20090327-T-Jesus-_Faithful_Witness_Firstborn_and_Ruler_Rev._1.5.pdf

F ORERUNNER C HRISTIAN F ELLOWSHIP – M IKE B ICKLE

Transcript: 03/27/09

Jesus: The Faithful Witness, Firstborn, and Ruler

INTRODUCTION

For those who are joining us tonight for the first time, we’re working through a challenging series, but it’s one

that’s calculated to change your life. What I mean by this is that there are thirty descriptions in Revelation 1-3

of Jesus. Most of them He gives Himself: it’s Jesus preaching Jesus. You don’t get any better than Jesus

revealing Jesus. There are more throughout the book of Revelation. They are significant and strategic to prepare

the Church for the drama, the glory, and the crisis described in the book of Revelation.

GOD, THE MOUNT EVEREST OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

If we are going to be prepared for the glory and the crisis described in the book, Jesus is saying, “You need to

know these things about Me.” So we’re taking them one by one, and yes, they’re challenging because they’re

concepts that our mind doesn’t readily grab hold of and go deeply in. It takes some work, but it’s worth the

effort. I’ve said this for years, that the most neglected subject in the kingdom of God is God Himself. The most

glorious and the most challenging subject is God. He is the Mount Everest of the kingdom, meaning the subject

of the knowledge of God is daunting and challenging, but we are going to climb that mountain to understand—

which is the same thing as to comprehend—to get hold of these ideas about God and go deep in them. But it’s

not for the fainthearted; it’s for those who have a resolve in their spirit to climb that mountain. It takes a lifetime

to climb it, to feed our spirit on the knowledge of God. I don’t think there’s any deeper place in the Bible than

Revelation 1-3, where Jesus reveals Jesus in a very direct way. I’ve studied these passages for some years, and I

find them challenging and difficult. I feel the beckoning of the Spirit: “Keep coming; keep coming.” I feel the

Spirit beckon me, “Keep coming and I will unveil the glory of Jesus.”

THE UNVEILING OF JESUS

Well, tonight we’re going to look at three of them in Revelation 1:5-6. It says this: “Jesus Christ, the faithful

witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us, and washed

us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests to His God and Father” (Rev. 1:5-6). These

titles aren’t just revelations of Jesus so that we can acknowledge them as such, but so that they will equip our

hearts to respond in a specific way related to the drama in the book of Revelation. There are three specific titles

with which the book of Revelation begins, describing Jesus: The first one is Jesus as the faithful witness; the

second is Jesus as the firstborn from the dead; and the third one is Jesus as the ruler over the kings of the earth.

Those are the three.

PROMISES TO DAVID

These are three titles of the Messiah that we find in Psalm 89. We’re going to get there in just a moment. The

Psalmist, by the Holy Spirit, was describing the Messiah centuries in advance. We don’t know when Psalm 89

was written, but we know of course that it was in the time of the Old Testament. Now we’re going to look

briefly at the background to Psalm 89 in just a moment, but the background of Psalm 89 is the covenant that

God made with David. This is a very significant historical reality that a lot of believers don’t even really get

their hearts around. I mean, think about it for a minute: God made a covenant with a man, a very specific

covenant with King David, and it was a promise to David’s family line that would affect the whole world and

all our lives. He was actually talking to David about one of his great-, great-, great-, great-grandchildren, whom

we know as Jesus, the seed of David. He would actually be His blood relative, and He would rule the earth on

the throne of David.

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Jesus, the Faithful Witness, Firstborn, and Ruler

Transcript: 03/27/09

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A LINE OF KINGS UNBROKEN

Here is the famous covenant in 2 Samuel 7. I’m only giving you a little of it; you’ve got to go back and read the

whole thing, but it’s a very significant covenant where God visited David. He said in 2 Samuel 7:12, “I am

going to set up your seed” —or one of your great-, great-, great-, great-grandsons. “He is going to come after

you, but He will come from your own body” (2 Sam. 7:12, paraphrased). Now, that was dear to David, but it

wasn’t the end of the story. “He will be Jewish” is the point. There are several points, but that is one of them:

“He will be Jewish. Not only will He be Jewish when He’s on the earth; He will be Jewish forever.” Did you

know that a million years from now, Jesus will still be Jewish? You will still be whatever you are a million

years from now. “I will establish His kingdom; He shall build a house for My name” (2 Samuel 7:13,

paraphrased). This house that Jesus is going to build is the glory of God covering the earth. That’s where the

house is going to go. No one really grasped the magnitude of this when the Father said to David, “This great-

grandchild of yours is going to build My house. As a matter of fact, He will create the context on earth for what

He will call the New Jerusalem to descend from heaven and come down to the earth when the context is right.”

THE DRAGON’S WRATH TOWARDS ISRAEL

“I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever” (2 Sam. 7:16, paraphrased). In other words, “David, your

house and your throne are going to be intertwined with your great-, great-grandson. You are still going to have a

position in it; you are still going to be involved in it forever.” Now, this is one of those moments in history that

caused the devil to put a bull’s-eye right on the nation of Israel, for real. The devil’s rage against the nation of

Israel and the mounting anti-Semitism that’s happening in these days that we’ve seen through history is not a

neutral subject to the Body of Christ. This is a subject much of the Church isn’t really tuned into yet, because

they don’t understand the root system in the Spirit; but the covenant and the book of Revelation drama is going

to cause the tensions around this anti-Semitism to come to a head in the globe. At the very forefront of the

challenge is that we must be faithful witnesses in the same way that Jesus is a faithful witness. That is where the

application of this passage brings us. It’s not enough for us to adore Him as a faithful witness. That’s wonderful

in itself, but the point is that as He was a faithful witness to the truth, to the unpopular truth, to the difficult

truths that actually led to His death, so the faithful will also take stands politically for the things that are dear

and near and dear to Him. That is where this exhortation is going in terms of the Holy Spirit’s intention in

giving it.

THE PROMISE OF A KING TO COME

Now He says in 2 Samuel 7:16, essentially, “Your house and your throne will be established forever. David,

there is going to be a Jewish house that will affect the whole earth. Your great-, great-grandson will rule it. He

will fill the earth with My name, and there will be hostility against this.” When Mary conceives the Child by the

Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel comes just before that and says to her, “This Baby that will be conceived in your

womb is the boy from 2 Samuel 7. He is the One whom God promised David about a thousand years ago.”

David lived around 1,000 BC, and this was right there at year zero or whatever you call it. Actually it was about

4 BC when all this was happening.

THE HIGHEST OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH

We’re going to look at Psalm 89 really briefly. My point is to steer you in that direction, for the eager who say,

“I want to understand the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. I

want to understand it more.” So you’re going to go and dig for gold out of Psalm 89 and 2 Samuel 7. I’m giving

you a little roadmap of where you can find some treasure, but it will take work to get it. However, it is work that

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Jesus, the Faithful Witness, Firstborn, and Ruler

Transcript: 03/27/09

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is well worth it. In Psalm 89 there’s a promise that God made to David: “I will make Him My firstborn, the

highest of the kings of the earth… Once I have sworn [a covenant] by My holiness… his seed” —David’s

family line, talking about Jesus specifically—“shall endure forever, and His throne like the sun before Me. It

shall be established forever as the moon” (Ps. 89:27, 35-37). In other words, Jesus’ throne will be reliable

forever. It will never, ever lose its luster and its glory, but it will be a source of light to the darkness, and then

forever when that darkness is banished it will be the source of light, the throne of Jesus. Jesus and His throne

are a faithful witness in this age and the age to come, just as the sun and moon are. They bring light into the

darkness.

That is why John the apostle is quoting from Psalm 89, intentionally. It’s commonly agreed by commentators

that John is intentionally tying these three titles to Psalm 89. The reason we care about that is because, if we

want to get more information and revelation on these three titles, we have to go where the Holy Spirit deposited

truth, and that’s in Psalm 89 as well as 2 Samuel 7. What I’m really doing in this teaching is merely advertising

where to dig for gold. All three of these are interrelated: the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the

ruler of the kings of the earth are all deeply connected to each other. They are not independent truths; each one

of them affects our understanding of the other two.

JESUS, THE FAITHFUL WITNESS

Number one: Jesus is the faithful witness. In one sentence, Jesus loves truth; He is a lover of truth. This is one

of the most challenging realities in our lives, to be lovers of truth. It’s one thing to search for truth—we all love

that; it’s another thing to discover the truth. That is exciting and exhilarating. It’s another thing to share the truth

with a friend who is touched and inspired. All those things are excellent; there’s no debate about it. What’s

difficult is taking a public stand for the truth. I don’t just mean the general truth: “Jesus is the way to salvation.”

I mean the specifics that the Holy Spirit is focusing on, because in a dark world, when Jesus stood for truth, the

nation turned against Him. They didn’t mind that He was a good man; they didn’t like the stand He took

because it disrupted the nation.

THEY DID NOT RECEIVE THE LOVE OF THE TRUTH

In 2 Thessalonians 2:1 there’s a passage describing the end times, or the generation the Lord returns. It talks of

how, in that day, the deception will run rampant. Now, if you read it in context, 2 Thessalonians 2 is talking

about the deceptions of the Antichrist and Satanic power. Here’s the point I want to make: This deception will

run rampant; but the point I want to focus on is that many were deceived by this deception because they did not

receive the love of the truth. The love of the truth must be pursued and it must be perceived; the love of the truth

is not something that automatically takes care of itself. The love of the truth is something that we go after. We

go after it in a specific, intentional way; we go after the love of the truth. Jesus was a lover of truth.

STANDING FOR THE TRUTH IN THE DECADES TO COME

We’re committing ourselves not just to search for truth, which is fun, not just the discovery, which is great, not

just sharing it with a friend, though that’s great, too, but standing for it in an hour in the decades ahead of us

when many in the Church, millions and millions, will fall away from the faith because they will be seduced by

the increase of lies. I don’t believe it will be most of the Church, but the numbers will be staggering. You can

already see a clear increase of seduction and deception and compromise laying hold of the Church. The message

is getting weaker and weaker and more in agreement with the culture. It doesn’t take a lot of discernment to see

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F ORERUNNER C HRISTIAN F ELLOWSHIP – M IKE B ICKLE

Jesus, the Faithful Witness, Firstborn, and Ruler

Transcript: 03/27/09

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that, but it’s going to get far more intense in the decades ahead of us. We are lovers of truth. So that is what “the

faithful witness” talks about.

THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD

Number two: Jesus is the firstborn. This means that Jesus has unique favor with God. That is what the phrase

“firstborn from the dead” boils down to. As we understand this truth, it actually makes us tremble before Him

and makes us love Him. He is the Man who inherits the glory of God. He inherits all the promises that God gave

David, or the greatest promises God gave David. I would rather say it that way. As the firstborn, He is the heir

to the glory of God as a man, and as the firstborn, He is in the position of the greatest favor and authority that

God would ever give a man. The most authority God has ever given or will give a man, He gives to His Son

Jesus, who is fully God and fully Man. My point is this: When we understand this truth, it creates a loyalty in

our spirits to Him. When we understand how favored He is of God, it is actually a revelation. We all know that

every knee will bow and every tongue will confess; then we move on, but when we stop and meditate as to the

level of the anointing on this Man, it causes our spirits to tremble, and it causes us to love Him, because with

the favor that He receives, of which there is none like it, He brings us into the good of it because He loves us.

This Man actually went into the jaws of death and defeated death and came back and said, “I am going to bring

the good of it to your life forever.” We all know that, but beloved, when that touches my spirit in a fresh way, it

makes Jesus look awesome. I mean, if we talk about a great prophet in the land who died and returned from the

dead, people would all want to go meet Him. “What was it like? What is it like?” We’re talking about a man

with unction, authority, and favor on Him beyond anything we can really comprehend. That is what John is

really saying. Not only is He a lover of truth, He has the unique favor of God. We won’t really have time to

break all this down in real detail. I’ll end up having a bit more information in the notes than we will cover, but

the good thing about this title isn’t just that Jesus has this awesome favor, but He brings the good of it to our

lives.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH

The third subject or title is that Jesus has a unique authority over man. He is the greatest, the highest King in all

of history, and He will be that King forever. Let’s look at Jesus as the faithful witness. In John 18:37, He said,

“For this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” Sometimes we can read that

and reduce this to the truth of how to get our sins forgiven. Jesus bore witness to the truth beyond the subject of

how to become born again. His message is bigger than that. The message that He is releasing through the end-

time Church is His plan, what He’s going to do with the nations, with His Church in the nations, and what He

feels about the encroaching seduction and deception. He’s going to reveal it, and He wants us to give witness to

it. A witness is a person who speaks from firsthand experience what they know to be true. They have seen it and

they give testimony to it.

DECLARING THE FULL COUNSEL OF GOD

Paul the apostle made a pretty strong statement in Acts 20 when he was leaving the city of Ephesus. He said, “I

kept nothing back from you that was helpful. I testified to you everything that God gave me.” He said, “I want

you to know that I am innocent of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:27, paraphrased). “I have not shunned to

declare to you the whole counsel of God. Therefore watch” —which means pray—“and remember that for three

years I did not cease to warn you.” Now, when I look at this passage in Acts 20, it seems like a strange

statement, out of place in the Western Church. I look at that and measure my own ministry by this, that if I was

to leave a ministry, would my parting words be, “I am innocent of your blood? I did not cease to warn you with

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F ORERUNNER C HRISTIAN F ELLOWSHIP – M IKE B ICKLE

Jesus, the Faithful Witness, Firstborn, and Ruler

Transcript: 03/27/09

P age 5

tears night and day?” That’s not very twenty-first century Western at all, for though Paul spoke the good news,

he spoke an element of truth that is almost entirely foreign to the Western Church. We can’t even relate to this

kind of statement. It wouldn’t even make sense if we heard a preacher on TV say this; we would think he was

out of touch.

SPEAKING WITHOUT REGARD TO CRITICISM

My point is, God is going to raise up men and women in these days who will not shun to declare everything.

They will declare the whole truth that God gives them. Again, we’re not just talking about the truth of how to be

saved, although that truth is coming into great controversy. More and more, the Church today in the name of

honor, respect, and toleration is becoming open to the idea that there is more than one way to salvation. That is

a total deception. There is only one way of salvation; there is no other way. Even that truth needs to be boldly

spoken in these days, in a way that’s surprising given how controversial it’s becoming even in the mainstream

Church. Jesus did not hold back the negatives and He did not exaggerate the positives. This is a high standard

for a ministry. I look at this. Some of you are being trained to be in a speaking ministry. Being in a speaking

ministry doesn’t mean you need a microphone and a big crowd. You may have a ministry where you’re

teaching the Word to five and ten in a small group. You don’t know where it’s going with all the Internet

technology of these days.

Jesus did not hold back the negatives, and He did not exaggerate the positives. The trend of all of us is to hold

back the negatives and exaggerate the positives, particularly in the midst of the people to whom we’re

connected. I mean, I don’t want to say, “The negatives only cause trouble; they make the guys on the other side

of town or the other side of the nation really upset. They make the congregation really upset, so let’s skip the

negatives and only speak the positives. Then, let’s exaggerate the positives, let’s double them, so that everyone

feels good about everything every step of the way, and mostly they feel good about the preacher.”

Jesus said, “No; that’s not how I did it. When I made the way for you, I was faithful to what God told Me, and

you can’t do it this way, either.” Well, I will say this: Jesus spoke without regard to criticism. The criticism He

was sure to reserve, He spoke without regard. He did not mind; He knew it was coming, but He said it anyway.

Now, I certainly have not held the line on that when I look at my ministry. A number of times I have, but a

number of times I have not. Paul said, “I do not shun to speak the whole thing.” Well, there have been times

where I have shunned; drawn back; have thought, “Well, maybe this is not the time.” When in doubt, we always

claim, “This is not the season or the time.” Well, decades go by and it’s never the time. There is never a good

time to make people with whom you want to win favor upset at you. Again, I measure my own preaching by

this. My marks are not as high as I wish they were, but most preaching today only speaks in positive terms to

please people, to make sure that they don’t lose their position, their honor, or their financial opportunities. Jesus

never did that, never. He never exaggerated; He never flattered. I am going to challenge you to take that and

weigh it. Again, whether you have a teaching ministry or not, take that and weigh it as a member of the body of

Christ, to be a faithful witness. That truth is right at the beginning of the book. When I look at it, I think, “Oh,

Lord, You hit us hard with the very first topic of the faithful witness.”

THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM

We are to be faithful witnesses. I’ve put a passage here we’re not going to look at, Isaiah 43, but we see that

we’re called to be faithful witnesses back in the Old Testament. God’s people are to be witnesses of the truth. I

want you to be aware of that passage. You can read it on your own (Isaiah 43:10). In Matthew 24, as we all

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