the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John who bare record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written therein for the time is at hand. John to the seven churches which are in Asia, grace be unto you and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come and from the seven spirits which are before his throne and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth and to him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and have made us kings and priests and to God and his father to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold he cometh with clouds and every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is and which was and which is to come, the Almighty. I, John, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying, I am Elpha and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pogromos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not, I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead. And behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches. So read the inspired and infallible Word of God. Let us come before the Lord in prayer, let's pray. Almighty loving God and Heavenly Father we do bow before you tonight in reverence and in godly fear and yet with that glorious joy and certainty that we are accepted in the beloved that we can come into your high and holy presence through a saviour, even Jesus Christ. We thank you that there is a redeemer. We thank you for the one who has paid the price and the penalty for our sins. We thank you that that judgement that was ours by all Lord's nature fell upon him. And we thank you that he was accepted as our substitute. And we thank you for the one who has borne our grief and carried our sorrows. and the one upon whose head all the vials of your eternal wrath were poured. We thank you for the one who was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. And we thank you that through his death we have life this evening. We thank you that it was a triumphant and a glorious death. We thank you that there at Calvary we see the death of death in the death of Christ. And we thank you for all that the cross achieved And we thank you for that glorious third day when he ascended in the power of an endless life. We thank you that you accepted the sacrifice that he has offered on our behalf and as a settlement for our sins. And we thank you that you have raised him and seated him at your right hand in the heavenly places far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but also in that which is to come. We thank you for that glorious name of the Lord Jesus Christ this evening. The sweetest name on earth. And how we thank you that we can rejoice in that name which his assortment poured forth. That name, O Lord, which has set us free and has brought us into life and liberty. O Lord our God, we pray that you would be pleased to open our eyes this evening and to look up that we might see the one, O Lord, who is seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the one on whose head are many diadems, many crowns, the one who is the risen, exalted, glorified Redeemer, our great High Priest, and the one who ever lives to intercede for us. We pray that we may fix our eyes upon him tonight, We pray that we may lose sight of all the things around us and like John father or Lord on that Isle of Patmos that we may see and hear things Lord absolutely incredible and we do pray that indeed it may be a vision that may transform our lives and help us or Lord to walk with you day by day and to walk closely with you to heaven. We pray oh God that you would be pleased to draw near to each one of us And Lord, we pray that we would lay aside the burdens and concerns, O Lord, from this day and help us, O Lord, to set our affection on things above this evening, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. And we do pray, O God, that we may, Lord, by looking to him be changed into his image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Meet with each one of us, we pray. Cleanse us, Lord, from our many sins. Grant us a fresh encounter this evening. And grant, O Lord, that we may go from this place knowing that it has been good to have been together in your house with your people and having met with you, the living God. O Lord, may we indeed carry with us the fragrance of this meeting tonight. And we do pray that our hearts might burn within us as the Lord Jesus meets with us by the way and opens to us the Scriptures. For we ask this in His precious name. Amen. I'd like you to turn with me once again in your Bibles to that first chapter of the book of the Revelation. For those of you who were absent last Thursday evening, we have begun a series of studies based upon this last book of the New Testament, the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. I'm not going to recap on what we considered last week. Otherwise we'll be here all night. But for those of you who didn't get the sheets, well there are some copies available so you can ask me afterwards. But there's a new sheet for tonight, just one. I want us this evening to get into the actual text of the book itself and we're going to focus our attention upon this opening chapter. And God willing next Thursday evening we shall move on to consider chapters 2 and 3. and that will complete the first section of this seven sectioned book, Christ in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. As we look at this first chapter this evening we find that it is naturally divided into three sections and in verses 1 to 3 we have the introduction to the book. You will notice that the opening words give us the title it is the revelation of Jesus Christ and we saw last week that the title the revelation of Jesus Christ doesn't simply mean that this was a revelation that was given to John by Jesus Christ but rather that it is the revelation concerning Jesus Christ the word revelation there means unveiling a disclosure, an uncovering of something that was previously hidden. And therefore this book is the unveiling of the glory of the person of Jesus Christ and his sovereign purposes for his church. And you'll notice that in that opening verse that there is a chain of communication. We read that the revelation originated with God the Father and it was given to his son Jesus Christ. And then the Lord Jesus Christ the Son in turn passes it on to the Apostle John through the mediation of an angel. This is not surprising, this is not something new because in fact as we read right the way through redemptive history we discover that in every period of revelation at every great epoch that God delivered that revelation through the mediation of angels. You remember this was true of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai, a great turning point in Israel's history. Paul tells us in his letter to the Galatians that Moses received the law on Mount Sinai through the mediation of angels. And of course the angels were very much active at the beginning of the Christian era, the Gospel age. We read of the Christmas angels. The angel appeared to Mary. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. A whole company of the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds on the hillside, proclaiming the glorious good news of Messiah's birth. The revelation came through the mediation of angels. And so here again, the Apostle John It seems this revelation from Jesus Christ by the mediation of his angel. And then in verses 4 to 8 we have John's greeting to the seven churches and that wonderful hymn of praise, the doxology to him who has loved us and so on. But it is in the latter section of the chapter that we come to the very heart of the message and the heart of the book itself. And sorry there is a misprint there, it's not 19 to 20, it's verse 9 to 20. And this section is taken up with this amazing vision that John had of the Son of Man. And I want us to consider this great vision with you this evening. In verses 9 we have a general introduction to the vision and we are told three helpful things. First of all we learn where he received it. In verse 9 we are told that it was on the isle called Patmos. I John both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ was on the island that is called Patmos. for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. The island of Patmos is a little Greek island in the middle of the Aegean between mainland Greece and Turkey. I don't know if any of you have ever visited the island of Patmos. Anybody? You have? Nice, good. We hoped to get there a couple of years back and we were in Turkey, in Cusadasi. Just opposite us was the Greek isle of Samos. And you could get a boat over to Samos, then you could get another boat to Patmos. But it turned out that it wasn't possible to do it in a day. So we never actually got there. But I'm told it's quite a fascinating place. But of course in John's time this was no holiday island. This was a most inhospitable place. It was a rocky mountainous island about 8 miles in length, about 4 miles across, full of marble mines. And in the first century it was set apart as a Roman penal settlement. It was a place of punishment and banishment, particularly during the reign of the Roman Emperor Domitian around about the year 1895. It was believed that John was then banished from Asia Minor to this rocky island. You can imagine how John must have felt, cut off from loved ones, cut off from the churches that he was so concerned about. He must have been anxious to know how they were getting on. He knew that some of them had been martyred for their faith. He knew the persecution, the oppression from Imperial Rome and he must have been greatly concerned about the situation. And yet there he was cut off from his flock on this most inhospitable island. And yet the incredible thing is that in that most barren wilderness It was turned by the Lord into the very gate of paradise for the Apostle John. And isn't that so often and so frequently the experience of the people of God as we go through great barren wildernesses in our own experience, trials and great tribulations, times of darkness. times of despair and we wonder what is happening and has the Lord abandoned us and yet the Lord is able to turn that situation to the good of his people for he is indeed working all things, all things, whether good things or bad things together for our good because we love him and are called according to his purpose. He is able to turn those experiences into the garden of the Lord, into the very gate of heaven. Remember those wonderful words we so often sing of William Helper in that great hymn. God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform. He says ye fearful saints, fresh courage take. The clouds, ye so much dread, are big with mercy and shall break in blessings on his head. Well so it turned out for the Apostle John as he received the revelation on the isle called Patmos. Notice secondly how he received it. We read in verse 10, he was in the spirit. In the spirit. What a wonderful statement this is. And of course it is a statement that is so important as we consider the divine inspiration of the scriptures. John didn't just sit down one day and decide, he had time on his hand, vanished to this isle, concerned about the churches, he would write a book. He would write a series of letters to the seven churches. No, no, the vision was given to him from heaven and he was commanded to write it. And he received it in the Spirit. What does this mean? Well there are some who suggest that maybe John was sleeping one night and it was communicated to him in a dream. Now we know that the Lord can communicate divine revelation in the unconscious state of sleep. This was true of course for Joseph in the Old Testament, Joseph in the New Testament and many others. But I think the context clearly shows that John was very much awake. He was very much alert. And as we shall see, John was ready with his pen and paper at hand to write down the things which he heard and saw. He was very much in a conscious state and yet suddenly the Spirit of God came upon him to an unusual degree. and he began to no longer see things with his physical eyes and hear things with his physical ears. Suddenly every avenue of his soul was open to direct communication with God and with Heaven. He lost sight of everything else as he was caught up with the glory of this amazing vision. There is a wonderful illustration that is mentioned by Alfred Plummer in his commentary on the Revelation. He says that Copenhagen, among the many noble sculptures, there is one of the Apostle John. His countenance is suffused with the serenity of heaven. He is actually looking up to heaven. His writing tablet is before him. In his hand is his pen. But the Apostle's pen does not touch the tablet. He will not venture on a single word until it is given to him. from above. He receives it, this direct revelation from heaven in the Spirit. But when did he receive it? Well we are told that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. On the Lord's day. Now what does this mean? Well there are some who suggest to us that John here is referring to that technical phrase that is found hundreds of times in the Old Testament prophets. The day of the Lord. That final day. That great day of judgement. The day that will take place at the second coming of Christ when he shall come to judge the world in righteousness. That final day of human history when this present earth and heaven will be folded up as a garment. That great final eschatological day of Yahweh, the day of the Lord. And therefore they suggest to us that John was suddenly transported in the Spirit to that last day, the day of the Lord. But I suggest to you that such an interpretation is at best fanciful. Surely if John had meant that then he would have said it and have made it clear to us. But he doesn't, he says I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. And what's more we have already seen that this revelation that he received not only concerns the distant future, not only concerns what will take place at the second coming of Christ on the last day. that it covers the whole of history, the whole Gospel age from the first to the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And therefore I suggest that we should take being termed the Lord's Day in its simplest form that he is referring to Sunday, the first day of the week. It is the same construction that Paul uses in 1 Corinthians where he speaks of the Lord's Supper. And it is the Lord's Supper because it is that supper that Christ instituted as a commemoration of his death. And now John refers to the Lord's day because it is Christ's victory day. It's the day that commemorates his resurrection when he triumphed over sin and death and hell and Satan and rose in the power of an endless life. Isn't there a jive also at the Roman Empress, there was the Emperor Day and John here refers to the Lord's Day the first day of the week, the best day of all and this revelation that John receives is full of the glory and the triumph and the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ and thus it was indeed fitting that it was on the Lord's Day that John should receive this victorious vision and revelation Well having considered where he received it and how he received it and when he received it what happened next? Well we read that in this state of spiritual awareness suddenly he hears a voice behind him like a trumpet and this would have been familiar to John because Whenever in Old Testament times the people of God were summoned to hear the word of God they were summoned by the blowing of trumpets. They were to assemble before the Lord. But this voice is no ordinary trumpet. It's the voice of the very Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself blasting in his ears. And the voice commands him to write. He is to write the things that he sings in a book and to send them to the seven churches which are in Asia. And I believe as I mentioned earlier that John actually wrote the things as he received them, there and then. There are some people who suggest that it was after the vision had taken place that sometime later on John sat down and put pen to paper. But if you turn to chapter 10 and at verse 4 Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices I was about to write but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them. So here is John with pen in his hand and papyrus and there he is writing, waiting for these wonderful visions. And as they came so he immediately wrote in obedience to the Lord's command. and what did he write about? Well he wrote about exactly what he saw and in verses 12 to 16 he writes about this tremendous amazing vision of the Son of Man. Now this title the Son of Man is a very important one, it's a term that we can so easily overlook in our reading of scripture but it's one that is full of deep spiritual meaning and significance. You will remember that it was the title that our Lord preferred to use more than any other to describe himself. It is Christ's self-designation. He calls himself again and again the Son of Man. I, the Son of Man. And it's used by our Lord no less than 82 times in the four Gospels. And of course it is a title that immediately identifies himself with us. When we think of the son of man, we immediately think of our Lord as one with us. For he is the one who has taken upon himself in the incarnation, human flesh. The one who is not only son of God, he is also son of man. He is one with us in our griefs and in our sorrows. He has passed this way before that He might be that merciful and faithful High Priest. That He might clearly intercede for us at the right hand of the Majesty on High. The One who knows us because He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He is the Son of Man. and there are many references in the Gospels that link this title the son of man with our Lord in his humiliation and in his suffering. You remember for example in Matthew 8 verse 20 Jesus said the foxes have holes the birds of the air have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Luke 18 verse 31 then he took the twelve aside and said to them behold we are going up to Jerusalem and all things concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished for He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon they will scourge Him and kill Him and in Mark 10 verse 45 we have those classic words of our Lord for the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. Here we see our Lord identified as the Son of Man, identified with us in humiliation and in suffering. But it is also important that we should understand this evening that this title of the Son of Man not only reflects his humanity but it also reflects his deity and his equality with God. There are many times when our Lord uses this title, the Son of Man, in connection with His coming glory. Mark 8 verse 38, Whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Matthew 24 30 then the sign of the son of man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of earth will mourn and they will see the son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory In Matthew 25 of course and 26 and so on we have this wonderful theme brought out of the Son of Man coming in the glory with all the holy angels. When he shall sit upon the throne of his glory and before him shall be gathered all the nations and he shall separate them one from another as the shepherd separates the sheep from among the goats. And there's a wonderful reference in Matthew chapter 26 that I'd just like to read to you concerning our Lord's identity. In Matthew chapter 26, you remember how our Lord was brought before the high priest on trial and the high priest said to him, I charge you under oath, tell us are you the Christ, the Son of God? And Jesus replied, yes. It is as you said. But then our Lord goes on to say in verse 64, nevertheless I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven. And then the high priest tore his clothes saying, he has spoken blasphemy. What further need do we have of witnesses? Look now you have heard his blasphemy. What do you think? They answered and said he is deserving of death. Now why was it that the high priest was so certain Jesus had spoken blasphemy? Why was it that he was so agitated and so alarmed? And it was of course because he knew that Jesus was alluding to Daniel's vision of the Messiah, the heavenly son of man. who would come on the clouds in power and glory, recorded in Daniel chapter 7. Let's turn to that passage in our Bibles this evening, Daniel chapter 7. It's the most remarkable chapter. It's absolutely central to an understanding of John's vision on Patmos. Daniel 7 in this vision, Daniel saw four awful beasts coming out of the sea, one after the other. And the fourth beast was more terrifying than the other three that came before it. And then as he looked, he noted that the fourth beast had ten horns. And from among the horns arose another horn, a little horn. And this horn suddenly had the eyes of a man. and that it had a mouth and it began to speak great pompous and boastful and arrogant words. And we are told later in the chapter, as Daniel asked what was the meaning of this, he was told directly that these four beasts represented four great kingdoms that would arise one after the other in human history. And these four great kingdoms would eventually come to an end. And this picture that he saw of the little horn arising out of the ten horns was none other than the rise of Antichrist himself. The man of sin who Paul refers to in 2nd Thessalonians. The one who will make war against the saints of the Most High God. And the one who will mouth great arrogant and pompous and boastful words. and as Daniel was reflecting on this and as he was looking at this little horn suddenly he looks up and he is caught up into the very courtroom of heaven and he has this vision of the Ancient of Days seated upon the throne and from verse 9 we read I watched till thrones were put in place and the Ancient of Days was seated his garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. A thousand thousands ministered to him, ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated and the books were opened. I watched then because of the sound of the pompous words which the horn was speaking. I watched till the beast was slain and its body destroyed and given to the burning flame. As for the rest of the beasts they had their dominion taken away yet their lives were prolonged for a season and a time. But then suddenly he sees another figure coming into the courtroom of heaven. He says in verse 13 I was watching in the night visions and behold one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the ancient of days and they brought him near before him. Then to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away and his kingdom the one which shall not be destroyed. What a tremendous vision. And what we learn from this great chapter and these visions is that Gentile world dominion will be brought down, it will come to an end. The kingdoms of this world will rise and they will perish. But there is one who will be given a kingdom and a dominion that will endure throughout all generations. A kingdom that will never be destroyed. And that kingdom is given to none other than one like the Son of Man. He receives it from the Ancient of Days, from the throne. He is given power and glory and dominion. And this is none other of course than the vision of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is the heavenly Son of Man. He is the one who came to this earth 2,000 years ago and has set up a kingdom that can never be destroyed. Jesus shall reign with all the son that his successor Jairus ran. His kingdom stretch from shore to shore till moon shall wax and wane no more. And yet the amazing thing that I want you to notice with me tonight is that in Daniel's vision he sees two people, two persons. He sees the ancients of days and he sees one like the son of man, a human personage. But John in his vision on the Isle of Patmos sees one person and in his vision of the heavenly Son of Man both of Daniel's two personages are merged into one. The description that we have here in Revelation 1 is a description of the ancient of days but it is also a description of the Son of Man. And here we see that in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ there possesses deity and humanity. He is God in human flesh. He is the one who possesses complete equality with God. And yet he is the one who has taken upon himself our nature and our form apart from sin. He is the God-man. Two natures in the one person, fully God. but also fully man. Let's have a look at this wonderful picture that John saw on Patmos. And notice his clothing. We read that he is clothed with this long robe and with a golden sash around the chest. These are the garments of the High Priest. Here we see our Lord Jesus Christ as the Great High Priest. The one who has given himself that one perfect offering for sin. And the one who is now ministering in the heavenly sanctuary who ever lives to make intercession for us. He is the one who wears that priestly robe with the golden sash. And his hair, we are told, was white like wool, as white as snow. Here we see the picture of the Ancient of Days. And it's not a picture of deterioration. It's not a picture of old age and decay. But rather it is a picture of deity and divinity. Here we see our Lord as the eternal Son of God. The one who was begotten not created. Here we see him in his essential glory. And here we see him in his eternity. The one who is from everlasting to everlasting God. Notice his eyes. His eyes are like a piercing flame of fire. We all know the power of the gaze. There is no one who has a gaze like the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who possesses the attribute of omniscience. He is the one who sees through us. He is the one who uncovers the inner recesses of our hearts and minds, our innermost secrets. He is the one who knows the end from the beginning. His voice, John says, was like the sound of many waters. We had, I'm sure, an idea of what John was talking about when we visited Niagara Falls some years ago. What an experience to be able to get into the boat, the Maid of the Mist. They give you these long mats which cover the whole of the body from head to toe because when you get near that spray you get absolutely soaked. And as we got quite near to the falls it was absolutely incredible to see these huge walls of water. Millions of gallons of water crashing down continuously. And the sound was phenomenal. And this is what John heard, the sound of many waters. John of course would have been familiar with this, the Aegean breakers crashing on the shore of Patmos. He must have been in many a storm there in the winter on that isle. And when he hears a voice which is louder than the breakers of Patmos, he hears the voice of the heavenly Son of Man speaking to him. Our Lord's feet were like fine brass. Brass is a metal always used and identified in scripture in terms of judgement. And the feet, of course, are those which trample down enemies. Here our Lord is depicted as a warring, mighty, conquering king. One who is coming to trample down his enemies. One who comes in judgement. In his mouth there was a sharp, double-edged sword. And as John looked at his appearance, his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. John suddenly sees the essential glory of the God-man. You remember he had seen something of this on the Mount of Transfiguration. When our Lord lifted the veil for those brief moments and his three disciples were able to see the essential glory of the God-man. When his face shone like the sun and his clothing became as white as the light. This was no exterior light or glory that was shining upon him from above, but it was his own personal deity flashing forth through the veil of his flesh. Christ was revealing his glory. John could say we beheld him the glory as of the only begotten of the Father full of grace and truth and now he sees him but in quite a different way than he had seen before he sees the one who is the brightness of the Fathers glory and the express image of his person and as John sees him his only response is to fall at his feet and they fall backwards because they know that somebody is there to catch them but John falls on his face This is the biblical practice whenever God's people come face to face with him they fall down on their faces. He falls down and yet although it is an awful sight that caused him to tremble yet it was also an encouraging experience because the Lord lays his right hand upon him and says do not be afraid, fear not for I am the first and the last. I am he that lives and was dead. and behold I am alive forevermore, Amen and have the keys of Hades and of death He is the one who has conquered death, he has triumphed death he is the one who has opened up the gates of paradise for every believing sinner and what an encouragement this vision must have been to John and to those Christians in the seven churches it was a vision that would surely transform them It was a vision that would give John a new perspective in his situation on Patmos. It was a vision that would change the whole outlook of these suffering Christians in the first century. Iain Morris in his commentary on the Revelation brings this out well. He says, the placing of this vision of Christ right at the beginning of the book is significant. This book is an unveiling or revealing. The Christians were a pitifully small remnant persecuted by mighty foes. To all outward appearance their situation was hopeless. But it is only as Christ is seen for what he really is that anything else can be seen in its true perspective. So for these persecuted ones it was important that first of all the glory and the majesty of the Risen Lord be brought out. It was a vision that would transform them. It's interesting that every attribute mentioned in that vision of the Son of Man is brought out again in each of those seven letters to the churches. We read in one of the one whose eyes are like a flame of fire, in another of the one whose feet are like fine brass. Each individual attribute is brought out in order that these Christians might focus upon this vision of the heavenly son of man and that it might have this transforming effect upon their lives and their conduct. And how much do we need a new vision of Jesus? I believe that much of our present weak and feeble state as Christians today is due to the fact that we have a defective view of Christ. We've either taken our eyes off him or else our vision of him is too human and too small and too puny. We need that vision that John saw of him on the Isle of Patmos. We need to see him in his greatness, his majesty, his magnificence, his power, his glory. We need to see him as he really is if our lives are to be transformed and changed. And I believe that the reason why so many Christians are crushed by the circumstances of modern day life and living, the reason why they are overwhelmed by earthly circumstances and trials and tribulations, is because they have taken their eyes off the Lord and their vision of him is too small. There's an illustration that's quite helpful of a man, a Christian man many years ago, who was crushed by his circumstances. He was in the state of great fear and anxiety and deeply concerned and so he went to see some spiritual counsellors. And they advised him to go home and to meditate upon Psalm 23 verse 1. The Lord is my shepherd. And they told him to emphasise the word my. They said go on and keep reflecting the Lord is my shepherd. Well he did so. He went away, but his troubles continued. He couldn't find peace. He found that the circumstances of life were overwhelming and he couldn't cope. And so eventually he went to see Dr Lloyd-Jones at Westminster Chapel. He told him his story and what these spiritual counsellors have told him to do. And then the doctor replied, well you're doing the right kind of thing, he said, but let me suggest you're meditating and emphasising the wrong part of the verse. He says I want you to go back home and rather emphasise that word my, emphasise the first two words, the Lord, the Lord Yahweh is my shepherd. The man did so and as he focused upon the Lord and looked upon the greatness and the glory and the way that God provides for the needs of his sheep. His life was transformed and he was able to view his circumstances with a totally different perspective. He was able to see things from God's eyes, from the heavenly viewpoint and his life was delivered from this discouragement and this frustration. Someone has said that our great need is not for great faith. Our greatest need is for faith in a great God. and we need a new vision of Jesus, we need to see him as he is. But what was the purpose of this great vision for John and for these Christians in the seven churches? Well it was a two-fold purpose. First of all it was a picture of Christ coming to punish his church and secondly coming to punish his enemies. Christ coming to purge his church. Now this is something that we don't like to think about. It's a side of Christ that we so often forget and overlook. And yet if we do overlook it then our vision of Christ is too small and too human and man-centred. Because as we look at this picture that John saw, the one whose eyes were like a flame of fire, piercing omniscience. The one whose voice was like thundering waters, out of his mouth a sharp two edged sword. Here is a picture of our Lord coming not only to defend and to protect his church but also to search and to purify and to purge his church. You see the Lord Jesus Christ loves his church too much to allow her to be corrupted and compromised by worldliness. and by false teaching and by hypocrisy. The Lord Jesus Christ is a jealous Lord and thus he will come to purge and to cleanse his church. The Bible tells us that judgment must begin at the house of God. And as we look at teaching of these letters to the seven churches and as we consider them next Thursday we shall see how the Lord comes to purify and to purge his church from those things that disturbed him and were disturbing the churches and affecting their peace and overthrowing their witness and their testimony. Yes it's Christ coming to purge his church but thank God it's also Christ coming to punish his enemies We see later on in these visions and in these sections how the Lord comes to trample down all the enemies of his kingdom, all those who would usurp their rightful place and seek to tread down his people. He will deal with them one by one until he has cast Satan himself forever into that lake of fire. There is one final thing that we need to notice before we conclude and that is the symbolism of the images in the vision. Thank God we are not left in the dark as to what they mean because our Lord reveals them to John and to us this evening. And in chapter 1 verse 20 we are told the mystery of the 7 stars which you saw in my right hand and the 7 golden lampstands. The 7 stars are the angels of the 7 churches. and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. We've already seen that the number seven is significant in this book. It's the number of completion and fullness and perfection. These seven churches represent the complete church of the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the Gospel Age. The church is depicted as a lampstand. It's the picture of course of the old Jewish menorah, that seven-branched lampstand. And of course it is a fitting picture of the church, because the church is called to be a light bearer. We are to bear light to the nation. Jesus said of his church, you are the light of the world. You remember how in Philippians chapter 2 Paul speaks of us as shining as lights in this wicked and perverse and crooked generation. We are to be a witness, we are to bear light in this world. And it's a golden lampstand that our Lord depicts. And of course gold is a metal that is precious, it's valuable. The church, the local church is precious in the eyes of the Lord. Christ loved the church and he gave himself for it. The Lord Jesus views us as a golden lampstand. And of course gold is that one metal which is virtually imperishable. You can try to dissolve it with acid, you can try and melt it in a crucible, but you cannot get rid of gold. It's an imperishable, virtually metal. And so the church in the hand of the Lord is imperishable. Jesus has built his church upon that rock, that impregnable rock. Jesus said, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. The feeble saint shall win the day, though death and hell obstruct the way. What an encouraging picture. And Christ of course is depicted as being in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. He is in the midst of his churches. But about the stars that he holds in his right hand. Well we are told that these are the angels of the seven churches. The Greek word means simply messengers. And of course there have been a number of interpretations concerning these angels. There are some who believe that they must be literal angels. They believe that every local church has its own guardian angel. But I believe that scripture teaches something far better than that. The Bible teaches that every church and every Christian believer has not only a guardian angel but guardian angels plural. Because the whole heavenly host are sent forth to minister to you and me the heirs of salvation. And John of course was certain to write and to send these letters to the angels of these seven churches it would be very difficult to deliver a letter to an angel. I think we must reject this view that they are literal angels. And then there are some who suggest that these angels simply are personification of these seven churches, that it depicts the spirit of the churches, the spirit of the church in Ephesus, the spirit of the church in Thyatira. But again it would be very difficult to send a letter to the spirit of the church in Ephesus. And then there are some who suggest that these angels are literally messengers that were sent to visit John on Patmos and to receive these letters and to take them back and read them in the churches. This is the view of Schofield in his Schofield Reference Bible. But he doesn't give us any proof of this. And there's nothing in the context of this chapter to tell us that anybody visited John and as it was a Roman penal settlement it's highly unlikely that they would be allowed to visit John and pay him visits. show him such kindness as this. Rather we are told that John is writing to these angels of the churches. He is writing to these messengers rather than receiving a visit from them. I believe it is best to view them as the pastors, the overseers, the ministers of the seven churches. Christ holds them in his right hand. The pastors of all the churches. What a wonderful picture. What a comfort, what a consolation. The right hand of the Lord in scripture is that hand of authority, that hand of protection, that hand of power. It's there that Christ holds the office bearers of all his churches. Well God willing, next week we shall proceed to look at what Christ has to say to the seven churches and to us in these days.