Mike Bickle emphasizes the profound significance of Jesus being the Alpha and Omega, highlighting His sovereignty and eternal nature as the beginning and the end of all things. He explains that this title encapsulates God's absolute power, wisdom, and love, which should instill confidence in believers amidst trials and tribulations. Bickle urges the congregation to deeply reflect on this truth, as it is foundational to understanding God's character and His plans for humanity. He reassures that Jesus' sovereignty means He is in control of all events, and believers can trust in His promises for their lives. Ultimately, Bickle calls for a personal engagement with Jesus, encouraging the faithful to seek a deeper relationship with the Alpha and Omega.

Father, I ask you in the name of Jesus just to release your word to us. Just this glorious word about who your son and his magnificence. I thank you for that in Jesus name. Amen. Well, this is one of the most significant truths. That's why I want to go in the other direction. In the book of Revelation, the revelation of Jesus and the Father as the Alpha and Omega. I believe it's the most significant truth about them, or at least one of the most, but it is the most repeated truth in the book of Revelation about God. Jesus twice declares this truth about himself and the Father, the Father only speaks two times in the book of Revelation. And on both occasions he said, I am the Alpha and the Omega. Now this most significant truth is also a most challenging truth to grasp, because our finite mind is so unfamiliar with the truths related to Jesus' Alpha and Omega, which is his sovereignty and all the attributes of God related to him being the sovereign God. So it's a very challenging truth. So here's what I want to urge you to do. Not to rush over this quickly, like say you read it and say, okay, Alpha and Omega. Okay, got that. Next verse. No, stop. This is the Mount Everest of the body of Christ. This is the giant mountain that we will be scaling this mountain even in the age to come throughout all of eternity. So this is one of those titles that you stop and you ask the Holy Spirit, teach me Holy Spirit. I've prayed that prayer many times with this, about this aspect of Jesus. Holy Spirit, you said you would declare Jesus to me. John 16 verse 15. Declare him to me. Speak to my heart in a way that I can understand. Declare him to me as the Alpha and the Omega. Now paragraph B, I mentioned Jesus described himself two times this way. But the significance, part of the significance, it's at the beginning of the book of Revelation and it's at the end of the book of Revelation. When he appears to John in verse 10, Revelation chapter 1 verse 10, John says, I heard a voice behind me like a trumpet. And the voice behind him was Jesus and John turns around and Jesus says, I'm the Alpha and Omega. So this is the very first utterance that Jesus makes in the book of Revelation. And at the end of the book, you'll see here chapter 22, the very end, he appears to John and he says it again. John, know this, I am the Alpha and the Omega. So we know that everything that happens, all the events in the book of Revelation, that he is sovereign over all of them. That's what he's saying. I have total control over the Antichrist. I have total control over the New Jerusalem. I have total control over the book of life. I have control over all of the angels and all the judgments. The Holy Spirit goes forth to do my bidding, to glorify me and to fulfill my purpose and the Father's purpose. The point is that we have every reason to be confident with all these fearful events or even these dynamic promises. When the enemy comes and says they're not really going to happen anyway, we can say he is the Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end of everything to do with power and wisdom and love and all of the promises of God and all of the enemies of God will be brought to their completion in the purpose of God. Paragraph C. Again, like the Son, the Father made the statement at the beginning and the end of the book as well. This is the only two times in the book of Revelation that the Father speaks. I mean, he comes out of the shadows, so to speak. He's always hidden behind the scenes and only twice does he appear on the scene, so to speak. I mean, John doesn't see his face, but John hears his voice and he says two times, the beginning and the end of the book of Revelation, I am the Alpha and I am the Omega. Paragraph D. Well, the Alpha and Omega, this is the first and the last a letter in the Greek alphabet. The Alpha is where the Greek alphabet starts, most of you know, and the Omega is where it ends. Now, right from the beginning, this is remarkable, that the God of Israel would have as one of his eternal names and titles a Gentile Greek name. This is mind-blowing to John, undoubtedly, and to Jewish believers, that when we read the Old Testament, the God of Israel, his titles are profoundly Hebraic. But here he is, his first statement, the Father's first statement in the book, chapter 1 8, and Jesus's first statement in the book. They both identify with a Greek name. I mean, this is this is remarkable what they're both saying in this. Well, they're saying many things. But it's a statement of Jesus's compassion and his commitment and his zeal for the Gentile nations. For Gentiles, he's saying I'm identifying with them. In my deity, I am going to win them and bring them into my kingdom and power. Now most of John's readers, the people that read this letter that John wrote, they were Greeks. So they understood what the phrase meant. What it declared is the completeness, the A to Z. Now we would say, you know, like we might talk about somebody and say they know the A to Z of mathematics. Which means they know the beginning, the end, and everything in between. Or you might say they know the A to Z of science. They know the initial and they know the big stuff at the end. I mean the real kind of complicated stuff and they know everything in between. So Jesus is saying, I possess total sovereignty. I have complete power and authority and insight into everything. That's what he's saying. Paragraph E. This title emphasizes his sovereignty. Now to be sovereign means he has all power. He possesses all power, which means he possesses absolute freedom. He's the only being in existence that has absolute freedom. Nobody can interfere with his will except he allow them. You know, you've heard the phrase, you know, that guy's as free as a bird. A bird's not that free. I mean a bird could fly here and there, but they're restrained by the food source. They're restrained by the weather. They're restrained by the laws of gravity. They are restrained by a limited amount of strength. They're not free. They're very confined to many laws of limitation. But Jesus is saying, I am sovereign. I have absolute freedom. There is absolutely nothing that can hinder me or cause me to be different unless I decree it so. I mean the reason we have a free will that affects him is only because in his sovereignty, he said, I want them to have a free will that moves my heart. That's why we have one. The only reason the devil exists, because Jesus allowed the devil to exist. It wasn't a surprise event. Oh no, evil now exists. What do we do with it? Because the Lord allows the free choice with real temptation, a real option, and that affects a limited sphere of his eternal empire forever and forever. I mean the temptations of the devil, and he said, in my billions and billions and billions of year plan, I allow that infringement in order of my kingdom to give a real temptation, to give a real free choice, and in my sovereignty, I've allowed that to happen. So the point is, even the negatives that exist do not infringe upon his sovereignty and his freedom. Now to have total sovereignty implies that he has various attributes that only God has. He has the attribute of transcendence, we have here in paragraph E. Now transcendence means that he's infinitely superior in all of his qualities. His power isn't just greater than the one that has, the created being that has the most power. He's not just over them, he is infinitely greater in power than the created being that possesses the most power. His love isn't just superior, it's infinitely superior. His wisdom isn't just better than the wisest archangel, it's infinitely better. That's what the word transcendence means. And for him to be sovereign, to have absolute freedom, he must possess transcendence. Absolute superiority in every single attribute that he possesses. Now this is remarkable, that he has that kind of authority. His power can't increase, his power can't decrease. He has all of it. Even those in the realm of darkness that use power, they use it under his guide and under his leadership. I mean the choice is real that they make. But they only have the ability to make the choice because he gave them the power to make it. Now there's no doctrine more satisfying or more gives us more confidence than God's sovereignty. To the Saints, I mean even the fact that he loves us. If he was not sovereign, if he was not the Alpha and Omega, he loved us, but he didn't have perfect power. The enemy could come and try and triumph over him if he was not sovereign. And though he loved us, he couldn't do anything about it. So his sovereignty, it gives us such confidence when we when we really take hold of this. Now having said that there's no doctrine more satisfying to the Saints than the sovereignty of God, there's no doctrine more hated by unbelievers than the sovereignty of God. They don't like God having absolute control. That offends them. God is the only one who is a law unto himself. They don't like it because he's sovereign. His standards are the absolute ones and all that say no to his standards, they come into judgment ultimately if they don't repent and receive the grace of God. So there's no doctrine that bothers unbelievers more than this doctrine of Jesus being the Alpha and Omega. It talks about his deity. He's sovereign as God. When he says he's the first and the last, we'll look at that in one of the other sessions, that means he's sovereign as a man. So he has sovereignty as God, Alpha and Omega, and he has sovereignty as a man, the first and the last, but we'll look at that at one of the other sessions. Paragraph E. He possesses self-existence. There was never a time he did not exist. Now this this stretches our mind, this challenges our thinking, because we're finite. I mean we're we'll go on forever, but we have a beginning, obviously. But he has no beginning. He eternally pre-existed. Long before the creation of the heavens and the earth, he existed with the Father and the Spirit. But not only is he self-existent, he is self-sufficient. He has no need. He doesn't create the human race because he's lonely. He doesn't create the human race to meet a need in his heart. He creates the human race because he's the fountain of desire. His desire does not imply lack. He is completely satisfied within the fellowship of the Trinity. He is an overflowing love and desire. But in that love and desire, the very fountain of love and desire, he declares in his sovereignty, I want to share my joy and my love with another with a race of beings called human beings. So he did not create humans because he was lonely or he had an unmet need. He created humans because he was so satisfied in the overflowing joy and love that he possesses. He wanted to share it because love demands to be shared, to be loved. Let's look at down to paragraph E. Because he is sovereign, it it means he's omnipresent. He's omnipotent and omniscient. And most of you know those words. Omnipotent means he has all power. Omni-power. All power. He's omniscient, all knowledge, all science, or the word knowledge. He has all knowledge. Omnipresent, all present. He's everywhere. He's fully attentive of what's happening everywhere, even down in hell. Psalm 139 says. He exhausts the very vocabulary of excellence. I mean there's no human words that can describe what is all implied by him possessing sovereignty with absolute freedom with an infinite supply of power, love, and wisdom. Now he has all love, so he desires the best for everybody. He has all wisdom, so he knows the best. He has all power, so he can actually accomplish the best. If he lacked any one of those three, he would not be sovereign, and his purpose could be undermined. If he had perfect love, all love, but he didn't have power, his love could be stopped. If he had perfect love and perfect power, but he didn't have wisdom, he might misapply his love. If he had total wisdom and total power, but not love, well, he would have another plan that would not be centered on love. And then his omnipresence, the fact that he has all power, all wisdom, all love, and he has awareness and his active presence everywhere in created order, because he's spirit and he could do that. That is the most remarkable truth. These attributes all combine together under this title, this name, Alpha and Omega. I'm the beginning of all love, all power, all wisdom, all presence, and I'm the end of all love, all power, all wisdom, and all presence. I'm everywhere. And I'm not just the beginning and the end. I'm everything in between. I, everything comes to wholeness under my leadership. Now, this is the first declaration Jesus makes in the book of Revelation. And again, it's the one of the final statements he makes in chapter 22 at the end. And he is saying to the saints in the first century, he's going, I know and I understand what you're going through because many were being persecuted. And he described that the enemies of righteousness would be intensified even more than it was in the first century. Jesus was saying in the book of Revelation, it's going to be worse before it's over. Now, it was 2,000 years later, but it's going to be worse. But I want you to know that even when it's far more severe at the end of the age, my power is sufficient then, therefore, it's totally sufficient now. Therefore, throughout all of church history, my power, my love, my wisdom is attending to all of your needs, and I know all of your enemies. None can surprise me. None can outwit me. None can outrun me. None can outpower me. I have complete control over everything, and you're mine, so you have it made forever. I am the Alpha and the Omega. That's what he's saying. Paragraph F, as the Alpha and Omega, again, just to say it for emphasis sake, the vision Jesus is about to give John, because remember, we're in chapter 1. He hears the trumpet. I mean a voice like a trumpet, a loud voice like a trumpet. He turns around. Here's this glorious man who's fully God, fully man, with eyes like fire, face like the sun. He looks right into John's eyes. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. You know, John is just absolutely overwhelmed by what he sees, but also by the power of what this man says to him. Because Jesus says very little in that vision. You know, he says a few phrases, but those phrases are like arrows that strike his heart, that have been perfectly aimed arrows that strike him and hit the mark. He says, John, I'm about to show you the events that will take place where the hostility against my people will go far beyond what it is now in the first century, but my power will be sufficient and the greatest revival in history will go along with that great hostility. I'm going to show this to you, John. It's Revelation 1, but he says I'm going to give you Revelation 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, all the way to 22. I have a lot to tell you, but I want you to know this. None of it needs to move my people. The verse that I love so much related to this is Psalm 29, verse 10. The Lord sat enthroned. He was on his throne at the time of Noah's flood. I mean the greatest crisis in human history. The whole known world was flooded. I mean everybody was killed besides eight people. I mean that is unparalleled. There's nothing like this in history. That's why Jesus references the events of the second coming to like the days of Noah. It's the greatest crisis ever on the human race. So somebody might say that crisis, you know, where was the Lord at? The psalmist tells us, David tells us, he was sitting on his throne in complete power during the flood. He was not moved from his tranquility and from his absolute confidence in his plan, his power, his love, his wisdom, and the Lord sits in that same posture on that same throne forever and forever. What Jesus is telling John throughout all the events of the book of Revelation and therefore all the lesser events throughout church history in our individual lives, I sit enthroned as King. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. You need not waver. You need not lose your confidence. Whatever you lose through persecution or the attack of the enemy, you will receive fully beyond anything you can imagine forever. You can't lose anything really that you won't get back forever that's good. Jesus is saying, I promise you that. I am the Alpha and the Omega. I have the authority to follow through on this promise because I have all the power, all the wisdom, all the love, and my presence is everywhere, and it's my plan that's being, that's that I'm administrating, and the enemy is so small compared to who I am. Some people have this idea that the enemy is so powerful. Compared to us, he's powerful. But compared to Jesus, the enemy is nothing. I mean, he is, I mean, it's not even close. It's not like this hostile battle between Jesus and Satan. Jesus is infinitely superior to Satan. I mean, at the end, when he stands before the Antichrist, the scripture says, he blows on him and the Antichrist is destroyed. Jesus doesn't lift a finger. He just, and it's over. This is real. 2 Thessalonians 2.8. His sovereign freedom. He is unrivaled by any hostile power. He's undisturbed by any attack of the enemy, any plan of the enemy. It's the most remarkable reality. Top of page 2. Let's go all the way down to paragraph D. I've already said the other stuff already. Kind of got ahead of myself. Because I'm excited. I'm excited about Jesus as the Alpha and Omega. As the Alpha and Omega, paragraph D, he possesses the fullness of God. He is co-equal as God. He is as much God as the Father and the Spirit. Everything the Father has, the Father has given to him. Paragraph D. In Jesus dwells all the fullness of God in a human body. Beloved, this is so staggering, and we all know this. This is so staggering that the Alpha and Omega is a human. We're talking about a man. Who walked on the streets of Galilee. We're talking about a man who ate and slept and was born as a baby and grew up. Had all the experiences of life in terms of righteousness and goodness. And all the fullness of God dwelt in him in a bodily form. So as the Alpha and Omega, he is fully God is what he's saying. Colossians 1. He is the image of the invisible God. Somebody says, what does God look like? Look at the face of Jesus and you understand what the invisible God, the Father, is like. 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verse 6. That the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus. Look at his character. Look at his face. Meaning look at his, the way he lived, and what he said, and the way he acted, and you will see what God is like. Hebrews 1. He is the very brightness of the Father's glory. He is the express image of God's person. He is the express image. I like the phrase that some translations use. He's the exact representation instead of the word express image. He is the exact representation of the Father. Now this is part of, this is included in this title Alpha and Omega. Let's go to Roman numeral 3. As the Alpha, he is the first cause. He is the source of everything. He is the source of all power. It came from him. If there's any power that exists anywhere in the created order, it was given to them or to that sphere of life by Jesus. He's the, not only the source, he's the cause of that power. All power exists because he wills it to exist. Again, he cannot gain power. He cannot lose power. It's all his from the beginning. The Antichrist is not the source of power. He has delegated power. He had power that's only given to him for a very short amount of time. Then it will be removed. Now this statement that he is the Alpha would encourage the saints that were being persecuted. But again, Jesus is telling the persecuted saints of the first century, as bad as it is, it's going to get worse. At the end of the age, in terms of hostility, but when it's worse, my power will be manifest beyond any time of history and there will be total victory for my people. So be encouraged that even as bad as it is now, I have authority and power and a plan, even when it's worse, how much more now can you walk in victory, is what he's saying. Jesus is the Alpha. He's the cause and the source of creation. He's the Alpha of redemption. He's the Alpha, the source of the leadership of human history. He has directed the nations. Colossians chapter 1, verse 16, by Jesus all things were created. Everything in heaven, everything on earth was created by him. Now the Bible identifies Jesus as the creator under the Father's authority. It's the Father's authority and the Spirit is brooding over the earth, but it's only when Jesus said, let there be light, that the Spirit move and fulfill the Father's plan. I mean, it's so remarkable. The Father had the plan. The Spirit was in manifest power, his presence, but the earth was still formless and void and dark. So here's the Spirit brooding over a dark earth with the total power of God, but the earth stays dark. The Father's already agreed. Yes, light will come and the Spirit has the power, why does the darkness remain? Well, the darkness did not leave until the second person of the Trinity, Jesus said, let there be light and the Spirit, yes! And the Spirit breaks forth in power at the word of Jesus. So he's identified as the creator from in many different scriptures. But it's under the Father's authority and through the power of the Spirit. Pilgrim B Hebrews 1 verse 3, Jesus upholds everything. I mean, even now, he speaks his word to energize the created order. If he ceased to speak like he did back in Genesis 1, the created order would break down. It would diminish in strength and it would fragment and it would be destroyed. The created order does not have its own power source. Then it can be sustained indefinitely. But it's sustained forever because the one that said, let there be light, continues to speak over and energize and uphold and and give life to the created order. I tell you, beloved, there's nothing, no one like Jesus of Nazareth. You know, the people say, well, why do you say your religion is different than our religion? Buddha or Muhammad or all the other world religions. There is nobody that has a man who is the Alpha and the Omega. And there's nobody that has a man who was perfectly righteous and offered himself as a sacrifice for sin. So, these other world religions are led by men. They're not God. They're not the creator and they're not the substitute for sin. They didn't live innocent, pay the price for the guilt of the nations to cleanse the nations. It's completely different Christianity from every other world religion. It's not even comparable. And it's not about, we think ours is better. It's not about ours being better and somebody's being worse. It's about the God-man. The uncreated God who became human paid the debt for sin and offered forgiveness for free because of his blood and he has all the power of God. You have that in place, you have Christianity. So, we don't have to cower before the world religions and get lost in some of the rhetoric, religious rhetoric about who's better and worse or we're all the same. No, we're not even close to all the same. And because of that, we can act in kindness and humility. Because we're so confident in who it is we represent, we don't have to get in a bad spirit and argue and and all that because it's all so confident. It's so finished. It's so settled. As the Alpha, paragraph C, he has the first place of authority. He has the first place of honor over everything. He's the head of the body. That in all things he might have preeminence. He has preeminence in authority. He has preeminence in power over all things. That's part of being the Alpha. Now beloved, when the revelation of Jesus is Alpha, not just Savior who forgives, but the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end of all power, all wisdom, all love, all presence, self-existent, self-sufficient, when we see our Savior who forgives us has that kind of authority, wisdom, love, and presence, it opens up a whole new world to us in our in our thinking. We can have confidence before every single hostile assault against us because who it is we're connected to in relationship to. Top of page three. Well, he's not just the Alpha. He's the Omega. He's the end of all things, not just the beginning, not just the source, but he's the ultimate purpose, the ultimate end, the ultimate goal, the final reason. There might be reasons for, a number of reasons for something, he is the final reason for everything good. Colossians 1. All things were created through him, but they were created for him. He is the reason. He is the goal. That's the goal to be pleasing to him and to walk in partnership with him forever. That's the goal. That's the end game. He's the Omega. He's the end of the story. Now, the story never ends in terms of time, eternity, but the end purpose is that he would be magnified and we would walk in this mutuality of relationship with him as his eternal companion forever as the joy of his heart, his partner forever. To fill the earth with the glory of God, all creation, all individuals that say yes to him, they find their ultimate meaning in relationship with him. We don't need to drink from other wells to be satisfied. We don't have to drink from other streams in order to enter into our purpose, meaning our spirit, our soul is invigorated by interaction with this man. Paul said, Philippians 1, 6, The God that began a good work in you will complete it. Beloved, stop searching. This man will bring the purpose of your life to completion. He holds the key of purpose to your life. We don't have to search for the purpose. Now, we might not know the specifics of our assignment in every season of our life. We might not have perfect clarity about our assignment, but the purpose we have clear. It's to love him, to partner with him, to worship him, to give him preeminence in our life. That's the reason we exist. We don't have to search for the life purpose. We got it. We have it. Someone says, well, let's get realistic. No, that is realistic. He is not just a means to an end. He is a means to an end. Because of him, as the means, as the way of forgiveness and the power source, he is the means to our end of great blessing. But he's more than a means to an end. He is the end. He is the end. He's the means and the end. And that's what he was saying to John here. I am the Alpha and Omega. I am the means. I am the end of everything that is loving and righteous and good. Roman numeral five. Now, the term that Isaiah uses, or the theme or truth, that he uses more than anyone else, is God as the sovereign creator. He paints the picture with more detail of God's sovereignty, meaning he possesses all power, but not just power. That power is not enough for sovereignty. You have to have wisdom and love and presence in there as well. God is sovereign as the creator. And this seems to be one of Isaiah's favorite themes related to God. And so we go to the book of Isaiah, where he gives, in Isaiah 40, which we're going to give the briefest outline of it, one of the clearest snapshots of the implications of God having sovereign power as creator. And if we relate to him as the Alpha and Omega, using a New Testament term, I mean, if God would have used, he, God never used the term, the name, or the title, Alpha and Omega, until Revelation 1. The Father used it in verse 8. Then Jesus used it in verse 11. It's a brand new term again. The God of Israel, going by a Gentile name. I mean, I don't know what Israel would have done if Isaiah would have come out with that name. Well, we don't have to know, but he didn't. But the meaning of the Alpha Omega, the truth behind that title, is the sovereign God, the creator, and all that's involved with that, that we've been looking at. Paragraph A. I give a quick outline of the Isaiah 40, which to me would be the premier chapter outlining the sovereignty of God and our practical response to it, which would mean, in the New Testament language, the implications of the Alpha and Omega and how we respond to it. I have here, Isaiah outlines seven promises that are all related to Jesus' second coming. In chapter 40, verse 10 and 11. Again, chapter 40 is the premier exhortation. Verse 10 and 11, the Lord gives seven promises related to having total victory over the enemy and righteousness, being supreme, and love going forth, and salvation and redemption. Seven promises. So the question is asked, does he have the power to follow through on the promises? Those are big promises he gave. So Isaiah, without bringing up the question, he answers it because it's the unspoken question. He declares, in verse 12 and 14, God has all wisdom, total wisdom. In other words, he can fulfill those promises. He knows what to do. The enemy is not going to trick him. There's no surprise attack. He has perfect wisdom. He searched everything out. Then it goes on. Isaiah says, not only that, he has all power. Verse 15 to 17. And then, you might add this to the notes here, verse 18 to 26 talks about the power, breaks it down. And then he ends the exhortation by telling the people of God how to respond to the sovereign Creator that has all wisdom and all power. He has the power so he can do it, but he also has the wisdom. He knows what to do. And we know through the rest of the Bible and throughout Isaiah, all through Isaiah, and through even in Isaiah 40, he has love. He cares. That's communicated in verse 10 and 11. He's the shepherd that will carry his people himself. He loves them so much that he himself will carry them. So let's look for a moment. Let's break down this chapter. He has all wisdom as the sovereign God. Chapter 40, verse 12. Isaiah says, let me ask you a question. Who is the God who measures the heavens? With the span of his hand. I mean, it's remarkable. He can measure the heavens by just, you know, one, you know, moving his hand. He can measure the heavens, I mean, trillions of light-years. And he can calculate the intricacies of the dust of the earth. Not only the little fragment of dust, he could count every single, every single piece of dirt or piece of sand, piece of dust. Every one of them, he can calculate, he can count them, and he can analyze every single piece of dust. So, the idea, he can evaluate everything, big or small. No matter how vast, no matter how intricate, how seemingly hidden, how seemingly not noticed by anybody else. Every unnoticed fact, like a piece of dust. When he rules the nations, he says, no detail is too big or too small. No enemy is too big or too small to get past my discernment. Then he goes on. You can read verse 12 to 14. It's, it's, it's, uh, it's brilliant. But it's about the Alpha and Omega. The God who has everything, from A to Z. Chapter, uh, paragraph C. Isaiah goes, okay, he, in his wisdom, he gets everything. Now, let's look at his power. Verse 15 to 17. He can overpower easily. Overpower all opposition. The devil's no problem. The Antichrist is no problem to him. Demons are absolutely no problem. Then he goes on, and breaks it down. He says, he has power over all the earthly forces. Verse 18 to 24. And he has power over all the heavenly forces. Verse 25 to 26. Verse 15. The nations are nothing. They're a drop in a bucket. And it doesn't mean they have no value to God. It means, as a resisting force, they are nothing to God. He's not saying the nations have no value to him. His inheritance is the nations. He means, in terms of a force that can resist him and stop him. He goes, nothing. Verse 17. They're less than nothing. I mean, it's not even a breeze. It's nothing. It's completely no challenge whatsoever. Verse 23. Well, let's get down to the leaders, then. All the princes, all the kings of the earth. The judges of the earth, who make all the decisions for the nations. Verse 24. Scarcely are they planted, these kings, these judges, that think they make the final decisions for the nations. God blows on them, and they wither. Scarcely is a nation planted that's going to be hostile towards God, and God, and the nation's gone. Now, this has its ultimate fulfillment at the Antichrist empire at the end of the age. When Jesus, in 2 Thessalonians 2.8, he actually blows on the Antichrist and fulfills this verse to the ultimate degree. But this verse is true throughout all history. He goes, well, there's no nations. There's no government. There's no world leader that can stop me. What about the powers in the heavens? And that's going to be very relevant, because in the generation the Lord comes, returns, the stars and different bodies, whatever different, not just stars, but things from space will, you know, whatever they all are, all the different categories, will be coming down and touching the earth at various times. And the sun won't shine, and the moon will get, you know, out of order. You know, the meteors and things like that will touch the earth. And the Lord says, through Isaiah, verse 26, lift your eyes up, read Revelation 9 and 10, and see all the disturbance in the heavens. Or Revelation 8 and 9, I mean. He goes, see who created all the stars. Don't worry about the stars falling like a fig tree. He goes, God knows every one of them. He knows everyone by name, and there's trillions and trillions. He has them all discerned in place, in order, and named. No problem there. All the problems, all the powers in the heavenly realm are no contest for God. Top of page 4. So Isaiah says, What are you going to do? How are you going to respond to a God that has this kind of power? Are you going to continually to be fearful, passive, bewildered, confused, overwhelmed by the enemy? Verse 27. It says, let me tell you what to do with the revelation of Jesus, the Alpha and Omega. Says in verse 27, why do you say, O Jacob or Israel, my way is hidden from God? My just, or my fair treatment, is being passed over by God. Israel says, I'm not getting a good deal with God. Now that's kind of the main complaint of the whole human race, from Adam all the way to the end. We can all find ourself in this verse. God says, Isaiah, touch the relevant question. They think God doesn't see them, and they think they're not getting fair treatment by me, that their just claim is being overlooked. Tell them, I see them, and tell them, I'm treating them better than they can ever deserve, and they will see it when it's all done, when all the information's on the table, when they see it all in the age to come, they will see they got a far better deal than they ever could have imagined. Because I'm not just making their month better, or their season of their life better, I'm preparing their heart for right choices that will matter forever and forever and forever, and they will really appreciate my leadership when they see all the information. But we get locked into, we want, you know, March and April to be easier. Lord says, well, I do too, but I would rather your eternity be better. So we're working on a plan that's going to really work for you. Well, in the meantime, God doesn't see me. My way's hidden. He doesn't know I'm here. My just claim, my fair treatment, is not happening. What about me? The Lord says, tell them this, verse 28. No, I did not faint. I did not take a nap. No, I'm not tired. I remember the little girl at the church service. I was at once, and we were singing, He is exalted, He is exalted, and she went out in the foyer, and she was going to the car saying, He is exhausted, He is exhausted on high. The angels adore Him, you know. I said, no, no, that's, that's not what's happening. He's not exhausted. Well, if He's not taking a nap, and He's not tired, why isn't He helping me? The answer is, tell them, my wisdom, my understanding's unsearchable. I have layers of strategy for their ultimate good forever. Tell them to trust me. I'm not just trying to make their next six months better. I have something to make their eternity better. They will be forever grateful for what I'm doing. My understanding's beyond what they can see right now. Tell them that. I'm not napping, and I'm not tired. I haven't lost enthusiasm for them. God doesn't love me. Where's He at? Tell them I have a plan with many levels they can't understand. Then tell them this. They'll say, well, okay. God, you're, you know what you're doing. I trust you, but I'm so weak. I can't make it. I'm at the end. This is it. Well, the options are really bad. You know, if I'm just going to give up on God, and the options are bad, so don't, don't give up on God. So the guy goes, I'm really weak, and in verse 30, the Lord says, okay, I hear you. He goes, I'll even increase the issue. I'll tell you how much I understand how weak you are. The young people will faint. I get it. They're weary. They think they can't keep going. He says, some of the young men, he really highlights the young men, they are going to utterly fail in some of the decisions they make, and some of the choices they make. I get it. But I'm not giving up on them. I know they're weak. I know they're weary. I know they think I'm not watching. And some of them will utterly fail. Tell them this. I am the Alpha and Omega, using the New Testament language. Verse 30, tell them to wait on the Lord. Not just abide time, to wait on the Lord, to engage with Him. It's called prayer in the Word, talking to Him. Well, I failed. I am weak. I'm filled with self-pity. I have no hope. I want to give up. Tell them. Take their Bible out. Talk to me. Here's what I will do. I will give them strength. Little by little, they will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. This is the response, the practical response. People go, no, I need something practical. Beloved, when the Word of God enters your heart, because you take time to wait, nobody can do this for you. It gives perspective. The fog clears. The smoke in our eyes lifts. And the understanding of God's commitment to us, and the fact that He has all power, wisdom, and love, and He sees everything, and He's with us, and the plan is forever, it completely begins to make more sense. Nobody can wait on the Lord for you. Nobody can engage with the Lord for you. And waiting on the Lord doesn't mean biding time. It means attending to His heart. That's like a waiter in a restaurant. They come and wait on your table. They attend to you. To wait on the Lord means to engage with His heart. Attend to what He's saying. Attend to what He's feeling. Give yourself to that. We call it prayer in the Word. Talking to God with an open Bible. Paragraph E. In the New Testament, the confession is, we know God works everything for good. That's the fruit of the revelation. He's the Alpha and Omega. When the enemy comes and says, God's a liar, or God doesn't see you, or God's taking a nap, or God's weary, or you've been mistreated, you say back, thus says the Lord. Well, you got to quote Isaiah 40 if you want, but you can say verse 28. Everything works together for good for the people that love God. They give themselves to God, and that's my testimony. That's where I take my stand. I'm not yielding to the fear. When the weariness is mounting up, I'm not just giving in to it. I'm going to speak the Word against it. Well, at the great marriage supper of the Lamb, we say, in essence, the same thing. Revelation 19 verse 6. This is the confession at the marriage supper. Hallelujah, which means I agree. Praise the Lord. God is omnipotent. He's reigning. Though the crisis of the flood, the crisis of the Great Tribulation, the crisis of our individual life, I agree with God. Hallelujah. Means praise me to God, but it means I agree with Him. I agree with Isaiah 40. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega. He reigns. Even though there's a flood, He sits enthroned over the flood. He sits enthroned forever, and I'm His beloved. That's my confession. The Lord God omnipotent reigns. So I looked at the last session. The ARK. A-R-K. How to apply this. A. We agree with it. R. We ask for revelation. And K. We keep the prophecy, or we respond to it in our individual lives. What I mean by that is, we need to say to Jesus the simple phrase. Just A. We agree with you. This phrase. You are the Alpha and Omega. Beloved, I love to say that phrase to Him. Say it with gratitude and affection. You are. Just declare it to Him. I mean just whisper it to Him. Many believers have never said that to Jesus. Say it to Him. You are. I don't mean just when you're in trouble. You're, you're the Alpha and the Omega. I love this about you. Thank you that you are the Sovereign God who is the Creator that is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, self-existent, self-sufficient, pre-existent, which is the same as eternally existent. You are all those things, God. That's what it means. To say you're the Alpha and the Omega, but tell Him you are the Alpha and Omega. You're a God with all power. You're the God with all wisdom. You're the God that's everywhere. You're the God that loves the Gentiles, those that were outside of the covenant. That's who you are. A. That's what we do with A. Then R. Simple. Asking for revelation. Holy Spirit, teach me. I don't know much about this. I got a few little notes, but it doesn't touch me. Holy Spirit, escort me into living understanding, so I feel the power of it. Then K. How do you respond to it? The way we respond to it when we get fearful or lethargic or passive. The way we K or keep this prophecy is we commit ourself to live under that banner. We say, no, I'm not living with passivity. You are the Alpha and Omega. I'm going to respond to you in an appropriate way. Everything is for you. My whole life is for you. I'm not drawing back at passivity. I am going to relate to you as though you are the Alpha and Omega. All power is yours. All love is yours. The very end of every purpose is you. I give myself to you afresh. I want to end here in paragraph 6. Talking about the, this is a paragraph, I mean Roman numeral 6. You're going to love this. This book I've read over the years by Thomas DuBay, The Evidential Power of Beauty. I really recommend it. We have in our bookstore. We've had it for years here. Thomas DuBay. He's talking about the beauty of God. And I just mentioned three chapters here. He talks about the beauty of God and the macro, the vastness of the universe. And when we see who Jesus is in the vastness of space, He created it. It's like, who are you? But then we look at who He is in the micro. The tiny universe of the sub-atomic particles in DNA. He created all that. And we see the gap between the vast stars of Isaiah 40 and the dust, the smallest particle. Probably in today's, if Isaiah was saying it today, he would have said the atoms. But nobody knew what an atom was back in Isaiah's day, so he said the dust. Beloved, when I read this book, it's just, I go, Jesus, who are you? Let me give you a fact or two. Paragraph B. We're looking at the, what you can see in the telescope or what you can see in the microscope. Let's go both extremes. The Sun, it's a million miles in diameter, nearly. That's a big Sun. You could fit a million Earths into the space of the Sun. And the Sun is not one of the big stars in our galaxy. No, it's kind of a medium one. You could fit a million Earths into that one space. The surface, it's two million degrees hot. Catch this. The energy the Sun releases, these are round numbers, a hundred billion hydrogen bombs per second. Per second. That's how much energy is coming off the Sun. A hundred billion hydrogen bombs every second. Now in that second, it's burning up four million tons of matter every second. And at this rate, the Sun's wearing out. We only have six billion more years, unless Jesus speaks another word to prop it up again. Only six billion more years, because we're losing four million tons a second. In the six billion years, the Sun will wear out. Well, that's one medium-sized star in the Milky Way galaxy. Paragraph C. There's a hundred million galaxies, the Milky Way's one. A hundred million galaxies, the Milky Way's one. The dynamiter of the known universe, 15 billion light-years. 15 billion years, it takes a ray of light to go from one end to the other. That's who Jesus, He created this. That's the only part we know about, the known universe. Paragraph E. Let's go down to the micro. That's the macro. Anyway, this book breaks all this down. It's magnificent. I love it. I read it over and over and go, who are you? Jesus of Nazareth, who are you? This man that walked on the streets and ate and drank with them and talked to them, who is this man that we're worshiping tonight? Great complexity in a cell. The tiniest bacteria, the cell of the tiniest bacteria, is made up of a hundred billion atoms. One cell of bacteria, a hundred billion atoms in every one. Now catch this, this cell has enough information to fill up the 30 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica. All 30 volumes could be filled up with the information in every cell, if it was all known. You can just read the rest. It's mind-boggling. My point is, this is who He is. He is the Alpha and the Omega, and we love Him. Amen. Let's stand. Now, if you're like me, these are all great points. I mean, these are great ideas. I want to feel them. I want them to touch me. The Holy Spirit says, well, then wait on me. Attend to my heart, take my word, talk to me, ask me to show you, stay with it, and you will mount up like wings of eagle. Yeah, but I've utterly failed. The Lord says, I'm one of those young men. One gal says, I'm a young lady. Do I count? Yes, you count too. I've utterly failed. I can hear a guy say, I'm an old guy. I've failed. You're in too. Everybody's in. I don't care the greatest sin of a young man and all the other sins of every other grouping of people. He says, if they will attend to me, wait on me, I will re-energize them and give them a new start, for I am the Alpha and the Omega. I have all the power to bring this to pass. I can bring this to pass for them. Let's pray. Father, we love you. We hardly know you. But we want to know you. We really want to know you. And Jesus, ARK, I agree with you. I agree you are the Alpha and Omega. R, show it to me. Holy Spirit, escort me into this truth. Don't pray at once. Pray that prayer thousands of times. I want to know you. I want to know Jesus as the Alpha and Omega. Holy Spirit, declare him to me. K, I'll keep the prophecy. I'll respond to his leadership. I'll believe in his goodness. I won't give up and give in. I'll reach to you, Jesus, because of who you are. I won't just give up in despair and in temptation. If you would like prayer related to this truth, again, everybody in the room wants it. But if you wouldn't like somebody to lay hands on you, you don't need to come up. But if you'd like to, go ahead and come on up to these lines. Say, I just want somebody to lay hands on me and ask for this thing to touch me in a great way. Again, you can in your chair, you can say, no, I'll just stay here and do it. The Holy Spirit's here. That's good. That works. Some of you would like somebody to stand with you and agree. Lord, I want living understanding of this. Alpha and Omega. Open up my eyes, Lord. Anybody who wants to, go ahead, come on, pray for them. I want to know you. Alpha and Omega. I want to know you. The source of all faith is Jesus. I want to know you, Jesus. The devil is a liar. Let me see you, let me feel you. Yes. I wait upon you, Alpha and Omega. Alpha and Omega. I wait upon you. Jesus. Holy Spirit. Open up my eyes. Wings like eagles. Weary, says the Lord. I have not fainted. I will give you strength. I have not forgotten you. I have not mistreated you. For my understanding is unsearchable. You will see one day what I'm doing in you. I do everything for your good. I do everything for your good. Trust my understanding. I am not of your protection. I reign in your power. I have power over your life. How it does not end So I say And I pray I wait, I wait Refresh me And renew me Refresh me And renew me As I wait on Refresh me And renew me As I wait I have all wisdom Of love And awaken Love I desire best And renew me And refresh me As I wait on I am with you I am for you I am yours As I wait on Refresh me As I wait on I have not mistreated you But did you do it wrong Refresh me As I wait on Refresh me As I wait on Refresh me