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The Alpha and the Omega

God sent out the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, "Abba, Father!" (Galatians 4:6 YLT)

"I am the Alpha." The very first syllable of the knowledge of God is the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It begins with "A"; it is the first lisp of a babe. "God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father" (Gal. 4:6). The first syllable of the Christian life begins with "A" "Father." We do not know the Father until we know Jesus Christ: He it is Who has revealed the Father. The beginning of all knowledge of God as Father comes to us through Jesus Christ. What He said in His prayer was indeed true: "I have manifested unto them Thy name" (John 17:6) and that name was "Father."

Do you want to know God? Do you want to know Him as Father? Do you want to know what He has to say to you, to make known to you? Do you want to know all or any of the vast wealth God would reveal to you? You can only know it in Jesus Christ; you can only know it in Him Who is the beginning and the end, the Alpha and the Omega. There is no knowledge without words made up of letters (except perhaps for our Chinese friends!), and all the letters are between these two. There is no knowledge that is knowledge indeed, knowledge that is Life eternal, except in Jesus Christ. "This is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him Whom Thou didst send... Jesus Christ" (John 17:3). There is no knowledge outside of Jesus Christ. And there is no communication from God outside of Jesus Christ. Set Jesus Christ aside, and God is silent He has nothing to say to you. If you fail to give His Son His place, God is just mute; He will communicate nothing. The more you honor the Son, the more the Father will come out to you and communicate with you.

Now he is comforted.

Your sun shall no longer go down, nor shall your moon withdraw itself; for the Lord will be your everlasting light, and the days of your mourning shall be ended. 

He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth.

These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.

Luke 16:25;  Isa. 60:20;  Isa. 25:8;  Rev. 7:14; Rev. 7:15;  Rev. 7:16;  Rev. 7:17;  Rev. 21:4

The night is coming when no one can work.

Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. They may rest from their labors, and their works follow them. § There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.  § Now Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?”

Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might; for there is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going. § The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence.

I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day.

There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

John 9:4;  Rev. 14:13;  Job 3:17;  1 Sam. 28:15;  Eccles. 9:10;  Ps. 115:17;  2 Tim. 4:6;  2 Tim. 4:7;  2 Tim. 4:8 Heb. 4:9,10

Experience Superseded

And they who know Thy Name will put their trust in Thee" (Ps. 9:10).

Our experiences must be judged by God's Word, never the Word judged by our experiences. Normally, the Spirit of Truth will reveal a truth to us from the Scriptures and, as we exercise faith in what we have been shown, will begin to take us into the experience of it. Abnormally, a Christian will yearn for an experience,' and then attempt to find corroboration for it in the Word.

"Knowledge must carry the torch before faith." Always give God's Word first place, "for the Word of God liveth and worketh, and is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, yea, to the inmost parts thereof, and judging the thoughts and imaginations of the heart" (Heb. 4:12, Cony.).

"A person may easily know his sins forgiven, but it is a further truth to know that he himself has died to sin.' He finds this conflicts with his experience. Suppose I tell you a debt of a thousand pounds which you owed was paid by someone, it would not be a question of experience, but of simply believing my statement. Just so with God. He tells us our sins are forgiven, and it is a question whether we believe Him. But when He tells us we have died to sin, we look inside and say, Ah, sin is still at work; how is that?' A person must be taught of God to know really the truth that he has died to sin." -J.N.D.

"It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God" (Luke 4:4).

Vessel of Comfort (JOB-study 19)

His Transforming Work