Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

Illustration: A child awaiting the return of an older sibling to fix something broken...

Main Thought: Anticipate the Almighty: Behold His Coming; Believe His Capability!

Sub-intro:Review the Context leading up to verse 8

I. Behold, He Cometh! (Rev.

1:7) A. His Arrival Will Be Seen (Rev.

1:7a).

1.

By Every Eye 2. By His Enemies' Eye.

B. His Arrival Will Bring Sorrow (v.

7b). 1.

The Weeping World.

2. The Wishing Witness

II.

Believe His Capabilities (Rev.

1:8).

Remember Who He Is!

A. How The Master Desires to Be Known (v.

8a).

1.

He Is Self-existent

The vast majority of the 48 occurrences of this expression are voiced by the Lord, Who said, “I am the God of Abraham” (Mt.

22:32), “I am the door” (Jn.

10:7), “I am the good shepherd” (Jn.

10:11), “I AM the true vine” (Jn.

15:1), etc.... [Thomas M. Strouse, To the Seven Churches: A Commentary on the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, Selected Works of Dr. Thomas M. Strouse (Bible Baptist Theological Press, 40 Country Squire Rd., Cromwell, CT 06461, 2013).]

2.

He Is All-Encompassing

Alpha and Omega, being the first and the last in the alphabet, may stand for the whole; and it seems to be a proverbial expression taken from the Jews, who use the phrase, from Aleph to Tau, for the whole of any thing, which two letters in the Hebrew alphabet stand in the same place as these; [John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol.

3, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1809), 686.]

Note the contrast between the TR and the CT:

​Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee Greetings from John, the Writer, and from Christ in HeavenHere in the original Greek the Omega is not spelled out as is the Alpha.

Why?

Because Christ is the beginning, and the beginning is already completed.

But the end is yet to be; so He didn’t spell out the Omega in this instance.

One day He will complete God’s program.

This is a very interesting detail in the Greek text.

“Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Α καὶ τὸ Ω, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος, λέγει ὁ Κύριος, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ.”

(Revelation 1:8, Scrivener 1881)

“Ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ὦ, λέγει κύριος ὁ θεός, ὁ ὢν καὶ ὁ ἦν καὶ ὁ ἐρχόμενος, ὁ παντοκράτωρ.”

(Revelation 1:8, NA28)

Note although he is right in his ultimate conclusions concerning the fulness of Jesus Christ, we must stress our disagreement with McGee's philosophy of "studying" from the Critical Text while preaching and teaching from the "Authorized" or "King James Version."

Note - the CT also omits "the beginning and the ending."

...the beginning and the ending; the Alexandrian copy, the Complutensian edition, the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, leave out this; which seems to be explanative of the former clause, Alpha being the beginning of the alphabet, and Omega the ending of it; and properly belongs to Christ, who knows no beginning, nor will he have any end with respect to time, being from everlasting to everlasting; and agrees with him as the first cause of all things, both of the old and new creation, and the last end to which they are all referred, being made for his pleasure, honour, and glory: [John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol.

3, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1809), 687.]

Note John Phillips thought-provoking words:

The Lord Jesus is God’s alphabet.

The alphabet is an ingenious way of storing the accumulated wisdom of the race.

Our literature is composed of various letters of the alphabet arranged in an endless variety of ways.

Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first letter and the last, the first and final source of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

His decrees will be based on omniscience.

He cannot be deceived, disputed, discredited, or disconcerted.

He could not be when He came the first time to redeem; He cannot be when He comes the second time to reign.

[John Phillips, Exploring Revelation: An Expository Commentary, The John Phillips Commentary Series (Kregel; WORDsearch Corp., 2009), Re 1:8.]

Note what this applies through the comparing of spiritual things with spiritual:

Jesus Christ is the beginning and the ending of all there is.

He began all things and He shall end all things.

All things find their purpose, meaning, and significance in Him.

Man, the world, history—no matter how chaotic and disjointed life may seem—all things are under the control of Jesus Christ.

Thought 1.

The exhortation is clear: we must put our trust in Jesus Christ and cast our lives upon Him.

When we do, we receive the great gift of God spoken about in verse four.

We receive the grace of God’s care and provision and the great gift of peace, and we become safe and secure for eternity.

“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand” (Jn.

10:28–29).

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you, Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (Jn.

14:27).

“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” (Jn.

16:33).

“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus” (Ep.

2:4–7).

[Leadership Ministries Worldwide, Revelation, The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible (Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide, 1996), 17.]

B. How The Master Is Described By John (v.

8b).

Note Walvoord's compelling summary of the opening 8 verses of Revelation:

Jesus Christ is the central figure of the opening eight verses of Revelation.

As the Source of revelation He is presented in verse 1.

As the Channel of the word and testimony of God He is cited in verse 2. His blessings through His revealed word are promised in verse 3.

In verse 5 He is the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth.

He is revealed to be the source of all grace who loves us and cleanses us from our sins through His shed blood.

He is the source of our royal priesthood who has the right to gather in Himself all glory and dominion forever.

He is promised to come with clouds, attended with great display of power and glory, and every eye shall see the One who died for men.

He is the Almighty One of eternity past and eternity future.

If no more had been written than that contained in this introductory portion of chapter 1, it would have constituted a tremendous restatement of the person and work of Christ such as found in no comparable section of Scripture.

[John F. Walvoord, The Revelation of Jesus Christ (Galaxie Software, 2008), 40.]

1.

He Is Eternally Unchanging

Note the doctrinal emphasis of these verses from that great Baptist theologian of days gone by:

which is, and which was, and which is to come; who is God over all, was God from all eternity, and is to come as such; which he will shew by his omniscience and omnipotence, displayed in the judgment of the world: who is now a Saviour of all that come to God by him; was so under the Old-Testament dispensation, being the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; and is to come, as such, and shall appear a second time unto salvation to them that look for him: particularly this phrase is expressive of the eternity of Christ, who is, was, and ever will be; and of his immutability, who is the same he was, and will be for ever the same he is, and was, unchangeable in his person, in his love, and in the virtue of his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice; he is the same to-day, yesterday, and for ever.

This same phrase is used of God the father in ver. 4 and is a further proof of the deity of Christ; and which is still more confirmed by the following character, The Almighty; as he appears to be, by creating all things but of nothing; by upholding all creatures in their beings; by the miracles he wrought on earth; by the resurrection of himself from the dead; by obtaining eternal redemption for his people; and by his having the care and government of them upon him, whom he keeps, upholds, bears, and carries to the end, through all their infirmities, afflictions, temptations, and trials.

[John Gill, An Exposition of the New Testament, vol.

3, The Baptist Commentary Series (London: Mathews and Leigh, 1809), 687.]

Note the connection of the title "which is to come" with the promised Messiah of the OT:

“The coming one” (ὁ ἐρχόμενος [ho erchomenos]) is Christ’s “great name in Old Testament prophecy” (cf.

Matt.

11:3) (Lenski).

[Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1-7: An Exegetical Commentary (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 1992), 76.]

John the Baptist, “Now when John had heard in the prison the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, And said unto him, Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?” (Matt.

11:2–3; cf.

Luke 7:19–20; John 3:31; 6:14; 11:27).

Erchomai is used nine times in Revelation to refer to Jesus Christ; seven times by our Lord in reference to Himself.

Thus, the theme of the book of Revelation is the coming One, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Despite the scoffers who deny the Second Coming (2 Pet.

3:3–4), the Bible repeatedly affirms that Jesus will return.

That truth appears in more than five hundred verses throughout the Bible.

It has been estimated that one out of every twenty-five verses in the New Testament refers to the Second Coming.

Jesus repeatedly spoke of His return (e.g., Matt.

16:27; 24–25; 26:64; Mark 8:38; Luke 9:26) and warned believers to be ready for it (e.g., Matt.

24:42, 44; 25:13; Luke 12:40; 21:34–36).