Fear Not, I Am the First and the Last
Notes
Transcript
This morning I am beginning a new sermon series entitled “Fear Not.” The command not to fear is the most common commandment in Scripture. It is most common because it strikes at the core of who we see God as. A person who truly fears God, fears nothing else, because God is so awesomely great.
I chose this topic, because so many today are overcome by fears. The COVID-19 pandemic has throw our world into turmoil. People are losing their freedom, their jobs, their wealth, their entertainment, their loved ones, even their own lives! All things being equal there is much to fear, but the Good News of the Gospel is that all things are not equal. The Gospel message is that God in the person of Jesus Christ is among us.
At age 90, the Apostle John was the last surviving apostle. All the others had been martyred. Although, John was not martyred, he was imprisoned on the Island of Patmos. The church at this time was undergoing intense persecution and it must have broken his heart to be separated from his beloved flock. To comfort him and give him a word of encouragement to the church, Jesus came to John in a vision.
If you have a bible, please turn with me to Revelation 1:9-18:
I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
I want you to notice what Jesus says to John in verse 17, “Fear not, I am the first and the last.”
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
This morning I want to focus on that phrase, “I am the first and the last.” This phrase points us to Jesus’ eternal divine nature.
Why does Jesus want us to understand that He is the first and the last?
He wants us to focus on this because when we face tribulation our lives are out of control. In verse 9, John says that he is our “partner in tribulation.”
John’s life was out of control. He was arrested by the Romans and exiled to a penal island. He had not freedom of movement. He could be executed at any time by the Romans.
The first readers of Revelation were not in control of their lives. In some communities they were not able to buy or sell unless they worshipped the Emperor. In other communities they were arrested, beaten and even executed. All around false teachers had arisen and many who they once called brothers or sisters had abandoned the faith.
John is a partner in tribulation with us as well. We face a hidden, faceless enemy, but the coronavirus has thrown our world upside down. This morning, the coronavirus has exiled us in our own homes. We are like the children of Israel exiled in Babylon. We are not in control of our lives, but God is!
God is in control. This is the basic message of the book of Revelation. Most people avoid the book of Revelation because it contains some dark and scary stuff. It speaks of plagues, wars, famines and persecutions. It gives us a picture of the world out of control, at least from the human standpoint, but not from the standpoint of God.
God is the First. He was at the beginning because He has not beginning. He will be at the end, because He has no end. God simply IS. When Moses asked to know God’s name, God said His name was, “I AM, Whom I AM.”
God is in control of this crazy world because He stands above it. Everything but God is created. God is uncreated, He simply IS.
Not only does Jesus say He is “the first and the last,” He also says, “I am the living one.” Let us look again at verse 18:
and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
The wonderful mystery of the Gospel is that the Second member of the Trinity became flesh and dwelt among us. He dwelt among us in our happy times and in our tribulations. Isaiah the prophet said that He would be a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” (Is 53:3). Jesus is able to identify with your sorrows and griefs, He went all the way to the cross and to death, but now He lives! Last week we celebrated Easter. I hope you are still celebrating today, because Jesus lives! He is “alive forevermore” and He holds “the keys of Death and Hades.”
What is the worse that coronavirus can do? It can take your life or the life of someone you love.
We see death as a one-way ticket. We are not in control of death. The whole world is running scared right now because they fear death, but Jesus holds the keys of Death and Hades! If you have faith in Jesus, there is an open door at the other side of death!
This is not only true of physical death, but all kinds of death. Many people’s businesses, their plans and their dreams will die this year because of the coronavirus, but if you have faith in Jesus there is an open door at the other side of that kind of death as well.
I want to look at a familiar verse, Romans 8:28:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Do you see God’s control in this verse? God works in all things. God has a purpose in all things. The problem with favorite verses like this is we often forget the context. The context of Romans 8:28 is tribulation.
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
And...
For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
Paul is wanting us to see in our mind’s eye the suffering of all of creation from the beginning of time until now and in the midst of the cosmic suffering God is in control, working all things to the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.
What is that purpose, that you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Dear friend, Jesus stands behind you today as surely as He stood behind the Apostle John and His might voice is saying to you, “Fear Not, I Am the First and the Last.” Will you believe this Word from Jesus? It is not my word, it is Jesus’ Word. From begin to end, He has everything under control.
Let us pray.