Returning tonight to the last chapter in the Bible, Revelation chapter twenty-two. And we're dealing tonight with the dual titles of our Lord Jesus as found in the New Testament. And we have found the foundational title we examined where on the day of Pentecost, Peter said, Thou hast made that same Jesus whom you crucified. Both Lord and Christ, and he's speaking of God the Father, declaring Christ to be Lord of all. And then we found that he's a prince and a savior. And he is the apostle and high priest of our confession. Hebrews chapter three in verse one. And he is the shepherd and the bishop of our souls, according to first Peter chapter two. Last week we looked at the title that he is the amen and the true witness. That is how he appears to the church at Laodicea in Revelation chapter three. Now tonight we want to examine Revelation twenty-two verse thirteen, where we read, I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Now may the Lord bless his word. Let us pray together. Our Father, we thank you tonight for these titles of our Lord that causes us to pay attention to who he is and to what he has revealed concerning himself and what he is doing on behalf of poor sinners. We thank you, our Father, for each expression that is found in your words. Take the word now and use it to speak to each of our hearts for Jesus' sake. Amen. This expression that we have in Revelation twenty-two in verse thirteen, I am alpha and omega, you find it appears three times in the book of Revelation. In the first chapter in the eighth verse, in the twenty-first chapter, the previous chapter in the sixth verse, We read and he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. What a testimony to the grace of our blessed Lord. And then it is found again here in Revelation twenty-two in verse thirteen. Now what this title does, the Alpha and the Omega, it gives us Christ in parabolic form, in the form of a parable. The two words of this title, the alpha and the omega, are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Now, this same truth has been presented earlier in the Word of God. The writer to the Hebrews speaks of Christ as the author and the finisher of our faith. He is in the beginning. He is in the end. Now, all testimony on earth bears witness to this truth that Christ is the alpha and the omega. He is the first and he is the last. I have with me tonight a copy of Tozer's devotional work called Renewed Day by Day. I've gone through it about three times. And the first of his devotions in this book is God is always first, and he will surely be last. And it is a short devotional on this expression, I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. And he takes his text from Revelation chapter one and verse eight. Now I'm going to read you what Dr. Tozer says, because it is so important, I don't know of anyone who has stated it better. He simply says this, God is always first, and God will surely be last. In the plan of God, man is never permitted to utter the first word, nor the last. That is a prerogative of the deity, and one which he will never surrender to his creatures. Man has no say about the time or place of his birth. God determines that without consulting the man himself. One day the little man finds himself in consciousness and he accepts the fact that he is. Here volitional life begins. Before that he had nothing to say about anything. After that he thrust and boast and encouraged by the sound of his own voice He may declare his independence of God. Have your fun, little man. You are only chattering in the interim between first and last. You had no voice at the first, and you will have none at the last. God reserves the right to take up the last where he began at the first. And you are in the hands of God, whether you will or not. Adam became a living soul. but that becoming was not of his own volition. It was God who willed it and who executed his will in making Adam a living soul. God was there first. And when Adam sinned and wrecked his whole life, God was still there. Adam's whole future peace lay in this. God was still there after he had sinned. It would be great wisdom for us to begin to live in the light of this wonderful and terrible truth. God is the first and the last. That is one of the best devotionals that won for January first in Tosier's book that I've ever read. God is first and the last. We make such a fuss today over man and his abilities. God never permits man to have the first word, and he will not permit him to have the last. Now all testimony on earth proves the truth of this dual title that we have of our Lord. I am Alpha and Omega. In creation, it was God who created. Throughout the Old Testament we read that it is God who created. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And throughout the prophecy of Isaiah, especially chapter forty-four and forty-five, God takes full responsibility for all that creation is. And when you come to the New Testament in the Gospel by John chapter one, the word created all things and by him were all things made and without him was not anything made that was made what an expression in creation God is the first but in creation God is always the last for it is God who not only created the earth but it is God who is going to bring about what he's called in the epistle of Peter the third chapter the second epistle he's going to bring about the day of God when the heavens shall be on fire and melt with fervent heat. God has the last word. So he is the first and the last. Not only is he first and last in creation, God is first and last in divine providence. When we talk about divine providence, we are talking about divine wisdom and care which oversees all that God does, all the works of God, the providential dealings of God. God is first. That's why we can read and have the assurance of Romans eight and verse twenty eight. We are in a family, friends, where all things do work together for good to them that love God, to them who are be called according to his purpose. Why? Well, because God is the, our Lord Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega. He's the first. He planned all things and he's planted in order that in his redemptive program, he's going to have a people with himself. In divine providence, God is first and God is last in history. In history, God is first and he is also last. Man never has the last word in grace. God is first. Oh, we sing that hymn occasionally. Grace first contrived the way to save rebellious man and all the depths which lead to heaven who drew the wondrous plan. We're saved by divine grace. It has its origin in God. It doesn't have its origin in the will of man. It has its origin in the will of God. You and I are saved tonight because God willed to save us. Had He not willed to save us, we would still be in our sins. And the proof that that is true is, that's why we pray for God to save sinners and to work in conviction. and in conversion. In grace, our Lord Jesus is the first. In grace, our Lord Jesus is the last. In redemption. In redemption. When we think of the outworking of God's redemptive program whereby His grace is manifested toward man, it is God who always makes the first move. Never man. for we read in Romans three there is none that seeketh after God and had God not made the first move none of us would be saved in redemption he is the alpha he is the author of our faith he's the finisher of our faith as we read in Hebrews chapter twelve and verse two in redemption but then again in final glory in final glory God who saved us in the beginnings He's going to present us to himself without thought, without wrinkle. He's going to present us without fault before the presence of his glory and he's going to do it with joy. Oh, when I read this text, I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I am linked eternally to him who was in the beginning. I am linked eternally to him who has the last word in the end. I am alpha, he says, and omega. In other words, Christ is the complete, all-inclusive, exhaustive revelation of God. All that God is, we find in our Lord Jesus Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians chapter two and verse nine. Now in Christ, who is the beginning and the end, we find the fulfillment of all of God's eternal purposes, both in the earthly creation and in the new creation. It is our Lord Jesus who's going to bring the earthly creation to a close. And he's going to bring in the new creation, which is all in all. He's the one who does it. And when a person is in Christ, they are in the new creation. Now, the definite article is placed in the original before each title. And no one else but our Lord Jesus. can claim the dignity of that title. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega, the beginning and the end. It's amazing. It doesn't appear in the King James translation, but it appears in others. In Zechariah chapter twelve and verse ten, the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Allah, and the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet is T. In Zechariah chapter twelve and verse ten, where we read, They shall look unto me, whom they appear, the olive and the toast. The first and the last of the Hebrew alphabet. When you come to the New Testament, he is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. Now we're going to come back to Revelation twenty-two. I want to look at two more. of these dual titles of our Lord. What a blessing it is to realize that he is the alpha and the omega. He's the beginning and he's the end. Look back at chapter five for a moment. Chapter five and verse five of Revelation. Where we read, And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seven seals thereof. You'll notice the dual title here. He is the lion and he is the root. Now these two titles here in Revelation five present to our heart Christ in his kingly character, revealing his identity to the tribe of Judah. He is the lion. of the tribe of Judah, he is the root of David. John is confronted in heaven. We have a heavenly scene. The fifth chapter of the Revelation is the great chapter of the redemptive purposes of God for the earth. And what you have in the hand of him who sits upon the throne, the title deed to the earth. To whom does the earth belong? The earth is the Lord and the fullness thereof. and he's going to take full possession of his creation the title deed to the earth no one is worthy to take the book and johnny's weeping but there's one who prevailed he prevailed on the cross on calvary's hill and the one who prevailed is none other than the lion of the tribe of judah the root of david now that is a most interesting expression it links us with the relationship of our Lord Jesus with the tribe of Judah. Now, I'm going to ask you to turn to the first book of the Bible, chapter forty-nine. Genesis chapter forty-nine, we want to read verses nine and ten. In Genesis forty-nine, Jacob is dying, and all his children are before him. They had not done too well. Jacob's family is quite discouraging when you look at them. But you can see the reason why you sow and you reap. And Jacob had sowed to the flesh. And Jacob is going to reap accordingly. Jacob had deceived his father and his children had deceived him. But he had come a great circle, and he had seen the eternal program of God. Now you must remember that when you come to Jacob and the dying blessing of these twelve boys, as you have in Genesis chapter forty-nine, you must keep in mind that all of redemptive history is linked to this family right here. It was linked to Abraham when God made the covenant with Abraham. And God, that Abrahamic covenant of redemption was passed on to Isaac. And Isaac, when Jacob stole the blessing, even though the blessing was stolen, the Abrahamic covenant was passed on to Jacob in the stolen blessing when he stole the blessing that Isaac wanted to give to Esau. And God confirmed that to Jacob the first night away from home, which I think was the following day after he stole the blessing. He had a leave in a hurry. For Jacob at Bethel, in Genesis chapter twenty-eight, where he sees the vision of the ladder that reaches from earth to heaven, and the top of the ladder is the Lord, and the angels of the Lord ascending and descending upon the ladder. And God speaks to David. to Jacob. God speaks to it. And I have chapter twenty-eight of Genesis divided like this. Bethel, the place of the voice, the place of the vision, and the place of the vow. Where Jacob made a vow unto the Lord. Now, to which of Jacob's sons is a special relationship of redemption going to pass. It passed from Abraham. Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. It passed to Isaac. Isaac had two boys. Jacob and Esau, they were twins. And it passed to Jacob. Now Jacob has twelve boys. Which one of the twelve? So when you come to verse... Nine we read this. When you read that expression, Judah or the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David. Notice in verse nine, Judah is a lion's wealth. From the prairie, my son, thou art gone up. He stooped down. He couched as a lion and as an old lion, who shall rise him up? Here we have the relationship to the lion. But in verse ten, His relationship to ruler. To the ruler. The scepter. The scepter shall not depart from Judah. Nor a lawgiver from between his feet. Until Shiro come. And unto him. Unto Shiro. The word Shiro is another name for the Messiah. The Redeemer. It is one of his names in the Old Testament. Until Shiro come. And unto him. Shall the gathering of the people be. And it is a delight to be gathered unto Shiloh, the person, the man, Christ Jesus. But you'll notice here two things. Two things. You find that he's the lion, but you find the scepter. Now there's no king in Israel for years to come. No king is going to pass almost a thousand years before God tells them, in which family the king is going to come from. And we're studying that on Wednesday nights under the title from Isaiah fifty-five, verse three, the sure mercies of David, as we're studying Second Samuel chapter seven. A thousand years past before God revealed that this scepter, this one who is of the Rhine of David, who was promised and David, who is of the descendants of Judah. And when Israel wanted their first king, you see, God wasn't ready to give them a king. They wanted to be like the nation, round about them. And God gave them a king in their anger, in his anger, and he took him away in his wrath. We read in the prophecy of Hosea. And God stepped out of the family of Juda, and he chose Saul, King Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin. And you know God bypassed the family of Saul then, and he chose David when he sent Samuel, first Samuel, sixteen, to the family of Jesse, and he chose the boy that wasn't there. you see all of Jesse's sons passed before Samuel and Samuel wanted to anoint the first one God said no and he said no to all of them until they brought in David who was out tending the sheep the first thing you read about David that he was a shepherd a shepherd and then God said this is the man anoint him now Isaiah chapter eleven verse one is very important Isaiah eleven verse one and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his root and this branch that grew out of the rod of the stem of Jesse that word branch there is a special expression in the Old Testament that speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ. It came through Jesse, and then through Jesse's son David, and when our Lord Jesus was born, he was a lineal heir to the throne of David. And in this expression in Revelation five, the lion and the roost, He is connected with a Hebrew nation. And being connected with a Hebrew nation, he's connected with a people to whom the oracles of God came. Unto them, Paul says in Romans three, were given the oracles of God. Therefore the title, the root, and the lion have reference. to the kingdom glory of our Lord Jesus Christ so you'll see in this glorious expression the outworking of redemptive history God first of all chose Abraham and when it comes to one of the family of Judah then he chose a family of Jacob then he chose Judah And then Judah, you remember, he had drifted into a grievous sin. Then Tamar, who is his daughter-in-law, had twins through Judah. And you remember the two boys that were born there. Remember the scarlet thread? The one put out his hand first, and the midwife tied a scarlet thread on his fingers. and he drew his hand back and the other boy was born first. You talk about the activities of God in the way he worked. Zerah, and I'm thinking of the two lines of the tribe of Judah. Pérez and Zerah, the two lines of the tribe of Judah, and it is so gracious of God. the way he worked and how the line was passed on. And that's why the genealogies of the Bible are so important. So in Revelation chapter five, he says, The lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed. And when the Lord Jesus was here on earth, he spoke one day as recorded in John chapter four to the woman of Samaria, and he said unto her, salvation is of the Jews. He prevails. Who did? The lion that Jacob spoke about that's going to come to the tribe of Judah. The root, the one that Isaiah spoke about, whose branch is going to bring forth glory to the Lord. Now that brings us to Revelation twenty-two again. because connected with it are two more dual titles of the Lord. He's not only the lion and the root in Revelation five and verse five, but in Revelation twenty-two and verse sixteen we read, I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and the morning star. In other words, when he says, I'm the root of David, what he's saying is, I'm the first cause. I'm the first cause of David. I'm the first cause. I am the branch. I am the important one in David's family. He is the man of David's race. He is David's son, but he is also David's Lord. I am the root and the offspring of David. of David. Now, when you come to Romans chapter one in verse four, we read that Christ was made of the seed of David according to the flesh. He's the offspring of David. According to the flesh, he's the seed of David. But he is declared to be the son of God with power. He's the root of David. Why? Why? Because he's the divine son of God. That's why Now we read another in this verse. Not only is he the root and the offspring of David, the scripture here says, I am the bright and the morning star. He's a bright and the morning star. In the book of Genesis chapter three, he is the seed of the woman. When you come to the last book of the Old Testament, In Malachi chapter four, verse two, he is the son of righteousness. In Matthew, the first book of the New Testament, he is the savior of his people. Here in Revelation twenty-two, the last book of the Bible, he is the star of the morning. Now you take those four together. He is the seed. He is the son, S-U-N. He is the savior. He is the star. As a seed of the woman, it speaks of his manhood. As a son of righteousness, it speaks of his majesty. As a savior of his people, it speaks of his might, able to save. As a star of the morning, it speaks of his manifestation. It's amazing when you read this sixteenth verse here, all three expressions that we look at here in Revelation uh... twenty-two verse thirteen and again in verse sixteen these three dual titles the alpha and the omega the root and offspring the bright and the morning star all three of these are preceded by the I am the I am is that great name of Jehovah the redemptive name of God in the Old Testament, the I am connect all three. But when you come to this expression, I am the bright and the morning star. This is a special title that our Lord has in relation to the church. It is the relationship of his coming for the church to take the church home to be with himself. I am the bright in the morning star. The morning star appears right before the break of day. And what an expression, what a title of our blessed Lord. And some of the great hymns in our worship hymn book, we have Christ designated as the morning star. He's the star of the morning. He is the one who is coming to take his people home. Now, when you consider this, The scripture tells us in relation to the rapture of God's people in First Thessalonians chapter four, so shall we ever be with the Lord. He's going to rapture us that we might be with him. The joy of the child of God is to be with the Lord. When our brother David Morris was here, he made an expression that thrilled my soul. He says we have people talking today about going to heaven. The old saints used to talk about going to be with the Lord. And there's a difference. For to be with the Lord means that we're going to be in the presence of righteousness and we shall be righteous. But to be with the Lord means more than that. It means that we're going to be associated with him in the administration of his kingly reign. For that's the thrust of the book of the Revelation. That's the thrust of the expression, I am the root and the offspring of David. He's coming to reign. He's coming to take the reins of government into his hands. And the church is going to be associated with him. In the administration of his glorious reign, the darker this world gets, the brighter the hope of the child of God becomes, because we know that he who shall come will come and will not perish. Now that expression in Malachi chapter four and verse two, the son of righteousness, the verse there says, unto you that fear my name shall the son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. there we have Israel and to the nation of Israel he's going to arise with noonday splendor to the church he's coming as the bright and the morning star well beloved when you examine the dual titles of our Lord they can only apply to one person our Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy. And of course, he is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Now these dual titles of our Lord, when we started on them, we began with the one in the second chapter of the book of Acts. He is Lord and Christ. Announced by Peter on the day of Pentecost, Redemption has been accomplished by our Lord. And God has exalted him as Lord. That one who was crucified. And the expression Christ has referenced to the one whom God has anointed. The anointed one of God. He is the Messiah. He is the Messiah is the Lord. And the Lord is the Messiah. He is Lord and Christ. Our titles end here in Revelation twenty-two. He is the bright and the morning star. When Peter wrote his first epistle, he said that all that is in the Old Testament can be divided into two parts. It all spoke of Christ. It spoke of his suffering and the glory that should follow. At the conclusion of his suffering, Peter says, God has made him both Lord and Christ, and whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. And we're looking for his coming, for the coming is going to usher us into his very presence. The glory shall be revealed, and it shall be revealed to the whole of the universe. He is the bright and the morning star. I don't know if these titles have gotten you excited or not, but they sure have me, because I'm looking for the Lord from heaven. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we praise you tonight, for whom thou hast made thy son to be. He is indeed Lord and Christ. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He is the prince and the savior. He is the high priest. of our confession. He is the shepherd and the bishop of our soul. He is the alpha and the omega. He's the root and the offspring. He's the lion and he's the root. He's the bright and the morning star. We marvel at the revelation that you've given unto us of him, who he is and his important role as the mediator of the great redemptive program that you purposed in bringing a people into your presence like him. We thank you tonight for everyone who knows that they're one of your people. And we ask you to take this word and bless it to every heart for Jesus' sake. Amen.