses 13 to 16. Jesus says, "I am
the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.

Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they might have the right to the
tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs,
those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the
idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. I, Jesus, have sent
my angel to give you this testimony for the churches.

I, and the root and the offspring of David, and the bright morning star. " Now,
before focusing on what these verses say about Jesus, in the middle of those
verses, it talks about those who are blessed and those who are outside. Blessed
are those who wash their robes, wash their robes in the blood of the Lamb so
that we have the purity of Christ.

And because of who he is and what he's done for us, then we have the right to
the tree of life. We can go into the gates of the city, not based on our own
goodness. There is not enough goodness in any one of us or in all of us together
to get into heaven.

You could put the goodness of every single person that's ever lived in all of
human history together. It's not enough. It is not enough because it's not
perfect, and heaven's a perfect place.

And if God allowed imperfect people into an imperfect place, we'd have an
eternity of the same thing we're facing today. Who would want that? Now he
washes our robes, he gives us his perfection.

Those who are in the city are there because of what Jesus has done. But then it
also talks about those who are outside the city. It talks about the sins of
magic arts and immorality and murder.

This is not a complete list of the sins that we commit. This is a list of
selfishness and depending on yourself. And when you depend on yourself, in the
end, you're outside.

You're outside of the love of God, you're outside of the presence of God, you're
outside of the joy that God has for all eternity. Outside. I can't think of a
clearer description of hell than that one word, outside of the love of God.

And the question in these verses is, what causes some to be blessed and others
to be outside? It's not a matter of our birth, it's not a matter of our
heritage, it's not a matter of where we grew up, it's not a matter of where we
are in human history, it's a matter of what you do with Jesus Christ. That's the
focus in these verses.

The book of Revelation is about the truth, the prophecy, the fact that Jesus
Christ is coming again. And oftentimes, as we study through this book, we tend
to focus because we're curious. We're human beings.

We tend to focus on when. What are the clues about when he might be coming
again? And I suppose it's okay for us to do that.

There are some clues in these verses, but that's not the most important thing in
the verse. That's not the most important thing in the book. And the most
important thing, the priority, is not when he is coming, it is who is coming.

And when you keep that in priority, then you can study the book of Revelation
and it gives you the hope that you need. It gives you the life that you need. I
thought today, as we are in this last week, next to the last day of our study
together, the book of Revelation, that we take some time just to focus on Jesus.

I want to walk through the entire book of Revelation with you. And I want to share
with you the titles for Jesus that are given through this book. I read again
through the book of Revelation yesterday and just looked for the titles of
Jesus.

Now, this may not be an exhaustive list, but these are the titles that I saw as
I read again through the book. Who is Jesus Christ? Who is it that is coming?

Who are we going to worship? Who are we waiting for? Who is the lamb that's at
the center of the throne that's going to shepherd our souls forever?

Who is it? Here are the titles for Jesus in the book of Revelation. In
Revelation 1:5, he is called the faithful witness.

No one more faithful than he to witness what he has done and to show us who he
is. In Revelation 1:5, he's also called the firstborn of the dead. The idea of
firstborn there is, as we walk through this book, as we've seen many times, it's
the idea of an inheritance that's given.

And Jesus Christ has been resurrected. He is the one who has the inheritance,
and he's going to share that inheritance with us for all eternity. He's the
firstborn of the dead.

In Revelation 1:5, another title he's given is the ruler of the kings of the
earth. Over all the kings of the earth, he is the ruler. He's the one in charge.

God is in control. In Revelation 1:17, Jesus has given the title the first and
the last. We're going to see that one again in these very verses we're looking at
today.

He's called the first and the last. In Revelation 1:17, he is called, one of his
titles is the living one. I love that.

Jesus is not the dead one. He is the living one. He's not the former one.

He is the first and the last. In Revelation 2, verse 12, Jesus' title there is
he who has the sharp, double-edged sword. He is the one who is not only judge,
but he is also the one who is the healer.

In Revelation 2:18, Jesus' title there is one that's very familiar to us, the
Son of God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God in human flesh came to this earth.

In Revelation 3:1, Jesus' title there is he who holds the seven spirits and
seven stars. He's talking about the churches and the fact that he holds and
cares for the church. In Revelation 3, verse 7, he is the holy one.

He is the true one. Now as I go through these titles of Jesus, many times, I
don't know about you, as I go through a list, about halfway through, I begin to
lose the importance of the list. It's just another list.

But this list is above all lists. This is who is coming again. There's really
nothing more important than these titles.

Oh, there may seem to be other things. There do seem to be other things that are
more important in my life. But there truly is nothing that's more important.

What seems to be important to me is going to pale in importance in all eternity to
who Jesus is. He's the holy one. He is the true one, and he gives that to us.

In Revelation 3, 14, there are three titles given to Jesus, the amen, the amen.
He is the answer to every prayer you've ever prayed. He is titled there the
faithful and true witness again.

He's titled there the ruler of God's creation. Not only is he the ruler of the
kings of the earth, he is the ruler of all of God's creation. In Revelation 5,
verse 5, the title of Jesus there is the lion of the tribe of Judah.

He comes straight out of the Old Testament, and the picture of the fact that
Jesus came out of the Old Testament, he fulfilled the prophecies of the Old
Testament in powerful ways. Revelation 5, 5, he's the lion of the tribe of
Judah. Revelation 5, 12, he is the lamb who was slain.

I love that. Jesus is both. He's both lion and lamb.

He is of the tribe of Judah, but he is the one who was slain. He's the lamb who
was slain for the forgiveness of my sins, for your sins. Who is Jesus Christ?

Revelation 12, 5, he is the one who will rule all nations with a rod of iron. He
rules in power. The idea of a weak Jesus, of a wimpy Jesus, of a Jesus who, oh
yes, he died for our sins, but he doesn't really care about what's going on in
our lives.

He would never exert any power or control. That's entirely separate from the
truth of the book of Revelation and the entire New Testament. Who is Jesus?

Revelation 17, 14, his title there is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. That's
who Jesus is. Revelation 19, 11, who is Jesus?

He is faithful and true. Any situation you face in your life, he'll be faithful.
Human beings might have let you down this week.

He'll never let you down. Any circumstance you face in your life, he'll tell you
the truth. Some person, somebody close to you may have lied to you this week.

He will never lie to you. Revelation 19, 12, this title that we looked at as
we've studied through this book, his name written on him that no one knows but
he himself. A reminder that there's more to Jesus than even we can know.

And then these names that we see in these verses we've just read today.
Revelation 22, 13, he is the Alpha and the Omega. He's the first and the last.

He is the source, he's the goal. Alpha and Omega, the beginning letter and
ending letter of the Greek alphabet. He's the A to Z, he is everything.

And the powerful thing about this is Jesus is called the Alpha and Omega here
earlier in the book of Revelation. The Father, God, is called the Alpha and
Omega. The fact that both the Lamb and the Father sit on the throne, the fact
that both of them are called the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the
last, there is no doubt in the New Testament that Jesus is not just pictured for
us but he is exemplified and held up and exalted as God in human flesh.

He's the Alpha and the Omega. He is the root and the offspring of David.
Revelation 22, verse 16 we've just read.

That means he is the promised Messiah of God. He is the fulfillment of all of
the prophecies in the Old Testament. And here's the awesome thing about this.

As we come to the end, Jesus is saying, I'm the root and the offspring of David.
And I'm the one who's giving you this revelation. The fulfillment of all of the
prophecies in the Old Testament is giving this prophecy in the New Testament,
guaranteeing the prophecies of his second coming.

Who better to guarantee than the one who fulfilled all the first prophecies?
He's the root and the offspring of David. He is, in Revelation 22, verse 16, he
is the bright and the morning star.

I love the beauty in that name of Jesus. He's the star at the dawn of a new day.
As you look into the sky and a new day is dawning, the sun isn't up yet.

You can't see anything else in the sky but this one star. And you know that dawn
is almost here. As the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem comes into
reality, as that light begins to shine, he's the bright and morning star.

He's the star at the dawn of this new day. Now, there's one more title for Jesus
tomorrow as we end the study of the book of Revelation. Revelation 22, verse 21,
Lord Jesus.

That's who he is. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's take a few minutes together
and talk to him.

Lord Jesus, I get so caught up in what I'm doing, in who I am, in what I'm
facing. And I know you're interested. I know you care.

You tell me that you care about every detail of my life. And I know you want me
to talk to you about every detail. But sometimes I get so caught up in that that
I forget you.

I forget what's most important. And so today, Lord Jesus, I focus on you, the
firstborn of the dead, the first and the last, the living one, the amen, the
lion of the tribe of Judah, the lamb who was slain, the Lord of lords, the king
of kings, the root, the offspring of David, the faithful and true witness, the
alpha and omega. Jesus amidst everything that's going on in my life, today I
want to remember you and who you are.

I remind myself right now that there's nothing more important Jesus Christ than
you, king of kings and Lord of lords. In your name, in your most powerful and
holy name, I pray Jesus, amen. Join us tomorrow.

It's the end of our study of the book of Revelation.