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 Sermon > Official Service |
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Title |
Revelation Lectures(99) - Revelation Lectures (99) |
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Speaker |
Rev. Jaerock Lee |
Bible |
Revelation 22:16-17 |
Date |
2009-06-05 |
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Scripture
Revelation 22:16-17
[16] "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
[17] The Spirit and the bride say, "Come " And let the one who hears say, "Come " And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
Revelation 22:16 says, "I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches."
So far, Apostle John wrote about the way of salvation and of destruction just as he was inspired by the Lord.
He wrote as he saw and heard who was to be saved, what to do to enter New Jerusalem, and who was to be cast out of the city.
The Lord testified the truth to the church not only through John but also through others messengers.
Sometimes the Lord proclaimed the way of salvation through angels, sometimes through prophets, and sometimes through preachers.
The word that is being preached from this altar is also not my word.
I, being an instrument of the Lord, just deliver the Word of God.
Now, the rest of Revelation 22:16 explains the Lord, the one who is proclaiming this word.
The verse says, "I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
First, it says, "I am the root and the descendant of David," and it is to emphasize that Jesus came to this earth in flesh.
Jesus put on a human body like yours and mine when he was born into this world.
Only then would He be able to function in His role as the Savior.
You've heard the 4 qualifications of the Savior through the sermon series, "The Message of the Cross."
Do you remember all the 4 qualifications?
First, He must be a man.
Second, He must not be a descendant of Adam.
It is because all the descendants of Adam are born with original sin.
Thirst, He must have the power.
Only when He has the power, can He defeat the enemy devil and Satan, and break the authority of death.
And spiritually, to have the power is to have no sin.
Fourth, He must have love.
In order to become the Savior, He has to take the cruel punishment of death for sinners.
Without great love, He could not take the suffering for them.
If you don't know these 4 qualifications, please refer to "the Message of the Cross."
Now, the first qualification is that the Savior must be a man.
1 Corinthians 15:21 says, "For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead."
An angel or an animal cannot redeem a man from his sin.
The sin of a man can only be redeemed by another man who has spirit, soul, and body.
When a man is born, he has parents and ancestors.
Our Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of Virgin Mary.
Since Mary was engaged to Joseph, who was a descendant of David, the genealogy of Jesus was physically of the line of David.
By the way, in David's genealogy, there are other ancestors such as Judah, Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham.
At the top is Adam, the first man.
Then, why does the scripture say, "I am the descendant of David," among other ancestors?
It is because the name of David has the dignity, honor, and authority of a king that God appointed.
Our Lord is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
In order to proclaim that Jesus Christ who came to this earth in flesh has the dignity and glory as the King, the scripture mentions David.
David was the first king that God appointed.
Of course there was King Saul before David, but Saul was appointed as a king not by the will of God, but of people.
The Israelites didn't depend solely upon God, and they asked God to set up a king who would be visible before them.
God didn't want to set up a king, but He allowed the will of the people, and Saul was set up as the king.
Even though Saul was appointed as a king by the will of the people, if he had feared God and acted in goodness, he would have received the mercy of God.
But King Saul did many evil things, and eventually he was discarded by God.
It was Saul himself who deserted the glory of a king.
There was another similar case. Before Abraham got Isaac, he had a son called Ishmael.
But God said Isaac was the only seed of faith, and called Isaac the only son of Abraham.
It is because Ishmael was not the seed of the promise given by God, instead he was the son gained through a way of men.
God recognized Isaac as the only seed of promise and descendant of Abraham because Isaac was born by faith.
What about the case of Jacob and Esau? Physically, Esau was born ahead of Jacob, but it was Jacob who received the blessing of the first son.
It is because Esau was a godless person who despised the blessing of God by selling his own birth right for a single meal. (Hebrews 12:16)
By the same token, Saul was the king before David, but the first king that God recognized was King David.
God chose David, who was proper in the heart of God. God set him up as the king and made him honorable.
Of course, there were battles and wars in the days of David, and there was much blood shedding before the nation (of Israel) was stabilized.
For this reason, his glory seems less than that of his son, King Solomon, who enjoyed a peaceful reign.
However, the prosperity of King Solomon resulted from the works of King David.
In addition, David's faith and quality as a king were far superior to that of Solomon both in spirit and body.
Therefore, to describe Jesus who came to this earth as the King, the scripture calls Him "the root and the descendant of David."
Next, the scripture says that the Lord is "the bright morning star."
"To be bright" is "to be strong, yet not dark, and to be clean without blemish."
Usually "a star" refers to a man, but in tonight's scripture, it refers to something high, or a king.
A star is somewhere high above. It doesn't belong to the earth, but the heavens.
The Lord belongs to Heaven, and like a star, He is set on high.
Dear brothers and sisters.
Even though the Lord came to this earth in flesh through the genealogy of David, He didn't originally belong to this earth.
When Jesus was born, He was born in a genealogy of David.
The meaning of "Jesus" is "the One who will save His people from their sins."
As "Jesus" he had not yet saved sinners from sin.
However, after He died on the cross and resurrected, He became our Savior and Christ who saved us.
He is not a descendant of David any longer, but God the Creator Himself, the Most High, and "the One" of God the Trinity.
In Matthew 22:42-26 is the scene where Jesus and Pharisees talked about Christ.
It reads, ""What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET"'? If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?" No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question."
Pharisees also knew from the prophecies of the Old Testament that Christ would be born in the family line of David.
Spiritually speaking, however, Christ cannot be a descendant of David.
He is the Creator who created David.
If you understand these spiritual meanings, when you call the Lord, you should use the expressions like "Jesus," "Jesus Christ," and "The Lord" well.
To refer to the Lord Jesus who is the Savior, you should call Him, "Jesus Christ," "Christ," "the Lord," or "the Lord, Jesus Christ."
When you pray or drive away an evil spirit, you should pray or command in the name of "the Lord," or in the name of "Jesus Christ."
You should not say, "in the name of Jesus."
When you distinguish between them well, it means you correctly understand the spiritual principles of Salvation.
There are many church-goers who vaguely believe that they can be saved by solely 'believing' in the Lord.
But, you are not one of them (who believes like that).
You correctly understand why the Lord had to come to this earth in the body of a man, why He had to die on the cross, how He accomplished the ministry of redemption, and according to what law of the justice, how you can be saved when you believe.
Since you understand all these, you confess, pray and command "in the name of Jesus Christ."
There is great difference in the power between when you vaguely know and pray "in the name of Jesus," and when you correctly understand and pray "in the name of Jesus Christ."
"The morning star" that shines clean and clear in the sky of early morning is to express that our Lord is without any spot or blemish.
The early morning is the time when the sun rises; it is the moment the light starts to shine.
It is our Lord who broke the authority of the darkness and death, and gave us the beginning of brightness.
Now, why did I just say He gave us "the beginning of brightness," not full brightness"?
It is because He hasn't completely destroyed the force of the evil spirits yet, even though He broke the authority of death by His resurrection.
The time when the darkness is completely destroyed is at the Final Judgment after the 7 Year Great Tribulation and the Millennium Kingdom.
At the Final Judgment, the enemy devil and Satan will be confined in the Abyss forever, and we will enter heaven where there is no darkness at all.
We will enjoy the perfect brightness then.
Physically, when the Lord came to this earth, He was born into the most appropriate family line as the king.
Also spiritually, He is the perfect and high King just like the morning star; He broke the authority of the darkness, and gave us the beginning of the light.
To sum all these up, the scripture says, "I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star."
Now, Revelation 22:17 says, "The Spirit and the bride say, "Come""
The Holy Spirit is our Helper.
Our Lord says in John 16:7-8, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment."
As said, the Holy Spirit, who came to this earth on behalf of the Lord, stays with us and tells us about sin and righteousness and judgment.
He leads us to cast off sin and to enter Heaven.
When we completely obey His guidance, from among the dwelling places of Heaven, we can enter New Jerusalem.
Therefore, when the Spirit says "Come," it is to describe the heart of the Holy Spirit who wants just one more soul to enter New Jerusalem.
Now, "the bride" refers to 'the city of New Jerusalem" as I explained in Revelation 21:9.
As "the bride says, "Come," it means the city of New Jerusalem is prepared for us.
Just as a bride is adorned for her groom, New Jerusalem is ready for the children of God.
When I explained about the flowers in Heaven, I said they respond to the children in Heaven even though the flowers don't have human character.
When they see the souls, they open their petals more and give out stronger fragrance as a gesture of welcome.
Likewise, the city of New Jerusalem is looking forward to filling itself with the children of God.
It contains and carries the heart of God the Father who wants the city to be filled with more of His children.
I urge you here to diligently advance into the city.
And I also ask you completely obey when you listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit who leads to the truth. |
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