Part 4...
6 And has made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Jesus has made us kings and priests (unto) for God.
The word "kings," as applied to us, refers to the exalted rank and dignity which we will have.
We, together with our Saviour, will reign triumphant over all enemies; and that, having gained a victory over sin and death and hell, we may be represented as reigning together.
The word "priests" refers to the fact that we are engaged in the holy service of God, or that we offer to Him acceptable worship.
We are His ministers of the Good News.
Some interpret the phrase "kings and priests" to be kingdom of priests.
Others say this is the same as being a royal priesthood.
This is echoed by the Apostle Peter in...
☆ 1 Peter 2:9...
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light."
"Kings and priests"... "kingdom of priests"... "royal priesthood"...
All mean we are very special to God... and that through Christ's finished work on the Cross and His resurrection, we have a new station, new purpose, new direction in life and a new destiny... bringing all glory and honour to our God.
John finishes this verse with...
"... to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."
Whoever we are... whatever we are... Jesus must always increase and we must decrease. He is pre-eminent.
All glory, all power, all honour always belongs to our God. Amen!
7 Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so, Amen.
This is speaking about the Second Coming of Christ.
Jesus is coming again... coming ready or not!
Jesus comes with clouds.
What a spectacular sight this coming will be.
The finer details of this Coming are given in chapter 19.
At His first coming Jesus came as a babe in a manger seen only by a few people.
At His first advent... Jesus was despised and rejected... cruelly scourged and crucified on a Cross.
"He came unto His own, and His own received Him not!"
But here at His Second Coming... every eye shall see Him... every eye! The technology is there for this to be possible.
Even those who nailed Him on that cruel Cross at His first coming will see Him.
"They also which pierced Him," refers to the Jews.
Back then... they would rather have Caesar as their king than Jesus Christ.
Their cry was... "Crucify Him !”
"All kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him..."
All the wicked of the earth who have rejected Christ for whatever reason, will wail, will mourn because of Him.
They will realise their mistake and realise that it's too late to change their minds.
They will be crying out "If only we had... "
They will also find out that... "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
"Even so, Amen."... as sure as eggs this will all happen!
8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
These are the words of Christ... spoken by Him.
"I am Alpha and Omega"... Christ is from eternity to eternity... this expresses that Christ is from the beginning to the end... and everything in between.
“The beginning and the ending"
That is, as alpha is the beginning of the alphabet, so Christ is the author and cause of all things.
And... as omega is the end or last letter of the alphabet, so Christ is the end of all things.
He is the finisher as well as the establisher of all things.
"Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
This speaks of the deity of Jesus Christ... He is eternal... He is God.
9 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.
The Apostle John is speaking now.
He identifies himself as one of us... a brother in Christ.
And he is going through extreme hard times... "a companion in tribulation."
The Christian road is not an easy one... especially when you stand up for Christ.
He tells us where he is... the Isle of Patmos.
And he tells us why he is there... for preaching about Jesus... the Word of God.
John was a thorn in the flesh of the Romans and so he is banished to this Isle of Patmos... he is being persecuted for his faith.
However, what the Devil means for evil, God intends for good.
What good?
While on Patmos, John received from God the Revelation, to be passed down to all subsequent generations.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
John tells us that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day.
His whole being (body, soul and spirit) was totally focussed on and worshipping the Lord God... in "Spirit and truth."
John was not alone...
Behind him he hears a loud (great) voice... as loud as a trumpet sound.
When we worship the Father in Spirit and truth God presences Himself with us.