“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 testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 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. 16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. 17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. 20 “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.”
I chose my title for this sermon based on the over all theme that represented this portion. Then as I studied and researched for it I discovered that commentators in their chapters on this section of Revelation chose the same subtitle, and when I went to the internet I found that more than one preacher had also given their sermons the same title.
I tell you this only to illumine the theme.
John the Apostle, now stranded on this isle of Patmos, receives a vision sent by God through an angel, and with all its contents its main theme, main character, main focus is on the glory of the risen Christ.
Before we go there however, I want to back up and take a running glimpse of the previous portion of this chapter which introduces the human author but also contains the signature, if you will, of the Divine Author that validates all that comes after.
TESTIMONY OF THE FAITHFUL WITNESS
In verse 1 of the first chapter John is referred to in the third person, although he himself is the writer. We see in those first 4 verses a sort of introduction to the main characters in this revelation. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ, being honored in this revelation by God the Father, who has given it to an angel to take to the faithful Apostle, the witness bearer.
In verse 4 John finally introduces himself in the second person, then addresses the addressees. John, to the seven churches. So now we know who is writing and who he is writing to. Here in verse 4 is his official salutation. “Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come…” and in so saying he jumps right into his favorite topic; his favorite focus, which continues in verse 5.
Now I’ll remind you that this is a sort of pre-introduction so I’m still on the run here, and I will say that these verses deserve much closer attention and reflection – but that will be for a future sermon [and of course if you’re in my local congregation you know that we’ve already looked at these verses more in depth].
John says that this is from Jesus Christ, and let’s just look at the things he says about Jesus Christ in verses 5-6.
• First, He is the faithful witness. This is an important distinction to make, since in later chapters so much is going to be said about the false prophet. Here is an eternal contrast. The false prophet, the final representative of all who have falsified their testimony and dishonored God’s Word, will finally meet his destruction at the hands of the Faithful Witness whose word is truth.
• He is the firstborn from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not an isolated event from our own resurrection. He was the first, but He was the first in the sense that He leads the way. When all who are His are resurrected from the dead they will simply be following their Leader out of the grave. The time that passes in between means nothing to God. The sacrifice of Christ for sin and His resurrection are fresh always as though they just happened, and the resurrection of those who follow, to God, is as though an instant later.
• He is the ruler of the kings of the earth. They may not think so. They may openly curse Him. Think about the leaders of countries who have even recently made public declarations of hatred and ill-intent toward the Jews and toward Christians. They are religious people, but they worship a false god and they hate Christ. But the Bible says He is still ruler over them all. They unwittingly do His bidding and complete His plan, and in the end He will prove Himself mighty over them all when with a word He smites the nations.
Are you following these phrases as we go? We’re still in verse 5 and look how much John has already said about this Jesus. Now he breaks into an offering of praise.
“To Him who loves us,” not loved, loves…present tense. “…and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever, Amen.”
I’m still running; can’t slow down because I haven’t even gotten to our text verses. He shed His blood releasing us from our debt of sin and has made us into a kingdom of priests to His God and Father. I’ll pause just for a second while you let that sink in just a bit. Meditate on it later. This is you if you are a Christ-follower. A priest of the kingdom, serving and worshiping the God and Father of our Lord and of us all. God has a pretty high opinion of us, doesn’t He?
Now in verse 7 we have a synopsis of this entire book. This is what it’s all about and this is that to which we look with eager anticipation.
“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. Even so, Amen”
Then Jesus puts His own signature to this introduction. “I am the Alpha and Omega.” By this He is declaring His eternality and His omniscience. He is. He always has been and always will be. He is the only one of whom that can be said. All others who exist, in Heaven on earth or under the earth, had a beginning by His power – by His Word. There is nothing outside the scope of His knowledge. There is nothing above or beyond His understanding.
“…who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Here He declares His freedom to come and go. He is not hindered by time or space. He is the Almighty, meaning He is omnipotent – all powerful.
This is the one of whom John bears witness and He is the one who gives this final revelation of Himself so that we can know that what He says is true and will come to pass precisely as He has decreed and declared. At any point throughout this revelation we can stop and ask ourselves, ‘Is this part true? Will this really happen?’ and then we can go back to chapter 1 verses 4 through 7 and find our answer. “Yes, the Alpha and Omega, the Almighty is the Director of it all and He will accomplish it”.
John Phillips wrote:
“One of the most stirring pages in English history tells of the conquests and crusades of Richard I, the Lionhearted. While Richard was away trouncing Saladin, his kingdom fell on bad times. His sly and graceless brother, John, usurped all the prerogatives of the king and misruled the realm. The people of England suffered, longing for the return of the king, and praying that it might be soon. Then one day Richard came. He landed in England and marched straight for his throne.
Around that glittering coming, many tales are told, woven into the legends of England. (One of them is the story of Robin Hood) John’s castles tumbled like ninepins. Great Richard laid claim to his throne, and none dared stand in his path. The people shouted their delight. They rang peal after peal on the bells. The Lion was back! Long live the king!
“One day a King greater than Richard will lay claim to a realm greater than England. Those who have abused the earth in His absence, seized His domains, and mismanaged His world will all be swept aside.” (Exploring Revelation John Phillips, rev.ed. [Chicago: Moody, 1987; reprint, Neptune, J.J. Loizeaux, 1991], 22-23)
THE HUMAN AUTHOR
Well, we come to verse 9 and the first thing we see is that John finally introduces himself in the first person. “I, John.” Can you believe that there have been some who have argued that it wasn’t the Apostle John who wrote this?
You can imagine looking down a long country road through a morning mist and seeing a form that looks familiar. And you say to yourself, ‘Is that someone I know? It looks sort of like so and so.”
Then he gets closer and you can see his face clearly and you say, “It is! It’s him!” Then finally he waves and smiles and shouts a greeting and contact has been made.
Well the author has said it already three times; in third person, in second person, and finally saying, “I, John, your brother”
Who else would it be, but the disciple whom Jesus loved? Jn 20:2
Now look carefully at this next phrase and compare it to the popular message of today’s religious system.
“…and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus”
He’s a partaker. Notice he doesn’t say, “fellow sufferer”, but fellow partaker.
The Apostles and the early Christians, indeed, Christians of every former generation and many around our world today, still understood and understand what Paul meant when he said,
“I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; 11 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”
They were willing to count all things to be loss in contrast to the knowledge of Christ which surpasses all else in value. It seems that very many in the church who call themselves Christians today would rather just be counting all things. All they can gather to themselves; all they can lay their hands on.
A relative of a Christian sister of mine once told her that it might be in God’s plan for her (my sister) to suffer or to be deprived of things, but it wasn’t God’s plan for her.
His plan for her, it seemed, was that she be healthy, wealthy and wise. She even went so far as to say that the example of all the Bible saints was that they went about untroubled and victorious in life. Apparently, she has discovered a new Bible that I have never seen or heard of before.
John was suffering as an exile for his faithfulness to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The churches he was writing to were also under persecution.
By the end of the first century Christianity had become a despised sect and under suspicion of the Roman government. In fact, persecutions had begun years before the end of the century.
Pliny, governor of Bithynia early in the 2nd century, called Christianity “a depraved and extravagant superstition” Documents of the Christian Church, London: Oxford University Press, 1967
Suetonius, a contemporary of Pliny, called them “a set of men adhering to a novel and mischievous superstition” Ibid, Doc 2
And Roman historian Tacitus described Christians as “a class hated for their abominations”. Ibid, Doc 2
Now we are in the 21st century, and anyone who watches television news programming or reads contemporary periodicals knows that Christians are receiving the same verbal and printed abuse as then. It is open, it is vitriolic, and the impunity with which the pagans in a society spew their poison is a precursor and a premonition of out and out physical persecution.
When you watch your television, Christ-follower, and see a comedian making lewd and bitter jokes about Jesus and His people, or you watch portions of a video put out by an openly homosexual man, calling a young girl all kinds of filthy and vicious names because of her stand on Christian principles, you should be alerted to the inevitability that wide-spread and unchecked persecution against the true church is right around the corner.
When it comes, who is going to stand? Will it be the people who have subscribed to a ‘Santa Clause’ god who lifts them up lest they cast their foot against a stone; who provides them with every selfish whim?
Or will it be the people who have chosen to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin – considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the riches of the world?
On the day John the faithful Apostle received a vision of Christ’s final victory, he was on an isle of exile, because he was a Christian!
WHERE HE WAS
That was his physical location. But John says that he was in the Spirit. His body was in exile, but his spirit was always at home because for the true believer Christ is home and Christ is always with him. We’ll talk more about that in a minute.
John heard behind him a voice like the sound of a trumpet. Now that does not mean he heard a trumpet. The reference to a trumpet sound in the Bible always denotes clarity and authority.
At Sinai and the giving of the Law the people heard sounds that really got their attention. Exodus 19:16 says,
“So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.”
You might also be remembering Paul’s reference to a certain trumpet sound when he told the Thessalonians,
“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.” 1 Thess 4:16
From behind John came a strong, authoritative voice that was clear in tone and in meaning. That’s what we are to get from this wording of the writer.
What he hears from behind is the initial instruction to write his vision in a book and distribute it to the churches. Seven churches are listed. They were actual churches that existed in their various localities at the time, but they were also symbolic of the church as a whole, hence the number seven which represents completeness, and as we will see in the second and third chapters they also represented the various types of churches that would and still do exist in the world today.
WHAT HE SAW
It was at this point that John turned, and he describes what he saw.
This is John’s vision of the glorified Christ.
I have recently commented in a sermon on the repeated times, usually in secular periodicals or on the cover of tabloid newspapers that men have speculated upon what Jesus might have looked like. If they aren’t speculating they’re assuming and creating their own artist’s renditions.
The problem is they are thinking of Him as they would a dead man. Of course, to many of them Jesus is dead. But we wouldn’t ask that question of someone who is alive, would we? We would simply look at them. Or if they were not near us and we were curious enough we would travel to where they are to find out what their appearance is like.
So why would we speculate, why would we even care what Jesus looked like when He came in the flesh, when we have this description of Him by John that so far surpasses in glory and radiance and majesty any appearance a man of flesh could boast?
Let’s just go through this description in order of the way John gave it to us and see what it has to tell us.
First of all he saw seven lampstands made of gold and in the middle of the lampstands stood on like a son of man. Now we know this to be Jesus, which will be substantiated by the verses to come, and we certainly have no need for conjecture about the meaning of the seven golden lampstands, since Jesus Himself tells John and us in verse 20 that they are the seven churches which, as we’ve already noted, are symbolic of the completed church.
It is significant that John saw the glorified Christ standing in the midst of the church, because that is precisely where Jesus Himself promised He would always be.
In Matthew 28:20 He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the world”. In Matthew 18:20 He promised that where two or more of His own were gathered He would be in their midst.
In John 14:18 and 23 He speaks of Himself and the Father actually making their abode with the one who loves God, and in Hebrews 13:5 His promise is recorded; “I will never desert you nor will I ever forsake you” And in case you’ve forgotten, this is what I promised earlier that I would say more about.
Believers in Christ do not worship a dead martyr. We don’t meet together to celebrate the life of a departed religious leader.
I have on occasion quoted television talk show host Larry King, who when asked if he could interview any person living or dead, who would it be, responded that he would like to talk to Jesus Christ.
Well the implication of that desire is that Jesus is dead and gone. But He can be talked to, He can be approached, because He lives forever and He can be found always in the midst of the true church, who He promised never to leave alone or forsake.
Now the description that follows is a symbolic representation of the attributes of Christ in His glory and in His relationship to the events about to be revealed to John that will transpire in the last days.
First, He is wearing a robe reaching to His feet. This is the type of garb seen on royalty and also on the Aaronic priests. The sash across His chest is also a part of the attire of the High Priest (Lev 16:4), and we know that Christ is both King and Priest over the church of God.
Next John says His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow, and His eyes were a flame of fire.
The white hair represents wisdom and purity, and it also stands for His deity. This is also used to describe the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9.
His eyes were like a flame of fire, says John, meaning that there is nothing that escapes His knowledge and His searching gaze is infallible.
“And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” Heb 4:13
His feet were like burnished bronze. This denotes strength and firmness of foundation. John says they looked like bronze that has been caused to glow in the furnace. This is a reference to His perfect judgment. Ancient royalty would sit in an elevated seat to judge those brought before them and the one on trial was always beneath and looking up at the judge’s feet. Jesus moves through His church perfectly appraising her and ready to mete out discipline where needed according to His perfect judgments and righteousness.
His voice was like the sound of many waters. Again, like the symbol of the trumpet, this speaks of authority. The sound of rushing waters, like the sea bursting up against the shores of Patmos, represented the force and strength of His words. He speaks and who can resist Him – for out of His mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword in Divine and final judgment.
Finally John says, “…and His face was like the sun shining in its strength”. Where have we heard words like that before?
How about Acts 26:12 & 13 and the beginning of Paul’s defense before King Agrippa?
“While so engaged as I was journeying to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests, at midday, O King, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, shining all around me and those who were journeying with me.”
Thus he described his vision of the glorified Christ. So it is no wonder that John fell down as dead before Him.
Now the final three verses of our text consist of Christ’s declaration of Himself and his instructions repeated to John. But here is what I’d like for us to take with us in closing today.
This is John, the Apostle. He was with Jesus throughout His earthly ministry and was in fact one of those in His inner circle. He was with Jesus on the mountain when He was transfigured and His glory shone forth from Him.
This is one Jesus called friend, who was at the cross, who was one of the first of the men to see the empty tomb. He was undoubtedly one of the ones who stood with Jesus on the Mount of Olives and watched Him ascend into the clouds and disappear from view.
Yet here he sees Him and he falls down as a dead man, because his knowledge of who he is as a man of sin cannot let him stand before perfect holiness in the glory of his Lord.
What a sharp contrast this is to the glib, boastful and certainly false claims of self-serving men in our time who claim to have seen Jesus in a vision, and oh how spiritual they were during the whole thing.
What is the example of the saints of old who saw Him in His divine glory? Daniel said all his strength left him. Isaiah moaned that he was a man of unclean lips. Manoah, Samson’s father, said to his wife that he expected both of them to drop down dead because they had seen the Lord; and of course we’ve just talked about how seeing the risen Jesus affected Saul on the road to Damascus.
Christians, we haven’t seen Jesus. We will one day, hopefully soon. So what we need to do is weigh the boastful and false testimony of the charlatans against the testimony of Scripture, and be mindful that the Lord we worship and the Lord we eagerly wait for is indeed a consuming fire.
He is King and High Priest. He is all wise and wonderful, powerful and steadfast, who describes Himself as the living one who was dead, and behold, “I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and Hades.”
We need to bear these things in mind and root them deep in our consciousness because this is the description of the One to whom we owe all allegiance, all fealty, all our lives… and He is the One who will carry out all that is recorded in this book, this revelation of Himself, and it is recorded as though already done because it cannot be stopped or turned back.
He has the keys of death and Hades, and He has the power and authority to lock up or let loose.
Let’s remember as we move through a study in these letters He dictates in chapters 2 and 3 that they are written to us; and we are every bit as deserving of the words of rebuke and correction as those to whom they were first penned, and we are as much as they, recipients of the promises and the encouragements.
He is the Alpha and the Omega, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
