Greetings to the Seven Churches | Revelation 1:1-8 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Revelation Series)

We are about to embark on a journey to behold a glorious, marvelous, compelling, captivating revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, who he is now, what he is saying to the churches today, and what he will do in our world in the days to come, are the things that await us in this amazing exegetical expedition. So, amazing exegetical expedition. We briefly touched on the first few verses of chapter one in our overview last week, but there's still crucial details that we need to draw from them before we move on to the main passage of this section. And so if you can, let's meet together again at Revelation chapter one, beginning in verse one, and read it together. 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. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. When reading this over and over again, there are three things that should stand out to us from these three verses. Who this is for, meaning the book, who this is from, and lastly, who will be blessed. Did you notice the specific group of people that the Holy Spirit addresses concerning this book?

We're told right here that it is to show his servants. That's Christ's servants in verse one, the things that must soon take place. So what that tells us is that the insights of this book, the wisdom of this book, the encouragement, the guidance, the warnings, the predictions, the visions of this book are tailor made and are targeting a particular category of people. Christ's servants. Now, servants is quite a broad term, but when you understand the original language a little bit, you'll discover that it's much more narrow in its interpretation.

It's not just servants, we're actually talking about slaves. The Greek word is doulos. And a doulos or a slave was not somebody who was necessarily employed, it was somebody who was actually owned. A doulos was somebody who was permanently owned by someone else. And that position of servitude remained as a lifelong call.

A slave didn't have his own rights. He solely lived to perform the will and the pleasure of the one that he was owned by. Now, in John's day, the joy of that position, being a slave, being an advantage or disadvantage largely depended on the goodness of the individual that one was subservient to. And this may sound surprising to us, but in Roman society of this time, you would have people who would give themselves up to be a slave, thinking that they would be better off doing so. And so, we have to understand that even the concept of slavery was much different than how we seem to interpret it in western culture.

In the case of the apostles, they gladly identified themselves and many of the openings of their letters as slaves, specifically to Jesus Christ. Bond servants of Jesus Christ. And they did so because they wanted to communicate, one, that Jesus Christ is a glorious master. And two, that their devotion to him was complete and that it was lifelong. I hope you don't miss it next time you study the New Testament.

Paul, a servant, a bondservant, a slave of Jesus Christ. Jude even says, I'm a servant of Jesus. James says, I'm a servant of Jesus Christ. This is not a temporary thing. This is permanent.

It's forever. And you and I have to understand that at the opening of this book, God expects all of his followers to relate to him in the same way. And so we have to establish something right now before we move on. Here's a question we should ask. Am I a bond servant of Jesus Christ?

Does he own my will? Does he determine my decisions? Does he have my resources? Am I truly a slave to Jesus Christ? And that's important for many reasons, including for how we're going to receive the truth of this book because later, we're gonna discover that there's a specific blessing for those who keep what is written in it.

And to keep what is written in it means that you take it to heart and that you obey what it asks of you. You can't do that unless you first settle this, do I actually belong to him? So what I'm trying to convey from the beginning is this, the way this book will impact your life is determined by whether or not you're a slave to Jesus Christ. If not completely surrendered to him, then you're not gonna truly benefit from what this book has to teach you. And so you have to ask yourself, am I coming to the book of Revelation here at Maranatha Bible Church merely as a student, or am I coming because I am a bondservant of Jesus Christ?

This is for bondservants. This is for slaves of Jesus Christ. But who is this from? Interestingly, look at the last part of verse one. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.

So even there, we have John called a bondservant, a slave of Christ. And each of us here have to understand that John is one of the apostles. He's one of the 12. And church tradition attributes the authorship of this book, the human authorship to him, and there are many reasons for that, good reasons for that. When you actually look at and you survey this book, you'll discover clues, phrases, expressions, references that are unique to John's writings.

And there are there are many, many, many parallels, but I wanna look at two obvious ones. So hopefully, you have the book of Revelation open in your hands. Look at Revelation five, and I want you to see verse six briefly. John writes, and between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders, I saw a lamb standing as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. The messianic title of the lamb is very common to us.

I think it was virtually in every song that we sang this afternoon. But that picture of Jesus, which appears many times in Revelation, is only found in one other book in the New Testament. The book of John. Unless you count Paul who says in first Corinthians that Christ is our Passover lamb. But the the idea of the lamb, the lamb of God, that's only found here in Revelation and the gospel account, which is amazing and it's not the only one.

Here's another Johannine expression. Look at Revelation 19 and verse 13. It says he is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is the word of God. Sound familiar? In the beginning was the word?

Yes. Right? John one one. And not only in John one one, but first John one one, Christ there is referenced as the word of life. So we have it in Revelation as a title, as a reference to Christ here in Revelation, have it in John, have it in the first epistle written by John.

This is obviously written by him and there's many other things that we can look to to confirm that. Instead, I wanna take this time to look at something that John mentions back in chapter one verse two. Look what this bond servant said about the book of Revelation. Who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ even to all that he saw. John calls the book of Revelation the word of God.

That may seem obvious to you, but what is sad is that believers in the past and even some believers today in practice do not uphold the book of Revelation with such dignity and honor. Now this may shock you, but let me give you a quote from Martin Luther. Yes, the great reformer. He said this about the book of Revelation, quote, my spirit cannot accommodate itself to this book. For me, this is reason enough not to think highly of it.

Christ is neither taught nor known in it. End of quote. Now, Martin Luther was right about very important theological truths, but I have to say, he was not right about the book of Revelation. And the reason why he wrestled with it like many do today is because of the visions and the cryptic nature of some of these things. So he just kind of put in the peripheral, he didn't really uphold it the way John himself describes this book.

It's the word of God, which tells you and I that no matter how you feel about the visions, the predictions of this letter, we have to understand that the man who wrote it lived with Jesus for three and a half years. He witnessed his execution on a Roman cross. He spent time with him and ate with him after his resurrection and he beheld his bodily ascension into heaven. The same John who experienced that is the same John who is telling us, that Lord gave me this truth. It says though John is saying, in the same way I faithfully conveyed to you the details of his first coming, I am equally loyal to tell you about the details of his second coming.

And that is not the only thing that John wants to tell us, which comes to verse three for us. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it for the time is near. If you've ever read the book of Revelation, then you've probably noticed that this is not the only beatitude found in the book of Revelation. A beatitude is a declaration of blessedness or happiness. Right?

And we're most familiar with the beatitudes in the introduction of the sermon on the mount, but we have beatitudes here. And the one that we have here in verse three is one out of seven total beatitudes in the book of Revelation. Now, the other day I was counting to make sure and it's confirmed. There are a total of seven, which bless me, because seven is such a significant number in this book. Most of us know that the number seven in the bible speaks to completion or God's full fulfillment concerning something.

And if that's true and we relate it to these declarations of blessings in Revelation, here's what we can confirm. This book has complete blessing for us. Total blessing. Full blessing. And at the beginning here, we're told three ways that we can be blessed by this book.

The first way is to read it aloud. I think that's what I'm doing. Right? The second way is for those to hear it. That's what you're doing.

And lastly, for the reader and the hearer to keep what is written in it. John expected that this letter, when he sent it to the seven churches, would be read in each congregation. Now, what I appreciate about what he's saying here is that he doesn't say, blessed is the one who understands every single detail in the book of Revelation. Because a lot of us would be in trouble. No.

No. No. This book is so packed with spiritual treasure that just reading it and hearing it will bless you. Just doing that. Now, I gotta also say this.

You can tell I'm getting a little excited. Right? This is a clue to some of the practices of the early church. A practice that you and I are honoring right now. There would be somebody who is designated to read the scriptures while others listen to the word of God being read.

Aren't you glad that we're keeping up with that biblical tradition? Here we are reading and hearing. This is something that the ancient church did and it's been going on for thousands of years. Now, many of us who grew up in Christian circles are familiar with this beatitude in Revelation one. But I have this question, what blessing does John have in mind for those who would read and hear and obey what this book has to say?

And I believe we have an answer. The answer is when you look at the book end, the last part of the book of Revelation and you see this beatitude repeated almost word for word. So So go to Revelation 22 and notice what Jesus says in verse seven of Revelation 22. Here's another beatitude, and behold I am coming soon. Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.

So notice that there is a connection between keeping the words of this prophecy and Jesus coming back soon. Engaging with the prophecies of this book in light of the return of Jesus Christ. Here's what this tells me. Reading, hearing, keeping what is in this book blesses us mainly because it thunders the truth of the soon return of Christ and it compels you to prepare for his arrival. That's a blessing.

Here's what you're gonna be reminded as we go through every detail, try to at least in these wonderful chapters, the main message is gonna be this, Jesus is coming back soon. Christ is coming back soon. The king is coming again. And the appropriate response is, I must be ready for it. I must be prepared.

And as helpful as that is, this fountain is so deep, so lively, so gushing with blessing that we have other things to receive from it. And we're gonna sip from more of it as we consider now the main section of this message. Now, last week, let me say this, I was providing the testimony early on about how encouraged I was by the response of the people. One of the comments was, you were too fast, brother, with your introduction message. Please take your time.

Please don't be afraid to continue. I don't know if all of you feel that way, but here's me responding to that request because all that I just said was the introduction. Let's come to verse four now and read to verse eight. 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 kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen. Behold, he's coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierce him. And all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. 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.

There's that number seven again. Verse four, John to the seven churches that are in Asia. A student in the New Testament will know, will probably think, well, there are more than seven churches in Asia Minor at this time. And you might even wonder, why didn't John write to some of the churches that we read in the epistles? So so why not more than seven?

Why not fewer? Well again, if there is a symbolic attachment to this number, then we can understand what John by the spirit is trying to communicate. Yes, these are real historical churches that have been addressed, but that number seven is meant to tell us that this message is also for all believers. If number seven means completion, fullness, then what we have here is John telling us that God is trying to speak to, God is aiming his message at all believers of all time. This is relevant to every Christian.

So we are being written to. This is for us. And those specific messages will come in chapter two and chapter three, but right here we're being prepared. What we have to read is for us personally. And the first thing that we can learn, the first major lesson following the fact that John writes to the seven churches is that a true church that belongs to Jesus Christ will be a church that acknowledges and believes in the trinity.

There are many branches of Christianity that are not really Christian, that do not believe in the triunity of God, that he is one being three persons, not three gods. He is one, yes, but he is also three. And we can spend the rest of this time trying to explain that and prove it from the bible. But the thing that I wanna just make clear is that a true church will believe in that, will defend that. And a church is not really a church that rejects that truth.

Did you notice that this greeting to the seven churches came from the trinity? Look again. From him who is and who was and who is to come. This speaks of the father and his eternality. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne, this speaks of the spirit in his fullness.

And from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead and the rulers of kings on earth, this speaks of the son and his supremacy. So right here in this greeting, you have traces of the trinity. A clear reference that this is coming from father, spirit and son. And this teaches us that a true church will receive such a revelation. They will not deny it.

They will not resist it. They will not try to explain it away. But let's look at these things more closely. Shall we? Let's look at the father.

At all the things that could be said about the father, we're told here that he is, he was who is to come. The timelessness of the father. Now that sounds very abstract. That sounds very out there but it's meant to comfort the believer. Because what we're supposed to face here is that the God you learned about in Genesis through Deuteronomy, the God who did miracles in Joshua, the God who was patient in the days of Samuel and the Kings, the God who spoke through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and all the other prophets is the same God who is watching over his church today.

That's what we're supposed to sense. He's the same one. He hasn't changed. He still is there. He's still supervising.

He's still empowering. He's still providing. He's still speaking. So he he's not diluted in any manner. He's not distanced himself over time.

He is near. He is close. And the same power and wisdom and love that he operated in the past is available to us today. The father. And then we go to who is before the father's throne.

Look again here and from the seven spirits who are before his throne. Now initially that may sound confusing because we are all familiar with one spirit who shares equal standing with the Father. That's the Holy Spirit. So now we have this idea of seven spirits? And I've even heard people who mockingly come to a text like this and accuse Christians, oh, you believe three in one?

I think you actually believe nine in one. Because you have this mention of the seven spirits and you add the son and the father. Isn't that nine? Do you remember how we open up this series last week? That from beginning to end, the book of Revelation is absolutely drenched with Old Testament references.

And so when something doesn't seem so clear, we have to ask ourselves, have we seen something like this before? Have we looked at any text that might give some explanation to what John is conveying here? And the answer is yes. I believe the apostle John is referencing the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit that Isaiah spoke about in chapter 11. Turn there with me in Isaiah 11 verses one and two, and this will hopefully make sense to us.

In Isaiah 11 verse one and two, we read, there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. Let's count now in verse two. And the spirit of the Lord, one, shall rest upon him. The spirit of wisdom, two, and understanding, three. The spirit of counsel, four, and might, five.

The spirit of knowledge, six. And the fear of the Lord, seven. So when John is depicting the seven spirits who are before his throne, he's not speaking about seven separate beings, he's referring to the perfect qualities of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. One Holy Spirit who's also the spirit of the Lord, the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And while Christ was on earth, according to Isaiah's prophecy, the spirit in his fullness rested upon the Messiah.

And now we find him before the throne of God in the book of Revelation. This is gonna appear more than once in our study of this book. So we have the Holy Spirit who's greeting the seven churches. Lastly, we have the Son. It's no surprise to us that Christ is mentioned last because he's the theme of the book of Revelation.

So John's gonna expand on the truth of who Jesus Christ is. And what are we told? Look at these wonderful titles. The faithful witness. You can depend on what he says.

He never lies. He never exaggerates. He's perfect in his witness. He's the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of kings on earth. We sang that so resoundingly.

And out of this threefold portrait, I think the most puzzling one might be the firstborn of the dead. What does John mean by that? It's not a mystery. This is a banner that is not only powerful, it has promise attached to it. The firstborn of the dead, implying that there are others on the way.

What he means by this is that Jesus Christ is the first to rise from the dead with a glorified, exalted, eternal body. And his resurrection, as unique as it is, paves the way for future resurrections. Namely those who put their faith and trust in him. So he's the first born of the dead and we will follow him and share in that experience. How encouraging this would have been to these seven churches who are being persecuted and suffering in unique ways.

They were reminded right at the introduction, we are going to follow in the destiny of Christ. He's the firstborn that even if we lose our lives, we will share in his fate. This is what John is saying. And this is not all that he has to say about this caption of Christ. He goes on to something that I think is so precious.

He goes on to say what? To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood. You know what one of the first messages is of the book of Revelation? That this eternal king, the defeater of death, the returning conqueror, loves you, loves each of us. I don't think many people associate the book of Revelation with the revelation of God's love.

It's right there in the beginning. Do you believe God loves you? It's one thing to believe that he created you. It's one thing to believe that he provides for you. It's another thing to believe that he will, yes, promise you a place with him forever.

Do you have the faith to believe that this amazing incredible powerful God actually has delight for you. John wants the churches to know this God loves you. When has that ever dawned on you? When was the last time you relished in the thought, God loves me? Not that you love God.

That's wonderful. When did you bathe in that revelation last? I can tell you it will empower you in ways that you cannot even fathom. The other day, I was driving on my own. I was meeting a few people.

It wasn't a long drive, so I thought to myself, let me just I'm not gonna listen to anything. I'm just gonna take this time by myself. It was dark. It was quiet. Just speaking to the Lord.

And this thought that you and I know touched me in a fresh way. You died for me. You died for me. There I am driving, thinking, you left heaven. You came to this world, and you died for me so that I can be with you forever.

I almost skipped my meeting. Because you see, this is not just a sentimental thing. This love, it acts. It moves. It intervenes.

It transforms. It's tangible. It's observable. It's measurable in a way. Because we're told here what this love has done.

Look at the last part of verse five, to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So this this love frees us from something and makes us into something. It frees us from our sins by his blood. So it's a love that has erased our record of wrong.

It's it's a love that liberates us for eternity. It's a love that actually sets you free from the power of sin. If God just said I loved you, that would have been wonderful, but he proved it. And it changes you if you really receive it. It frees you.

He paid a high price in order to show how much he loves us. But not just saving us from something, he saved us for something. He made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father. Not just a kingdom, a kingdom of priests. I I get it.

The temptation to hear language like this is like, this is abstract. I don't know what to make of it. What does that have to do with me really? How does that really impact my life? Well, it speaks of the royal nature and the spiritual privilege of the Christian.

So we've been guaranteed not just to be with Christ when he comes to rule and reign, but we will reign with him. And more than that, we have an access to him. We don't need any earthly mediator. We need to jump through hoops. Think about this, it doesn't even end here.

Not only am I a priest, a priest is one who serves as a mediator between man and God. I I have access to God. But God even tells me that I'm the temple of the holy spirit. So as a priest and as the dwelling place for God, no matter where I am at any point of the day, I can talk to him. I can worship him.

I can access him. I can receive from him on the basis of the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. So this love, it frees me. It also molds me and makes me into something. That's one of the first messages of the book of Revelation.

God loves his church and every single individual believer. I pray that you would pray that this would be more real to you in the days to come. This thought so moved John, he couldn't help it. He breaks out into praise. Look at the rest of verse five.

He says, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He got excited when he spoke about these things too. But in contrast to the grace, peace, and love that is poured out on believers, those who are outside the church will wail on account of him. Look at verse seven.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him, even those who pierce them, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen. So John says now look, behold, turn your attention to this. I'm giving you a preview of what this book is really about. Christ is coming back.

And that truth is a means for us to worship and it will be the reason for many to lament. Look how incredible this is. He is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him. No matter the time zone, no matter the regions of the earth that are unexplored, that are hiding indigenous people groups, at one point, Christ will take center stage of the universe and every eye will witness it. And every eye will acknowledge this is Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

Every blasphemer who mocked him will admit it. Every false religionist who has denied his identity, namely his deity will accept it. And in one moment, every atheist will become a believer, but it will be too late for many. Because they'll realize that he's not coming the way he came the first time, he's coming to judge. And his judgment will be eternal.

This is why we're told that many will wail. But it is so interesting here that John gives us a heads up. He actually underscores a specific people group who will also witness him. Look again here, even those who pierced him. Now you read that and you think this is okay, but it's a general reference to those who crucified him, but no, he's actually echoing a prophecy from Zechariah twelve ten.

You can turn there on your own at another time, but that's where we're told that the people of Israel who are responsible for crucifying their Messiah, the fulfillment of them who pierced him and wailing and weeping on account of him will be realized at the second coming, which is fascinating. Because when you look at Zechariah twelve ten, it confirms that God has a purpose and plan for the ethnic people of Israel up until his return. That is why understanding God's purpose for Israel is so crucial. Nothing to do with politics, my friend, but deeply ingrained in how you frame your eschatology, which is a fancy word for the study and your knowledge of the last days. Those who have pierced him will see him.

Why would you highlight out of all the tribes of the world, all the people groups of the world, all the nations of the world, One that has gone through a roller coaster throughout history. Evidently, a prophecy about them will be realized at the culmination of the age. We're gonna explore this as we go on through this book. But notice here, this is a spectacular prophecy and here's a summary of it. He says here that Christ will do what?

He's coming with the clouds. When Jesus went up bodily in Acts chapter one verse nine, we're told there that he was hidden by a cloud. Now, if you've ever been to a play, then you might remember that at some point in the event, a curtain would drop and there would be a pause, a break, right, to the act. And then there would be a time for you to, you know, refresh yourself, go do something and return, only for that curtain to lift again and for the plate to resume. That's how I like to think of this cloud picture.

That when he ascended into heaven, the curtain dropped. The cloud concealed him. But when he returns, the clouds will part and they will reveal him. The first time he ascended as a rejected messiah, when he comes back, he's gonna be a conquering king. And John is saying, look for the clouds.

They will usher him in. And this is such a spectacular prophecy. You are think about it. You are predicting somebody who has been supposedly dead for two thousand years is gonna make a reappearance and actually take over everything. Now, we as Christians believe he's alive.

And so astounding is such a claim, John pauses not speaking on behalf of the Lord anymore, but allows God now to speak for himself in verse eight. What does the Lord say? I am the alpha and the omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come the almighty. It's as though God steps in and gives his personal endorsement for verse seven. I'm gonna do this.

Jesus Christ is coming back. You know why? I'm the alpha and the omega. What does that mean? That's the first and last letter for the Greek alphabet.

And so what the Lord is saying essentially is, I'm the beginning and the end. It again echoes his eternality. More than that he says, I give the first word, I'm gonna give the last word. And no one can change that. I'm the alpha and the omega.

I'm outside of time. I can predict the future because I already see it. From time to time when people try to ask, how does God know things? How how do we kinda wrestle and make sense of his foreknowledge and our personal responsibility and all these things? It's hard to grasp.

And I like to jokingly tell people, you know God right now is at your birth date, your first birth date and your funeral at the same time? Try to figure that out over food today. The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. I gave the first word, I'm gonna give the last word.

But this statement here is more than just God declaring that he is outside of time. He also wants to confirm that he is in control of every event within time. What does he go on to say? I'm the alpha and the omega says the Lord God who is and who was and who is to come, the almighty. The almighty.

That description for God doesn't appear a lot in the New Testament. A total of 10 times, the rest, all other nine are found here in Revelation. Think about that. This is God saying something about himself in Revelation that he wants to emphasize. And the word almighty simply means this, one who has his hand in everything.

One who holds sway to everything. In other words, he is in control. The almighty, the almighty, the almighty. That's what is being blasted from Revelation. Obviously, for us to be persuaded of his sovereignty, that in the last days he is going to be completely in control even though everything looks like it's going out of control.

I'm the almighty one, the almighty one, the almighty one. And so he's the determiner of events. And it would be a mistake to think that the Lord being the alpha and the omega is only interested in the beginning of time, then he backed away and let things just go their own way. And then now he'll come back and put things in order. No.

Remember, what does it say? Who is. Not just who was and who is to come, he is now. So even now, today in 2025, he's the almighty. He's not just gonna be almighty when he returns.

He's the almighty until his return and when he returns. Which tells you and I what? That he is in control of every single thing in your life. He's in control of the city of Chicago. He's in control of the state.

He's in control of this nation and the nations of the world. He is sovereign over every king, every president, prime minister, dictator. And none can resist him. None can challenge him and succeed. Many have tried to thwart his plans and his prophecies, but have failed and they will always fail until he proves himself.

He's the almighty. And the almighty loves you. Genuinely loves you. His heart is stirred for us. People talk about mysteries in the Bible.

To me, that's one of the greatest mysteries. How many of us are there in the world? How many of us throughout the ages? And yet he promises to walk with you and me as though we were the only person in the world. How many prayers has God answered in your life from heaven, the almighty one?

Not because you're worthy, but because he loves you. The things that you're not even aware of that he's protecting you from. How he has every single day planned for you ahead. He knows it all. And it will be for your good, and he will supply everything.

And it will be for the purpose of sanctifying you, making you more like his son. I belong to the almighty. So do you if you're in Christ. So this is what these seven churches are hearing before he gets into these specific things that he will say to them in chapter two and three. And listen, in chapter two and three, a lot of these churches will receive scathing rebukes.

But you know what's amazing? Before he corrects any of them, he tells these churches, you're loved. You are loved. I think even in that we have an example for how we correct others. Do we love them?

Do they know that they are loved by us? Well, I better stop before I get carried away. I hear the voices of those last week who said, just keep going brother, don't worry about it. This is the beginning of our study in Revelation, but we've come together here to reflect on his love for us as we break bread. So if I can ask the praise team to join us, and I encourage you to reflect on his love.

So you have the woman at the well who is so ashamed of her story that she goes to this well, the hottest point of the day wasn't very wise. People would go earlier to get water for their families and their flock. So here she is in isolation and she's drawing from this well. Jesus comes and asks for a drink and you're familiar with the conversation. And Jesus begins to slowly unveil who he really is by demonstrating his power, his knowledge, and he tells her, you've had more than one husband.

And he actually confirms the amount. And she's obviously moved by this, but it says something about what she was yearning for. You know, when she goes to this well and she's drawing water, it's a picture of what she was thirsting for. She was looking for love. She was looking for validation.

And so she was jumping from marriage to marriage to marriage. Right? And then she just gave up on the whole marriage thing altogether, and the person that she was with when Christ met her was not her husband. And then Jesus so patiently leads her to the revelation of that of the fact that he is the Messiah. Her eyes are open to this truth.

She's so moved by it that she goes to run back to Samaria to tell people of what this man has told about her. And there's this little detail in John four. She left behind that jar of water. Again, if you're consistent with the picture, who Christ was to her satisfied her thirst. And she left behind that jar where she tried to scoop up meaning and purpose and gratification because she found it in him.

She found it in him. You can find it in him. I'm telling you this love is so profound, so real that it frees you. It really does free you. And it's so difficult for man to grasp it.

That's why Paul in Ephesians three, he says, I bow my knees before the father. And what does he say? He says that you may know the height, the depth, the breadth of this love for you. See, a preacher can come up and tell you God loves you. That's one thing, and it can move you and it and it should, but you need the power of the Holy Spirit to really get it.

To really get it. That's why we pray before we come up here and do these meetings. And And that's why this leadership prays for the people here that the reality of God would be your name to known to every single one of us, including those who are praying for it. Lord, we ask that as we've entered the door of the series in Revelation and we've been confronted by many things including this truth that who you are and all your might and splendor and glory, you love us. Make it real in every heart in this place.

And Lord, we'll know it's real when we are free from things that are lying to us and damaging us and robbing us of the gift that you have for us. Lord, let this love liberate people from sin, doubt, depression. We pray that Lord through this series of revelation we would see your love. And so even now Lord as we eat together in fellowship, may the presence of the Holy Spirit be real in all that he has to offer. Would you bless the food and the hands that have sacrificed to prepare for it, and may we get a glimpse of that feast that is to come and the fellowship that we will have with you and with one another for all of eternity.

Lord, open our eyes. We pray this Sunday. In the mighty glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen and amen and amen.