All of God's People
I John,
who also am your brother,
and companion in tribulation,
and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ,
was in the isle that is called Patmos,
for the word of God,
and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
(((John was on an isle called Patmos- why? For the word of God, for the testimony of Jesus Christ which we read later is -- Rev. {19:10} 'And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.'
John was in the isle of Patmos for the word of God and for the Spirit of prophecy- the testimony of Jesus. John, who like all who are followers of Christ from the beginning until the end, are brothers and companions in tribulation- the tribulation the world offers us. John {16:33} 'These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good
cheer; I have overcome the world.'
John was no stranger to the world's tribulations that followers of Christ suffer. John was a part of it all, he had his part in the suffering of the tribulation and his part in the kingdom- the promise of the kingdom in Jesus, the patience. For what Christian can truly be a Christian without the patience necessary to endure all that the world offers and be victorious in Christ?
John - a brother, a companion, a believer in the kingdom, a possessor of the patience of Jesus Christ- John was where he was for God, for the Spirit of Prophecy for the testimony of Jesus Christ.}}}
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day
and heard behind me a great voice,
as of a trumpet,
(((John was in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit- the Holy Comforter -
John- {16:7} Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come
unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. {16:8} And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: {16:9} Of sin, because they believe not on me; {16:10} Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; {16:11} Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. {16:12} I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. {16:13} Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, [that] shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come'
Jesus talked of sending the Spirit, the Comforter to us after He was to leave the world. This Comforter, this Spirit of truth is for all of us. John was in the Spirit, John was given the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, and while He was absorbed in the Spirit he heard a great voice, as of a trumpet. Can you imagine the sound of that voice?! As of a trumpet. Now I've heard a trumpet before and they're nothing like a soft flute are they? They are loud and commanding. Trumpets are used to bring people to attention, to listen, to be heard. A great voice as of a trumpet- this would indeed be a voice commanding attention, a voice that could not be ignored.
What did the voice say? ))))
...
Saying,
I am Alpha and Omega,
the first and the last
(((Again the emphasis on the beginning and the end, the first and the last, and there is only one Alpha and Omega, only one! God.))))
and,
What thou seest,
write in a book,
and send it unto the seven churches
which are in Asia
unto Ephesus
and unto Smyrna
and unto Pergamos
and unto Thyatira
and unto Sardis
and unto Philadelphia
and unto Laodicea.
(((Write in a book, the voice, the commanding voice from the Alpha and Omega wants John to write a book and even tells him where the book was to go to. Was it to be broken up and part sent here and part there? No. A book was to be written and sent to all seven churches. So clearly the first church- Ephesus would read what John had to say to the six after them. The last church Laodicea would be able to read all that was written for the six churches before them. This book was clearly to be written for all seven churches with specific points mentioned for each church and yet all the churches would read what was written for all.
Remember talking about the number seven? Remember talking about what constitutes God's church? The number seven is a number signifying completeness, perfection. God's church isn't a building but God's people. Think about it... John wrote a book and sent it to seven churches, were there more than seven churches then? More than seven groups of God's people? Did they feel neglected and left out because they weren't given a specific message? Or is it possible that the message given to each of God's people in those various seven locations was a message that would travel with those people and be given to all of God's people? Seriously, if I have an important message from my mother I'm going to share it with my sisters and brother, aren't I? I won't say this important message is just for me and for me alone. It's important and like most important things they are shared with others.
The ways of God aren't our ways. We do know that we who are alive today are getting the same message that was given to those seven churches. We are part of God's church, we are part of God's people and as such we share in this important message. So yes, John was to write a book and send it to seven groups of God's people in seven different areas, and yet we know this message was for ALL of God's people to live before His return, from that time unto our time and right up until the time of Jesus' return.
May God open our hearts and minds to Him, may we be in the Spirit, may we have the Spirit of truth in us comforting us, guiding us leading us as Jesus would have us led. When we read and study God's word to His people may our hearts be in Him, open to receive any blessing He would bestow upon us. May our insight be solely guided by Him, our Savior, our Redeemer, by His grace and His mercy now and forever!
Amen.))))
8/22/10
During my recent Bible studies on Friday evenings we've been studying Spiritual Warfare. As most people know - when we get closer to the Lord the Devil gets mad. We are attacked. It's not fiction- it's reality. Satan would have us believe it's fiction, Satan would have us believe any attacks by him have to be the stuff of exorcisms. The every day ordinary life is Satan-free, right? That's how Satan would have us think. The nasty little every day irritations can't be from him, He doesn't bother himself with tiny stuff.
It's a lie, and He's the father of lies. Satan works his evil in every way he can in the smallest ways possible. He's not going to exert any more effort than needed to capture the spiritual life of a person. Satan will not go to great lengths if only small upsets are enough to take over a person and bring them to despair that they'll ever be able to be the Lord's fully.
Today I was attacked spiritually in a very vicious way and I didn't exhibit any Christ-like qualities as I was assaulted. The attack came from more than one side and just threw me for a loop. No, I'm not going to relate some amazing, supernatural occurrence to you. It wasn't a supernatural occurrence but rather situations set up to entice me to be overcome by the sin of unrighteous anger. In the blink of an eye one occurrence took place and while that spark ignited the fire a heart beat later another occurrence caused that small flame to explode and I felt an awful rage of anger and logically there was no real reason for any of it to happen! None! I don't understand why, I just know that I succumbed to the attack and reacted just how Satan wanted me to react. The guilt, the shame, the awful knowledge that my spiritual life was so lacking I could be so easily goaded into sinning pained me something awful. Knowing that others witnessed my unwarranted anger, knowing others were the victims of my failing made me feel sick. Recognizing it all for what it was- a Satanic attack- not of the spectacular but of the ordinary- was a blessing. Asking for forgiveness, letting the others know it was an attack- helped me get through it without too much spiritual damage- PRAISE GOD!
The reason I'm writing about this here in my Bible Study is because we need to recognize the enemy for what He is and what He does. We need to realize His workings not as an excuse like some think we use it for, but for the reality we live in. We need to BLAME Satan for what He does, for what He orchestrates, for the evil He incites, we CAN'T let Him place the blame on us as if He doesn't exist, or worse still we can't let Him place the blame on God.
This Psalm of David has been brought to my attention several times lately and with good reason-
Psa 35:1 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
Psa 35:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
Psa 35:3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
Psa 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Psa 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
Psa 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
The angel of the LORD chase them.
The angel of the LORD persecute them.
Satan is an evil angel and he has many minions of like kind. We might read something like the verses above and instantly imagine living in a time of warfare with human enemies after us- something I know I don't live with at all in that respect. What I live with is spiritual warfare. I need to pray this prayer- I need to ask the Lord to strive with me, to fight against them that fight against me- and those who are the 'them' might just be evil angels, not other human beings. We are told to put on armor- Spiritual armor. We are told to take a helmet, a shield, a sword, a belt, boots, a breastplate- armor. Here in this Psalm David is pleading to God- 'take hold of a shield and buckler- draw out the spear.' Spiritual armor! We need our spiritual enemies to be just as confounded, to be put to shame, to turn back, to be brought to confusion. We need the spiritual enemy to be as chaff in the wind- we need the angel of the Lord to persecute them.
We are in a battle! We are, we really, really are and we can't let anything in this world convince us otherwise. As soon as we begin to believe the battle is fictional we are lost.
It is my prayer along with David's- Plead my cause, O LORD. Plead my cause! Please God- Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation!
By His grace!
Amen.
8/22/11
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and
of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 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.
(We already
studied verses 2 and 3 a few days ago so we won't study them again here. Once more I am picking up with the
Revelation study I did in my blog in Aug. 2009. I will be revising as the Spirit
leads-all by God's amazing grace.)
Rev 1:4 John to the 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;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, 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,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto
God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
John
to the seven churches
Seven
churches. Biblically the number seven is used many, many times. It was used in
the beginning of the Bible- God made the world and all that was in it- in seven
days. God made the seventh day a memorial for eternity. Our lives are still
influenced by the seven day week and will be forever.
'The
first pages of the Bible explain how God created the world in six days and
rested on the seventh. This seventh day became the Jewish day of rest, the
Sabbath, Saturday.
Extra-biblical
locations sometimes mentioned as the birthplace of the 7-day week include:
Babylon, Persia, and several others. The week was known in Rome before the
advent of Christianity.' http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/week.html#anchor-origin
With
seven denoting a sense of completeness - of perfection-
it truly is perfect for indicating the beginning and the end of the
prophecy. And these seven churches not only represent churches in existence when
John wrote the prophecies, but they serve yet another purpose - that of
representing the time from John's existence right on down until Christ comes
again. This is a familiar setup, isn't it? It is, because we just studied Daniel
and in the book of Daniel more than once a vision was given and that vision
extended from the time of Daniel down until the end of time at Christ's second
coming. We are no stranger to
this sort of prophecy, not at all.
Now let's look at Sevens in the Bible.
Seven
days of creation. Genesis 1
Seven
days for Noah to fill the Ark. Genesis 7:4-10
Seven
years Jacob serves for each wife. Genesis 28:18-20; 29:27-30
Seven
plentiful years and seven famine years in Egypt. Genesis 41
Seven
days the waters turn to blood. Exodus 7:25
Seven
lamps of the Menorah. Exodus 25:37
Seven
feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23
Seven
years to the sabbatical year.
Leviticus 25:4
Seven
times seven to the jubilee year. Leviticus 25:8
Seven
priests with seven trumpets circle Jericho seven times. Joshua 6
Solomon
spent seven years building the temple. 1 Kings 6:38
Daniel’s
seventy sevens prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27
Seventy
years in Babylonian exile. Jeremiah 25:11-12
Seven
loaves fed the 4,000, seven baskets are leftover. Matthew 15:32-39
Seven
deacons in the early church. Acts 6:5
Seven
miracles in the gospel of John. John
Seven
discourses in the gospel of John. John
Seven
“I am” statements in the gospel of John. John
Paul
sent letters to seven different churches. Paul’s epistles
Seven
churches in Revelation. Revelation 2,3
Seven
promises, seals, trumpets, angels, plagues, bowls etc. Revelation
Seven
promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Genesis
Seven
miracles on the Sabbath. Gospels
Seven
sayings of Jesus from the cross. Gospels
Seven
appearances of angels. Gospels and Acts
Seven
elements of the armor of God. Ephesians 6:14-18
Yes,
the number seven is a number of completeness and we can easily understand that
while Christ chose to give God's Revelation through His angel to John to go to
seven churches it would be a message for all time as well. The fulness of
history from that point on. Seriously, the revelation would be complete and
that means a revelation for all of God's servants through time. The blessing
given to all who read, hear, and keep the words within are for all- for you and
for me. The blessings were for those living in that time as well. Knowing this-
we have to read these words and pray for a clear understanding to be blessed
with all that we need to hear and keep.
Rev.
1:4… 'John to the seven churches…'
Churches-
a church Biblically is what? A building? No. The church essentially denotes
God's people, period. It's not a building erected and named. God's people in
each of these places are being addressed. We could also say, God's people in
each of these times are being
addressed. God's people- His church throughout all time are being called to
attention.
Rev.
1:4 '...which are in Asia Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and
which was and which is to come…'
Grace
and peace- this is all God has ever wanted for us, His people, isn't it? His
grace to cover their sins, His
peace which isn't of this world
but a peace in knowing Him and Him knowing us.
John
{14:27} 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you'
Grace
and peace from HIM which is, which was, and which is to come. God.
John
{17:1} 'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee'
John
{17:9} 'I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine. {17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are
mine; and I am glorified in them.'
We
are all God's.
We are God's- Jesus even said so.
Rev1:4
'...and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne'
From
the perfect Spirit- seven the perfect completeness of the Spirit.
Seven
churches- the complete church.
Seven
Spirits- the complete Spirit.
Rev.
1:5 'And from Jesus Christ 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 for ever and ever.'
From
Jesus Christ. The faithful witness. The first begotten of the dead- the first
begotten- Jesus was the first begotten of His kind wasn't He? Think about it.
The Son of God. There was no other Son of God that took on humanity. Jesus was
the first begotten in the manner He was begotten and yes- the first begotten
and the only one by whom the dead - those promised death through sin- will live
again. The dead will find life in the first begotten. Jesus truly is the first
begotten of the dead- we only find life in Christ.
'The
prince of the kings of the earth.' Jesus is the ultimate prince of all the
kings. There is no other prince of the kings of the earth but Jesus- He reigns.
'Unto
him that loved us.' No other has ever loved us like Jesus- no other!
'and
washed us from our sins in his own blood.' Only Jesus the innocent Son of God
could cleanse us from our sins by His amazing sacrifice. By His blood we are
freed from sin.
'And
hath made us kings and priests unto God' We are to serve God as His kings, his
priests-- we are God's through Jesus!
'And
His Father! To him be the Glory! And dominion!
Forever
and ever!
Amen!
During my recent Bible studies on Friday evenings we've been studying Spiritual Warfare. As most people know - when we get closer to the Lord the Devil gets mad. We are attacked. It's not fiction- it's reality. Satan would have us believe it's fiction, Satan would have us believe any attacks by him have to be the stuff of exorcisms. The every day ordinary life is Satan-free, right? That's how Satan would have us think. The nasty little every day irritations can't be from him, He doesn't bother himself with tiny stuff.
It's a lie, and He's the father of lies. Satan works his evil in every way he can in the smallest ways possible. He's not going to exert any more effort than needed to capture the spiritual life of a person. Satan will not go to great lengths if only small upsets are enough to take over a person and bring them to despair that they'll ever be able to be the Lord's fully.
Today I was attacked spiritually in a very vicious way and I didn't exhibit any Christ-like qualities as I was assaulted. The attack came from more than one side and just threw me for a loop. No, I'm not going to relate some amazing, supernatural occurrence to you. It wasn't a supernatural occurrence but rather situations set up to entice me to be overcome by the sin of unrighteous anger. In the blink of an eye one occurrence took place and while that spark ignited the fire a heart beat later another occurrence caused that small flame to explode and I felt an awful rage of anger and logically there was no real reason for any of it to happen! None! I don't understand why, I just know that I succumbed to the attack and reacted just how Satan wanted me to react. The guilt, the shame, the awful knowledge that my spiritual life was so lacking I could be so easily goaded into sinning pained me something awful. Knowing that others witnessed my unwarranted anger, knowing others were the victims of my failing made me feel sick. Recognizing it all for what it was- a Satanic attack- not of the spectacular but of the ordinary- was a blessing. Asking for forgiveness, letting the others know it was an attack- helped me get through it without too much spiritual damage- PRAISE GOD!
The reason I'm writing about this here in my Bible Study is because we need to recognize the enemy for what He is and what He does. We need to realize His workings not as an excuse like some think we use it for, but for the reality we live in. We need to BLAME Satan for what He does, for what He orchestrates, for the evil He incites, we CAN'T let Him place the blame on us as if He doesn't exist, or worse still we can't let Him place the blame on God.
This Psalm of David has been brought to my attention several times lately and with good reason-
Psa 35:1 A Psalm of David. Plead my cause, O LORD, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me.
Psa 35:2 Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help.
Psa 35:3 Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.
Psa 35:4 Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt.
Psa 35:5 Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the angel of the LORD chase them.
Psa 35:6 Let their way be dark and slippery: and let the angel of the LORD persecute them.
The angel of the LORD chase them.
The angel of the LORD persecute them.
Satan is an evil angel and he has many minions of like kind. We might read something like the verses above and instantly imagine living in a time of warfare with human enemies after us- something I know I don't live with at all in that respect. What I live with is spiritual warfare. I need to pray this prayer- I need to ask the Lord to strive with me, to fight against them that fight against me- and those who are the 'them' might just be evil angels, not other human beings. We are told to put on armor- Spiritual armor. We are told to take a helmet, a shield, a sword, a belt, boots, a breastplate- armor. Here in this Psalm David is pleading to God- 'take hold of a shield and buckler- draw out the spear.' Spiritual armor! We need our spiritual enemies to be just as confounded, to be put to shame, to turn back, to be brought to confusion. We need the spiritual enemy to be as chaff in the wind- we need the angel of the Lord to persecute them.
We are in a battle! We are, we really, really are and we can't let anything in this world convince us otherwise. As soon as we begin to believe the battle is fictional we are lost.
It is my prayer along with David's- Plead my cause, O LORD. Plead my cause! Please God- Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation!
By His grace!
Amen.
8/22/11
Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and
of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
Rev 1:3 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.
(We already
studied verses 2 and 3 a few days ago so we won't study them again here. Once more I am picking up with the
Revelation study I did in my blog in Aug. 2009. I will be revising as the Spirit
leads-all by God's amazing grace.)
Rev 1:4 John to the 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;
Rev 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, 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,
Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto
God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen
John
to the seven churches
Seven
churches. Biblically the number seven is used many, many times. It was used in
the beginning of the Bible- God made the world and all that was in it- in seven
days. God made the seventh day a memorial for eternity. Our lives are still
influenced by the seven day week and will be forever.
'The
first pages of the Bible explain how God created the world in six days and
rested on the seventh. This seventh day became the Jewish day of rest, the
Sabbath, Saturday.
Extra-biblical
locations sometimes mentioned as the birthplace of the 7-day week include:
Babylon, Persia, and several others. The week was known in Rome before the
advent of Christianity.' http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/week.html#anchor-origin
With
seven denoting a sense of completeness - of perfection-
it truly is perfect for indicating the beginning and the end of the
prophecy. And these seven churches not only represent churches in existence when
John wrote the prophecies, but they serve yet another purpose - that of
representing the time from John's existence right on down until Christ comes
again. This is a familiar setup, isn't it? It is, because we just studied Daniel
and in the book of Daniel more than once a vision was given and that vision
extended from the time of Daniel down until the end of time at Christ's second
coming. We are no stranger to
this sort of prophecy, not at all.
Now let's look at Sevens in the Bible.
Seven
days of creation. Genesis 1
Seven
days for Noah to fill the Ark. Genesis 7:4-10
Seven
years Jacob serves for each wife. Genesis 28:18-20; 29:27-30
Seven
plentiful years and seven famine years in Egypt. Genesis 41
Seven
days the waters turn to blood. Exodus 7:25
Seven
lamps of the Menorah. Exodus 25:37
Seven
feasts of Israel. Leviticus 23
Seven
years to the sabbatical year.
Leviticus 25:4
Seven
times seven to the jubilee year. Leviticus 25:8
Seven
priests with seven trumpets circle Jericho seven times. Joshua 6
Solomon
spent seven years building the temple. 1 Kings 6:38
Daniel’s
seventy sevens prophecy. Daniel 9:24-27
Seventy
years in Babylonian exile. Jeremiah 25:11-12
Seven
loaves fed the 4,000, seven baskets are leftover. Matthew 15:32-39
Seven
deacons in the early church. Acts 6:5
Seven
miracles in the gospel of John. John
Seven
discourses in the gospel of John. John
Seven
“I am” statements in the gospel of John. John
Paul
sent letters to seven different churches. Paul’s epistles
Seven
churches in Revelation. Revelation 2,3
Seven
promises, seals, trumpets, angels, plagues, bowls etc. Revelation
Seven
promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Genesis
Seven
miracles on the Sabbath. Gospels
Seven
sayings of Jesus from the cross. Gospels
Seven
appearances of angels. Gospels and Acts
Seven
elements of the armor of God. Ephesians 6:14-18
Yes,
the number seven is a number of completeness and we can easily understand that
while Christ chose to give God's Revelation through His angel to John to go to
seven churches it would be a message for all time as well. The fulness of
history from that point on. Seriously, the revelation would be complete and
that means a revelation for all of God's servants through time. The blessing
given to all who read, hear, and keep the words within are for all- for you and
for me. The blessings were for those living in that time as well. Knowing this-
we have to read these words and pray for a clear understanding to be blessed
with all that we need to hear and keep.
Rev.
1:4… 'John to the seven churches…'
Churches-
a church Biblically is what? A building? No. The church essentially denotes
God's people, period. It's not a building erected and named. God's people in
each of these places are being addressed. We could also say, God's people in
each of these times are being
addressed. God's people- His church throughout all time are being called to
attention.
Rev.
1:4 '...which are in Asia Grace be unto you and peace from him which is and
which was and which is to come…'
Grace
and peace- this is all God has ever wanted for us, His people, isn't it? His
grace to cover their sins, His
peace which isn't of this world
but a peace in knowing Him and Him knowing us.
John
{14:27} 'Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth, give I unto you'
Grace
and peace from HIM which is, which was, and which is to come. God.
John
{17:1} 'These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said,
Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify
thee'
John
{17:9} 'I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast
given me; for they are thine. {17:10} And all mine are thine, and thine are
mine; and I am glorified in them.'
We
are all God's.
We are God's- Jesus even said so.
Rev1:4
'...and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne'
From
the perfect Spirit- seven the perfect completeness of the Spirit.
Seven
churches- the complete church.
Seven
Spirits- the complete Spirit.
Rev.
1:5 'And from Jesus Christ 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 for ever and ever.'
From
Jesus Christ. The faithful witness. The first begotten of the dead- the first
begotten- Jesus was the first begotten of His kind wasn't He? Think about it.
The Son of God. There was no other Son of God that took on humanity. Jesus was
the first begotten in the manner He was begotten and yes- the first begotten
and the only one by whom the dead - those promised death through sin- will live
again. The dead will find life in the first begotten. Jesus truly is the first
begotten of the dead- we only find life in Christ.
'The
prince of the kings of the earth.' Jesus is the ultimate prince of all the
kings. There is no other prince of the kings of the earth but Jesus- He reigns.
'Unto
him that loved us.' No other has ever loved us like Jesus- no other!
'and
washed us from our sins in his own blood.' Only Jesus the innocent Son of God
could cleanse us from our sins by His amazing sacrifice. By His blood we are
freed from sin.
'And
hath made us kings and priests unto God' We are to serve God as His kings, his
priests-- we are God's through Jesus!
'And
His Father! To him be the Glory! And dominion!
Forever
and ever!
Amen!