words of the prophecy and keep the things which are written in it for the time is near. So these first three verses tell us the revelation that is being given here came from God the Father, given to the Son, then transmitted through an angel to John, who would then transmit it, as we'll find later, to seven churches nation minor. But the purpose was to all the slaves of God. That would be all Christians. We who are bought by the blood of Christ, His own death, that we belong to Him. We're not our own. Now these are all events which must soon happen for, as he states here, the time is near. These are all referring to imminency. It means that they could begin at any time. now there are many things that could happen between now and the beginning of these things but nothing must happen so they could begin at any time and John writing when he is writing the things that had to happen in the first incarnation the first advent have already taken place Jesus is now in heaven at the right hand of the father or as James describes him he is standing at the door ready to return now those who hear or read and heed the prophecy it states here will be blessed that is a blessing to those who are unredeemed yet those who are unregent those who are unrighteous because as you read through Revelation it is scary and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge and that will prod the sinner to repent and turning from sin self and turning to the Savior they can believe and be saved For those who are Christians, it's an encouragement on us to be pursuing holiness. All who have this hope of Jesus' return will purify themselves. It's also an encouragement to us because we read the back of the book, and he wins! And we're on that side. We win! And so no matter what I'm going through, I know where it's going to end up. And so I can be encouraged in the things I go through in life. Heaven will be my home as Christ has promised. The salutation in verses 4 and 5, John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and peace from the one who is and who was and who is to come from the seven spirits who are before his throne and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness the firstborn of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. so the salutation John identifies himself and that he is writing to these seven particular churches in the Roman province of Asia that would be the western part of modern-day Turkey and he extends to them a wish for grace and peace and then identifies that that is going to come from the triune God and so this wish for grace is God's grace his unmerited favor that places in us right standing with him and then for them to experience God's peace. This tranquility that can belong to your soul in any circumstance because of trust in God. Isaiah had put it, thou will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is staid in thee because he trusteth in thee. Yes, I memorized that as a kid and it's sticking with me. That was the old King James. Sometimes, you know, some of these things you learn as a kid, they just stick. So that's one reason you want to take your kids to groups where they're going to learn scripture, right? That has been an important verse to me all my life. I can have peace because I can trust God. He is faithful, right? Well that's here. This is the peace that John is wishing for them. He also identifies God the Father with this title. Him who is and who was and who is to come. The phrase the seven spirits who are before his throne refers to the Holy Spirit. We saw the details of that in an earlier study because that reference, the seven spirits, will pop up again later in Revelation and actually goes back to the prophecies in Zechariah, which we studied a year or so ago. Now God the Son here is identified directly. It's Jesus Christ, but he gives three additional titles. Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness the firstborn the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth and again we study the exact meaning of those in a previous sermon John after stating this breaks into a doxology a praise to God for who he is and what he has done that's the end of verse 5 and verse 6 to him who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood And He has made us to be a kingdom, priest to His God and Father. To Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. As we saw a couple of weeks ago, each of those are specific reasons why we give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. Several of those elements were included in the songs we sang this morning, giving glory to Him for who He is and what He has done. Verses 7 and 8 are a declaration and attestation. Verse 7, Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him. Yes, Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. and so this promise return of the Lord Jesus Christ described in verse 7 is the theme of the book of Revelation that's what it's about the truth and certainty of this promise attested by God the Father in verse 8 I pointed out last week that though God the Father and God the Son share the attributes the declarations that are made in verse 7 and it can be interchanged when Jesus tells us in John 5 that you cannot testify about yourself and have legal standing. We then understand that this is the father who's giving this testimony about his son. These things are true, just as the father had given testimony of his son in several other places at his baptism, at the transfiguration. The father verifies these statements are true about Christ. And then verses 9 through 11 we looked at last week, the commission. And so John explains this command he has given, this commission to write a book. Verse 9, I, John your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the witness of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, write in a scroll what you see, send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamum, to Thyatira, to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. And we looked at the details of that somewhat last week. In brief, the Roman emperor Domitian was nearing the end of his reign. And as he neared it, he became more egotistical and erratic. So much so that even his wife joined in a conspiracy to murder him, which happened in 96 AD. The mission became more egotistical, even demanding people call him Lord and God. And this fit in with a cult that already had started, the emperor cult, a worship of the emperor as a deity. And that section of Asia, what is now Western Turkey, was the center of this. Ephesus even had a temple dedicated to the mission. And so he began to persecute all sorts of people. And that included Christians because they would not yield to this demand that he had of being called something he's not or offering incense to him. And so faithful Christians were among those persecuted and John was exiled to this volcanic, rocky, barren island off of the coast, about 40 miles west of Miletus. So that's right on the coast. So about 40 miles out into the ocean. It's about 60 miles from Ephesus. and John would have been there in 94, 95 AD and stayed there until about 96 AD after the death of Domitian. Now it states that the Holy Spirit had come upon John on a particular Lord's Day, that's a reference to the first day of the week and he hears this loud voice behind him commanding him to write a book about what he's going to see and to send it to these seven particular churches in Asia. All seven of these churches were on a loop through that province and each of those cities was a mail hub from there information would be distributed and so this becomes the means by which all of God's slaves will eventually get this message of revelation from the Father as stated in verse 1. So we pick up our study here in verse 12 John is going to turn to see who is speaking to him and he sees this glorious appearance of the Son of Man which is going to be described through verse 16. In verse 17 John describes his reaction and then the additional instructions that the Son of Man gives him and then some explanation about what he has seen in verse 20. Now the description here is very different than what people think of when they think of Jesus. They tend to think of Him as the baby in the manger or the good teacher the ethical philosopher who roamed through Palestine of that time and taught and was meek and mild they might think of him as the suffering lamb of God come to take away the sins of the world but he was fulfilling very specific prophecies Isaiah said that he would not quarrel, he would not cry out, he would not break off a bruised rod or put out a smoldering wick. Matthew cites that, Matthew 12, it's from Isaiah 42. But that's not what John's going to see here. What he is going to describe here is the returning king of kings. And what he sees is beyond anything he has seen before. Although he had one experience that was somewhat similar, this is beyond that. He is going to use simile and metaphor to give a sense of what he is seeing. We're going to read through the passage and then come back and kind of pick it apart a little bit to get a little greater understanding of it. Starting in verse 12. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the middle of the lampstands, or in the midst of the lampstands, I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe, reaching to the feet. girded across his chest was a golden sash. His head and his hair were white and like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been made to glow in a furnace. His voice was like the sound of many waters. and having in his right hand seven stars and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of his mouth. His face was like the sun, shining in its power. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me, saying, Do not fear. I am the first and the last, and the living one. And I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever. And I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. And as for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches." That's quite a vision isn't it? And his response is the same as any of us. If you hear someone talking to you, especially if they're loud, You're going to turn around to see who it is, right? And that's exactly what he does here. And he is astonished at what he sees. And the first thing he notes here is there's these seven golden lampstands. Now don't think of these as candle operas. They did not have candles then. Okay, so here's on the left side is a bit of an illustration and that's not something coming up you stick a candle in. It's got a flat plate. As you can see the one on the left has a oil lamp sitting on it and those pictures are examples of oil lamps of that period. A lot of times they would just be like a bowl and then one side is squeezed together to make sort of a spout like in the middle too. Or sometimes it would be covered over and then there'd be a hole in it and you pour the oil in there. The wick goes in the spout and you light it and you got a lamp. Now you could have multiple spouts coming out and then you have multiple lamps. But that's how they'd light things. Now, these are described as golden and therefore made of gold or at least plated with gold, these lamp stands. And that demonstrates that they're very valuable. and so this would be limited to someone who actually is very wealthy to be able to afford to have it or it was restricted to those things being used in religious ceremonies such as Exodus 25 there were golden lampstands in the temple now the meaning of these lampstands will be explained in verse 20 now what catches John's attention next is that in the middle or in the midst of these lampstands among these lampstands he says I saw one like a son of man Now he doesn't explain how the lampstands are arranged. Maybe they were in a row. Maybe they're in a column. Maybe they're in several columns. Maybe they're just kind of random. Maybe they're in a circle. He doesn't say. But in the midst of them is this person, this human figure that looks like a son of a man. Now that term, son of man, is generally used throughout the Hebrew scriptures to refer to the offspring of humans. It's used that way in Job, Psalms, Isaiah, Ezekiel. however it is also used to refer to something to someone who's beyond human for example in Daniel 7 in the prophecy there I'll pick it up at verse 13 it says I kept looking in the night visions and behold with the clouds of heaven one like a son of man was coming and he came up to the Ancient of Days and came near before him, and to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not be taken away. His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed." Obviously this is not just a mere human. It's something beyond that. all four gospel accounts record that Jesus would often use that phrase for himself son of man as a messianic term he's applying it to himself in the all of it discourse he actually quotes from Daniel 7 13 which we just read and he applies it to himself he is the son of man he is the one that fulfills that prophecy and so John is using this description in the same way that Daniel's prophecy did this is in fact Jesus and that will be seen as John gives more detail about what he is seeing this one like a son of man has a human form but far beyond human verse 13 continues and describes and says he is clothed in a robe reach into the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash Now the manner of dress shows a lot of dignity, the high priest wore a long robe, so did royalty, so did Samuel, Ezra, the man of the vision Ezekiel 9, all had such long robes, rather than it's like an outer covering, we might say it's like it's the coat, but the tunic was usually short, that would be under it. And while the high priest wore a sash, his sash was a fine twisted linen and it was blue and scarlet. This one is golden. The overall appearance here actually is a lot closer to what was described in Daniel 10. Daniel saw an angel there standing by the tiger's river. The description here matches that. It's something beyond human. It's something supernatural. The attire of the Son of Man immediately communicated to John, this is a person of great dignity and position. The physical appearance even more so. It continues, his head and his hair were white like wool and like snow. Now that matches the description of the head of the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7, 9. And he would have been familiar with these prophecies. It is a part of the nature of the triune God that the Father and Son are often described the same way. We saw that last week when we were looking at verse 8. And then John continues, his eyes were like a flame of fire. The angel in Daniel 10.6 had eyes that were flaming torches. And so the description of Jesus' eyes here, but also in Revelation 2.18 and 19.12 is the same. Flaming like fire. It's a characteristic of the supernatural. It's a point reinforced by John's continuing description in verse 15. His feet were like burnished bronze when it had been made to glow in a furnace. Revelation 3.18 has the same description. The translation here, burnished bronze, is an effort to convey the meaning of a Greek word that refers to a particular, particularly valuable or fine type of bronze or brass, possibly even an alloy containing gold. So whether it was bronze or some other metal, it's just like there's this metal, it's got valuable and it's extremely shiny and bright. That's the idea here. Now, why would John mention that? Why is that more than just a passing comment? It's because it matches the appearance of supernatural beings in prophecy. Again, Daniel 10, 6. There's this angel and it's described in the same way. Ezekiel had visions of God's glory, Ezekiel chapter 1, as the same kind of description. So he is calling attention to the fact that what he is seeing is similar to the supernatural beings seen in the ancient prophets. Then he notes his voice was like the sound of many waters. That adds to this. That description is used in Ezekiel 43 too for the glory of God of Israel. And so John use of it here adds to this authority that's going to be given to the message he's eventually going to write. Now note here that these are simile and metaphor. This is not allegory. To this point, there's not even symbolism here yet. These are descriptions of something that he is seeing, and he's doing his best to try to describe it. And so he's forced to use simile and metaphor. It was like this, but it wasn't that. It's like this. This is the best I can do. this are things that are unfamiliar and when we're trying to describe something that's unfamiliar we're going to resort to describing in terms of something that is familiar this is the risen glorified Jesus Christ this is not a meek and mild man of the incarnation of the early first century it should be expected that after his resurrection and ascension to heaven he is not the same his appearance is not the same now verse 16 has two statements that are symbolic and then there's another simile that's added again it's describing what he is seeing having in his right hand seven stars and a sharp two-edged sword which comes out of his mouth. His face was like the sun, shining in its power." Have you ever seen anything like that? I haven't. It's kind of a strange thing to think this guy's got, and the particular sword here is a long, broad sword that's coming out of his mouth. I've seen sword swallowers, but this is coming out the other direction. Well, what does this mean? Now though they have symbolic meaning, it doesn't negate the reality of what he's seeing. This is what he's seeing. But what he's seeing does have some symbolic meaning here. Now the right hand is the hand of strength and authority to both rule and protect as conveyed in a lot of the Psalms. You look up right hand and you're just going to see that over and over again. The right hand is the hand of strength. And John sees the Son of Man, he has a firm hold of these stars, but he does not indicate here of whether the stars are above or below his hand. Whatever it is, he has a grip on them. They're under his control. Now think of these stars more in terms of pinpoints of bright light, like we would see if we look up at night to see the stars, what do we see? pinpoints a bright light. Don't think of this as some sort of supernatural gigantic thing that's holding gigantic incandescent balls of gas, you know. That's not what he's seeing. He's pinpointed light. They look like stars. He's holding his hand. Again, the meaning will be explained in verse 20. The next is this sharp, two-edged sword. It comes out of his mouth. This is a ramphaia. It's a large, broad sword of Thracian origin, and it was used for both slashing and piercing. It was an instrument of an aggressive attack by a soldier in war. This is not the short sword, which is a different word, machira. and that was used for personal defense, so like the ones I have there, so there's a shield, you can see these are big swords, not like a dagger or something. Same term is used in Revelation 2, 16, 19, 15, and 19, 21. In the latter two verses in chapter 19, this sword that comes out of his mouth is the means by which the King of Kings and Lord of Lords that comes riding on a white horse out of heaven is going to strike down the rebellious nations and kill the unrighteous. In Revelation 2.16 it's used as a warning that Christ is going to make and the term used there is war upon the unrepentant. So in each of these cases this is much more direct physical action than just a figure of speech referring to a sharp tongue. We have that usage in Scripture. Job 5.15, Psalm 59.7, Isaiah 49.2 are just examples of referring to the tongue as a sharp sword, but that's not what's being described here. Something much more dangerous. So what John sees here, it may have symbolic meaning, but it's important again to understand that to the best of his ability, he's giving a description of what he is seeing here and actually throughout the book. whether it matches anything in previous human experience or not now the third description verse 16 of the son of man is that his face was like the sun shining in his power now if you think back he said the eyes were like flames of fire so they had to be really bright to be noticed that way if the face is shining like the sun in his strength Now angels are often depicted with bright faces, Daniel 10, 6. That angel's face, quote, had the appearance of lightning. And no doubt though, that's probably not what John's thinking about here. He had seen Jesus in this way before. Over in Matthew 17, verses one through seven, we have the record of John being with Jesus at Jesus' transfiguration. That's immediately what would have come to his mind when he sees the face of this son of man. Matthew records this, six days later Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up on a high mountain by themselves. He was transfigured before him, his face shone like the sun, his garments became as white as light. Behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with him. Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah. And while he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them. And behold, a voice out of the cloud that said, this is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. When the disciples heard this, they fell face down on the ground and were terrified. And Jesus came to them and touched them and said, get up and do not be afraid. That's what would be in John's mind. One reason I can say that with great confidence is that this experience would have a lasting impression on anybody who had it, right? I mean, if you saw something about that, what are you gonna be talking about the rest of your life? John did. In 1 John, he makes a lot of references to Jesus and connecting Jesus to life, especially verse two. He goes on beyond just testifying, which he already had done, that he had seen Jesus with his own eyes, that he had touched him, and then he points out this, quote, the eternal life, a reference to Jesus, which was with the Father, was manifested to us. Manifested as he was made visible to us. He already said he saw him physically. This is referring to this transfiguration. So by this time, John knows who he's looking at, because he's seen this part before. And his reaction is the same that would be for any of us if you saw such glory. John states, Revelation 117, when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He passed out. Now I've said this before, but it's worth repeating. That is the common reaction of humans when they have an encounter with a supernatural being that gives a glimpse of their glory. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses' reaction was to hide his face. And that was just seeing a burning bush. When Isaiah only had a vision of heaven and of God on his throne, his response, quote, woe is me, I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips, my eyes have seen the king, Yahweh of hosts, unquote. Ezekiel had several encounters where he saw the glory of God and every single time he falls on his face. Ezekiel 1.28, 3.23, 43.4, and 44.4. bang, he's going down and you and I would do the same thing. Daniel did the same when Gabriel came to him in Daniel 8 and in Daniel 10 when he sees a vision of a different angel by the banks of Tigris River, he still had the same response, he fell. Passed out as a dead man. When the angel appeared to shepherds near Bethlehem to announce Jesus' birth, what were the shepherds response to that? Terribly frightened. or the old King James I think, sore afraid. When Saul was on the road to Damascus, Jesus appears to him in just a bright light. What did Saul do? On his face. And though we may entertain angels without knowing, it is stated in Hebrews 13 too, the common reaction if it's known, this is an angel and If there is any glory associated with that, there is fright and there is humility. You know you are dealing with a being that is far beyond you. And yet we find there's plenty of people who want to claim that they talk to angels, they've seen them, and they don't react in such a manner. If someone says that, then I think it's a warning sign. That's a false teacher. Don't follow them. Whatever they saw wasn't anything like this. but it is a way to intimidate people that I'm talking to angels and you're not. Well, just as at the transfiguration, Jesus intervenes to help John overcome this fear. Verse 17, the end of it, he placed his right hand on me saying, do not fear that actually isn't a command voice. He commanding him don't fear, but it's a command of comfort. It's a command of reassurance. Jesus then continues on, he gives a final description of himself and that makes his identification absolutely certain. I am the first and the last, the living one, I was dead and behold I am alive forever and ever and I have the keys of death and Hades. Only Jesus Christ fits that description. No one else. Now the declaration, I am the first and last, like the phrase is the alpha and the omega or the beginning and the end. It's a statement of totality that expresses divinity and is strengthened by the article. In other words, it says here, I am the first and the last, not I am first and last. Okay? There is nothing prior to him. There is nothing after him. It is a statement of being eternal. Yahweh uses this title for himself in Isaiah 41, 4, 44, 6, 48, 10, and then there's an elaboration on it in 43, 10, and 11, which I want to read to you. Isaiah 43, verse 10. You are my witnesses, declares Yahweh, and my servant whom I have chosen so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. before me there was no God formed and there will be none after me I even I am Yahweh and there is no Savior besides me so he is the first and he is the last the next statement I am the living one is also a declaration of deity the title living God is used 15 times in the Hebrew scriptures, 13 times in the Greek scriptures He is the living God, and that is a contrast between the self-existent God who has life in himself that created everything in six days, as stated in Genesis 1, and who continues to control all things, as Paul points out in Colossians 1, between him and the false gods. The false gods and nations were made by man and have no breath in them. Some of the prophets would mock these idol worshipers. Isaiah has a big section on that. You get this block of wood and you cut it in half and half of it you carve into an idol and you bow down and worship it and the other half you burn the fire and warm yourself and cook your food on it. Hezekiah's prayer in Isaiah 37 is interesting, because in it he acknowledges that Sennacherib, the Assyrian king who was coming out and destroying nation after nation after nation, had indeed taken the gods of those nations and thrown them in the fire. Because what were they? Idols. No breath, no life. but then as his prayer goes on he says but Sennacherib has now reproached the living God and so he pleads with the living God to deliver him which God does in a miraculous way how many angels does it take to take out an army? one, one angel took out 187,000 Syrian soldiers in one night didn't even tire him out that's the living God and that's what he controls life can only come from life and all life comes from God for he himself has life in himself and he gave that to Jesus the son who also has life in himself John 5 26 The declaration, I am the living one, is then immediately tied to the next declaration, that only fits Jesus. I was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. The grammar here, and if you like grammar, this is an eros middle indicative and a present active participle. All right, so you English majors, there's one of you here, and there's only one. He's happy, he knows what I just talked about, okay? For the rest of us, it means this is a state of existence that has followed, this is a statement about a single event in history that is followed by a statement of existence that continues on forever. during his earthly ministry Jesus raised quite a few people from the dead but they didn't remain alive they would die again Jesus resurrection from the dead to life was a permanent live life that is why first Corinthians 15 he's referred to as the first fruit of the resurrection In 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17 there's the promise that the dead in Christ will rise first. And then those who are alive and remain will be transformed and be caught up together with him to meet the Lord in the air and remain with him forever. The Christ is the first fruits. He was one who became dead is actually the way the phrase should be translated in a wooden sense. He became dead and then became alive forever and ever, actually age to age. Revelation 20 verses 4 through 6 talks about a future resurrection, be dealing with those who are martyred during that period of time, they'll be resurrected to life and the power of the second death, they will not be subject to it. That's the nature of our God. Jesus can resurrect because he was resurrected. Now the third declaration Jesus makes is dependent upon the first two. Because Jesus is a living one, because he is the one who became dead and is alive forevermore, he then proclaims, I have the keys of death and of Hades. Now keys are a common symbol of authority, either to lock somebody up or unlock it and let them out, right? Jesus has authority over both the state of death, and the place where the dead are held, Hades. Jesus made this claim in advance. In John chapter five, verses 28 and 29, Jesus said this, do not marvel at this. An hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come forth. Those who did the good deeds to resurrection of life and those committed the evil deeds to resurrection of judgment. now there's a marvelous truth for us who know Christ because there's comfort in this even as he expressed it in John 10 of being the good shepherd said my sheep hear my voice and I know them they follow me I give eternal life to them and they will never perish ever and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand, and I and my father are one." Jesus doesn't lose you. He's not going to drop you. No one can take you out of his hand, and you can't jump out either. Okay? You're secure, and he gives you eternal life. That is such a comfort to us, isn't it? And yet at the same time, there's a terror here that should strike the hearts of the unrighteous because we saw in our study of the judgment of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25 a few weeks ago. The sheep are put on the right, they receive everlasting life, but the goats are put on the left and they're condemned to eternal punishment. That terror, the truth of that terror should prod them to repent. Turn, change your mind, and seek God's forgiveness for sin that only comes through the Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's no doubt that the person that John saw was Jesus Christ in a glorified state. He then gives John a specific command and explanation of what he had seen. The command there is in verse 19, therefore write the things which you have seen, the things which are, the things which will take place after these things. And that is what John did, and he wrote the book of Revelation doing exactly that. It's divided up in those three categories. What was, what is, and what is going to come. And that's how you can divide it out. Chapter 1 is what was. These things had already passed. The time sequence had already moved past them. Chapter 2 and 3 is what is. It's a letter that's going to be written to each of these seven churches of their current spiritual state. There will be commendation and condemnation because that's where they are currently. And then the rest of the book is going to be these are the things that are going to come. These are things that will be in the future. And they all deal with Christ's return and the events that were before that, at it, and then after it. Because as the book ends, we move into the millennial reign and then to eternity. And that's how you can divide the book. So John was very faithful to do exactly what Jesus commanded him here. In verse 20, Jesus explains some of the symbolism. This is one of the things that I find interesting among commentators. A lot of times, the explanation's in the text, but they want to go to something else rather than what's in the text. I think we'll just stick with the text. If Jesus is going to explain the symbolism, I think he has the best understanding of it. Don't you? Okay? As for the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. So he understood, you don't understand what this means. You saw these things, now let me tell you what they mean. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, the seven lampstands are the seven churches. Now mystery is simply something that is hidden, something previously unknown. And Jesus here uncovers the mystery and makes known the meaning of the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands, which John has seen. And while the meaning is fairly straightforward, as seen in these last two sentences, a little further explanation might be a little helpful. The seven stars that John saw in Jesus right hand, which actually there's a different preposition used here. So now we know that it's now upon it. So the picture now being drawn is there upon his hand. So there in the palm of his hand up upright, whereas before he didn't say prepositions become little important things. So, right. Yeah. I have one English major going. Yeah, that's right. Okay. The rest of you who didn't pay attention to English, this is why you should. it actually carries a lot of meaning to it, so he's got them in the palm of his right hand, he's controlling them, he says these seven are seven angels or messengers, there's a debate in the commentary should this be transliterated as angel from the Greek word angelos, should be translated that and angels are messengers from God, that's why they have that term used for them, or is this something that should be translated as messenger, which means it's referring to messengers from or to the seven churches. Now since the stars, messengers, the angels, are going to receive a commendation and five of them receive rebukes in chapters two and three, that doesn't fit a messenger from God. Okay, angels are not going to be rebuked. Demons who are fallen angels will be, but these aren't demons. There would be different terminology we'd use there. So this is referring to messengers. In addition, we can look into scriptures and elsewhere we find that stars are used to represent either a teacher, either good or bad. Daniel 12.3 is a good teacher who's seen as a star. In Jude 13, well, they're wandering stars, they're bad teachers. But it's actually then referred to the same idea, same symbolism of referring to people who are messengers, people who are going to give some kind of message. So it makes a lot more sense. These are messengers who are representing these seven churches. Possibly a church leader, it doesn't have to be, but it is somebody respected in the church who's going to carry the message of revelation back to those churches. Now Jesus states directly here that each of the seven lampstands represents one of the seven churches. That's fairly direct then. So Jesus, or should say, so John sees that Jesus who controls the messengers in the midst of these lampstands signifying Jesus is about to dictate a particular message to these churches. He's the one in control. And we're going to examine each of those messages in the coming weeks. There's seven of them. We'll start with Ephesus next week in a general overview of what these messages are and how to interpret them. The main point I want you to leave here today is the glorious appearance and description of Jesus in this passage. People are comfortable with Jesus of Christmas. The world will celebrate Jesus in a manger. He poses no threat to anybody. He's a baby. People are also comfortable with the popular idea about Jesus and the Gospels. Which usually comes down to he's a good teacher, he's a philosopher of high ethics, he's a man meek and mild, little threat except to those very jealous Jewish religious leaders. Not a threat. I'll take that Jesus. But the reality here is explained. This is the resurrected Jesus Christ. He is glorious. He is exalted and has a description beyond anything near human. He is God incarnate. He holds all the attributes and prerogatives of God himself because he is God. He can be your friend. He cannot be your buddy. Because you have no equality with him. This is harder for us in America because we work so hard on this idea of equality. If you were in a nation where there's a king, you'd recognize there's a difference between you and royalty. The king might be your friend, but you're not a buddy of the king. It's all one way. It's because the king condescending to be your friend. And that's the way we really need to see this. It is God who has condescended to reach to us. And we often forget that. We are so casual. We tend to think of God just a buddy. He's just a guy we hang out with. No, no, no, no. This is the description of him. and He can be your Savior, He offers heaven and eternal life to those who repent and believe because that's where forgiveness comes in. That is God reaching out to you. You're only responding. Why do we love God? Because He first loved us, correct? But there's the other side of this as well. That description of a sword coming out of His mouth is a scary one. because he is also righteous, he is holy, he is just, he is the judge, and he will condemn all the unrighteous who refuse to repent. We all start off there, right? None of us come righteous, but he gives forgiveness to those who believe because he's already paid the price. But if there's a refusal to repent, it will be judgment. For those who have eternal life, love Him. That's the response we need to have to Him. Love Him. If that isn't where you're at, then fear Him. And you need to be trembling in your socks. This is who Jesus Christ is. This is what He actually looks like. This is His glory, this is His majesty, this is who He is. Keep that in mind as you seek to walk with Him. because it certainly goes a whole long way of giving you an understanding of the need to obey Him, to walk with Him, and for you to seek Him out. Let's pray. Father, thank you. Forgive us for how often we do take Christ to be something other than what He actually is. And so the reverence that should be there toward Him often is lacking. Father, thank you for this little glimpse. And we recognize it is a little glimpse. Father, glory and majesty described, there's nothing that we can really relate to because we've never seen it. I would have to believe that our lives would be radically changed in seeing something like this. It certainly seems that way. And in the past of people who've had these visions, but you've proclaimed it to us. So that should be enough that father, we would seek to glorify you, to glorify the sun, to glorify the spirit for who they actually are, for who you are. And father, not fall into the trap of a, a commonplace friendship that somehow we're equal. Father, that this majesty presented to us would motivate us in our own pursuit of holiness, motivate us in our own worship of being grateful For You created everything, saved us through the sacrifice of Christ, who radically changes us through the work of Your Spirit, are worthy of everything we have to offer and more. Glorify Yourself, Father, in us and through us, to the world, in Jesus' name, amen.