Amen, thank you, what a blessing that was. Thank you so much to our ensemble. And at this time, our junior church kids can go ahead and be dismissed. That's the fun crowd, so maybe you wanna follow them. If you would, turn with me today to Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter 1. And I'm going to be in verse 12. In this first chapter of Revelation, the Lord Jesus appears to John and gives him a revelation of things to come. And in verse 12, the Bible says this, Revelation 1. starting in verse 12. And I, John, turned to see the voice that speak with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, or lampstands. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet likened to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. Let's pray. Father, we are thankful for the revelation that you give to us. We're thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ who reveals it to us. And Father, I pray that as we go through this passage, that we would see him as he is, and that all of us would examine our relationship to him, for that is the most important question before us. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. There are plenty of things to be afraid of in this life. I collected just a few headlines the past few days, and here are some of them. Major storm to hit California with flash flooding, strong winds, heavy snow. Here's one that has been in the news quite a bit. Baltimore bridge collapse raises questions about bridges in other states. And then here's my favorite. Poland's leader puts European countries on notice. Don't want to scare anyone. but prepare for war. But I don't want to scare you, right? Are you scared today? What I mean by that, are you fearful? Are you anxious? Maybe of one thing or another in particular, or maybe it's just a knowing fear that something is not right. Do you fear death? Do you have assurance that if you died at this moment, that you would be in the presence of the Lord? Or is there doubt in your mind? The Apostle John would have had plenty of reason for fear and doubt from a human perspective. The early church historian Eusebius tells us that during the persecution of the Roman Emperor Domitian, that John was exiled to Patmos. That's what he is doing here when Jesus appears to him. John was exiled to Patmos, in the words of Eusebius, in consequence of his testimony to the divine word. In other words, John was there for no other reason but that he was preaching God's word. He was preaching the message of the gospel. One commentator summarizes what might well have been John's situation. According to the Roman historian Tacitus, exile to such islands was a common form of punishment in the first century. The conditions under which he lived would have been harsh. exhausting labor under the watchful eye and ready whip of a Roman overseer, insufficient food and clothing, and having to sleep on the bare ground would have taken their toll on a 90-year-old man. John was elderly by this time in his life. And now as he turns to see who is speaking with him, he reacts with fear, when he sees the risen Christ in all of his glory. Now, there's an account that is very similar to this and a reaction that's very similar. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 17. Matthew chapter 17. We have in Matthew chapter 17 an account of Jesus' transfiguration. And in Matthew chapter 17 in verse 2, Jesus takes Peter and James and John, his close inner circle, up to the mountain. And the Bible says in verse 2 that Jesus was transfigured or totally transformed before them. And the Bible says that his face did shine as the sun. You could not look at him. His face was so bright. Now, this was an indication that this is the glory of God, and that's who Jesus is. He is the Son of God, the glorious Son of God. The Bible says that his raiment was white as the light. And of course, these men were afraid. In fact, the Bible says in verse 5 that while he yet spake, he was speaking to Moses and Elijah who appeared there with him on the mount, that a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the cloud which said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye him. Peter had said before this time, let's build three tabernacles, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. And while he was speaking, this voice of the father comes out of the cloud. And I'm sure that it shook them to their hearts. The Bible says in verse six, and when the disciples heard it, when they heard this voice, that they fell on their face, and they were sore afraid." We would say it this way, they were terrified. And we would be too if we were suddenly exposed to the glory of God, as Jesus Christ stood in all of His wondrous glory. But then in verse 7, something happens. And I want you to notice the similarity here with Revelation chapter 1. The Bible says that Jesus came and he touched them. Perhaps he put his hand on their shoulders. And what does he say? If you've got your place there in Matthew 17 and verse 7, here are his words. Arise and what? Be not afraid. Don't fear. The same thing that he tells to John. For those who know Christ as Savior, we have nothing to fear from the glory of God. Yes, we are in awe of Him, we revere Him, but we no longer fear His judgment because Jesus Christ was judged on our behalf. We have nothing to fear because this is our Savior who is speaking. And I want you to notice here in Revelation 1, verses 17 through 18, three reasons why we don't have to be enslaved by fear. You see, the resurrection of Christ means something to us. It's not just another day of the year that we get through, but it means something very profound. It's the cornerstone of our faith because if Jesus be not risen, then we have no faith. Jesus had to die for our sins. He was buried. He rose again bodily the third day. And if that isn't true, then we're living a lie. But Jesus is risen. And what does that mean for you this morning? Have you really thought about this truth? Because sometimes we go around fearful and anxious of what is happening in our world. As we gather here on this beautiful Easter morning, all you have to do is look at the headlines. And this world is unsettled. This world is in the grip of fear. And it's not just the fear of war. It's not just economic uncertainty. But there are people who are fearful, and by the way, this is the greatest fear of all. They're fearful for their soul. What's going to happen to me when I die? This is the reason why a lot of people don't like funerals. And if they do have to attend them, they don't like for the preacher to talk about these things, about life and death and eternity, which are the most important issues of life. Because all of us have to come to this appointment. And so let me ask you, are you ready to face God? Or are you fearful? I want you to see three reasons why we don't have to be enslaved by fear and how all of those reasons flow from who Jesus is and what he has done for us. Number one, Christ is the Lord of all. In verse 17, he makes this statement to John. He says, fear not because, first of all, I am the first and the last. The first and the last and everything in between. Now, we find this statement used of God himself. in Isaiah 41 in verse 4. If you have your Bibles, turn to Isaiah 41 in verse 4, and I want you to see something here that is important. Isaiah 41 in verse 4, and here the Lord is talking to his people, the Lord Jehovah, and he's already comforting them because he is foretelling future judgment. Judah will go into Babylonian captivity at a future time. But he's also comforting them and he's saying, you can rely upon me, you can rest upon me. I'm telling you before these things ever happen, only God can do that. And in Isaiah 41 and verse 4, God makes this statement. He's talking about himself, who hath wrought and done it. In other words, I'm the one who has worked these wonderful things and done it, calling the generations from the beginning. In other words, I write history before it ever happens. And then he says this, I, the Lord, Jehovah. The word Lord is in all capital letters. And so in Hebrew, that's the word Yahweh or Jehovah. And then what does he say? The first and with the last, I am he. I am, he says, the great I am, I am he. He says something very similar if you'll flip over to Isaiah 44 and verse 6. If you want to know about God's character, Isaiah chapters 40 through 48 are a great place to start. But in Isaiah 44 and verse 6, thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts, I am what? The first and the last. And beside me, there is no God. Look at Isaiah 48 and verse 12. Skip over, Isaiah 48 and verse 12. Again, Jehovah, Yahweh is talking. Isaiah 48, 12. Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called. I am He. I am the first. I also am the last. Do you see where John is getting this in Revelation 1? Now, starting in Isaiah, the meaning here is that God is the creator of all things. That's what he means by I am the first and the last. And he is sovereign over all things. So there is nothing or no one who falls outside of God's life-giving power and being. There is nothing or no one who falls outside of his jurisdiction. That's why I can't section off my life and say, okay, this belongs to me and then this belongs to God. I can't do that because God is the Lord of all of life. You see, He's the God over you when you're at work. And just to put this in practical terms, that's why you need to watch what you say. That's why you need to be a person of honesty and integrity because God is the Lord over you at work. And in your family, God is the Lord over you. So he's not just God here on a Sunday morning when we're gathered for church. But that's how a lot of people think of Him. They think that, well, if I have time for Him, I'll cram Him into this space. Or I'll add Him into the calendar if there's space available. But folks, He's God. He's Lord of all. Everything that we have belongs to Him. He is the source of everything. To use philosophical terms, God is a necessary being. We are contingent beings. You say, what in the world do you mean by that? Well, let me say it this way. If I, as a contingent being, were to die tomorrow, this world would just keep going on. There was a time when I did not exist, and this world got along fine without me. You know, sometimes we need to remind ourselves of that. But if God ceased to exist, if such a thing were possible, and by the way, it's not, then everything else would cease to exist. You see, he is the only one in this universe who is self-sufficient and self-existent and self-reliant. The Bible says in Acts 17 and verse 28 that in him We live and move and have our being. The triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. By the way, one God in three persons is the only necessary being in this universe. You say, well, what does that mean for me? Well, it means that everything else depends on Him. Everything and everyone. Everything revolves around Him, whether we acknowledge it or not. And so the most important thing about you and about me is not our bank account. It's not how talented we are or how accomplished we are. It's not how intelligent we are. It's not how important we are in the eyes of this world. But the most important thing about us is our relationship with God. He is the first and the last. How many of you have thought about that? Or is God just sort of tacked on to your life every now and then? Maybe you have a little bit of time for religion, but it's not really real to you. You know the phrases to say. You know the jargon. Or maybe it is just an occasional thing. Maybe you know very little about Christianity, but you never really thought about this seriously before. Our relationship with God is the most important thing in all of life. Now, let's go on to Revelation 1, because what is said of God in Isaiah is applied to Jesus Christ here in Revelation 117. It's applied to the second person of the Trinity. There could be no stronger attestation of the deity of Christ. So we come here today and we're not celebrating the life of a person who was just a good man or just a good teacher or prophet or someone who tried to teach us how to live. But we come today to celebrate the celebration of the resurrection, rather, of the Son of God. He is the unique Son of God. He is the first and the last. And that's how we must accept Him. The most important thing about you this morning is your relationship with Jesus. Have you accepted Him as your Lord and Savior? This is more than just having a good code of morality to live by. It's more than just being a religious person. It's about a relationship with Jesus. Are you leaning upon him? Are you trusting in him alone for salvation? You see, he is the Lord of all. Number two, he's the Lord of life. We see this in chapter one in verse 18. He says, I am he that liveth and was dead. We could say it this way. I am the living one. He is the author of life. None of us would have it except for Him, and He's the one who sustains it within us. People say, well, I don't want anything to do with God, frankly. I'm going to live my own life. I work hard for a living, and I try to do the best I can. I just want to leave God over to the side. Well, you can't do that, because guess who gives you breath? to live. It's God. Guess who gave you your job? God. Guess who gives you the food that you have on your table? It's God. He gives us all of these things, and we are accountable to Him. He says, I am he that liveth and was dead. You see, the second statement that he died and is now alive forevermore is an unmistakable reference to Jesus' death and resurrection. Why did Jesus come to this earth in the first place? Why did he die? Well, if you'll go to 1 Corinthians chapter 15, turn there with me and we'll see. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 and verse 3, he's saying, this is the message of the gospel that I have preached to you. And we call this sometimes the gospel in a nutshell. And if you unpack it, there's quite a bit here. And in verse 3, he says this, for I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, and here's the first, how that Christ died, and then what does he say? for our sins. Christ's death had a purpose. Christ was not defeated. Christ did not come to this earth and want to be some kind of a ruling monarch and then the plan went wrong and he became a martyr. That's not how it worked. He came to die because he had to die for our sins. You can put yourself there. I can put myself there. You see, Christ died because of John Mark Turner's sins. It was I who rebelled against God. But that's the amazing thing, is that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, deity, would come and take on human flesh, and he would die for me. But that's how much he loves us. And that is the cornerstone of our faith. Going on, he rose from the dead the third day. There were so many things that Christ accomplished on the cross. He paid our sin debt. He died in our place suffering the wrath of God that we deserved. In Isaiah 53 and verse 6, the Bible says, all we like sheep have gone astray. How many does that say? All. All we like sheep. We have turned everyone to his own way, but here it is, and the Lord hath laid on him, on Jesus, the iniquity of us all. 600 years before it ever happened, Isaiah the prophet said, Messiah is going to bear our sins. He's going to be punished on our behalf. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21, the Bible says for He, God the Father, hath made Him, Jesus, to be sin for us who knew no sin. He was the sinless Son of God. He never did anything wrong. And why? That we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. I have assurance this morning that if I died at this moment, that I'm going to heaven. You say, now, how can you say that? How could you be so presumptuous? And why would you say such a thing? Well, it's not because of my good deeds. I've done a lot of bad things in my life. But Jesus still took pity on me and he saved me. And here's the thing, I am trusting in Jesus and in his righteousness alone. I am trusting in His perfect righteousness. And let me ask you this morning, are you trusting in Him? And that's why I can say with certainty and I can say it with assurance, yes, I'm going to heaven. And the Bible wants you to have that assurance. It doesn't want you to be chained by fear. Are you sure that you're going to heaven? Because that's what Jesus has done for us. He died in our place. He took the punishment that we deserved. And he defeated death on the cross. The church father, Tertullian, said it this way, Christ reigned as Lord from the tree. We don't often think about it like that, do we? We think of the cross as a symbol of defeat, but it's not. While Jesus was on the cross, he was defeating sin and death and the devil and fear, all of those things that would enslave us. Christ reigns, and his resurrection proved it. C.S. Lewis said, Christ was the first fruits. He was the pioneer of life. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the king of death. Everything is different because he has done so. When Adam sinned in the garden, we were defeated. We were enslaved. But through Christ, we are victorious. One commentator said it this way, that's why we don't call it bad Friday. What do we call it? It's good Friday. And yes, we remember the horrible sufferings that our Lord Jesus went through. And yes, there was the physical suffering. There was the alienation from men and from his own nation and from the Gentiles. But there was the worst of all. when God the Father turned his back on the Son, when Jesus became sin for us, because he took my sins upon himself. He suffered the wrath of God that I deserved. But even so, we don't call it Terrible Friday, and we don't call it Perfect Friday. We call it Good Friday. because Jesus triumphed. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Do you know him? Are you trusting in him? He's the Lord of all, number one. Number two, he's the Lord of life, but number three, he's Lord over death. The Bible says in verse 18, He has the keys of hell and of death. He has the keys of Hades, and in the book of Revelation, the word Hades is not just used of death, that temporary separation of the spirit from the body. It's used for that place called hell, that place where people go who are separated from God for all eternity. You see, there are only two places a person can go when he dies, and that's heaven or hell. There is no halfway house. There is no purgatory. If you don't know Jesus as Savior, you're going to go to a place called hell, which is a place of suffering. It's a place of fire. It's a place of torment. And Jesus himself spoke more about hell than he did about heaven. And why is that? Because he doesn't want anyone to go there. It was a place made for the devil and his angels. God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. But there is a terrible place called hell. You see, Jesus is the one who is in control of who gets locked up for all eternity. Eternity is forever. You never, ever leave. You never get out. You never get a second chance. That's why so much is riding upon this. If you got out of hell after a thousand years, then you might as well live it up in this world. But folks, you never, ever get out. And that is the fate of all of those who reject God. But you see, Christ is also the Lord of life. He holds the keys, and so He's the one who decides who gets liberated. That's why Jesus tells John not to be afraid. I was saved when I was 20 years old, as many of you know, and before that time, I went to bed afraid. Many, many times. And I was a macho guy as a young man. You know, since I was the preacher's son, I had to outdo everyone else in the bad things that I did. I had to prove that I was cool, that I was with the crowd and so forth. But when I got in bed at night, there were times I was terrified. And listen, I should have been. because I was not right with God. And one of the things that I remember after I got saved, and it was the most incredible feeling in the world, I was able to have a good night's sleep. There was no fear. I can go to bed now and I can have a good night's sleep. I keep everybody else up with my snoring, but I sleep just fine. because I'm resting in Jesus. He holds the keys. He's the Lord of life, the Lord of death. He is the Lord of all. Do you fear death today because you've got no assurance of where you would be if you died right now? The Scottish Presbyterian preacher John McNeill was giving an address on Psalm 23.4, and that verse says, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. And he illustrated that passage with a glimpse into his childhood in Scotland. He worked in a certain community from Monday morning until Saturday night. This was way before child labor laws. And then he traveled back along a country road to his own home, miles away, so that he could be with his family on Sunday. He was gripped with fear as he journeyed homeward, because the area was frequented by robbers. One Saturday night, he was particularly late, so that he traveled well after midnight. And the night was so dark, he said, that he could not see his hand in front of his face. And as he groped his way towards home, he heard footsteps coming. Shivering with fear, he stopped, and the footsteps stopped. He started again, and so did the approaching footsteps. Again, he stopped, and they stopped. But then out of the blackness of the midnight, there came a voice calling him, and it was the voice of his father. But what did I care, McNeil remembered, for all those miles of travel? What did I care for the darkness, for the late hours, for the robbers? My father had come for me, my protector, my champion, my defender. The rest of the way, I walked through the valley of the shadow of utter darkness that midnight, but without fear, because my father was with me. Do you go through this life without fear because Jesus is with you? He faced the greatest enemies that could ever be faced, sin and death and the devil, and he defeated everyone. Are you resting upon him this morning? Let's pray. Father, we thank you that we serve a risen Savior, the one who has not only gone and crossed that line, that border into death, but the one who has triumphed over death, the one who is alive forevermore. And Lord, I pray that if there's one in this room who is not putting all faith and trust in him, that that person would do so today. Help them to come to you before it's too late. Because Jesus is the Lord of all. Father, for those of us who do know Christ, how easy it is for us to forget these things. And God help us that this would not be just another Resurrection Sunday. but that we would truly enter in to what Jesus has done for us, that we would not live by fear and anxiety, but that we would have joy and assurance, always ready to share the gospel, the good news with others. And we pray this in Jesus' name, amen. We always want to give an opportunity, and especially on this day, that if you don't know Christ as Savior, please come and make that sure today. This is the most important decision of your life, and the devil is going to try to distract you with all kinds of other things, but your soul is the most important thing that you have. Do you know beyond any shadow of a doubt that you know Jesus as Savior? And if you don't, if you would like to know him, I'll be right down here at the front for a couple of verses as Ben gives the closing hymn. And then afterward, I'll be at the back. But this is the most important decision in all of life. Please make sure that you're right with him. Lord bless you.