Please remain standing and turn to Revelation chapter 1 if you will. Revelation chapter 1. Last time we were in Revelation we started verses 9 through 20. We only got to verse 11. We will finish the chapter today. And we will begin with 12, verse 12. But it seems like as we're reading it, we might as well start with verse 9 and read to the end of the chapter beforehand. So please hear the word of God as I read Revelation chapter 1, verses 9 through 20, really the commissioning of John to write down as a prophet what then the rest of the book is going to be telling us. Verse 9, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. I love that verse. It really does set the stage for the whole book and for our life as Christians in the kingdom and 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. I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches, which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars. Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance, his face was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives, the living one, and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Therefore, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches. This is the word of God. May God by His Spirit teach us and convict us and mold us according to His will. Through His word, you may be seated. This will be our fourth sermon going through Revelation. In our first sermon, we looked at the first three verses of Revelation 1, which is a prologue or an introduction to the revelation of Jesus Christ. You might remember from those first three verses that it was given to John. It was to be a blessing to all those who read it. And it was about, quote, things which must shortly take place, verse 2. And that phrase, things which must shortly take place, harkens back to Daniel 2. We mentioned that back then. Daniel 2, you had the vision or the dream given to King Nebuchadnezzar about the image of gold and silver and bronze and iron and clay that represented the sequential kingdoms that would come and go, eventually to be destroyed as the kingdom of God comes and takes the place, if you will. And in that Daniel 2 passage, in verses 28, 29, and 45, we have things like this. that God in heaven reveals secrets or mysteries. Maybe you heard that word just a few moments ago. And He made known what will be in the latter days and what would come to pass after this. What would come to pass shortly after this. And the latter days prophesied by Daniel in chapter 2 are now about to be fulfilled or they're being fulfilled in the book of Revelation. The times of the final tribulation and establishment of Christ's kingdom between the first and second comings of Christ. And we said then that John is writing then what Daniel foresaw in the latter days to come to pass. Now God is bringing to shortly take place the inauguration of the time period that will eventually consummate in the glory and return and victory of Christ and His full kingdom. Then we looked at verses 4-8. We saw a greeting and a doxology and a prophecy. It was meant to be encouragement to the saint, but also evangelism for the sinner, which really mimics the purposes of the book of Revelation. It's to be encouragement to the saint, especially the persecuted saint, but evangelism for the sinner who needs Christ. And it's centered on the grace and peace of Christ. We've been hopefully memorizing some of those verses this month, verses 4-8. And in those five verses, verses 4-8, there were three assurances for both the prophecies of the book foundations to why you can trust what's being said, but also three assurances for the life of the Christian. We said it'd be the work of Christ, the one who died and rose, the firstborn from the dead, the return of Christ, he's coming with clouds, and the sovereignty of Christ, he's the Alpha and Omega, he's the first and last. And then last time, we started verses nine through 20, which we said was John being commissioned as a prophet, to write to the seven churches of Southwest Asia Minor with confidence based on Christ's position as a heavenly judge and priest and ruler of the church as a result of his victory over death. That's what we started last time. We only got through three verses, 9 through 11, and we looked at the life of John, which was the foundational setting and situation of John. What's he doing at Patmos? being held against His will. He's being persecuted Himself. And how does His commission come? Then we saw the life in the kingdom. The foundation of the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus. That's foundational for the book of Revelation. It's foundational for the Christian life. We further the kingdom of Christ through tribulation and perseverance. That's what we'll see. That's what we do. And then we sort of impromptu like We looked at the Lord's Day. This is on the Lord's Day. And that's also foundational to the Christian life. The Lord's Day Sabbath. We spoke of that last week. I thought about having a sermon entirely on that. Maybe you're sighing a bit of relief that I decided not to. But it's an important thing. And we ended our last sermon when we went through verses 9-11 with something like this. Speaking of the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus. This is how the kingdom is advanced. and how we reign as kings in it. We reign as kings through tribulation and perseverance as the kingdom advances. And we said that John in his faithful witness and endurance of tribulation on Patmos gives us an example and an encouragement. And as brethren and partners in this tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus, we are to do the same. And Christ's kingdom is advanced in that way And when He returns, His kingdom will be consummated in its fullness. That was the ending of last time we were in Revelation 1, verses 9-11. So today, we'll finish the commissioning of John with verses 12-20, and the vision of the Son of Man. We see the vision of the Lord amidst His lampstands. Beal says this follows the typical pattern of Old Testament visions given to prophets and others. And so it's fitting that what you see here with a New Testament book that relies on Old Testament imagery throughout, that it has a pattern of visions given to someone like you'd see in the Old Testament. And the pattern would go like this. You'd have the initial vision. That's 12-16. If you want to write in an outline, it's not in your bulletin this week. That would be the first point. Verses 12-16 is the initial vision given. We'll see one like the Son of Man. We'll see lampstands and a Lord in their midst. But then, after the initial vision is given, then you see a response to that vision. That's in verse 17. And it usually goes like what we see with John. What did John do? was afraid and he fell at the feet of Jesus as dead. So you have the initial vision. Then you have the response to that vision. And then after that, there's an interpretation of that vision, which is what we see in verses 17 through 20. So we have the initial vision, the response to that vision, and then the interpretation of the vision by the one giving the vision in the first place. We see the same thing, I think, in Daniel chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 10. Daniel being such an important book to Revelation and to this first chapter. So that's the pattern we'll follow to walk through these verses. The initial vision, the response to the vision, and the interpretation of that vision. And so we look at the initial vision in verses 12 through 16. We see one like the Son of Man. We're going to see two things. Lampstands. And then the Lord amidst the lampstands. And obviously most of the time is spent on the Lord in the midst of the lampstands. Look at verse 12 as we see the initial vision. The first thing that John sees is this, that I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. Is there anything odd about that? Turning to see the voice? I think the way this is worded, it emphasizes the authority and the person behind this voice. So he turns to see the voice that spoke these things. Who is this? I don't care about the voices. Who is this person? So he turns. And having turned, he doesn't first of all see the Lord, he sees the seven golden lampstands, which I think is important. The seven golden lampstands. Now we can do things out of order and recognize that if you do look at the interpretation of the vision at the last few verses, the lampstands are the churches. The seven lampstands are the seven churches. It represents the individual churches being written to, but it represents the universal church. This is to all of the church. And so you have this glorious picture of Christ, the Lord, in the midst of His churches, His presence, His care there. And what's being shown here, along with verse 4, I think it was, where you have the seven spirits before the throne. And so you have that as well put in context with verse 12. This is referring to Zechariah chapter four. You might turn if you'd like to look at a couple of verses there in Zechariah chapter four. What John is seeing here is something that's connecting with Zechariah chapter four. And so it's helpful to know what was going on in Zechariah chapter four. It's something that you will carry through later in the book of Revelation as well. In Zechariah chapter four, I'll start at verse two just to save some time. The other thing is that the temple needs to be built, and they're having trouble building the temple, and the Israelites aren't being so faithful. They need help. Well, there's going to be help through the Spirit to do so. So in verse 2, the angel is actually speaking to Zechariah and says, And so I said, I'm looking and there's a lampstand. Notice there's one. There's seven in Revelation. There's a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it. And on the stand, seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. And two olive trees are by it. One at the right hand of the bowl and the other at its left. Then there's some conversation there. Do you know what that means? No, I don't know what it means. Can you tell me? This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. I think G.K. Beale summarizes this very well what's going on here and in relating it to Revelation in a wonderful way. In Zechariah 4, the lampstand with the seven lamps is a synecdoche. It's always hard to say that. A synecdoche. The lampstand with the seven lamps is a synecdoche. It means the part represents the whole. And the lampstand is part of what? It's part of the temple. And so when you have the lampstand that's part of the temple, it's representing the whole temple that needs to be built. And by extension, the lampstand which represents the temple also represents faithful Israel in Zechariah chapter four, that by God's spirit will be used to obey and to build the temple. In the tabernacle or in the temple in the Old Testament, the lampstand with its seven lamps stood in the holy place. Before the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, remember, there is a veil between those things. And so in the holy place, you had the lampstand alongside of the bread of God's presence. And the light from the lamps represented the presence or the glory of God right next to the Holy of Holies, but in the holy place. And in Zechariah, the seven lamps represent the power of the spirit, which will give the people of Israel the lampstand, the power by which to rebuild the temple against their own weakness, against the hostilities and the persecution, the hindrances of the world that they had to deal with. So now you relate that to John in Revelation chapter one. The seven lampstands both represent the individual churches in the universal church. And the church is a continuation of true Israel, the Israel of God, Galatians chapter six, is to draw power from the spirit, the seven lamps that we've already mentioned in Revelation 1, 4, and we'll see later in the book of Revelation, as it seeks to build the new temple of God, the church, the kingdom of Christ against its own weakness and against the hostilities and persecution and hindrances of the world. In chapter 1 of Revelation, we've already seen the seven spirits before the throne pointing towards us. We already see that He who loved us and washed us from our sins by His own blood, that we might be a kingdom of priests, which harks back to Exodus 19.6, the prophecy that there will be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, which is what the church fulfills. When you put these things together, the point is that Christ will build His church His new temple by the power of the Spirit with the foundation of His death and resurrection, which we've seen already in Revelation chapter 1, and during the time between the first and second comings of Christ, during the time that Revelation represents. You might wonder, there's one lampstand in Zechariah, there's seven in Revelation, why would that be? Well, we've now moved from one nation to the universal church, which is not limited to one nation, but it's to all peoples. So it makes sense that we escalate from one to seven, from Zechariah to Revelation chapter one. So we have the golden lampstands representing the churches of Christ with Christ in the midst, because then we turn to verse 13 after seeing the lampstands. Now we see in verses 13 through 16 where most of the focus should be, where our focus should be. The Lord in the midst of the lampstands in v. 13-16. So in v. 13 we read, in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the Son of Man clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band or sash. Now John can see the voice that spoke with him. Now he sees Him The Son of Man is in the midst of the lampstands, sovereignly caring for the lampstands, cherishing them, nourishing them. Think of Ephesians chapter 5, protecting them, purifying them. The Lord is in the midst of the lampstands. And in verse 13, when it speaks of clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band, it seems to largely represent heavenly high priest clothing. We see the clothing that's that of a heavenly high priest. It represents the priesthood of Christ in the midst of his people. It's a beautiful picture. With the earthly temple, which we'll talk about in study hour, by the way, the priest was responsible to tend to the lamps in the lamp stands. He'd be trimming the wicks, replacing the old oil with new, filling the empty ones, relighting the lamps that maybe had gone out, carefully caring for the lampstands. And here what we have in Revelation chapter 1 is Christ tending to his lampstands, Beal says, by commending, correcting, exhorting and warning them. And think of Revelation chapters 2 and 3. What are we going to see in the next two chapters? We're going to see Christ among the lampstands doing this thing, commending, correcting, exhorting and warning in order to secure the church's fitness for service as lightbearers in a dark world. is trying to trim and care for the churches that they might continue to shed the light of the presence and glory of God through Christ by the Spirit in a dark world that wants no part of it. It's a beautiful picture, isn't it? You have the high priest among the lampstands caring for them. And those lampstands are the churches. I think as well, though, even In v. 13, you have clothing that doesn't just look like high priestly clothing, it also looks like royal clothing. And then you attach that with v. 14-16, you see someone who's not just a heavenly high priest, but he's the heavenly King and Judge over the churches, but over all things. So if you look on with v. 14-16, And remember, in verse 13, he's one that was like the Son of Man. That will be key. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass or bronze, as if refined in a furnace. And his voice is the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was like the sun, shining in its strength. This is not the same Jesus that we unfortunately see on pictures painted, the kind, gentle Jesus with a lamb in his hand and patting children on the head. That's fine to have a lamb in your hand and pat children on the head, but here you have the glorified Christ who's the ruler and king over all. And the idea of being one like the Son of Man then purposely makes you think of Daniel chapter seven, And in fact, the description of Christ in verses 13 through 16 clearly are coming from Daniel 7 and Daniel 10. Daniel is a very important book for Revelation, certainly for the first chapter. And Daniel 7 and Daniel 10 are also in the context of the kingdoms coming and going one by one until eventually they all fall in the kingdom of God rules. If you look at Daniel 7 verses 13 and 14, I think you'll see some things that look just like what we're talking about in Revelation 1. In Daniel 7, verses 13 and 14, I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man, that's pretty close to the same thing we just saw, coming with the clouds of heaven, speaking of Christ's ascension on high as a victorious king, he came to the Ancient of Days, which would be God the Father. And it's interesting, the Ancient of Days described as one who has a garment that's white as snow, and he has hair that's like wool. He's on a fiery throne, sitting on his throne in judgment. And some of the descriptions of Jesus and what we just read in Revelation 1 actually refers to that. But here in Daniel 7, he's not the Ancient of Days. He's the one who comes in clouds. He came to the Ancient of Days. and they brought Him near before Him. And then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, and all peoples and nations and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away in His kingdom, the one which shall not be destroyed. And then in Daniel 10, verses 5 and 6, I lifted up my eyes and I looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, His eyes like torches of fire, His arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sounds of His words like the voice of a multitude." I think from these two passages you have the bulk of what's being described of Jesus in verses, especially 13-16. As you walk through Revelation 1, verses 14 and following, it says, His hair was like wool, It's interesting that actually is reminiscent of the ancient of days in Daniel, chapter seven, verse nine, which I think is purposeful. Christ is the Lord God Almighty. He is the judge that sits on the throne. He is fully God as the ancient of days is. Verse 14, the second part, he has eyes that are like the flame of fire. And following the reference to the Ancient of Days that he's like the Ancient of Days, this is a metaphor for judgment, his eyes being like a flame of fire. He sees all and he knows all. And he has a constant presence amidst his churches, and he knows their spiritual condition. He knows your spiritual condition for judgment or for blessing. We see in Revelation Chapter 2, with the corrupt church of Thyatira, his eyes are like a flame of fire and his feet are like fine brass. And he says, I know your works. So he comes to purify his church with eyes like flaming fire, but also to judge the world and to vindicate his people against those who are attempting his people to compromise. He's there to protect us and to vindicate us. In v. 15, He has feet like brass refined in a furnace. I think that speaks of His foundational moral purity by which He can judge and the purity that He exhorts His churches to be like. He has a voice as the sound of many waters. I think that's directly from Ezekiel 43 where the Almighty comes to His temple. is the sound of many waters, shows His authority and His sovereignty as the Almighty. Then in verse 16, in His right hand are seven stars. Now we're going to dabble in the interpretation part that comes at the end, just to do it that way. It says in verse 16, He had in His right hand seven stars. What are those seven stars? Well, we know that from v. 20 down below, those seven stars says angels in New King James. The word behind it really means messengers. It can be angels, or it could be pastors, it could be individuals who are messengers. Certainly, we're telling these messengers to take these letters to your churches. And I'm really not sure which it is. I lean toward it being the pastors of the churches, the leaders of the churches, But I'm not really sure. And a great number of good men and better men would hold the other view that these actually are angels. And the reason they would say angels would be because over 60 times in the book of Revelation the same word is used and it's clearly angels. That's predominantly what it means in the book of Revelation. So it would make sense that he's saying angels here. And if so, it could be that there are angels that are identified per church. Have an association. These angels themselves are representing the individual churches, the angels that oversee and are servants of the local churches, representing that church. And if that's the case, then what's going on here, there's some encouragement that The church seems to be earthbound right now, but the angels of the churches would indicate that, no, there's a heavenly aspect of our worship. There's a heavenly aspect of our service. There's a heavenly aspect of our union with Christ. And those stars are in the Lord's right hand under his control as well. And so it gives encouragement that way. Yet John often uses the same word in many different ways in his writings. It's not uncommon for John to use a word that's commonly one way, but then to use it another way else in another place. And for my part, it seems odd to address the letters of the churches to angels and not human messengers. If you look in chapters 2 and 3, it's always to the angel or the messenger of this church. The writing of it seems to be that whoever this messenger is that's being told these things, that's supposed to receive this letter, is actually rebuked along with the church that's being represented, which seems awkward to me. If it's an angel, it would be rebuked. And so in my mind, it makes more sense for the messengers to be the pastors of the church who are commissioned by Christ and sent by Christ to His churches. He holds them in His hand. He's the ultimate authority. We might talk about it more later because we'll have chance to in chapters 2 and 3. But I think the point at this point now, the thing that we need to look at at this point is notice what that star is doing. It's in His right hand. It's in His hand of authority and sovereignty. I think the main point is that He controls His churches Christ is in charge of His churches. Whether it be the angels that are overseeing or the leaders of the churches, it's still the churches that He holds in His right hand that shows His sovereignty, and in particular, His sovereignty over the churches themselves. And so then you see in v. 16, the second part, "...and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword." And we'll see this again in chapter 2 and chapter 19. just like the piercing eyes will be seen later for condemning things going on in the church, but also condemning the nations for their sin. You see the same thing with out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword. I think what it represents though is Christ being both judge and prophet. That two-edged sword divides. You think of Hebrews 4. It divides and separates and it judges. But it's also the sword of a prophet. In Revelation, Chapter 2, when the letter is written to Pergamos, the compromising church, that same phrase is used to judge the disobedience in the church. That same phrase is used in chapter 19 to judge the world because of their sin and their evil against the church. It's a sharp, two-edged sword of judgment, but it's also a sharp, two-edged sword of a prophet. In Isaiah 49.2, which is likely where it's pulled from, It's speaking of the coming servant, the Lord Jesus Christ, and His preaching. And His preaching can bring death, it can bring life. And then finally, in verse 16, at the end, His countenance or his face was like the sun shining in its strength. It's interesting we just read it has the idea that he is so brilliant that you can you look into the sun. Maybe if you have those goofy little little cardboard things you can see the eclipses and not not ruin your retinas. We've done that recently perhaps. But it's not a good thing to look into the sun, or you have the full bit of snow on the ground in the winter, and then the sun comes out, and it blinds you, especially when you wake up in the morning. It has that kind of idea about the brilliance of Christ himself, and even thinking of Christ in the Mount of Transfiguration. And when he was on earth, it's like he peeled back his humanity so that his disciples could see his glory for just a moment. But it's also interesting that the wording here in verse 16 really seems to be mimicking Judges 5 verses 31, which speaks about a victorious Israelite soldier. And so you put that together and you see that Christ is the ideal end-time messianic warrior who will conquer and make all things right. We've just spent a bunch of time looking at all the details. William Hendrickson writes that the description of Jesus must be taken in its entirety. Maybe we shouldn't be looking at all the details. We need to look at the whole picture. And so William Hendrickson says, notice that the Son of Man is here pictured as clothed with power and majesty and with awe and terror. That long royal robe, that golden belt buckled at the breast, that hair so glistening white that like snow on which the sun is shining, it hurts the eye. Those eyes flashing fire, eyes which read every heart and penetrate every hidden corner. Those feet glowing in order to trample the wicked. That loud reverberating voice like the mighty breakers booming against the rocky shore of Patmos. You think of the situation of John being on an island with maybe the waves hitting the shore, and now you're talking about the mighty waters of the voice of the Lord. That sharp, long, heavy, great sword with two biting edges. That entire appearance as the sun shines in its power, too intense for human eyes to stare at. The entire picture, taken as a whole, is symbolic of Christ, the Holy One. Coming to purge His churches. And we'll see that in chapter 2. and to punish those who are persecuting his elect. We'll see that in the book of Revelation as well. I think it's good to see the whole picture, don't get lost in all the details. This is the Christ who's redeemed us, who guarantees our salvation, who when he asks us to do whatever it might be, we should have no fear whatsoever in following because he is in charge. Richard Phillips took another tact in describing these things. He said, this is a picture of the Lord in the midst of the lampstands. It's God with us. It shows us, first of all, Christ's care for the church and his tending the lampstands. And we talked about that. It shows us Christ's rule over his church, his authority, his sovereignty, and his purity. It shows Christ's judgment of his church. The double-edged sword is both to save and to judge. It shows Christ's power for His church, that by His Spirit He empowers us to witness and to show the light of Christ. That light that the church emanates represents the presence and the glory of God, giving light in the darkness of the world that hates Christ and loves her sin. And he lastly said it shows Christ's presence in the midst of the churches. It's a beautiful thing. Christ walks among the churches, and His presence is the only basis for our unity, and our encouragement, and our comfort, and our power. That's the lampstands, but then the Lord of the lampstands. So that was the initial vision in verses 12 through 16. Now we see the response, which will be really short. If you look at verse 17, the response to the vision You could summarize it in one thing. Fear. That's the normal pattern when you come before a vision, but it's also a normal pattern when you come before the holiness of God. I'm a dead man. I think of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 6. You think of Daniel in chapter 8 and Daniel chapter 10. It's the normal pattern for visions like this. The prophet receives a vision, then he responds, and he usually responds like this in verse 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. Woe is me, I am undone. Who am I to stand before you?" But then also what usually happens with the vision and the response and then the interpretation, then the giver of the vision comforts and strengthens the one receiving the vision. before giving him more information and interpretation. And that's what we'll see at the end. I think one thought that comes to mind when you're looking at the response of John as in the rightful response of John to Jesus in all of his glory. The vision of the son of man and John's reaction should cause us to rethink our casual attitude towards Christ. Certainly in our daily time with him in the Word and prayer, but what about in worship? The vision of the Son of Man and John's reaction should cause us to rethink our casual attitude toward the worship of God on the Lord's Day Sabbath. Maybe we should think about these things and be prepared for worship and be prompt to worship and be appropriately externally and internally dressed to be ready to worship with worship of Christ being the focus and the awe and with sobriety and with joy, the focus and awe and sobriety and joy that our risen, glorified Son of Man, Lord of the lampstands deserves. And that we have the great privilege to come freely before Him, before the throne of grace and before Him to worship as His people. Maybe we should rethink our casualness of being at worship and how we're prepared to worship. But then we look at the rest of this passage from verses 17 through 20. And we've already done some interpreting, so this will be shorter than, or quicker than most. But generally you have then the interpretation of vision after you have this reaction. What we'll see most of all, we're looking at this, we're going to look at the comfort and the credentials and the commission given to John. The comfort and the credentials and the commission given to John in these passages. We've already done most of the interpreting anyway, so we can jump to that instead. In verse 17, when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But, remember what we just read about Christ as the One like the Son of Man? But, He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid. What a compassionate Lord of Glory Savior we have. He lays his right hand on John. He's still the God, man, and savior forever, which boggles our mind. The same right hand that holds the stars, that shows his sovereign control over all things, is the right hand that places it on his shoulder. I even think about placing his hand on the head of John. I think of with the sacrifices of the animals in the Old Testament system where the priest would lay their hands on the head of the animal and transfer in a sense his sin and the sin of his people to that lamb and that lamb would be put to death. Here you have the the eternal lamb of God who had the sins of his people placed on his head. Now with his sovereign hand, he places his hand on John. He says, don't be afraid. And then he speaks to him. It's just like our compassionate savior to speak to his servants, words of kindness and encouragement to condescend to the level of the comfort and to speak to them. But what does he say? Do not be afraid. We hear that all the time. I am the first and the last. We've seen this before. I'm the beginning and the end. I'm the Alpha and Omega. We've seen it before even in Revelation 1. First and the last has to take you back to Isaiah where several times this is spoken of Lord God Almighty in Isaiah 41.4 and Isaiah 44.6 and 48.12. Speaks of the one who's the first and the last. Who's sovereign and who's God. And there is no other. And now Jesus is saying I am the first and the last. It's just like earlier we said he's the Alpha and the Omega of verse 8. It's a figure of speech that involves stating the polar opposites, the first and the last, to highlight everything in between those opposites as well he has sovereign control over. It's not just he put it in the beginning and now he's sitting back waiting for the end to happen. No, he controls all of it from the first to the last. It's a way of saying there's nothing that this Christ is not sovereign over. He's the beginning and the end of history. His presence is throughout and his rule is over all the events in between history, and in particular in ruling his churches. Christ is the force behind history, causing it to fulfill all his purposes. What a comfort it is to John and to his audience and to us during persecution that he's the first and the last. what an encouragement it is to obey. And when you wait on the Lord in time of trouble, it doesn't mean you're sitting back and you're obeying and you're doing what you're called to do. But you can do it with great encouragement to be a witness for Christ without fear, because what can happen? He is in charge. And then in v. 18, yes, He's the first and the last. He says, I am He who lives, or I'm the living One. I like that phrase. Some of your translations say, I'm the living One, and was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore. He's sovereign. He's the first and last, but he's the sovereign savior. I'm the one who is the living one. I was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. He's sovereign over history, but he's also sovereign over life and death. And this mimics what we've already seen before, speaking of both the father and the son. This is the one who is and who was and who is to come. Do you see the tripartness of this? I'm the living one. I was dead and behold, I'm alive forevermore. It mimics what's being said about God the Father in Daniel chapter 12 and Deuteronomy 32. He's the one who lives forever. Christ is God. And Beal says something I think is marvelous. Jesus' death and resurrection was an integral working out of the divine purposes in history. Jesus' death and resurrection was an integral working out of the divine purposes in history and established that he himself was guiding this history. He's sovereign over all things and center to that history that he's guiding all things for his purposes and for his glory is the fact that he died and he rose and he lives forever. This also gives great comfort for the saint. What do I have to fear? He's the one who's in charge of life and death and encouragement to be a witness and to tell others of the living one. You need this living one. You who are dead in your sins. And then he says, and I have the keys to Hades and of death. I have the keys to Hades and of death in verse 18. He's sovereign over life and death because he conquered death as the Son of Man who's the Son of God. He's the firstborn from the dead we saw in verse 5. He was once in death's grip, but he not only was set free from that, but he has power to determine who else will be set free from death. Do you get it? He has keys to life and death. If you're redeemed by the one who was once dead but now lives and has keys to death, you don't have anything to fear, whether it be death or suffering itself, to live is Christ and to die is gain, which is what we were just saying not long ago. He's the sovereign Savior over death. He controls death and judgment. Those are the credentials. You have the comforting of the Son of God, placing his hand on John, saying, don't be afraid, and speaking to him. Then you have the credentials. He gives the credentials in verses 17 and 8. This is why you must believe what I'm telling you, my commissioning to you. This is who I am. I'm the first and the last. I'm one who lives, and I have the keys to Hades and of death. Listen to me. Write down this prophecy, you're being commissioned, there's nothing to doubt. That's his credentials, his divine credentials he gives John for his commissioning. And then in verses 19 and 20, you have again a reissuing of the commission to John where he says, I think therefore should be here. Therefore, because of all of this, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. You have that repeated, the things will take place after this. Daniel chapter two. The mystery of the seven stars. The mystery, just like in Daniel chapter 2, this is a God who reveals secrets and mysteries. The mystery of the seven stars, which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels, the messengers of the seven churches. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches, which we've already interpreted that. Sorry, I jumped ahead. But that would be the final understanding interpretation for John. But verse 19 is key. Based on who Christ is and his powers over death, as the sovereign priest, king, prophet, judge, and savior. In verse 19, he's basically restating what he says in verse 1. He says, write the things which will take place after this. That's basically what he's saying in verse 19. And he says three things. The first thing is really, write these things which you have seen. That's his opening statement. And the question is, well, what things? the things which are, and the things which will take place after this." Write these things, the things which are, and the things which take place after this. The overall point is that the whole book of Revelation is speaking of things past, present, and future. There's going to be things to be writing down about what you're seeing, about things that are, and things that will be. Throughout the whole book of Revelation, perhaps what he's saying is in the next two chapters, although there are no chapters when he was writing these things down, The things which are could emphasize chapters two and three, the things with the churches today. And then the rest of it would be the things which will take place after this. And again, the idea of taking place after this is just merely the things that take place at the end of what Daniel saw in his vision with the coming of the kingdom, which represents the latter days between the first and the second coming of Christ. And the mystery revealed reminds us of Daniel chapter 2. God reveals secrets in his visions. Again, with the seven stars and the lampstands referring to the messengers and the churches. If you go even into chapter 2 verse 1. is to the angel of the messenger of the church of Ephesus, right? These things, he says, who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. So we transition quite nicely into chapter 2 with what was just explained in verses 19 and 20. I want to close with two thoughts, one for the non-Christian and one for the Christian. For those who are outside of Christ, Understand that what you see in Revelation chapter 1 is Christ portrayed as the glorious, sovereign, authoritative judge that he is. This is descriptive who Christ is far more than the wrongfully made images of Christ that are painted or created. You can't describe who Christ is with artwork. So don't do it. Go to the Word of God which describes him and paints the pictures of him perfectly. in his glorious, sovereign, authoritative way as the judge. Christ is God who became man to propitiate the wrath of sinners and to impute righteousness to them, those who'd repent and place their faith in him. He suffered the grips of death and is the firstborn from the dead, and now he's eternally the living one who has the keys to death. And for those who remain in their sin, who refuse to repent and place their faith in this Christ, they will suffer, and rightfully so, the full extent of their unrepentant sin against a holy God, and the full extent of their rejection of the greatest gift in love and sacrifice by God, which was the life and death of his Son. And for those who refuse to come before him and fall, John fell in fear. As a believer, you need to fall in fear that you might believe. For those who refuse to do so, there will be a piercing eye that will see and a two-edged sword that will pierce. And the gates of death, eternal death of hell, will be opened for you. And it will be closed behind you permanently if you're outside of Christ. So won't you instead fall before the Son of Man Savior now in repentance and faith? So that rather than judgment, you'll find the love of Christ, He who loved us and washed us from our sin with His own blood to make us kings and priests before His God and Father. Wouldn't it be better to fall before Him in this way, in repentance and faith? and fall before the one who then would lay his hand on you and say, do not fear, you are mine. We urge you to come to Christ if you've not so done. For believers, my brethren, remember the Lord is in the midst of his lampstands. God with us means God with us. He's still with us. Christ cares for his church. He tends to our lampstands and rejoicing us Christ rules over his church and his authority and his sovereignty and his purity. Christ judges his church, his double-edged sword comes both to purify, to condemn, but also to save. Christ has power for his church by his spirit to empower us to witness and to show the light of Christ forth. It's very easy to show the light of Christ in the darkness of the world in which we live. In Christ's presence. is with the church. It's the only basis for our unity in the church and our comfort in the church. With these comforts and credentials and the Great Commission, John was given a commission, but we as the church are given the Great Commission. Let us trust Christ and stand, strive and suffer for the sake of the gospel, as Philippians 1 would say. Out of love for Christ and looking for his glory, but out of love for our neighbor, may we go forth with the comfort credentials and great commission of Christ. Let us pray. Dear Heavenly Father, I do thank you for your word. We thank you even more so for what the picture of your word that it paints in Christ Jesus and reminded of his person from all eternity past. He's the Son of Man, the Son of God. Son of Man doesn't merely emphasize his humanity, but emphasizes his deity as the Messiah who would come and conquer all things. Yet he did become man to do so, to be like us, to redeem us from our sins, and to give us his righteousness, and to give us his spirit, and to be able to call us brothers, and empower us then to serve him and to live for him. And that right hand that holds all things also holds his people, and we can in no way jump out of that hand. And we praise you for this. Help us to love Christ more. Help us to bow before him and be in awe of him even more. Make us more and more like him. And Lord, that we would take the comfort and the credentials and the commission of Christ that you've given us seriously. and have it be integral to our lives and also integral to our joy and our purpose in life. I do pray for those who are outside of Christ. What more can be said? Here is the fullness of who Christ is and he is returning and there'll be final judgment and all things will be made right and all sinners will indeed be locked up by the one who has the keys to Hades and death. We beg of you, Lord, that you would move upon the hearts of those who are in our midst, those in our families, those in our workplace, those in our neighborhoods, Lord, who are outside of Christ, change their hearts, convict them of their sin, Lord, that they might then turn from their sin and place their faith in Christ Jesus. Be able to say whether I live or die, it doesn't matter. Christ is life to me and death is more of him. And we pray, Lord, that would be true for our loved ones. You're a good and gracious God to us. We thank you, we praise you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.