David Hawking delves into the heart of Revelation, discussing how its insights inspire believers today to stay firm in faith amidst present challenges. Listeners are encouraged to comprehend the eternal message of the Bible and its relevancy in today’s digital era. In addition to uncovering the overwhelming reaction of the world to Christ’s prophesied return, the episode highlights the call for steadfastness for today’s believers.
When our kids were little at our table, I noticed that they quickly discerned the meaning of amen. It means let’s eat. When folks were over at our house and they would be there for dinner and if they just went on too long in their prayer, that our kids would interrupt their prayer and say several times, amen, amen, trying to get them to stop. To them, amen meant we’re done. Let’s get out of here. But it doesn’t mean that here. We’re talking right on. Praise God. It’s true. That’s what it’s all about.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is Hope for Today with David Hawking. And if you’ve ever wondered what it will look like when Jesus Christ returns, well, today’s passage gives you a front row seat. In Revelation 1, verses 7-11, the focus turns to His second coming. visible, powerful, and undeniable. Every eye will see him. All nations will mourn, and his voice, like a trumpet, calls out to the churches with urgency and authority. This is not symbolic. This is what’s coming. Open your Bible. David’s bringing us day five of our study in Revelation chapter one, titled Message to the Churches. First… Over Today is heard on these radio stations, and boy, we sure cherish our relationship with these stations, but also through podcasts, streaming on our website, and through our new venture into social media, what we call A Minute in the Word, which are excerpts from your dad’s messages that we’re sharing on social media. Matt, how many views are there on social media in any given day?
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All the platforms. I had heard originally it was $60 billion. I didn’t believe it. I had to fact check it, and I was wrong. It was $70 billion now. It’s the largest digital mission field out there.
SPEAKER 01 :
And we want to take the Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible to that mission field. Amen. But I also want to update folks on the financial need of Hope for Today because this ministry historically is a listener-sponsored broadcast. It is our listening family co-laboring with us in the ministry, and our need is ongoing, is it not? Yep.
SPEAKER 02 :
No sponsors of any kind. Right. And we also want to thank our longtime listeners who have supported this ministry. And embrace your dad’s vision of sharing the gospel.
SPEAKER 01 :
And building up the body of Christ. And that ministry does require two things. Prayer. Do we appreciate prayer, Matt? Amen. Yes. And then going forward, we need support, one-time gifts, and also people who give monthly. Right. as long as God provides to make this ministry possible. Hope for Today, the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking and the partnership between Hope for Today and our listening family.
SPEAKER 02 :
You can reach us at 1-800-75-BIBLE, 24253, or in Canada, 1-888-75-BIBLE, or you can go online at davidhawking.org, davidhawking.org.
SPEAKER 01 :
All right, turn to Revelation chapter 1, verses 7 through 11. And here’s David to continue with our study, Message to the Churches.
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What is the main purpose of the message? Why this message to the seven churches of Revelation? And the answer, to proclaim the second coming of Jesus Christ. And the second part of that purpose is to proclaim the glorious character of the coming King. This is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Now in looking at the A first matter proclaiming the wonderful second coming of Jesus Christ. Look carefully at verse 7. Our responsibility is to behold relationship to clouds demonstrating the wonderful majesty and glory of our Lord. The worldwide recognition of his coming. Every eye sees him and the special realization that will come to the nation of Israel as they’ll look on him whom they have pierced. Number five, the overwhelming reaction of the whole world says, verse seven, all kindreds, all tribes of the earth shall wail because of him. Now, folks, there are people who believe that that definitely is a statement of conversion, but we can’t prove it. We cannot prove it. It does not necessarily mean that they’re wailing and lamenting because they’re repenting of their sin and turning to the Lord. We do know there will be a lot of people who will not believe. But no matter whether they’re believers or not, there’s a clear statement here that all the tribes of the earth will wail like the lamenting and crying at a funeral, like their hopes are dashed and everything they were living for they now see was wrong, as he who is King of kings and Lord of lords will be standing in front of them. All the world. will have this overwhelming reaction of wailing and lamenting and crying out. It’s the cries of those who beat their breast in agony. I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong. My friends, it’s a very serious thing that God says here. All the tribes of the earth, everyone, no one will be left out. They will wail because of him. Now look at the immediate response of John, the sixth thing, the immediate response of John. Very interesting. I mentioned this before, that often we’ll see in a New Testament writer’s book the word amen before he gets to the end. Here it is again. Even so, amen. And what is buried in here is a very precious thing because the word even so is Greek. It’s a particle of strong affirmation. The word amen, though also is in Greek and also is in English, not really translated, is primarily a Hebrew word, amen. It comes right into Greek, amen. It comes right into English, amen. And this is what we call a double affirmation. When John even is told this message that he’s coming with clouds and every eye will see him and all his heart is just overwhelmed. And so for both the Greek reader and for the Jewish Hebrew background, even so, amen. He’s not done with his letter. And I ask you as you read, behold, look up, look for yourself. He’s coming with the clouds. What do you say? Amen. Look at verse 18. Behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of Hades and of death. There, it’s not even at the end of the sentence. It’s right in the middle. Look at chapter 5, verse 14. When all heaven breaks out in praise to the Lord and to the Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus, it says the four living creatures said, Amen. In the Greek, it’s what we call imperfect tense. They kept on saying, Amen. So evidently, the worship leaders of heaven are just saying it all the time. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. And the four and 20 elders who we believe represents the church, and we’ll tell you why later, fell down and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever. All because of what? Somebody said, amen. And everybody fell down and worshiped the Lord. My dear friends, when we say amen, we are excited with the reliability and veracity of what was said. Behold, he cometh with clouds, amen. And they fell on their faces and worshiped him. May we never read that word again. casually. Turn to chapter 7, verse 12. Here we read all the angels and elders about the throne falling on their face, and it says they’re saying, amen. Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be unto our God forever and ever. Amen. They say it again. Look at chapter 19, verse 4. When all heaven breaks out in praise at the judgment that God brings on this world system for its refusal to bow the knee to him, We read in Revelation 19, 4, the four and 20 elders, the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne saying, Amen. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord. Look at chapter 22, how the book ends. Verse 20 and 21. It says, He who testified these things saith, Surely I come quickly. The Lord said that. And what does John say? Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Amen. When you hear something from God’s word that rejoices the heart, amen. By vocal sound, it is the same as kneeling before God and praising his name. Amen. Praise God. It’s true. It’s true. Back to Revelation chapter 1 again. The main purpose of the message is to proclaim the second coming of Jesus Christ and secondly to proclaim the unique and glorious character of our coming king. And that’s what you have in verse 8. You notice if you have a red letter edition, which I have, that you have red letters here because the red letters are always when the Lord speaks. I am Alpha and Omega Alpha. The beginning and the ending. Now as I look back in my Bible from chapter 1 verse 1 down to verse 8, this is the first time that the Lord makes a statement to him. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. Amen. Several things about the glorious character of our coming king in this verse. One, his unique proclamation of God’s message. I am Alpha and Omega. That phrase, that statement is only used in the book of Revelation. I am Alpha and Omega. Alpha, the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Omega is the last. And it’s only used in the book of Revelation. Now there’s several ways to look at this. Some people believe that it means he’s controlling all of history. And I have tried to analyze this myself, whether it’s comparable to the beginning and the end and the first and the last, which are statements that are in Isaiah about God that are repeated in this chapter before we’re done. But I’ve come to believe that when he said, I am Alpha and Omega, he is talking about the nature of himself as the Word of God. The same writer John wrote in his gospel, chapter 1, verse 1, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In John 1, verse 14, it says, The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory. The Word… The word word refers to the revelation of God. And in the case of Jesus, we have a complete, final, and full revelation of God in human form. And aren’t you glad? In him, says Colossians 2.9, dwells all the fullness of God in body form. We are talking a tremendous statement when we say, I am Alpha and Omega. I am all there is to say. In Colossians 2.3, it says, In him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. When you come to Jesus, you’ve got it all. You don’t need to look anywhere else. He has everything there is to know. He has everything there is to say. I am Alpha and I am Omega. Unique proclamation of God’s message to us. God in human flesh. The second thing I notice is his sovereign providence over all history. He says he is the beginning and the ending. His sovereign providence. Providence refers to God’s control of the events of history. The beginning and the ending. He was there when it started. He’ll be there when it ends. And he’s been there all the way through, constantly controlling, supervising, providentially caring for the entire system we know as the history of man. Turn to Colossians, please, chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. His sovereign providence over all history. He is the beginning and the ending. Colossians 1, beginning at verse 15. A wonderful passage on the deity, preeminence, and glory of Jesus Christ. Verse 15. Who, speaking of Christ, is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation? For by him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created by him and for him. And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Everything is held together literally by him. He created it all. It’s all designed by him. It’s all for him. And he was before it all. And he sustains it all. He’s what it’s all about. Jesus Christ, our Lord. Isaiah 57, 15 says that he’s the high and holy one who inhabits eternity. He dwells in all of it at any moment of time. He was in existence before it came into being, and he will be in existence when time is no more. He fills all of eternity with himself, and you tell me how to understand that. All I know is my head hurts when I think about it. We’re talking heavy stuff, people. This is our Lord Jesus Christ. Do we really know who he is? In John 8, 58, he said, before Abraham was, I am. You know, if he would have said before Abraham was, I was, that would be quite a statement. Abraham lived about 2,100 years before Christ. So to say before Abraham was alive, I was there is a tremendous statement. But that isn’t what he said. He said before Abraham was, I am. Now that is an unbelievable statement. That means he is present eternally. He is the eternal one, present in any moment of time. And he’s also dwelling in the past as well as the future and the present all at the same time. You say, I don’t understand. Neither do I. But I know the Bible teaches it. He is the beginning and the ending. He is controlling all of time. Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ, the one we’ve come to believe in, he’s our Savior. Isn’t it wonderful to know that he knows what’s happening? See, that’s why he said, don’t take any thought for tomorrow. And then made this statement, because tomorrow has enough trouble of itself. The point is, if you knew what was coming tomorrow, you couldn’t handle it. Why worry about what is tomorrow? Jesus said, don’t even take a thought for it. Don’t be distracted for it at all. Because he’s in control. He’s running it. He’s the beginning and the end. He’s made all of the ages of time. Back to Revelation 1 again. We look at his unique proclamation of God’s message and revelation to us. He is the Alpha and Omega. His sovereign providence over all history. He’s the beginning and the ending. And his eternal presence. something we’ve just referred to in the statement, which is and which was and which is to come. He was in the past, he’s in the present, and he is in the future. And he will never leave you nor forsake you. And he will be with you always, even to the end of the age. Praise the Lord. Fourth, his mighty power. Revelation 1.8 says, the almighty. Is that a great word or what? I don’t think you can get any higher than that. The Almighty. Very interesting, the Greek word, pontakrator. It’s referring to a word pon, meaning all, and kratos, which is like inherent power. It’s saying that one has all power. There is nobody higher. He’s all powerful. He’s ruling with absolute universal power. It’s used 10 times, nine of them in Revelation. Let’s look at Revelation chapter 4 verse 8. Chapter 4 verse 8. It means he has all power. Do you suppose he who flung the worlds into existence might be able to handle your little deal today? Huh? You say, oh, you don’t know what I’m going through, man. This is unbelievable. There’s no way this can be straightened out. No way whatsoever. Enter the Almighty. Revelation 4 verse 8. And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about them. They were full of eyes within. They rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. Wonderful words. Chapter 11, verse 17. Chapter 11, verse 17. The Almighty. It says, Saying, we give thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art and wast and art to come, because thou hast taken to thee thy great power and hast reigned. Chapter 15, verse 3. Chapter 15, verse 3. And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. Chapter 16, verse 7. 16.7, I heard another out of the altar say, even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. Verse 14, for they are the spirits of demons working miracles that go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty. Talking about Armageddon. Look at chapter 19, verse 15. When the Lord Jesus comes back, it says, Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations. He shall rule them with a rod of iron. He treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of almighty God. Chapter 21, verse 22. That’s seen in the New Jerusalem, the heavenly city. And it says, verse 22, I saw no temple in it for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. Wow. The all-powerful one. No one has any more power. And all power that is power is all contained within him. He is indeed the power. I don’t like to say the force, it gets me thinking about Star Wars and the inadequacy of that terminology to describe my blessed Lord. But you understand, he is the power. There’s nothing more. He is all power. And that’s what it means when you read he’s the Lord God Almighty. And who is speaking to John? It’s Jesus Christ who is addressing him. He is the I who is talking to John. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. Say it, the Lord God Almighty. Isaiah 9, 6 says, unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God. That’s who he is.
SPEAKER 01 :
That’s Bible teacher David Hawking, and this is Hope for Today. David’s back in just a moment or so to close out our time in God’s Word for today, so stay with us. First, though, Matt’s here, and together we’re going to share a wonderful resource with you. What do we have, Matt?
SPEAKER 02 :
This month, we’re featuring a special price on my dad’s book, Babylon, its history and prophecies. It’s a study guide and commentary of scriptures addressing Babylonianism. Normally $15, but just $10 in June.
SPEAKER 01 :
Matt, the ancient city of Babylon holds a pivotal place in Bible prophecy, symbolizing human pride and the idolatrous world system opposed to God Babylon was famous for.
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You know, scripture declares that Babylon’s ultimate fate is one of sudden divine judgment.
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Revelation chapter 17 and 18, John describes an end times Babylon the great doomed to fall under God’s wrath.
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Yeah, as an angel announces, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. And a heavenly voice calls God’s people to come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins.
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It’s an authoritative warning that reminds you and me and everyone listening that no matter how powerful the Babylonian world system appears, it is prevalent and powerful today, isn’t it?
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And the Lord’s going to ultimately judge it, urging God’s people to remain faithful and untainted.
SPEAKER 01 :
Well, again, we’re featuring a special price on David’s book, Babylon, Its History and Prophecies. Now, normally $15, just $10 in June.
SPEAKER 02 :
Order at davidhawking.org, davidhawking.org, or call us in Canada at 1-888-75-BIBLE. In the U.S., call us at 1-800-75-BIBLE. And Bible by the Numbers is 242-53.
SPEAKER 01 :
And we’ll give those numbers again in just a bit. You can also go to that same webpage if you missed any part of today’s program or maybe missed a recent broadcast. We do keep our most recent programs posted for a limited time so that folks who will need to catch up or simply want to review a lesson can do so with just a click on davidhawking.org. And by the way, while you’re there, be sure to take a look at all the great Bible study resources we’ve got for you. The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible. It’s in everything that we do and that we put on our website. You’re going to find books, booklets, video and audio studies, plus a host of free downloads by David and Hope for Today friends. Again, the website davidhawking.org. And by the way, if you’ve never had a chance to write us and would like to share a prayer request or maybe a praise report, tell us what God is doing in your life as you study God’s Word with us. We can send those notes by mail to Hope for Today, Box 3927. Tustin, California. Tustin is T-U-S-T-I-N, California, 92781. In Canada, write to Hope for Today, Box 15011, RPO7OAKS. Abbotsford, B.C., V2S 8P1. Your notes mean so much to us. Wow, it is such a huge source of encouragement to all of us on the Hope for Today team. So do reach out. You can also call to share your testimony or prayer need. Our number, 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S. and 888-75-BIBLE in Canada. Bible by the numbers 24253. Well, as promised, here’s David to close our time.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, friends, verse 8, our Lord says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. Wow. This portion of God’s Word, it’s all really kind of introduction as you well recognize. So I pray that you’ll be with us for every one of these. One thing is for sure, Revelation has been the heart and soul of the teaching of Hope for Today. And we trust all of you to support the ministry. We don’t have anybody else like a church or organization. We just depend upon the listeners in every broadcast area. If you can help us, God bless you. And you’re like partners with me. Let’s get Revelation out to the entire world and make sure it’s the correct message. And that’s why I like to mention that it’s really dealing with the majesty and glory and greatness, dominion, the coming kingdom of our blessed Lord Yeshua. I like to call him Yeshua. His Hebrew name is Yehoshua. Most of you know him by Jesus Christ, Yeshua HaMashiach. Well, plan to be with us. We’re going to be at it again.
SPEAKER 01 :
And friend, if as David mentioned, you’d like to come alongside this ministry to co-labor with us through contributing a financial gift, you can do so simply by calling 1-800-75-BIBLE. In Canada, 1-888-75-BIBLE. And Bible by the numbers again, 24253. You can also give securely online at davidhawking.org. And if you’ve never had a chance to share this broadcast with someone else, well, don’t put it off. If Hope for Today has helped you grow in your understanding of God’s Word, imagine what it could do for a friend or a family member, someone in your life who might be confused or drifting or even hungry for the truth. We’re living in a time when people are searching for something real. You see that, I see that. And sometimes all it takes is an invitation, maybe a text or a link or a simple, you gotta hear this. You never know what God will do with that seed. So if this ministry has made a difference for you, let it make a difference through you. Share hope for today and let God do the rest. Amen. Well, next time, David continues our powerful journey through the opening chapter of Revelation, unpacking the message to the churches and the call to stay faithful in the face of growing darkness. What does God expect of his people in these final days? And what does it mean to stand strong when the pressure to compromise is at an all-time high? Well, you’ll hear the answers straight from Scripture right here on Hope for Today. Hope for Today
David Hawking delves into the heart of Revelation, discussing how its insights inspire believers today to stay firm in faith amidst present challenges. Listeners are encouraged to comprehend the eternal message of the Bible and its relevancy in today’s digital era. In addition to uncovering the overwhelming reaction of the world to Christ’s prophesied return, the episode highlights the call for steadfastness for today’s believers.
