In verses 9 through 20, we look to the reading God’s word if you join with me in prayer. Father of all mercies, in your word, your endless glory shine forth. And we ask them that you would reveal them to us this day, that you would do so through the wonderful working of your spirit, that your words of life would continue to transform us, that we may reflect the brilliant glory of Jesus Christ, our savior, in whose name we now pray. Amen. Beginning in verse 9, I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation in the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Perguma, to Thiatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw seven golden lampstands. In the midst of the lampstand, one like the sun of man, clothes as a long robe, the golden sach around his chest.
The hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. His voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right-hand, he held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun, shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet, though dead. ‘ But he laid his right-hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not. I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore, the things that you have seen, those that are, and those that are to take place after this. For the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right-hand in the seven gold lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The seven lampstands are the seven churches. We’re the Lord. The French impressionist painter Claude Monet painted a series of paintings titled Water Lillies. I saw one of those in the St. Louis Art Museum. It was really large. It was six and a half by 14 feet.
You had to stand several feet away to see it. If you stood at the normal distance of a painting, you really couldn’t tell what it was. See, swirls of greens and blues, clear brush strokes and vibrancy. But you to have the proper distance to take it all in. I would suggest that that is also the way to view the visual panorama that John is describing here in Revelation. We have what some have referred to as theological art. The overall impression of what is described provides the meaning and not necessarily each image viewed too close. And what we see in this opening description is a glorious image of Jesus. Verse one is set the stage. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is a macro canvas that we’re looking at. And that is certainly good news for us. It was good news for the churches in John’s day who were afflicted, who were feeling very, very small. And before them, rit Jesus, large, enormous in front of them. And we recognize when we are small, when we are alone, we are afraid. Everything is terrifying. Every sound is magnified and alarming, fueled by an overactive imagination.
Our eyes play tricks on us. And the minute someone close to us comes along, all that just melts away. Our fears disappear when other people come around us. And here we see Jesus exaltet and magnified, standing in the presence of his people, fears melting away. And because Jesus is present with us, nothing can overcome us. He enables and he empowers his people to stand firm in the of any opposition. And John’s opening vision, it places Jesus center stage. It rightfully fills us with awe and wonder. The suffering of his people is joined immediately to his sovereignty. Well, we see that suffering is a shared suffering. The opening paragraph tells us that this letter is to be a circular letter, meaning to be sent and read by the church’s mention. And John, who would be well known, whether in person or certainly by reputation, he is the one who is sending this. He’s reminding them of their shared faith and their shared suffering. He begins, I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation. ‘ You could say distress, you could say affliction. It’s a theme. It’s part of the overall message of this letter. But it’s not the only one that is there.
It’s a partner in tribulation and in the Kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus. It’s a trifecta that’s not really expected. Suffering and the Kingdom of God placed together along with endurance. I said before, coming to faith in Jesus Christ doesn’t actually mean your life gets better, at least from its outward appearances. In times and places, it actually can become worse in terms of you suffering for bearing the name of Jesus. That was true here with the apostle John. It says that he was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Patmos was a small, desolate island. It’s between modern Turkey and Greece. It’s only about eight miles by four miles. It’s a little island. And apparently, John was banished there because of his faith in Jesus. The Romans would often banish or exile political prisoners to these remote places just to get them out of the way. Starting with the Emperor Nero, at various times, Christians were persecuted by the Roman Empire. Why? They were actually called atheists because of their refusal to believe in the gods. They were thought of as unpatriotic because they would not offer a small sacrifice to the Emperor as a sign of his divinity.
You could believe just about anything you wanted to as long as you played well with others. The exclusive claims of Christianity put them on the outside. They would not worship in the temples, they would not sacrifice to the gods, and it made them different. And different to the empire meant social and political danger. They were accused of all kinds of really gross and heinous crimes. And with the barbarity and the cruelty of the age, Christians could be subject to all kinds of terrible punishments. Nero had some of them coded in tar, put on poles, and he used them as human torches at night. Some were put in the arena to be killed by wild animals. Some had mountain lead poured down their throats. Jesus, crucified, drowned, condemned to the minds, beheaded, beaten, some exiled. Even the windows here in the church are the shields of the Apostles, and they largely depict how some of the Apostles died. Bartholomeus laid alive. Thomas with the spears and the arrows, killed in India. James, the lesser, clubbed to death. All of the Apostles that we are aware of died in some in some terrible way. They gave their life for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Persecution was a part of the gospel going forward in the early days and into the empire for the Romans for the first 300 years. Persecution was sporadic. Sometimes it was regional. There are some emperors who were noted for their systematic persecution of Christians and others didn’t really seem to care one way or the other, didn’t do much. And that’s been the case throughout history. As the gospel has gone into the world, the world had mixed responses. A change of worship is often met with great hostility. And what Revelation shows us is that this is both because of a human element as well as a demonic one. Satan is out to destroy the people of God, and we know humans can be just wicked. The combination of this at times have been devastating for Christians. We know that today. There are times and places here where if you You come to faith in Christ, you could be in prison, you could lose your family, you could lose your belongings, you could be ostracized. Persecution comes in all kinds of levels, and it’s always been the case. But this is exactly what Jesus told his disciples, what would happen.
He said, If they persecuted me, they’re going to persecute you. People, why? The risen Lord told the apostle Paul, he said, For my power is made perfect in weakness. It is the weakness of gospel in our suffering, in the way that we love and care for others that promotes and conquers the world around us. And that is true then, it is true now. To share in Christ’s kingdom is to share in his suffering, and it is to endure. But we also see that in the midst of this, we’re not alone. Nothing happens to us that’s not allowed by our sovereign Lord. And that’s the image that John brings to us. It’s so vivid in his detail. This sovereign Messiah. John says, I was in the spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. The Lord’s Day refers to Sunday. It’s the first day of the week on which Jesus was resurrected. Just as the Sabbath was a memorial for the first creation, so the Lord’s Day came to become the memorial of the new creation in Christ. It was the custom of Christians who gather into worship on this day.
From the very earliest days, it replaced the Jewish Sabbath in the church. Now, there will be other mentionings of John here of being in the spirit as we go through the book. But like the prophet Ezequiel and others, it signifies a prophetic revelation that’s taking place. He’s in the spirit. These things are being revealed to him. And surprisingly, the first thing that happens to John, who is seeing things, is that the very first thing that comes is a sound, like Moses on Mount Sinai, that this mighty sound of the Lord And he’s told then to write what he sees to the seven churches. Why these seven? Well, there are others that were a part of the geographical area that were more prominent, but these seven are listed in a way that you would actually travel in a circle to go to each one of them. And they were hubs of communication in those regions. Easy to get other information to and from or to be able to pass John’s message around to all the churches. And We get this series of sevens, lots of sevens. Seven is understood symbolically as a number of completion, a number of perfection.
The earliest commentators spoke of this seven as a consideration of a part for the whole. Jesus’ message is for the whole church represented in these seven. In verse 12, I saw seven gold lampstands. In the midst of the lampstand, one like a son of man. In the Gospels, the son of man is Jesus’ preferred self-designation. It comes largely from the Book of Daniel. Much of the images that we see here by John is very similar to the Prophet Daniel in chapter 7 and chapter 10. But John’s vision changes dramatically what is shown in Daniel. Here we read, Clothed a long robe with a golden sach around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace. His voice like the roar of many waters. In Daniel, part of this description was actually of Yahweh, the ancient of days. Part of his description was actually the angelic messenger who showed Daniel the vision. Here, both of these come together to show the risen and the exaltet Jesus. Jesus is the ancient of days, which is surprising.
Jesus, the ancient of days. In his right-hand, he held seven stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun, shining in full strength. One writer tells us that these visions are meant to convey meaning and not to show it, per se. It’s not meant to be a literal representation. It’s a totality of these images that convey to us a meaning Because when you see a sword coming out of the mouth, that’s odd, hard to depict. And a hand holding seven stars, because soon that hand holding these seven stars is going to rest on John’s shoulder. And this mouth of the sword is actually going to speak words of comfort to him. These images are like a kaleidoscope. It’s a slight turn and a new and a powerful meaning is brought forward. In the time, probably, John is writing this, the reign of the Emperor Domitian, he had a coin minted with him holding seven stars. Emperor Hadrian also has something similar to this with seven stars on the coin. What we see here is the Son of Man is the one who’s actually the ruler of heaven and earth.
He has no equal. There’s no Emperor even remotely close to him. Jesus is sovereign over everything. If you recall from Advent in chapter 11 of Isaiah, it said, One from the stump of Jesse would rise up. And there it said, And he shall strike the earth with a rod of his mouth. It’s a strange way of putting that in. How do you strike the earth with a rod of your mouth? Very similar with the idea of the sword coming forth from his mouth. Judgment and truth. This one holds both together. When Moses was in God’s presence, his face reflected God’s glory, but it was fading. And here Jesus is the source of glory. Like looking at the sun, it does not fade. Radiant and glorious. The lampstands, we’re told, are the churches. There were seven lampstands in the tent of the meeting of Exodus. Zechariah 4, a very similar language, is used about a lampstand with seven lamps. And there it represented faithful Israel before the Lord, that this lamp was the people of God, of Zechariah’s day, being faithful to him. And now we see it’s the church. Those who bear the name of Jesus They are the faithful Israel.
One writer said it well, So new Israel, the church, is to draw its power from the spirit. The divine presence before God’s throne is to drive, to stand against the world’s resistance. The people of God, bearing his spirit, standing against all those who would oppose the Son of Man. John goes on, When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right-hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, the living one. I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore. I have the keys of death and Hades. Overcome with the sheer Majesty of Jesus Christ, John falls to the ground, and it is Jesus who revives him. He speaks of himself in the language of Yahweh. In Isaiah 44, Yahweh speaks of himself as the first and the last. Throughout the Old Testament, the living God is referred to as Yahweh, the Lord. And these are being compressed into the person of Christ. And they have the keys, it speaks of authority. You open and unlock. Death and Hades are in the hands of our sovereign Lord. Not in the hands of the devil. They’re in the hands of Jesus.
Jesus is the one who has conquered death. He is the one who once for all has put it away, and He has absolute control and supremacy over everything, including death and Hades. And he is told then by Jesus, John is, to write these things down so that those things that are and those that are about to take place after this, all of human history is in his hands. Nothing is happening outside of his control. The past, the present, the future, it’s all under the reign of Jesus. And in verse 20, we’re told the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right-hand, the seven gold lampstands, the seven stars of the angels of the seven churches, the seven lampstands are the seven churches. So gives an explanation for what John saw. That word mystery in the Bible is not how we use it in English. It speaks of something that was previously unknown that has now been revealed. Paul spoke of the equality of Jews and Gentiles as a mystery now made known in the gospel. The gospel revealing who Jesus is is the mystery now made known. Let me say, well, what does the angel of the churches mean?
The word angel in Greek, it simply means messenger. Sometimes it can be an angelic messenger, sometimes it a human messenger. And some have thought that this messenger refers to the pastor of these churches. And others, that is somehow an angelic representation of the churches. And still others see the star as representing the church’s heavenly existence, while the lampstands represent the earthly existence. It’s a personification then of the church in these cases. Well, what do we do with these images? First question, where’s Jesus? He’s in the midst of the churches. He’s present with his people. Nothing that is happening is taking him by surprise. And these images are all coming out of the Old Testament. And what’s significant about them is they’re all being refocused on the person or work of Jesus. For all those who think the Trinity is an invention in the church, you need to stay away from the Book of Revelation. It’s continually bringing together Yahweh and Jesus as one and the same. Jesus Jesus Christ is God. The Son of Man is the Son of God incarnate. The churches that John is writing to you, they’re all in different circumstances of trials and affliction, some from outside, some from within.
But John is saying you’re not alone. Jesus is present there. He is with you in the midst of all of your afflitions and troubles and trials. That’s encouraging news. Think about it. If you are in a jungle filled with venomous snakes and bugs, wild and dangerous animals, would you rather be walking through that or riding on the back of an elephant? I’ll take the elephant. And that’s what Jesus is saying. I am here in the midst of all these troubles and travails, and you are riding on my back. That puts things in perspective quickly. What seems so large and big to us now is removed much smaller. Because the Lord of glory, who Jesus is, is far greater than anything that we have to fear because he has overcome them. We are then to share in the afflictions the Kingdom and the endurance of the saints of Jesus Christ. Death itself, the final enemy, has already been defeated by the death and resurrection of Jesus. And yes, we walk by faith. What we see with our eyes can be frightening. But Jesus reminds us that this is not the only picture, it’s not the only way of seeing.
There’s a greater horizon, there’s a greater truth that we don’t often gaze upon, that we do hold by faith and not by sight. These afflictions, of course, they can be for the gospel. They can be the distresses that come for living out a Christian life in a world hostile to your faith. But we also know that these afflictions and distresses come from living in a fallen world. The way things break down, the things happen to us that seemingly are outside of our control, that we worry about, that we wonder about. All of those Jesus is sovereign over. He is the one who’s directing and guiding our lives. And what happens so easily is we’re tipped by news that troubles us. We’re tipped by opposition to our faith. We’re tipped by the terror of living in a fallen world. A diagnosis comes and you hear those words in And suddenly everything goes blank. What do you do with that? Where do you go? You lose a job. All these weights that come upon us You have people who were your friend group, and suddenly a new faith in Christ pushes you out, and you’re standing by yourself, and you wonder where your friends went.
All those things are great distresses to us. And here in the midst of them, Jesus is there. And he is the one who came, who brought comfort to John. John, overwhelmed, falls back because of the sheer awesomeness of Jesus. And the one who held the stars in his right-hand comes and he touches him. The one whose sword is coming forth from his mouth, who’s going to smite the earth in judgment, speaks forth words of encouragement to stand John on his feet. That’s the Jesus whom we serve. That’s the picture that we are to have before us. Again, that we walk by faith and not by sight. Romans 8, Paul said, I consider the present sufferings are not worthy to compare with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For creation waits an eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. We know the whole creation has been groaning as in a pain to childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the spirit, grown inwardly as we equally wade our salvation, our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.
For in this hope we were saved, But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. That’s the endurance that John is talking about. The endurance that we have in the midst of waiting for the promises of God to be fully revealed to us. We have them in part, but they’re not fully there. There is a groaning of our own spirit, of the Holy spirit in us, waiting for that day when all All things will be renewed, when we will be set free from this body of decay and death. We will be set free from the dominion of sin. Its power has been broken, but we see the effects of it in all of our lives, where we struggle to contend with it. There will be a day when that is gone, and it is Jesus who has vanquished it. This Jesus is the one who’s saying, I am returning, and yet I am still here in the midst of the churches. I am with you. I am present. You will not be overcome in me because I am the victor who holds the keys.
That is good news for the people of God, that this revelation of Jesus begins with this glorious image of who he is before any problems are addressed, before any tears are looked at. We see Jesus. We see the end already. He has overcome And we are then invited into his presence. We are invited to share with him in the kingdom, which includes enduring and suffering. It’s part of the life of discipleship. It’s part of the life of faith. What Jesus bore, we are called to bear as well because he has overcome. Brothers and sisters, as we think of the travails in our lives, the tribulations, the distresses, the afflictions, we are called upon to look to Jesus, to look to his radiance, his goodness, his greatness. And when we see that, these lesser things start falling away that we are riding on his back. Nothing is going to touch us that hasn’t first God has gone through his sovereign approval. And if it has, whatever it is that is bringing to us in this way from him, he will use for our great good, even in the midst of those terrible circumstances. He will be glorified, and he will bring to us the good he intends because he is a good and kind God who loves his people, who shares in their suffering, who is not far and distant, but is very present in our great time of need.
Pray with me. Father, we want to say yes and amen to this. And yet we know we struggle to believe it. Father, we struggle because of the realities before us that seem so large and so big. And we ask, Father, that you would not only forgive us where we have been overcome so quickly and so easily, but Father, that you would continue to show us the grandeour and magnificence of the one who was overcome, that you would fill our hearts with courage and boldness to step forth into the life that you’ve given to us, trusting you, Father, for the outcome, trusting you to bring your good in the midst of circumstances that we cannot see the way out of. But you can. Lord, that in our lives, that Jesus would be glorified, that he would receive the reward of his suffering through us, that his name would be magnified, his name would be lifted high. We pray and ask this all in his beloved name. Amen.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.