Kingship of Christ in Revelation 1:9-20

Introduction: Growing in the Knowledge of Christ's Kingship

0:03 In the very familiar verse, 2 Peter 3.18, the people of God are commanded to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

0:19 And in a very real sense, this entire series of messages in which we have been concentrating upon the mystery of the person of Christ and the majesty of the offices of Christ has been an effort to assist you, the people of God, in your obedience to that command. You are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord himself. And so for many months we have been contemplating Christ himself as he is set before us in the scriptures, both with respect to what he is in his person as our Redeemer and what he does. In his offices as our Redeemer. And having considered many of the major biblical portions dealing with his office as our great priest, as our great prophet, we have for some weeks been contemplating him in his office as our great king. And I remind you again to the point where some of you may feel I'm either insulting your intelligence or have a very low view of your memory that we are doing...

1:32 We are doing so in the realization that Christ is precisely what he is in his person and in his offices because we have specific needs in our sinful state which only such a Christ occupying such offices can meet. If we were not the sinners we are, Christ would not have to be such a glorious, glorious and, what shall we say, multi-faceted savior in his offices of prophet, priest, and king. We have been looking at the materials in the word of God related to his kingship as they come to us in our Bible starting in the Old Testament and coming right through to the point at which we are now considering the kingship of Christ in that book of conflict and consummation in the book of the Revelation. Now what we did last Lord's Day morning was simply to spread the table in seeking to examine four or five of the pivotal texts in the book of the Revelation which point us to the kingship of Christ. It is essential that we have some regulating principles for interpreting and understanding the book of the Revelation.

Principles for Interpreting Revelation

2:59 The majority of God's people are either driven away from the book of the Revelation for fear that they simply cannot untangle the beast and the dragons and all of the other strange images contained therein or they are drawn to it with a morbid fascination with detail and with fanciful interpretations of that detail. Well, we want to steer clear of both of those extremes. So we consider together what the book of the Revelation is not, it is not pre-written history in cryptic language in which we should expect to find details of the Napoleonic Wars and a host of other things. Mussolini and Hitler and Stalin are not there under the specific image of this or that thing in the book of the Revelation. They are there only so far as they fit the broad categories of the truths contained in this book. Nor is the book of the Revelation pre-written post-church history in which you have nothing but an account of something tacked on to the end in a so-called period of great tribulation. No, the book of the Revelation is a lengthy letter or small book written to seven existing churches at the close of the first century.

4:24 It is a lengthy letter or small book written by an exiled apostle who writes to his companions, in suffering and tribulation with a divinely given purpose to strengthen the church that then was under this frown of the Roman Empire and in so doing, God has given this book of great encouragement to his church from that point right on to the consummation. And therefore it should not have been surprising to see from the text itself that this letter is essentially ethical and practical, blessed is he that readeth and they that hear and keep the words of this book. Secondly, we saw that it is essentially imminent and contemporary. The time is at hand and the great perspectives of the book of the Revelation impinge in all of their magnitude and glory upon the church at that time on to the consummation and therefore for the church at any period in its history on to the consummation. Then we saw thirdly that the letter is essentially conflict and conquest oriented. The words war and warfare and overcome are predominant words in the book of the Revelation.

5:50 It is a conflict and conquest oriented book and it must of necessity be that since it is a book dealing with the church in her lifetime struggle with the powers of darkness and even to the consummation and then finally we saw because it was sent to the church at the close of the first century and its intention was essentially ethical and practical in nature, it is Christ-centered. For the great consolation to the church in any period of its history is to be found in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The great consolation to the church in any period of its history is to be found in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. the great consolation to the church in any period of its history is to be found in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. and what Christ is doing for his suffering and struggling people. You will never encourage the Saints by apparently opening up all the mysteries and the dragon and drawing attention to charts and graphs and speculation and drawing attention to charts and graphs and speculation you may fill them with a carnal pride that they know more than God does you may fill them with a carnal pride that they know more than God does You can fill them with a carnal pride that they know more than God does us about what's going to happen, but you will never comfort them. You will never comfort them. And when we come to the book of the Revelation, regardless of what scene breaks

7:11 upon the vision of John, there is in that scene an ultimate vision of Christ, and Christ is seen as the great conqueror. And then we close by underscoring the principle that surrounds the entire book, and it is simply this, that the faith of God's people feeds upon the aspect of Christ which it most desperately needs in its present circumstances. So when John is exiled and he writes to the suffering church, feeling the pressure and the bite of the second great persecution, the first under Nero and this one under Domitian, the Roman ruler, it was John who was exiled. It was John who was exiled. It was John who was exiled. It was John who was exiled. It was

7:56 John's concern to set forth a dimension of Christ's glory which was most appropriate to the suffering church. And therefore it is not surprising to find the word throne predominating in the book of the Revelation. As I suggested last week, 45 times the word throne occurs, and only about five of those are a throne other than the throne of God and of the Lamb. And it's as though the Lord Jesus is saying to his suffering church, what you need above all else in the midst of your suffering and conflict is to catch a vision of Christ upon his throne and the kingship of Christ as a present reality, not a wispy future notional concept, but as a present reality. This was to be the stabilizing perspective for the people of God. Then time ran out and we just looked at the note of his kingship sounded in the introduction of the letter, chapter 1, verses 4 and 5, where grace and peace are pronounced upon the people of God, grace and peace coming from the Eternal Father, from the Spirit who executes the will of the

The Kingship of Christ in the Greeting (Revelation 1:4-5)

9:23 Godhead, and from Christ who is to be understood as, verse 5, faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. So in the very greeting, the note of the kingship of Christ is sounded. It is, as it were, the climactic note of this blessing that comes in the greeting that John conveys to the churches. Now this morning, we want to consider the kingship of Christ in the opening vision of the book of the Revelation. And I would ask you to follow as I read, beginning with verse 9. I, John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience or steadfastness which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus. And I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.

The Setting of John's Vision on Patmos

10:27 And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches, unto Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamum and Thyatira and unto Sardis and unto Philadelphia and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands or pedestal lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, and in the midst of them, I saw seven golden lamps, of these pedestal lamps, one like unto a son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace, and his voice as the voice of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one,

11:54 and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Write, therefore, the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands, are the seven churches.

12:33 Now, as we approach this opening vision, I would encourage you to do so, realizing that here is the first vision recorded in the book of the Revelation. The majority of the book is taken up with visions. Chapters two and three are taken up with verbal messages which this exalted personage sends to the seven churches, but from chapter four onwards, you'll find again and again John saying, I looked and I saw, and then he simply describes what he saw. In other words, the form in which God is revealing his mind to the churches is predominantly in terms of this visual encounter as opposed to straight, plain, verbal propositions. Now, granted, the account is given verbally, but it is not the case. It is not the case. It is not the case.

13:29 But you see the difference now. So it's significant that prior to chapters two and three in which these verbal messages are brought to the churches, John is given this tremendous vision of this awesome personage, and as it were, this vision becomes regulative for the entire book. We see that it is essentially regulative for the messages to the churches because each one begins. With a reference back to this vision.

14:01 Thus saith he that. And then some aspect of that vision is picked out and underscored, and then the message comes. And so it is essential to understand something of the import of this initial vision that we might feel the weight of all that follows. Now, I remind you, I am not beginning a detailed exposition of the entire book of the Revelation.

14:25 Our concern is to behold Christ, our King, in this book. But of necessity, because of the strategic nature of the opening vision, we will spend a bit more time on this than we will on subsequent passages. Consider with me, firstly then, the setting of this vision. The setting of this vision.

14:47 I, John, verse 9, your brother and partaker in tribulation and kingdom and steadfastness, which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, and I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. John, the exiled apostle, is on this barren, rocky island called Patmos in the midst of the Aegean Sea. Take a Bible dictionary and look at the map section and look up Patmos, and you'll see that this was no Corsica or this was no beautiful island in the Bahamas. He was stuck on a barren, rocky island, cut off, most likely, from any kind of meaningful social intercourse, from any kind of beauty that would impress the eye. John is there feeling very keenly something of the fulfillment of the words of his Lord, which he himself recorded in the world, ye shall have tribulation. Or the Lord's words, if they have hated me, they will also, they will also hate you. The servant is not above his master.

16:05 So John is in this state of exile, and apparently he keeps some kind of a log of the passing of the days. He obviously had no calendar given to him by his local heating concern, or by the local milk dealer, as we may receive at the end of each year, but he's keeping some reckoning of the days. And, probably, the Lord's day as it approached was a day of peculiar pain and privilege for this man, who had known what it was for years to expend his gifts and energies in the strengthening of the churches in Asia Minor. And now the Lord's day comes, and instead of being found with the people of God and amongst them in their praise and worship and reading and exposition of the word of God, here John is in this state, in this state of exile on the Lord's day. This very day on which we meet in celebration of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. And suddenly, verse 10, I was in, or more literally translated, I became in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Now that does not mean that John suddenly entered a gradually more elevated state, of spiritual sensitivity,

17:32 in the normal operations of the Holy Spirit. No. This phrase, in the Spirit, has a technical significance. John is saying that he entered that state of mind and heart peculiar to a recipient of direct and special revelation from God.

17:54 Now we may say, legitimately, in a general sense, well I really, sense that the people of God were in the Spirit on the Lord's day. If we mean by that that the Spirit of God was present, animating the worship, giving life to the prayers, giving energy to the preaching, giving felt delight in the things of God, that's perfectly proper language. But, we must never say in this technical sense any of us was in the Spirit. This has reference to a peculiar state of mind and spirit, that is attendant when God is giving direct and special revelation.

18:37 We find it used again in chapter 4 and verse 2. John hears a trumpet and a voice, and he says in verse 2 straight, why I was in the Spirit and behold. You see, in this elevated state, God brings to bear upon the mind and spirit of John, direct revelation. So he was brought into that frame of mind and heart under the direct agency of the Holy Spirit by which he would be made the recipient of these visions of God.

19:12 Now in this condition, the first thing that happens is something impinges upon his ear. He hears, notice verse 10, I was in the Spirit and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying. There was a voice, the sound of which was as clear as penetrating, as captivating as the blast of a trumpet. Now you know what it's like here, those of you who attend this place regularly.

19:44 Six o'clock every Lord's Day night, we all kind of sit here on the edge of our seats waiting for that fire whistle to go off. And as much as you're waiting for it, when it goes off, I still always jump sitting back here before the service. And I'm sure many of you do. Well you see that doesn't even have the piercing quality of a trumpet.

20:04 You can imagine what it'd be like if in the midst of one of my pauses in preaching this morning, some character sneaked up these side stairs and all of a sudden just let loose with a trumpet. Well it's an arresting sound. It's not the softer notes of a lute or a lyre, the melodic notes of some other softer instrument. Suddenly John hears a voice and the only way he can describe it, he said, it was a voice as of a trumpet.

20:30 Now it wasn't the sound of a trumpet, but a voice. Perhaps the only word to describe it is stentorian. It was piercing. It was authoritative.

20:39 It was sharp. And then after the impingement upon the ear, he turns in the direction from which the voice comes and now something impinges upon the eye gate. And I turn to see the voice that spake with me and having turned, I saw. Now the voice says, What you're going to see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches.

21:08 Having heard the voice, he turns and now the vision opens up. So much then for the setting of the vision. Do you get the picture? Can you feel with John what it must have been like?

The Substance of the Vision: Lampstands and the Son of Man

21:20 From a situation in which you were there feeling the pang of loneliness, no general social intercourse, worse than that, cut off from the people of God, adding insult to injury, cut off on the Lord's day, and suddenly there is a voice and this magnificent vision and you are taken up to see and to hear these amazing things. Well, so much for the setting of the vision. Now consider in the second place the substance of the vision. And the substance of this vision is comprised of two basic ingredients.

21:56 Did you catch them as we went through? On the one hand, the seven lampstands. Verse 12. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.

22:07 And having turned, the first thing John sees are seven golden lampstands. Now they were not candles or candlesticks as we know them, but literally pedestal lamps. That is, these elevated pedestals on which there would be a lamp. Not like this.

22:27 Not the lamp you buy at the Globe Electric Company, but probably the best equivalent would be, you know what your gravy boat looks like? You kids know the thing Ma puts the gravy in? It's that thing that has sort of a rounded spout so when you pour your gravy it doesn't splash over everything, but you can aim it right down in the middle of that hole you've made in your mashed potatoes. Well, these lamps were like a gravy boat and instead of having gravy in them, they had oil in them.

22:52 And instead of gravy coming out that little spout at the end, the little trough, there'd be a witch. Well, what would you do with that lamp? Well, you wouldn't put it on the floor. It wouldn't shed its light.

23:02 Jesus uses this exact terminology in Matthew 5.15. He says when someone lights a lamp, he puts it on a pedestal. That's the word used.

23:10 So it is a pedestal lamp that John sees, something that was very common to the culture of that day. So he turns and immediately he sees seven golden pedestal lamps apparently arranged in at least the approximation of a circle. That's the first and main ingredient of the vision. And then the second main ingredient, and this is the predominant ingredient, is this unusual personage who is in the midst of those lampstands, verse 13, and in the midst of the pedestal lamps, one like unto a son of man.

23:52 So we read and assume from the language that John saw these pedestal lamps at least in the approximation of a circle and in the midst this unusual personage, one like unto a son of man. Now, precisely what did John mean by that phraseology? Well, here the linguists and the commentators have quite a brawl. Some say it can mean nothing other than the classic reference or the reference to the classic title, Jesus as Son of Man.

24:28 Some say, no, it's just a general usage emphasizing the humanity of Christ. Well, I'm not about to go into that controversy or try to resolve it. Suffice it to say, what John saw was a personage that had the marks of true humanity and yet at the same time had so much about him that was supra-human. I saw one like unto a son of man.

25:00 There were those things that marked this personage as a fellow human. Yet there were so many things about him that were beyond what is normal to human beings that it was no ordinary man. I saw one like unto a son of man. And then he describes some of the characteristics that were present in that personage.

25:29 Notice them. First of all, he says a garment that went down to the foot. He was struck by the fact that there was a garment that fully clothed him and he was furred about the breast, that is the upper part of the chest, with a girdle that was as gold as where the lamb stands. Then he describes his head and his hair white as wool, white as snow.

25:58 He is struck with the fact that the hair has a brilliance matched only by new-fallen snow and then sunk in the midst of that hair are these living coals of fire, eyes that wear as a flame of fire. Then he looks down to his feet and he sees in those feet, and here again the translators and the commentators have a difficult time nailing this down with any precision. Perhaps our translation is as good as any. Like unto burnished brass as if it had been refined in a furnace.

26:34 Apparently these feet were glowing like brass that had just come out of a furnace, either red-hot or white-hot. There was something about those feet that bespoke the solidity and something of the crushing power of brass and yet they were flaming in their appearance. Then he says his voice was as the voice of many waters. It was like the thundering of the sea against a rocky wall and some of you have heard that and John heard it much there in the Isle of Patmos when the waves would crash upon its craggy rocky shore.

27:14 He said that voice, that voice was like a multiplicity of waves dashing upon a multiplicity of shores. It was as the voice of many waters. Then he sees his right hand and I can't imagine what that must have been like holding seven stars. What did he see?

27:34 Seven flashing, flaming balls of fire? What did he see? I don't know. It simply says seven stars in his right hand.

27:43 And then from his mouth proceeded not the little hand sword but the word here for sharp two-edged sword is the word which describes the sword that was a broadsword. Sometimes the word is translated spear. A sword like unto Goliath's sword. In fact in the Greek translation of the Old Testament this is the word they used to describe Goliath's sword.

28:10 You can imagine how strange this looked. It wasn't the picture. Sometimes you see a picture of a pirate holding a little short knife in his teeth. No, no.

28:18 Proceeding right out of his mouth was this huge broadsword. Then he goes on to say and his countenance, his visage, his face was as the sun shineth in his strength. That is when the sun is not in any way obscured in its brilliance by clouds or by the dimness that comes when it's setting. The sun as it appears on a perfectly cloudless day when it's at its zenith.

28:46 There is a brilliance that causes pain. He says that's what I saw when I looked upon his countenance. Now that's the substance of the vision. Seven lampstands.

The Sequel to the Vision: John's Reaction and Christ's Response

28:58 In the midst of it, this unusual personage. Now then, what's the sequel to the vision? We've looked at the setting, the substance. Now, what happens when John beholds this?

29:10 Verse 17. And when I saw him, now notice carefully, he does not begin to ask a thousand questions. When I saw him, I said, what does the sword on my mouth mean? What do the head and hairs white as wool mean?

29:28 What do the burnished feet mean? No, no, no, no. John did not begin to ask questions. When I saw him, he says, I fell at his feet as one dead.

29:49 He is uttered. He is struck dumb. He becomes, as it were, a dead man filled with holy dread. I fell towards his feet as one dead.

30:03 That's the reaction of John. Now notice the response of our Lord to that reaction. And here's the heart of the message of this passage. There is first of all a word of comfort.

30:18 Look at it. The first words that proceed from this personage that John sees in vision. This vision in which the Lord himself represents what he is under these strange figures. Now there is no longer the enigmatic figure in vision, but the voice of the Lord himself saying, Fear not.

30:46 And the first words that come from his lips are words of comfort. Fear not. And one man in opening up this passage has so helpfully broken down the thought saying that we have in this word of comfort four simple things. First of all, our Lord says to John, Your fears are groundless.

31:10 All that I am, under the representation of these strange things, the large sword from my mouth, head and hairs white as wool, John, all that I am to you, and all that I am to my people in the seven churches to whom I want you to send a record of what you saw, I am not this to fill you with dread. I am all of this to fill you with comfort. Fear not. All that I am set forth under this strange imagery, I am made in design not to provoke your fears, but to quiet them. Fear not. Fear not. Your fears are groundless.

32:04 And then he goes on to say in the second place, Your Redeemer is God. Your Redeemer is divine. Look at the language. Fear not.

32:14 I am the first and the last and the living one. That language, first and last, is the language of deity. I am the first and the last. I am the author and the end of all things in nature, in grace, and in providence.

32:36 I am the living one, the one who has life in himself, first and last in wisdom and power, in ordering all the events and circumstances of your life, John, and of the life of the churches. Fear not, John. I am the first and the last and the living one. Your fears are groundless.

32:59 Secondly, your Redeemer is divine. Thirdly, his redemption is secure. Look at the language again. I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

33:14 I am the one who laid down my life for sinners. I am the one who has taken it up again, and whoever expends his life to intercede for sinners. John, don't be afraid. All that you have seen of my majesty, all that you have seen of my glory, all you have seen of the frightening dimensions of my power to judge and to govern, of my frightful holiness and burning anger, and all this, John, do not be afraid.

33:53 Who is the Redeemer of my people? I became dead. I am alive unto the ages. And then notice the climactic statement again.

34:05 My dominion is universal. Look at the language. I have the keys of death and of Hades. Now, what do the keys signify?

34:17 That's not new language. Jesus said, I have unto you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.

34:29 The key is the symbol of authority to open and to close. And he says, John, don't be afraid. I have the keys to those two great dreaded realities. Death, by which you're issued into the unseen world, and Hades, the abode of the unseen dead, in particular, the abode of the unseen wicked dead.

34:56 John, I have those keys. And if I open those doors to death and to Hades, none can shut. If I shut them, none can open. John, write to the seven churches.

35:15 They see the Roman emperor stalking through the earth. Filled with his blind jealousy that even leads some of his own blood relatives to death because they were Christians. You see your fellow believers suffering. You, John, must write to them as companion in suffering.

35:34 And death has become something more than a far distant thing that comes to all of us ultimately at the end of our eighty years. Death has begun to stare young men and women in the face. In the crucible of death, in the crucible of persecution, death has become something which they cannot escape, which they cannot simply put off and cover over with innocuous terms such as deceased and passed on and gone from us and all the rest. Here was bloody, brutal, untimely death.

36:09 And he says, John, I have the keys. Probably referring especially not to death in the case of the believer, but I have the keys to the death. To death as an execution of divine wrath and judgment upon the impenitent from which they go into Hades to await the judgment of the last day at which time soul and body shall be sent into Gehenna, the term used to describe the eternal abode of the wicked. John, my dominion is universal.

36:43 I've urged you to write to the churches saying grace and peace from this one who is faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, ruler of the kings of the earth, and his dominion extends not only to earthly circumstances and earthly powers and principalities, but to death and the world to come as well. To quote one judicious and spiritually minded commentator on the book of the Revelation, he says concerning these very words that I'm seeking to open up in your hearing, not only its entrance, all the powers of that unseen world are under his control. All those vast domains where mighty spirits transact the stupendous concerns of the spiritual world, the host of rebel angels, the ministering spirits unto the heirs of salvation are under his eye and his hand. And neither angel nor devil wings his flight of mercy or of wrath, but by his power and at his will. Thus from the chamber of death and the gloom of the grave, and the mysterious powers of the unseen world, from all nature and providence as well as from the cross of Calvary and the blood of Jesus and the majesty and glory of the mediator's throne,

38:12 there arises in universal harmony this one assurance to every believer, fear not, it is the voice of our redeeming God in all his works and ways, to all his church and each of his fearful saints. We said these words express the spirit and design of the entire book of the Revelation. It is Christ coming to his people saying, fear not, I have the keys, universal dominion. And so you find in those closing chapters that it is Christ on his throne that does what?

38:53 He casts death and Hades into the lake of fire and says, evil shall be banished to that place. Then you have those wonderful 21st and 22nd chapters. We see the new Jerusalem in all its glory, the perfected church in everlasting communion and in the unsullied service of her Lord. So there is the word of comfort.

Christ's Command and Explanation

39:19 That's the first response of our Lord to John as he falls as a dead man full of this sense of dread. The Lord Jesus says, do not be afraid. Your fears are groundless. Your Redeemer is divine.

39:35 Your salvation is certain. My dominion is universal. Then he gives a word of command, verse 19, and notice the connective. Right there, therefore, the things which you saw.

39:50 Because all of this is true, John, make haste to get it to the churches. What do they need to know in the midst of their suffering? What do they need to know? A pre-written history of the Napoleonic Wars?

40:03 A pre-written history of the rise and fall of Mussolini and Stalin and Mao Zedong? Is that what the churches in Asia Minor needed? No, no. They needed to know that whatever forces were now aligned against them, whatever forces would rise up from the earth, out of human governance, out of decadent religion, whatever forces would come at the instigation of the beast and his hordes, because Christ is on his knees of hell and of death.

40:42 John, write and send it to the seven churches. Get the message to them, John, that I am King upon my throne. So the word of command is right. Therefore, because of who I am and what I've done and how I rule, John, write it down and send it to them.

41:03 And then the Lord gives the word of explanation, the word of comfort, the word of command, and the word of explanation in verse 20. The mystery of the seven stars which you saw and the seven golden candlesticks. If our Lord had not given an infallible interpretation, who knows how many books would have been written telling us what the stars and the lampstands were? But that's the one point on which all the commentators are agreed.

41:30 The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches. Now, they're not agreed as to who those messengers are. They have written their books to support their various theories. And the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

41:46 Now, do you catch something of the force of why we've emphasized again and again anything that takes this glorious letter, this small book, and somehow robs the church of having it as her constant possession is in direct violation to the whole motif of this opening vision. John, what you've seen and all that will open up to you, it's essential for the church to know it. Write and send it to the churches because the great concern is the churches and the presence and ministry of Christ. Well, I must hurry to a very brief conclusion.

Significance of the Vision: Christ in the Midst

42:29 And since we got started late, I'll prevail upon you to go about five minutes beyond what I normally do on the clock. So if you'll bear with me now as I try to touch quickly upon the significance of this vision. We've looked at the setting, the substance, the sequel, now the significance of the vision. Notice the significance of the visual relationship between the two great ingredients.

42:55 John sees seven pedestal lamps and this unique personage in the midst. And the message you see in the vision is to be found in such things as these relationships. Well, the first letter opens up with this language, chapter 2. To the angel or messenger of the church in Ephesus write, These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, he that walketh in the midst of the seven golden pedestal lamps.

43:30 He's saying to the churches you must think of me as walking in the midst. Though I am out of sight as to the eyes of flesh, what John has seen in vision represents the spiritual reality of things as they truly are. I am in the midst. Domitian and his frown and his angry sword have not escaped my eye.

44:00 And all the powers of sin and hell and decadent religion and anti-Christ government. Oh, he says, remember, I am in the midst. And he is in the midst in all that is represented in that vision. I am in the midst with all that is significant in this unusual representation of Christ.

44:26 I am in the midst with my eyes as a flame of fire. And he says again and again in the churches, I know thy works. I try. I see.

44:37 I know. He is in the midst with his feet of burnished brass. Anything that they strike must be consumed by the weight and by the fire of those feet. And so he can talk in strong language concerning judgments to come upon disobedient churches and judgments upon manifestations of the power of evil.

45:01 Oh, the significance, dear Christian, is seen in that visual relationship. Christ in the midst. And we need to know that he is in the midst as our conquering King. That's why he can say in his letter to the last church, he that overcometh, to him will I grant to sit down with me in my throne even as I overcame and have sat down with my Father in his throne.

45:33 That's the significance of the vision. The church then and now needs to feed upon this great reality that Christ is not to be conceived of as separate from the golden pedestal lamps. He is in the midst. And all that he is in himself and in his offices, he is with respect to the concerns of his church.

Significance of the Vision: Verbal Consolation

45:57 And then the significance is found in the verbal consolation. As I've already suggested, quoting from Ramsey, the words of verses 17 and 18 express the spirit and design of this book. And we with John need to feed. Upon what?

46:16 Upon the specter of the beast and of all of the other creatures representing the power of evil and then become Middle East watchers and Far East watchers and wonder when the Chinese hordes are going to descend and when this is going to come and when the atom bombs are going to... My friend, no, no!

46:36 A thousand times no! Fear not. Why? Remember who I am.

46:48 I am God. I am the first and the last and the living one. Let Domitian bear his fangs. Let Nero bear his fangs.

47:00 Let Hitler rise up. Let Mussolini rise up. Let Western civilization boast itself of its accomplishments until it thumbs its nose at God. I am the first and the last and the living one.

47:19 That's the consolation of the people of God. To hear the Lord in the midst saying, don't be afraid. When you think of me in terms of the power of my word to consume my enemies, the sword that goes out of my mouth, when you think of my eyes as a flame of fire that can search the heart and try the reins, you think of my burnished brass feet that bring judgment. Fear not!

47:46 To the church of Christ, these are her consolation for all that he is behind those representations. He is, as God, our redeemer and savior, the one who has dominion, head over all things to the church. Oh, my friend, that's the significance of the vision seen in the visual relationships, found in the verbal consolation. In the language of the hymn we often sing, the church's one foundation stands afore, says the church shall never perish.

48:26 Why? Her dear one, the Lord to defend, to guide and cherish is with her. The church can never perish. But you see, that's a consolation to those who are in vital union with the redeemer.

Application: Comfort for Believers, Terror for Unbelievers

48:48 When the Lord Jesus, apparently, or this representation, this was not the Lord himself, but a representation of what he is in this strange vision. When that person stretches out its hand, apparently, dropped the stars or just hung them, I don't know, just says he held them in his right hand and then it says, he laid his right hand upon me and said, Fear not. That hand was the pierced hand of the redeemer, laid upon one who was in these vital bonds of faith and love to that redeemer. My friend, the fear not does not come to all men indiscriminately.

49:32 All that Christ is And the majesty of His person is represented in that vision. If you're not in Christ, it ought to strike terror to your heart. Because those eyes as a flame of fire see you through and through. They know all your secret thoughts and your hard thoughts against God and His law and His gospel.

49:52 Those feet of burnished brass stand ready to crush you in your impenitence. And that sword that proceeds from His mouth, that sword will cut with everlasting judgment. In the language of 2 Thessalonians, He will come with flaming fire to take vengeance on all that obey not the gospel. Oh, my friend, if you're not in Christ, this is no word of consolation to you.

50:22 You ought to be filled with the dread of a man going to the gallows. You ought to be filled with the trembling. You ought to be filled with the trembling of the last day. To think that this Christ could summon you to His presence and crush you with His righteous judgment.

50:40 I plead with you to seek this Lord while He may be found. Turn from your sin. Cry to Him for mercy. Plead His own promise.

50:51 Him that comes to me, I will in no wise cast out. And dear child of God, as you would find consolation for the present turmoil of your own little world that has been upset and filled with disruption. Where is it going to come? It's going to come precisely where it came for John.

51:14 Behold Him in all His glory in the midst of the church. Feed upon His word of comfort. Your fears are groundless. Your Redeemer is divine.

51:26 His salvation and redemption is complete. fleet, and His reign is universal. May God grant that that vision will be stamped upon our hearts, and that we may feed upon its reality by faith. And God willing, in subsequent studies, we'll take up a few of those other visions now, in which the same Lord will manifest Himself in His sovereign rule as the defender and protector of His people. Let us pray.

51:57 O our Father, we thank You for Your holy Word. We thank You for this vision of the exalted Christ in the midst of the lampstands. We thank You that He is with us today in all the plenitude and fullness of His grace and power. O forgive our wicked unbelief. Forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive

52:42 us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive us that we so often grovel in our sin. O forgive when he felt that hand upon his shoulder, upon his head, and heard those words, Fear not, I am. O God, we do not ask for any feeling upon our shoulders.

52:59 We do not ask for any sight to burst upon our eyes. We ask that the Spirit will take the dullness from our hearts, that we may believingly assimilate what has been given to us in Scripture. Hear our prayer. We ask in Jesus' name.

53:20 Amen.