A vision of Christ
Revelation 1:9-20
Michael H. Koplitz
In the Scripture that we read this morning, we have the first imagery that we will find inside of the book of Revelation. We have here John reporting to us a vision of Jesus Christ that came to him while he was on the island of Patmos. We are told in this vision that Christ is holding seven stars in his hand and that seven lamp posts are surrounding Him. The mystery of the seven stars is that each one represents the angel of each of the seven churches. The lampstands represent the seven churches receiving letters from John that Christ instructs him to write.
In the Bible, the number seven is used many times to indicate the completeness of all people. The number seven, in this case, is not just seven letters going to the seven churches in Asia minor but rather letters that can pertain to all the churches of Jesus Christ both then and now. It is essential to realize that even though each letter is directed to an angel at each church, Christ intends for these letters to be shared among all churches. These are timeless letters that talk about problems occurring in the first-century churches and about things that can happen to any Church at any time. The letters also contain complements to each of the churches for their faith and endurance during very hard times.
The seven churches spoken of in these following two chapters somewhat formed a circle inside of Asia minor (what we call Turkey today). These seven cities were approximately 30 miles apart. They were connected by the main Roman road they built in Asia Minor. Also, each of the cities contained a Roman court of law. It is important that when Roman citizens were accused of being Christians, they would be charged and tried in a Roman court. It is interesting that churches formed in cities that had Roman courts.
The seven lampstands represent the seven churches. This is a good image for the church because we are told in John’s gospel that Jesus is the light of the world. Jesus told us and especially His churches, to be a light to the world. So you can see that the imagery of a lampstand, which gives off light, is a good representation of Christ's churches.
The seven stars represent the seven angels of the churches. But if we look deeply into the actual Greek text, we find that the word being used about the angels is “angelos.” This word means messenger. The primary use for this word is when one was speaking about messengers from God. The English word angel is derived from this Greek word. The seven stars could represent the messengers that are the Episcopal leader of each of those churches. They would have been considered messengers from God. It was believed at that time that a guardian angel existed for each of the churches. So you can decide who the messenger was.
Then we have John’s vision of Christ. We know that this is a vision of Christ because, in verse 18, the vision speaks to John and says that he is the living one who was dead and is now alive and holds the keys of death and hell. The image that Johns sees identifies itself as Jesus Christ. However, the image does not use the name Jesus but instead gives descriptive language that we found and talked about last week, which comes earlier in chapter one. The resurrection formula given to John about Jesus is that He is the living one who was dead and now live forever and ever.
So we want to spend our time today looking at the Christ image and seeing what we can learn from that description. One area that is quite interesting to look at is that the Scripture says in verse 16 that out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. At the sermon Roundtable, we were pondering what exactly Christ was trying to tell John and us. The double edged sword coming out of Christ's mouth represents the Word of God.
Through this imagery, we can tell that the Word of God is essential. Do you see the Scripture of any value to you today? Obviously, to Christ, the Word of God was so important that he placed it into an image that John would understand. So let's look into God's Word to see if God tells us what value his Word has for us. To do this, we will look at some Christian Scripture passages. Let’s start with Matthew chapter four, verse four. The best place to start to see the value of Scripture is to see what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ said about it.
Matthew 4:4 Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Here we have Jesus in the desert being tempted by Satan after his 40 days of fasting. Jesus tells Satan that man does not live by bread alone but instead by the word that comes from the mouth of God. So here we have a connection between Matthew's gospel and the image that we are given of Christ with the sword coming out of his mouth. The value of the Word of God is more important than anything that we need physically here on this earth. It is more important to digest the Word of God than it is to digest the bread that we need to stay alive. The Word of God will keep us with God forever. When it's time to get to heaven, it will be more important to have the Word of God in our mouths than it would be to have bread.
How important is following the Word of God? If the scripture has value to us, we should certainly be following the commandments in the Scripture. When we take a look at Mark chapter seven verses 11 through 13, we read the following:
Mark 7:11-13 11 But you say that if a man says to his father or mother: 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is Corban' (that is, a gift devoted to God), 12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. 13 Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that."
The point about doing something for your mother or father is a reference to the 10 Commandments. Jesus tells us that we are to live by the commandments God gives us in his Word. The tradition that is created inside of the religious group should not in any way hinder our hamper the Word of God. Jesus says that we do not have the right to decide what parts of Scripture to follow and what not to follow. If the Word of God is valuable to us, we should want to follow all of the Word of God.
When we follow all of God's law, what does that get us? Jesus tells us in Luke 11: 28
Luke 11:28 28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."
It is clear that whenever we follow the Word of God that God will bless us. We will have blessings here in this life and certainly in the life to come. It is essential for us to value the Word of God enough to follow it in order to receive the reward of blessings. Jesus is very clear about this.
The Word of God also has tremendous power to it. When we look into the book of Acts in the fourth chapter, we read the following in verse 31
Acts 4:31 31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
This occurred when Peter and John were talking to the believers after they had been with the Sanhedrin. They prayed with the believers who were there, and when they were done praying, they became full of the Holy Spirit, and they all went out to speak the Word of God boldly. We are told that we must have Word in our hearts. The Word must be so valuable to us that we will want to go out and tell the world what the Word of God is all about. We shouldn't hide the Word of God under our vests because it is so powerful to hide. If we have the Word of God in our mouth, then we will go out and speak it boldly to the people who need to hear it.
When Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus, he told them the following about the Word of God, which is found in Ephesians 6:17
Ephesians 6:17 7 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
The sword of the Spirit is the very Word of God. Here is a connection to the imagery we see in Revelation when Christ pulls the double edge sword out of his mouth. The Word of God will give us the strength to overcome any obstacle that life places before us. All we have to do is to value God's word.
The Word of God is the strongest force that exists in all of God's creation, as we read in Hebrews 4:12
Hebrews 4:12 12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
The Word of God is living and active in today's world. The Word of God existed from the beginning of time and will exist at the end of time. The Word of God is like Jesus, who is the Alpha and the Omega. We are told by Scripture that we must use the active Word of God in our lives today. God has given us the Word so that we may know him and that we may worship Him and that we may live in his world as he directs us through His Word.
The Word of God that comes out of Jesus’ mouth in the vision in Revelation is a double edge sword. It is a double-edged sword because there are blessings on one side and judgment on the other side. You can divide the Scripture into two distinct parts: one part being blessings and the other part being judgment. By looking at some Scripture passages this morning, we can see the value of God's Word. We can hear that the problem with the Word of God is that it is a double edge sword. We can certainly accept that we are thrilled to receive the blessings that God gives us, but we also must be ready to accept the judgment upon us when we don't follow the Word of God.
Jesus tells us that we must value the Word of God and that we must live by the Word of God. That means we have to live by all of the Scripture. We are not allowed to pick and choose what we want to live by. If we could do that, then we would just live by all the blessings of the Bible, and we would toss all the judgment pieces out. But the Bible clearly tells us that our actions will judge us and that the measurement tool used to judge us will be in the living what Word of God.
If we look at 1 John chapter 2 verse 14
1 John 2:14 14 I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
We must live with the Word of God inside of us. The Word of God must live in us. When we do this, then we will overcome the evil one. The evil one is Satan. If we live by God's word, then heaven and earth's blessings will be bestowed upon us. So we must engage in Bible study, read the Scriptures, and engage in teaching during the time of worship and Sunday School to fully understand what God expects from us in this life.
The Scripture is a double edge sword. We must remember that and long to want to live the blessings from God because we know that the wrath of God is certainly not a pleasant thing. We must live according to God's manual of life, that is, the Bible. We must value the Scripture to the point that we are willing to go out and speak boldly of its power. We must love the Scripture so much that we want to share it with all peoples of the world.
Let us come together in a moment of silent prayer where I urge you to thank God for giving us his double edge sword, that is, his very Word.
