A Revelation of the Exalted Christ
Preached by Luke Johnson
December 29, 2013
Introduction
Jesus Christ is Lord. He is right ruling from God’s right hand. In the context of Community Evangelical Free Church, I hope that we’ll have basic agreement about that. But not everyone throughout the world acknowledges this truth today—emphasis on the word “today.” One day the reality of the lordship of Jesus Christ will be universally confessed. Scripture tells us that every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Some will acknowledge His authority with joy, knowing Him as Lord and Savior, and others with fear, knowing Him as Lord and Judge. But He is Lord. He is king. He reigns with all authority in heaven and on earth.
Now we see the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ expressed in a number ways throughout the Scriptures. God’s word reveals the Jesus as a Lion and a Lamb, as Savior and Lord, as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, the Bread of Life, the Resurrection and the Life, the Good Shepherd, the True Vine, the Word of God, and the Messiah, the Anointed One. And all who love the Savior will be drawn to know more of who He is and what He has accomplished for them.
And one of the ways to summarize Jesus’ activity as Redeemer is in His fulfillment of the Scriptural roles of Prophet, Priest, and King. And this is a very biblical way to think about the work of Christ. I’ve even used this when teaching kids at the youth center I work at. Let me give a few examples of where we find this in Scripture.
In Acts 3, Peter proclaimed Christ as the fulfillment of God’s promise in Deuteronomy 18 to raise up a prophet like Moses from among the people. And God would put His words in the prophet’s mouth, and the people must listen to Him.
In the book of Hebrews, we see Christ held out as our great High Priest, superior to the priests of old, offering a better and a final sacrifice, which makes believers perfect in conscience and obtained their eternal redemption.
And in the book of Matthew and the book of Revelation, we find a special emphasis on the kingship of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s something we’ll see this morning in Revelation 1.
Throughout church history, many believers have taught, celebrated, and found comfort in knowing Jesus as our prophet, priest, and king.
In the Heidelberg Catechism, written in the sixteenth century, we find the following question and answer:
Q. Why is he called “Christ,”meaning “anointed”?
A. Because he has been ordained by God the Father and has been anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our chief prophet and teacher who fully reveals to us the secret counsel and will of God concerning our deliverance; our only high priest who has delivered us by the one sacrifice of his body, and who continually pleads our cause with the Father; and our eternal king who governs us by his Word and Spirit, and who guards us and keeps us in the freedom he has won for us.
The Heidelberg Catechism »
Francis Turretin, a seventeenth century reformed theologian, summarized how this threefold ministry of Christ meets the multifaceted need of mankind in sin:
The threefold misery of humanity resulting from sin (that is, ignorance, guilt, and the oppression and bondage of sin) required this threefold office. Ignorance is healed through the prophetic office, guilt through the priestly, and the oppression and bondage of sin through the kingly.
Francis Turretin on the Threefold Office of Christ »
Now that’s gospel hope. Christ is a whole savior for whole sinners.
Without Christ, each one of us is blind and walks aimlessly through life, living in the wrong direction. We stand guilty before God, and we’re enslaved to the sin which blinds us and condemns us.
Since that’s the reality of our condition, we obviously need something different than the old “believe in yourself” message. When we were told as children, “you can do anything you set your mind to,” it was a lie. You’re not the solution. You’re the problem!
But God has provided the solution. God has come to the rescue in the person of His Son.
Christ, not self, is the center of all Christian hope.
Now we’re going to turn to the book of Revelation and look at some of what God has revealed about Christ in His present kingship and exalted glory, and how Christ as reigning king provides hope and an anchor for His people.
The book of Revelation was written towards the end of the first century. In Revelation 1:1, we see that this book is written and recorded by John, whom most Christians have understood to be the apostle John. And it was written while he was in exile. He was a proclaimer of the greatest message ever preached in the world, which was also the most controversial message ever proclaimed in the world. And he summarized the content of that message as “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus,” as we’ll see in our passage today. And He received a revelation and message from the Lord to communicate to churches who were also undergoing persecution. So that’s a little bit of the background of the book of Revelation.
Revelation 1
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”[b]
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”[c]
So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[d] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
What is the book of Revelation?
Revelation
First word in the Greek text, apocalypsis, from which we get the word apocalypse
Revealing/disclosing - Christ is making known to His people what otherwise would not be known apart from His revealing it.
We see in verse 1 that this book is a revelation that God gave to Christ to show to His bondservants the things that must soon take place. And in this book, John testifies to what he sees, what is (that’s from John’s vantage point), and what would come.
Jesus Christ/Messiah
King and Savior promised to God’s people
“bondservant”/slave
Literally the word for a slave. Often translated as bondservant so as to not carry over some of the connotations that come with the word slave in our country.
While NT slavery was primarily economic rather than racial, a slave does refer to a person who is owned by a master. And this is one of the ways in which the Bible describes the relationship believers have with Christ.
1 Corinthians 7:22 says: “He who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’s freedman; likewise he who was called while free is Christ’s slave.”
The NT can describe our relation to Christ in as affectionate terms as a wife’s relationship to a husband and in as authoritative terms as a slave’s relationship to a master. The one describes Christians’ unlimited intimacy with our Savior. The other describes His unlimited lordship over us.
So the word slave/bondservant tells us that the Lord Christ has ownership of our lives. But it also tells us something else. Referring to Christians as servants or slaves of Christ tells us that Christians actually do serve Him. There is no such thing as a genuine Christian who does not serve and follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:7-8 says, “For not one of us lives for Himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
“must soon take place”
Some of the things which must soon take place refer to John’s immediate context (the church in Smyrna is told in chapter 2: “the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.”
But the Bible can also refer to more distant events as “at hand” or “near” - James 5:8: “The coming of the Lord is near.” And Revelation speaks of this.
This revelation, this book, is disclosing the coming suffering and overcoming of God’s people, the return of Christ, and even the Lord Jesus’ present reign over all things. It provides a stable hope through difficult experiences.
Blessing
All of Scripture brings a blessing with it to those who both hear and heed God’s word.
Luke 11:28: Jesus says, “…blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.”
James 1:25: “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”
And yet the book of Revelation announces a particular blessing upon those who read and hear and heed the words of the prophecy because the time is near.
So pay attention! Take heed to what is said in this book. Go home and read the rest of it. Believe its promises and follow its commands. Gaze on the glory of Jesus Christ.
Blessings from our Triune God
1:4-5: “John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and 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.”
Essentially, John’s greeting here to the churches is grace to you and peace from our Triune God. The only ultimate source of grace and peace is the living God. And John was a bondslave and an apostle of the one true God, the Creator of heaven and earth. And the God who is, who has revealed Himself to man, has revealed Himself in three distinct persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each One fully God and worthy of worship.
And all three persons of the godhead are involved in creation, in redemption, and in the fellowship which God has with His people. And that being the case, John gives the blessing that He does here in verses 4 and 5.
It seems here that John is referring to the Father, “Him who is and who was and who is to come,” and the Holy Spirit, “the seven spirits who are before His throne,” and the Son, “Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.”
The phrase, “the seven spirits who are before His throne,” is an interesting one, and people have offered various interpretations. But given that seven is often used in Scripture as the number of perfection or completeness, it seems fitting to say that John is referring to the Holy Spirit. To add to that, anytime Scripture gives the blessing of grace and peace to God’s people, the source of that grace and peace is always God.
So, it seems that John is saying, “Grace and peace from our Triune God who has saved us, made us a kingdom and priests, and holds the future in His hands.
Sometimes the doctrine of the Trinity is seen as too hard to understand and impractical for us as Christians. But even though we can’t comprehend God fully, we can know Him truly as He has revealed Himself to us in the Scriptures. And remember that the biblical books which testify to our God as three-in-one were written for all Christians—scholars and blue-collar workers alike, for pastors and for stay-at-home moms, for businessmen and even slaves.
If you’re looking for a fast food Christianity, you won’t be drawn to seek to know God how He has revealed Himself.
Christians of the past have not only defended but cherished the doctrine of the Trinity.
London Baptist Confession of 1689 reminds us that:
The “doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all our communion with God, and comfortable dependence on him.”
London Baptist Confession of 1689
Gospel Anchor
As soon as John mentions the Son, Jesus Christ, he immediately recounts the core of the gospel—Jesus the Messiah, the faithful witness, loves us, shed His blood to release us from our sins and rose again to rule as king. And it’s helpful to summarize the gospel as the death, resurrection, and kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the center of the good news.
Use that. If you can memorize those basic elements, it can help you when you’re evangelizing to say that the gospel is about the death, resurrection, and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Then you can explain each part in more depth—why He had to die and what it means that He rose to reign.
• Rather than take these elements in chronological order, I’m going to deal with them in the order in which they appear in the text.
“firstborn of the dead”
Colossians 1 also speak this way, calling Him “the firstborn from the dead.” And that’s not to say that he was the first who was raised bodily, but the first to be raised with a permanent immortal body. And 1 Corinthians 15 calls Him the “first fruits.” And all those who are united to Christ by faith will one day share in His resurrection glory and what is mortal will be swallowed up by life.
“ruler of the kings of the earth”
This is another way of saying “King of kings.” I think in our context we have a watered down understanding of what kingship is. We haven’t lived under a king in a human sense, so we just use the term metaphorically. We talk about the king of rock ’n’ roll, the king of pop. There’s even an NBA player who has the nickname King James. Burger King (though my 2nd through fifth graders at my youth center think McDonald’s is the king of fast food).
When John calls Jesus the “ruler of the kings of the earth” in verse 5 and says that He has made believers a kingdom in verse 6, he’s speaking of the sovereign lordship of Christ as King. Jesus reigns from God’s right hand, even now, with all authority in heaven and on earth—both over His people and over all created things.
There’s a famous quote by Abraham Kuyper, which says, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, "Mine!” - Abraham Kuyper quote
Colossians 2:10 says that “He is the head over all rule and authority.”
Ephesians 1:22: God “put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.”
Every other rule or authority is subordinate to the Lord Jesus Christ. And that’s an important theme of the book of Revelation. Alexander the Great, Napolean, and others may have had impressive reigns…but they came…and went. Not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. His authority is supreme, and His authority will endure.
Even the “the kings of the earth” are under His authority. The Bible teaches that civil government exists by God’s ordination, and it’s accountable to God for the purposes He designed it for. Romans 13:4 says that the governing authority “is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.” The God-appointed jurisdiction of government is essentially civil justice. The appropriate role of government is no whatever people decide it would be good for the government to do. Its appropriate role consists in the functions God which has established it for.
One of the things that the civil government does not have the authority to do is to mandate to the Church what they can and cannot believe and what they can and cannot preach. And when they try to do that, they will give an account to the One who is both Head of the Church and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
And those who hold public office will give an account to Christ for their work. Their jurisdiction is subject to His, and He is the lord and judge of all men, even kings and presidents and governors and so on.
And since Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth, it’s not only true that kings are accountable to Him, but He also governs the course of history and nations, even the decisions of rulers.
Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes.
Do you realize that God controls the decisions of kings and those who are in authority? That God directs history according to His will and decides what will take place?
Daniel 4:21 says, “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings.”
And the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, who suffered and rose from the dead, having overcome has sat down with the Father on His throne and is now exercising all authority in heaven and on earth.
Will the United States still be a world power or even an existing country in years to come? - I don’t know. But the ruler of the kings of the earth has that under his control.
Verse 6 says, “To Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”
Now that’s a glorious and reigning Messiah. But what a comfort to know that this ruler, this king, is the one who loves us and gave Himself for us to bring us to God.
Still in verse 5: “To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood.”
With such a awesome ruler, a reigning Messiah who is supreme over angels and demons and mankind, and is the lord and judge who will judge with righteous judgment, how terrifying that would be except to hear the word of His love for us and His shed blood by which He takes away the sin of the world.
To be indifferent to such a great king is rebellion. To be in rebellion against such a great king is death. Yet to be loved, and reconciled, and protected by this king is life. And this is a king who loves corrupt people and gave His life as a ransom for many.
“who loves us”
The love of Jesus is one of our favorite things to sing about. If you grew up in church, you’ve sung from the time you were little, “Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.” I hope you know that truth, and I hope you know the power of that truth.
We could, and should, go on and on about the love of Christ. And I want to take a closer look at the saving love of Christ in this passage. Though it’s true that Jesus has a love for unbelievers as well as believers, the Bible also teaches that He has a special, particular love for His people. The love of a husband for his wife, in which He gives Himself for her in order to bring her to himself, like we see in Ephesians 5.
In Revelation 3, we see the Lord Jesus’ special love for His people distinguished from others in verse 9: “Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and make them know that I have loved you.”
In verse 20, He says to the church in Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”
Christ’s love for His own is a love that delivers them, disciplines them, and ultimately vindicates them before their enemies.
And in 1:5, we see Jesus’ awesome expression of this love in saving His people from their sins.
“released us from our sins by His blood”
Blood of sacrifice—which was offered according to God’s covenant to take care His people’s sins. A substitute was slaughtered to turn away God’s wrath for their sins so that they could be accepted by Him. And Jesus was a king with supreme authority over His citizens, yet gave His life to pay their debt.
It’s amazing to think about God the Son coming to die for us because God, in His divinity, cannot die. He’s the living God. 1 Timothy 1:17 says that He is immortal. And yet the immortal One took on mortality, took on humanity, in order to be able to die for mortal men and bring us to immortality and everlasting life.
By His blood, by His death on the cross, the Lord Jesus Christ secured the eternal salvation and release from sin for all those for whom He died, those whose names are written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, all who will repent and believe in the good news.
Whoever believes in Jesus Christ, is not only forgiven and set free from their sins, but is also brought into His kingdom with all its privileges and responsibilities.
In Revelation 1:6, it says that He has made us a kingdom. And He is the Lord of this kingdom.
Sometimes we like to be lord of our own kingdoms. I remember playing Roller Coaster Tycoon and building and managing your own theme park. You can decide what to build, set prices, and you can even charge customers to use the rest room. You have sovereignty over your kingdom in a sense.
But you’re not lord in Christ’s kingdom. He is.
In Acts 20:21, Paul refers to faith as “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” True faith is not just faith in Jesus as our Savior, but also faith in Jesus as our Lord. And that has practical implications for those who will live by faith.
Romans 14:9 tells us one of the purposes of Christ accomplishing our salvation: “For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.”
And though we are weak and inconsistent servants of our Lord, He is our Lord. Even though we sin and need His discipline and correction in our lives, those who are really His sheep hear His voice and follow Him. Biblically, it is impossible for someone to receive the forgiveness of Jesus Christ and not submit to His sovereign lordship. To reject His rule and His kingdom is to reject Him.
In one of Jesus’ parables in Luke 19 concerning judgment and rewards given by a righteous king, we see the response of the king to those who reject His authority. In verse 27, the king gives this sentence: “But these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them in my presence.”
In the parable, the king represents Christ, and His judgment is worse than execution because it is eternal judgment.
Whose side are you on? Are you for Christ or against Him? Do you believe in Him alone as Lord and Savior? I not asking if you said the sinner’s prayer or if you asked Jesus into your heart sometime when you were younger. But do you genuinely trust in Him? Have you surrendered to Him as your Lord and your God, and begun to live life under His lordship? If not, turn from your sins, and trust in the Savior. Call out to the King for mercy, and He’ll give you eternal life, and no one will pluck you from His hand.
When we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, we are not only made to be a kingdom, but we are also made to be priests to His God and Father, according to verse 6. In the New Covenant, the necessity of priests standing between God and His people to intercede for sinful man is fulfilled in Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. We don’t need another one! And in a lesser sense than Christ’s priesthood, all true believers in him are priests before our God, as John writes in verse 6. As priests, we have direct access to God through which was opened for us by Christ, and we offer up our praise and our lives as sacrifices of worship to Him.
Hebrews 13:15-16: “Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Praise Him. Give thanks to His name. Do this when we’re gathered as a church as when we’re not. Do it with your family. Praise and give thanks to the Lord with your children. Raise up a family who worships God.
Do good. Love you neighbor in practical ways. Comfort those who are grieving. Befriend those who need somebody. Share. Give of what you what to those who have needs.
“for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”
Worship of God, whether gathered or in all of life, is central for why we were created and why we were redeemed. God is our King, our deliverer, and our treasure. And we are His people.
Return of Jesus Christ
In verse 7, John calls our attention to the return of Christ, coming on the clouds. It will be a glorious return. He says that “every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.”
When our Lord returns to the earth, His awesome glory and majesty will be unveiled, not only to the eyes of faith, but “every eye will see Him.”
And He will be recognized as the pierced one, and “all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.” There will be both salvation and judgment when He returns. And He will reign on earth.
And His return is our hope. We can bear with the trials and persecutions that we face because we know the outcome—eternal life with our Lord. That’s how John can endure his exile. And that’s how we can endure hardships, whether it’s for the gospel or just as a part of life in a fallen world.
He’s coming back! Good news if your faith is in Him!
And in verse 8, we’re reminded of who the Lord God is, “the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
We need not fear if the One who is the first and the last, God over all, is for us.
Suffering for and Testifying of Christ
And yet even though God is for us, we still do suffer in what the Bible calls “this present evil age.” John writes as a “brother and fellow partaker of the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus.”
And you can’t be “in Jesus” without participating in all these three.
Tribulation is something that the church should expect to face until Christ returns.
Jesus tells the church in Smyrna in Revelation 2:9, “I know your tribulation and your poverty.”
In John 16:33, He says to His disciples, “In the world, you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.”
Christ warns His followers to be ready to lose their lives. “For whoever wishes to save His life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Even when we’re not exiled like John was and we don’t lose our lives, there’s still a social cost and an awkwardness that goes along with being a Christian, and sometimes that can sting almost as much.
The kingdom which is in Jesus, which all believers are a part of, I’ve already mentioned. The kingdom of God in Scripture refers to God’s reign bringing salvation and restoration. And God brings this kingdom through His Messiah, who is both reigning now and will reign. The kingdom of God is both a present experience and a future hope.
But since God’s kingdom has not fully come, His people are called now to persevere. John writes of the perseverance which is in Jesus.
It’s necessary for us to endure, to hold fast to Christ, to continue to follow Him and seek to do His will. The Christian life is not just about getting your hell insurance and then getting on with your life. There’s a race we’re call to run.
And perseverance is a necessary mark of those who are in Jesus. Jesus said in Mark 13:13 that “the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”
If you say you have believed in Christ, the proof of your faith is that you continue to believe in and follow Him.
Our perseverance is “in Jesus.” He’s with us, and He is the reason we endure.
And all three of these things mentioned in verse 9, tribulation, kingdom, and perseverance and all experienced “in Jesus.” It is in Christ and in union with Christ that we are saved. In and with Christ that we suffer. And it’s through being united to Christ that we are transformed as new people and will one day even receive resurrection bodies.
John here is experiencing the present aspects of life in Christ. And he’s experiencing them in exile. He writes that he was exiled “for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The message that we have in Scripture to preach includes both the law of God and the gospel of God.
We may encounter different trials as Christians, but Jesus warned us that opposition for His sake should be expected.
There’s some people whom you can talk about just about anything with, there’s no boundaries. But as soon as you name the name Jesus, they’re agitated with you.
One thing that keeps coming up in the media lately is that Christians are seen as backwards by many for believing that sex belongs is the context of marriage between one man and one woman.
Sometimes we just experience goofy looks and avoidance for our faith—which can sting just as much as open hostility.
The fact that we don’t experience as much suffering and persecution as the NT church and many believers around the world is something that I thank God for, in part. Some of our safety is due to God’s providence and blessing on us.
I also think that part of the reason that we don’t experience as much suffering and persecution as believers throughout the Bible is that we don’t speak the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ with as much boldness as they did.
We don’t say the kinds of things that land our heads on a platter, like John the Baptist who had called out King Herod for sexual sin.
In the book of Acts, we see apostles and faithful Christians who are arrested, beaten, commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, stoned, feared, and put to death.
And even after the NT was written, we see this persecution for Christians preserving in bold and faithful witness.
In the first few centuries A.D., many Christians paid the ultimate price for the allegiance to Christ rather than the emperor.
Around the time of the reformation, there were Bible-believing Christians who were killed and burned at stake for offences such as translating the bible and speaking out for the gospel against the blasphemy of the Roman Catholic mass, in which it was taught and still is taught, that in the mass the priest re-presents Christ as a sacrifice for sins.
More recently, Jim Elliot, who famously said, “He is no fool who gives what he can’t keep to gain what he can never lose” lost his life as a missionary and embodied what he believed.
And I give these examples, not because all Christians are called to be martyrs, though we should be willing, but because the NT speaks of the need for Christians to be faithful unto death and to not be surprised when we face serious opposition for our faith.
We preach and share our faith because we love the Lord and because we love people. We want them to know the joy and hope that we have. But that also brings opposition. We preach both God’s law and God’s gospel, and that reveals people’s hearts and makes them uncomfortable.
I believe that today’s evangelical church in America needs more courage and more love with a backbone. We’re not supposed to go looking for persecution and suffering, we’re not supposed to be obnoxious and arrogant, but we are to be faithful to Christ regardless of what the world says and accept the consequences of being Christ’s disciples.
But we do it with hope—because we live, and suffer, and will overcome in Jesus. He’s with us! The Bible says we have a better and a lasting possession than what we could have on this earth. And through our endurance and faithful witness, as the good news comes into contact with bad hearts, there’s conflict. But there’s also life as the Spirit regenerates whom He will.
And the Spirit’s empowerment is essential to our testifying of Christ, just as the Spirit’s activity was integral to John receiving this revelation of Christ.
John’s Vision of Christ
Verse 10: “in the Spirit”
The Spirit’s role in bearing witness to and magnifying the Lord Jesus
He hears this voice, saying, “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches.”
And He turns and sees a vision of the exalted Christ in His glory.
You may have seen someone who was so terrified that they fell over as though dead. That’s what happened to John, and Jesus has to tell Him do not be afraid.
It was an overwhelming sight. He sees one like a son of man in the middle of seven golden lampstands (in verse 13), and He’s “clothed in a robe reaching down to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.”
Verse 14 says, “His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow,” which in Scripture can refers to purity. - And in Daniel 7, when Daniel saw a vision of the Ancient of Days, it said that the hair of His head was like pure wool.”
“and His eyes were like a flame of fire,” and in Scripture fire can refer to God’s all-consuming holiness. Hebrews 12:29 says that “our God is a consuming fire.”
Verse 15: “His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.”
Can you imagine a king speaking, and it sounds like a rushing river or a waterfall?
“In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.”
And this is an awesome sight. Verse 20 tells us that the seven stars are the seven angels or messengers of the seven churches.
In 19:15, speaking of Christ’s return, John tells us, “From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.”
Verse 16: “His face was shining like the sun in its strength. When you see the sun, you can barely look at it because its brightness overwhelms your senses.
This is a glorious Christ. This is a Christ whom no man-made image could accurately represent.
When John falls down as though dead, Jesus places His hand on him and says, “Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.”
The reason he’s not to be afraid is because of who Jesus is. The first and the last, the living One, who died and now death has no power over Him. He lives forevermore and He Himself has power over death and hades.
It’s easier to face death, whether because of persecution, disease, or old age, when you entrust your life into the hands of the One has the power over life and death.
In verses 19 and 20, Jesus instructs John to write the things which he has seen, the things which are, and the things which would come, and He explains to him what the seven stars and the seven lampstands are.
The seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches. And the word for angel can mean either angel or messenger.
And the seven lampstands are the seven churches to which this revelation, along with particular messages for each church, would be sent.
And as we’ve finished the chapter, I want to conclude by considering the nature and the purpose of the churches as lampstands.
I work at a youth center, and I remember going into a cave with some of our kids this past summer. At one point they took us fairly deep into the cave and turned out the lights. We couldn’t see anything. It was pitch black. Some of our kids got scared. I could imagine trying to walk without light and bumping into things. Even when they had the lights on, I was hitting my head at different parts of the cave, though many of the kids were short enough to walk through safely. I wasn’t. I can only imagine what it would be like to live through life in darkness.
When you’ve been in darkness, you’re thankful for light. You need light. And Christ’s churches are lampstands and lights in the world.
And it’s possible for us to shine light for Christ individually, but God especially intended us to display light together. The church is a body, and together we’re a lampstand.
And we’re light in the world as we love and care for one another, as we commit ourselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. We’re light as the church reflects the will and character of our Head and Savior.
And we’re also light in a more obvious way as we reach out and love and testify to our neighbors, and send missionaries to take the word of God and the testimony of Jesus throughout the world so that Christ may be honored in all places and recognized as Lord.
So back to where we started: Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus Christ not to be taken lightly. He is to be worshipped and suffered for, trusted and hoped in. He is coming again to establish His kingdom visibly on the earth. He will bring eternal joy to His people in the presence of God. And He will bring eternal condemnation and wrath to His enemies.
To Him be the glory and the dominion forever. Amen! May the grace of Jesus Christ be with you.