Morning Sermon

October 14, 2007

Grace and peace

Text

There is a common, familiar greeting that I speak to you each Lord's Day as we gather together for worship. I speak it with the authority of a minister of the gospel, coming at the beginning of our worship much as the benediction comes at the end. That benediction is a declaration of God's own blessing upon his people as they leave their gathering together, and the greeting is a similar blessing pronounced at the beginning. It is a declaration of blessing. From God. It is the blessing of God, inviting you to worship him. And that blessing is most often in the form of these words, "Grace to you and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."

I didn't make up those words. Paul used them, in writing to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and well as to Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Grace to you and peace. Peter writes the same blessing in his epistles to the church, and so does John. So here we see it in this letter John writes "to the seven churches which are in Asia." It is a letter which we saw last week was actually a revelation of Jesus Christ. The Greek word is apocalypse. So let me test your memory by asking you what that word means? Hint, the definition is not the cataclysmic destruction and end of the world. Apocalypse DOESN"T mean "the end of the world." Rather, it simply means "unveiling." A revelation, something previously hidden as a mystery but now clearly made known by God. That revelation has implications for the end of the world, but the word simply means an uncovering.

And this revelation of Jesus Christ, this uncovering of Jesus Christ, is, indeed a message of great blessing, for it is,

I. A MESSAGE OF MERCY FOR THE CHURCH. At the outset, let me emphasize the greeting as it is given to "the seven churches which are in Asia." It is evident from the whole context that seven actual churches are intended. They begin with Ephesus, so dear to Paul, and form a bit of an irregular circle. They also seem to have been chosen for symbolic significance, since seven is the number the Bible associates with wholeness and perfection, particularly with reference to quality. So it is a valid observation to say that these seven churches represent the whole church throughout this age. This statement would be equivalent to saying that John is writing "to the churches of every people and age, and therefore to us."

And to that church, then, we have,

A. The gospel message of grace and peace. Grace emphasizes God's undeserved love for sinners. It is God's mercy given to those who do not deserve it. Grace recognizes that apart from this undeserved mercy, what our sins have earned for us is the condemnation of hell. Apart from Christ, therefore, without grace, we are by nature children of his wrath. Thus grace emphasizes the origin of the gospel message, which is entirely in God. It emphasizes the motivating impulse of that gospel, which is the infinite, eternal and unchangeable love of God. It emphasizes the ground upon which our salvation is established, namely the free and sovereign good pleasure of God.

Eph. 2:8 "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast."

Peace is then the fullest single word to describe all those blessings of the gospel and to sum up all those blessings. Peace, ultimately, with God. Peace, meaning reconciliation with God, restoration to God, forgiveness of our sins. William Hendriksen puts it this way, "Peace, the reflection of the smile of God through Jesus Christ, is the result of grace."

Peace with God means that God smiles upon us. And that smile, that willing and loving acceptance of us as beloved children, is ours only through Jesus Christ. And thus Paul writes of gospel peace in,

Rom. 5:1 "Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God...8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation."

And so it is that by grace, we have peace. By the grace of God, we are able to have peace with God. Permanent reconciliation. A permanent status of justification. A permanent blessing of adoption. A permanent union with Jesus Christ. That is the message John has for the seven churches of Asia, and for our church. Grace. And peace. From God. But notice then this glorious description of God. Not just an undefined god, not just a neutral or common god of any religion, but the one true God.

B. The triune God of the gospel. Here we have a clear and explicit definition and description of the trinity, and while I could spend a whole sermon must on that subject, I'll simply scratch the surface here in this point this morning. The reference is to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Three persons, yet one, singular God. Three persons of the godhead, all equally God. All of equal essence, all of one essence. All one God. Yet existing as three distinct persons relating to one another within the Trinity.

John refers first to the Father. v.4 "Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come."

Several commentators remark that this is very good theology but very bad grammar. One writes about these words as an attempt to describe God, "They violate the most ordinary and fixed rules of grammar, as if to intimate that the very name of God must burst through all the ordinary law of human language in order to find fitting terms that indeed no human language can bear the burden of this name."

In other words, the language of our human finiteness is limited, and we can only go so far in describing God with words.

But here is a good attempt, focusing upon the eternal unchangeableness of our great God. In the face of ever-changing circumstances, God remains the same, self-existent, self-sustaining, unchanging. No doubt this name has reference to that great covenant name God assigns to himself in the Old Covenant. We read in,

Ex. 3:13 "Then Moses said to God, "Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they say to me, 'What is His name?' what shall I say to them?" 14 And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.'" 15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'"

"I am." A name of absolute unchangeableness. A name of eternal self-existence. There never was a time was God was not. There never will be a time when he is not. All time is as one to him, who never changes. His name is simply, "I am who I am." If there is just one thing to know about God, this might well be it. At the very least, it is the starting point for everything else. He is unchangeable, from eternity.

We read further, v.8

Again the emphasis upon eternal unchangeableness. The beginning and the end, encompassing all things in himself. The Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. God is all in all, and ruler of all, "the Almighty." God is the God was is. He is the God who was. He is the God who is to come. He is the one, true, living and unchangeable God that declares to the church of Jesus Christ, "Grace and peace."

What a great encouragement that is for us, for everything in this world changes with great frequency. And uncertainty. But this we know of God,

1 Sam. 15:29 "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent."

"Relent" there means "change." God is not a man, that He should change. Then,

Mal. 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob."

And, Heb. 6:17 "Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us."

God the Father. Unchangeably and infinitely faithful. What an encouragement to us who live in this ever-changing world.

And then God the Holy Spirit, the third person mentioned here second in this order. v.5 "...and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne."

I believe the reference to "seven spirits" is a reference to the Holy Spirit, seven again the number of fullness or perfection. This "refers to the Holy Spirit in the fullness of His operations and influences in the world and in the Church." And that Spirit is "before His throne," waiting to do the will of the Father.

So it is that this book focuses upon what is done before the throne of God, the place from where he exercises his authority and dominion and the place at which he receives our worship and praise. And we know, of course, who actually sits upon that throne. This is what Paul prays for the church in Ephesus,

Eph. 1:17 "...that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come. 22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all."

Jesus is seated upon the throne of God, "far above all principality and power and might and dominion." And so we read in this revelation of Jesus Christ the glorious message of gospel mercy as it comes not only from the Father and from the Holy Spirit, but also,

v.5 "...from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth."

Jesus is a faithful witness, most of all a faithful witness to his father. He is a faithful prophet, in whose flesh God makes himself known. And he is the firstborn of the dead, a reference to his authority and to the status and dignity he obtained by his resurrection. In the families of those days, the firstborn bore all the authority. Thus we know that,

Col. 1:18 "He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."

And so we also read, Ps. 89:27 "Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth."

So in his resurrection, with his ascension, Jesus Christ is exalted as the ruler of all the kings of the earth. And so this is biblical preaching, preaching which is focused upon Jesus. As Peter preached at Pentecost,

Acts 2:32 "This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. 34 "For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: 'The LORD said to my Lord, "Sit at My right hand, 35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ."

So what is your response to all of that? My goal here isn't to teach you the doctrine of the trinity, but to present and proclaim the triune God to you so that you might worship him. That's what this revelation of Jesus Christ is all about, here in these opening verses. A call to worship the one true and living God, one God who yet exists in three persons, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These words are a call to you to recognize his grace and to enjoy his peace. The message of mercy proclaimed to the church is a message intended and designed to evoke a response from the church.

II. A GLAD AND GRATEFUL RESPONSE F ROM THE CHURCH. And that is clearly what we have here. It is a response of doxology.

v.5 "...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

There is our acceptable praise, our songs of worship that would be pleasing to God. And those songs of praise begin with,

A. A recognition of our great blessings in Christ. The blessing is that Jesus has exalted us as Christians, by raising us with him. v.6 "..[He] has made us kings and priests to His God and Father."

He has made US kings and priests. That is our status.

Eph. 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus."

So we are already reigning with Christ! We are seated with Christ in the heavenly places! That will be my explanation of the description found in,

Rev. 20:4 "And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years."

That's not restricted to a future millennium. That's the situation now. Already. We who died with Christ in our salvation have been raised with Christ in his resurrection. That's our status as Christians. Our position. Our great blessing. Just think of it. He has made us Kings and Priests! We are already a kingdom of priests. But notice the cost. For us, there must be,

B. An appreciation of the source and cost of our union in Christ. It wasn't free. Not for Jesus. There was a great cost to him.

v.5 "...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

Don't ever lost consciousness of why he had to pay that price of his own blood. It was because of our sins. My sins. And your sins. He had to die because we had sinned. Our peace with God could be accomplished only by the satisfaction of the wrath and justice of God. The blood of the covenant had to be shed, because of our covenant breaking. The penalty prescribed by the covenant had to be paid. Death, death to the covenant breaker. That was the agreement.

Here it became death to the substitute for the covenant breaker. The precious blood of the lamb.

Notice how well those blessings are defined and expressed, how deeply they focus upon the finished work of Jesus Christ. Beginning with his love. Thus the praise we offer for our great salvation is praise to Jesus, "to him who loved us."

And surely we know this, 1 John 4:19 "We love Him because He first loved us."

And so we read, Eph. 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."

This has to be firmly rooted in the very depths of your soul, for this is the motivating force for all of our life and worship. Our worship begins with this self-conscious awareness, this self-conscious declaration of praise, "to him who loved us."

And it wasn't an empty love. It wasn't a passive love, nor a mere sentimental love. It was a love by which he laid down his own life for our sins. And so we praise him,

v.5 "...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

That is the appropriate,

C. Ascription of glory to our Redeemer. v.5 "...To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

Jesus so loved us, he so loved his sheep, those whom the father had given him, that he poured out his blood unto death for them. And so Ephesians 5 continues,

Eph. 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, 26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish...32 This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church."

Jesus loved his church. Jesus gave himself for his church, to make her holy. Jesus laid down his life for his church. He gave up his own life, under the pain of crucifixion, to satisfy the wrath and curse of God so that you and I could be freed from that condemnation and adopted to be the children of God.

Beloved, if you are a Christian, then Jesus washed you, he washed away your sins, with his own blood. And so you are to go about your life with this thought at the forefront of your mind, day after day, moment by moment,

1 Peter 1:18 "...knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God."

People of God, don't ever lose the sense of the glory of God's love, that he would wash away your sins. Don't ever stop marveling, with grateful hearts, that your sins are forgiven because Jesus has so loved you as to shed his own blood for you. And don't stop, therefore, singing his praise.

v.5 "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Indeed, that song of praise shall be sung forever, to the very end of the age, with the immediate realization that there is,

III. A GLORIOUS FUTURE FOR THE CHURCH. v.7

This praise of our worship shall continue as long as this age continues, and that praise shall extend to all the nations of the world. For this we know about Jesus,

Phil. 2:8 "...being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 9 Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11 and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This morning, as those who are the recipients of God's blessing of grace and peace, that is what we do here and now. It is the name of Jesus we proclaim. We confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We confess all these things, through the power of the Holy Spirit, to the Glory of God the Father.

And we do so, because we know that he has loved us. With an everlasting love. We sing our praise to the one who has blessed us in his love.

Thus this question is asked as Paul teaches upon these things to the church at Rome,

Rom. 8:35 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?"

Paul answers his own question, for our great encouragement, Rom. 8:38 "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Therefore, people of God, receive God's blessing.

v.4 "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, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth."

With that blessing, O people of God, sing his praise.

v.5 "To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, 6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."

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