ALPHA AND OMEGA

(Sermon outline by pastor Vyacheslav Horpynchuk)
Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
    14"Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
    16"I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.»
    17The Spirit and the bride say, «Come!» And let him who hears say, «Come!» Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life… 20He who testifies to these things says, «Yes, I am coming soon.»
      Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.
Revelations 22: 12-17, 20.

Christ is Reisen! Indeed He is Risen!

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come!
(Rev. 1: 4). Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters! Last month a good part of the world and the majority of Europeans with excitement watched countries voting on the EU Constitution. Everything seemed to go smoothly when all of a sudden France halted the whole process. French rejected the European Constitution. Later Dutch followed their example. It is a dangerous signal for those willing to join the EU. Even in Ukraine some claimed that we face a real threat to stay outside the European Union that is considered by many as a wealthy and safe place to be.

So, where is our political future? Do they want to see us in united Europe? Do they want to see us in a good place? Yes, they do. I am not sure about Europe. But I know of the God’s city, the Kingdom of Christ, the Heaven. God does want to see us there. Today He reminds us of this. Today He reiterates His holy invitation for each of us, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…”

What a wonderful invitation! The Almighty and Just God describes the priviledge of living in this city, the quality of life as well as splendid atmosphere of that life. The Lord says that outside the city there “are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” It is a great place to live! There’s no crime at all, no depravity, no idolatry. No one will cheat you there. No one will steal a penny from you, ever say or even think anything bad about you. People practicing such evil things will not be even close to the city.
Wait a second. If there no people who say, do or even think bad things, will you be there? Shall I be there? I cannot belong to such people. If we claim that we never say, do, or think bad things, that would not be true. The Holy Spirit verifies this axiom through apostle John who writes, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.”
Thus, we are to acknowledge the bitter truth that we are sinful and deprived of righteousness and should belong to those outside the city - dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. In other words we belong to hell, troubles, grief and eternal sufferings. This is the truth about us.
But the Lord invites us. He says, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…” Whoever wants to live in this city, come. Whoever wants to live eternaly - take the free gift of the water of life! He is sincere. He is not cunning. He is God. He is Holy. Lord Jesus says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” The Lord says that He is the Holy God. He revealed Himself almost 3,000 years ago through the prophet Isaiah (44:6-8), «This is what the LORD says—
       Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:
       I am the first and I am the last;
       apart from me there is no God.
    7 Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
       Let him declare and lay out before me
       what has happened since I established my ancient people,
       and what is yet to come—
       yes, let him foretell what will come.
    8 Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
       Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
       You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
       No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.»
Today this God, this Redeemer Jesus Christ turns to us, “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…” Whoever wants to eternally live in the city of God, come to Christ.
The Lord says, “«Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city!” The Lord invites us to His city. The Lord says that everyone who washes their robes has the right to enter the city. Many people are already in this holy city. Apostle John chosen by God to write His revelation gives the following account about dwellers of the Heaven, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10And they cried out in a loud voice:
   »Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.» 11All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying: »Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!» Then one of the elders asked me, «These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from? 14I answered, «Sir, you know.» And he said, «These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9-14). Only those who have their robes washed and made them white in the blood of the Lamb Jesus Christ will enter the city.
Apostle John, the beloved disciple of God’s Son testifies again, “The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1John 1:7). Here’s the answer to the question, why the Lord invites us to His holy city. He tells us to wash away our sins with His blood. The eternal Son of God says that for this purpose He became a true man. For this purpose He went to Calvary. For us and instead of us He shed His holy precious blood. He revealed his absolute love; for us and instead of us He faced the righteous God’s wrath. He died for us and instead of us. Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day and declared our complete justification, complete forgiveness of our sins and our deliverance from clothes of dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.
Today He says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” I am the Alpha and the Omega of the eternal life. I conquered your death. I am the first among the resurrected. I rose and you will rise. Our Lord Jesus Christ reminds us, “I am the First and the Last”. There’s no other Redeemer or other Savior. No one else paid the full price for your salvation. No one else rose from the dead. Only Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus cricified and resurrected is our only Savior. Apostle Paul longs to know only Him saying, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1Cor. 2:2). There’s no salvation in anybody else. There are no saints able to save us; there are no good works, people or things that can give us salvation. Salvation is in Christ only. So, He says, “This is what the LORD says— Israel”s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God”. That’s why Paul resolved to know nothing except Christ cricified because He is the only Redeemer of Israel, our Redeemer, our Savior. We are cleansed by His blood. In His name we have life everlasting.
Today He also tells us, “I am the beginning and the End.” Jesus Christ is the beginning and the end of our justification. We neither initiated our salvation nor completed it. The Lord God’s Son started and accomplished our salvation. He declared us justified by His triumphal justification. When we take the credit for our forgiveness by God that we are God’s children, we steal His glory. He says, “I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.” (Isaiah 42:8) The glory of our salvation solely belongs to Jesus Christ. He is the beginning of our justification. He is the end of our justification. He is our Lord.
Our sins are washed away with His blood. We are justified by His blood. Only by His name we have life everlasting and are admitted to the Holy city, to Heavenly Jerusalem, to Christ’ Kingdom. Everyone who believes in Christ does not any longer belong to those whom God calls “the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” The Holy Spirit comforts us instead, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1Cor. 6:11).
So today the Lord proclaims, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.» The Spirit and the bride say, «Come!» And let him who hears say, «Come!» Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life…” Do not be afraid, come, take the Gospel of Christ for free. Listen to His Word. Take His true Body. Drink His true blood and you will take from the tree of life. Believe in His Gospel and you will enter the Kingdom of Christ to live there eternally.
So, Europe is in crisis. Only time will show whether Ukraine joins the European Union. Presently it is not for sure. However, eternal life in the Christ’ Kingdom is a sure thing. It is the Kingdom without pain and suffereings, crime and offenders. It is the Kingdom of prosperity and love. We might stay outside the EU. However, we’ll never stay outside the Kingdom of God. Because this is the life given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. He may come earlier than we’ll get to know the destiny of the European Union. The One Who testifies says, “I am coming soon. Amen. Come Lord Jesus!” Amen.
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. Amen. (Rev. 22:21).