The Lord's Message to His Church, Part 2

Thank you, Dave. Kristen, let's pray together. Father, we thank you for today and we thank you for another opportunity to spend time in your Word. We thank you for a chance to worship the King. Thank you, Lord, for providing this opportunity for us that we might come and bow before you. Teach us, Lord, from your Word, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. If you have your Bible, turn with me to Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation chapter 1, as we continue to look at the ministry and the message of Christ to his church, it is a chapter in the Bible that expresses to us with great clarity Jesus Christ, our Lord.

The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Christ in all of his glory and splendor. In chapter 1, we get a vision of the glorified Christ. John receives that vision on the island of Patmos. As he receives that vision, God is able to explain to him the beauty of his holiness. John is to write these things down. He is to send them to seven churches in Asia Minor. Those churches need to understand this ministry of Christ. It's portrayed in his person and in his apparel. And that ministry then will dictate the message he has to give to his church.

And the message primarily centers around the church repenting. And that's why five of the seven churches are told to repent. There are seven churches. They are, in Revelation 1, seven golden lampstands. In verse 20, they are the seven churches because they are to light the way for the world to see the glorified Christ. And these seven churches are literal churches, but they are representative of all the churches that have ever existed in the church age. And so that's why the Lord says at the end of each letter to the churches, he who has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

And so we need to understand what that message is. To understand the message, you need to understand the ministry that Christ has in and among his church. And so we tried to describe that for you last week. Let me briefly give it to you once again, just so that you can be caught up.

So you understand this ministry of Christ. John is on the island of Patmos because of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And because of his testimony, he's been banished this island. He is somewhere in his nineties now.

He's an older gentleman and he is on this island and he hears a voice and he turns and he sees seven golden lampstands. And the Bible tells us that those lampstands are the seven churches. And then it tells us very clearly that he, the son of man is in the middle of those lampstands. She had the two verse number one says he walks among them.

This speaks of the ministry of his centrality and the centrality of his ministry is that which extols his presence among his church. The centrality of Christ extols his presence among his church. John needed to know that the Lord is still present among his people. And we need to know that Jesus Christ is still present among us, that he will never leave us nor will he ever forsake us. And so when John turns, he sees in the middle of those seven golden lampstands, one like a son of man. And she had the two verse number one says that son of man walks among those seven churches.

And so his centrality extols his presence among his people. And then we noticed his priority, which is the fact that his priority explains his passion for his church. His priority explains his passion for his church. And what is his passion? His passion is to pray. How do we know that? He sees him clothed in a long robe and that robe has a golden sash. Prophets wore robes. Kings wore robes. Priests wore robes. And Christ is the fulfillment of the priestly, kingly, prophetic ministry as portrayed in the Old Testament that the Messiah would be.

But the golden sash depicts his priestly ministry. And this is his passion for his church. He lives to intercede for his church. He was 725. He is the high priest who can sympathize with your weaknesses and my weaknesses. And so his passion is not only to identify with us, but to pray for us that we might know that he is that ultimate counselor, that we can go to him at any time. So his centrality extols his presence. His priority explains his passion and his purity executes his purifying pruning and purging of his church.

We know that because the Bible tells us that his head, his hair were white like white wool. Speaking of the purity and the holiness of the king, it depicts what Daniel 7 verse number nine said about the ancient of days, God himself. It's a clear claim to deity that Jesus Christ is God in the flesh. And this speaks of his purity because he needs to execute the purging of his church because of his holiness. He wants us to be holy as he himself is holy because he is perfect. He wants his church to be as perfect as he is perfect because he is spotless because he is blameless.

He wants us to be spotless and blameless. And the ministry he has among his church is a purifying ministry is a praying ministry is the ministry that depicts his presence among us all the time, knowing that he is able to decipher everything that happens in the church. And then you notice that his eyes were like a flame of fire.

This was his scrutiny and his scrutiny examines his people in the church. His eyes are like a flame of fire. They're like laser beams. They see inside the soul of a man. Hebrews four tells us that there is nothing hidden from his sight. So he sees everything that's happening. John needs to know that Jesus Christ sees what is happening in the church because the message he's going to give helps explain why it is Christ is going to come in judgment among many of those churches because of what he sees and what he knows that's happening in their lives.

So his scrutiny examines his people in the church. And then we saw his feet, his voice, his mouth. And from that mouth came a sharp two edged sword, which speaks of his authority and his authority exemplifies his power among the church. Remember the feet of a king were always a symbol of his authority and the feet that John sees were feet as burnished bronze glowing because they were the feet of judgment that would exemplify the authority of Christ, his power over the church. And he holds the seven stars in his hands.

Those stars are the messengers. Those messengers are the pastors of those churches where he is in the authority overseeing with power everyone who oversees the church. And then we saw his glory. His face would shine like the brightness of the sun in the middle of the day. And his glory exalts, exalts his position over the church because he is the glorified one. He will not give his glory to anyone else. And he demands that he be glorified in the church. That's why Malachi 4, verse number two, it speaks to the Messiah being the son of righteousness, because it speaks of the brightness and beauty that comes from the person of the glorified Christ.

You need to understand his ministry because in this purifying, purging, pruning ministry that Christ has in this praying ministry that Christ has in this authoritative ministry that Christ has in this piercing ministry that Christ has, he is able to understand and know everything that happens in the church. And therefore, he will give a message to the church. And that message needs to be listened to, needs to be heard by those who are in the church. And then he talks about his security because John falls at his feet like a dead man.

Now that's a very important phrase because what John saw, he needed to write down because the churches needed to see the glory of that vision. They needed to see what John saw. And so he had to write it down. And when John fell at his feet like a dead man, John was letting us know that the holiness of God is so pure and so great that he could not stand in his presence. I'm not so sure that we understand Christ unless we have the same response that John had. I'm not so sure that when we read the Bible that we can just skip off and do what we've always done without it ever affecting our lives.

Because the Bible tells us that when we behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, 2 Corinthians 3.18, and that's what we behold. We behold the glory of the Lord in all of his beauty and splendor. And so when we read the word of God, we are seeing God in his splendor. It should have a supreme effect upon our lives. It should cause us to fall before him because we've seen him in all of his beauty. And that means if we've seen him in all of his beauty, we can then effectively see how ugly we really are in the sin that permeates our lives.

And we bow before him in humble submission, pleading for mercy. That's what John did. That's what Isaiah did. That's what Ezekiel did. That's what Job did. That's what Paul did. Whenever you get a glimpse of the beauty of God, you can't stand. You can't remain the same way you were before you saw his beauty. See, it affects you, has a profound effect upon your life. And John had a huge response to the glory of Christ, which leads us to our seventh principle, and that is his security. Because it is his security that extends his provision for his church.

His security extends his provision for his church. And that security is seen in four specific ways. Number one, his unfathomable eternality.

Number two, his unimaginable humility. Number three, his undeniable immortality. And number four, his unquestionable sovereignty. These two verses, Revelation 1, 17 and 18, depict for us everything you need to know about Christ and how he extends his provision to his church, how this is the security of the believer. Listen to what Christ says to John.

Verse 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. Do not be afraid, John. Now remember, the story of the incarnation centers around fear. The story of the resurrection centers around fear. And the story of this vision centers around fear. Why? Because at the incarnation, the angels, Zacharias, Mary, were told, do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. Because they lived in fear. Why? Because they were true believers.

At the resurrection, Christ appeared to the disciples. They were afraid. The women, they were afraid. And what did Christ say? Do not be afraid. Do not fear. Why? Because the response of the believer is always to live in fear all day long. There is no fear of God in the eye of the unbeliever. Romans chapter 3 tells us that there is no fear of God in the life of the unbeliever. But there's always fear in the life of the believer. They truly fear the living God because they know God. They understand God.

We need to stop asking people, are you a Christian? We need to stop asking Christians, do you know Jesus? You start asking people, do you fear God? If they say, yes, I fear God, that probably indicates that they are a true believer. Because there was forgiveness with thee, Psalm 130, verse number 4, that thou mayest be feared. God forgives you so that you'll fear him. God forgives you so that you fear him. John fears him. Ezekiel feared him. Isaiah feared him. The shepherds feared him. Mary feared him.

Zacharias feared him. The disciples feared him. They lived in the fear all day long. And we treat Christ with such frivolity in the church. We read the scriptures with such triviality in the church. We treat it as if it doesn't mean anything. It means everything. Because we are to live in the fear of God all day long. That's what the Bible says.

The Bible says specifically in the book of Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 23, verse number 17. Proverbs 20, 14 says, we are to fear always. Solomon said, in Ecclesiastes 12, he said, to sum up, this is the end of man, to fear God and to keep his commandments. That's it. Fear God, keep his commandments. And so John has a proper response. He's afraid. He sees the beauty of Christ. And so he fears God. So he falls down like a dead man. And what does the Lord do? He reaches over and touches him. He touches John and says, do not be afraid, John.

Do not be afraid. No need to be afraid. This is his security. In the midst of his fear, there comes a supreme message of security that extends the provision of God to his church. He says these words, when I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and saying, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last and the living one.

And I was dead and behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys of death and Hades. I am the first and the last and the living one.

This is the unfathomable eternality of the son. The unfathomable eternality of the son. I am a go, a me that phrase that Christ used in John eight 58, when the Pharisees wanted to stone him before Abraham was I am. This is the memorial name of God. This is the redemptive name of God. This is how God wants to be remembered from generation to generation. That's what he told Moses in Exodus chapter three, verse number 14, when he said, tell them, I am sent you. And he told Moses, as you read through Exodus chapter three, this is my memorial name.

This is how I'm going to be remembered for generation generation that I am. That's it. I am. So Christ comes on a scene and says, I am saying that in Johnny 24, unless you believe that I am, you will die in your sins. Unless you believe that I am the God that spoke to Moses from the brain bush, you will die in your sins. Clear claim to deity. Jesus Christ is affirming the fact that he is God. That's why in Johnny teen, when they came to get him, those soldiers and those temple police and those Pharisees and Judas, and they came with lanterns and torches and swords and spears, they came and Jesus said, whom do you seek?

They said, Jesus, the Nazarene. Jesus said, I am. And they all fell over backwards because the power of the name I am. When he calmed the raging sea, he told the disciples, be not behold, be not afraid for I am. I am a clear expression of his deity, the unfathomable eternality of God that he has always existed. Never was he created. He is God in the flesh. He says, I am. And then he says, I am the first.

And I am the last, a clear reference again, to the God of the old Testament book of Isaiah, Isaiah 44, verse number six, you can read on and see Isaiah 40 verse number 12, Isaiah 41, verse number four. Okay. All that where the Lord God Jehovah says, I am the first and I am the last.

Now Jesus says, I am the first and I am the last another clear claim to deity. Okay. That he is everything from the beginning to the end. John, I'm in control of all things. I'm at the beginning. I'm at the end because I was before the beginning and I'm after the end. I am the first and I am the last John.

I am your God. I am here for you, John, be not afraid. I am. I am the first and the last. I am the living, the living one. I am the living God. Again, a clear reference to the God of the old Testament who was the living God. And everybody knew that their God was the living God, that all the idols were dead gods. And so in the book of Joshua, Joshua chapter three, verse number 10, it's the living God that would dispose of the enemies of Israel. It would be the living God that would part the Jordan over in a act chapter 14, verse number 14.

It says the living God is the one who made the earth and the heaven, the sea, and all that's in it. In the first Thessalonians one, nine, you are saved.

When you're saved, you turn from idols to God that you might serve the true and living one. He is the living God. He's not some dead God. I am the living one, John. I'm alive. And the living one imparts life. And the life that Christ imparts is the only life that matters. And so this is the security that extends to the church, that Christ extends to the church, that you must know who I am. It speaks of his unfathomable eternality. He is the living God. He is the eternal God. He is the I am the first and the last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

He is the living one. And so the very fact of the eternal existence of the son of man would bring great security to John. But he says, he says this, and I was dead. So how can the living God die? How can the eternal God die? This is his unimaginable humility. You move from his unfathomable eternality to his unimaginable humility. John, I am, I am the first and the last.

I am the living one. And I was dead. I was dead. How can the living God die? Unless he is enwrapped with flesh. See, this speaks of his glorious incarnation, the great humility of the son of man, that the Lord God would come down to man, that the word would become flesh and dwell among us. As Peter says in the first Peter chapter three, verse number 18, he was dead in the flesh, alive in the spirit.

He came to die for you, John. He came to die for the church, John. He came to abolish death. John, the Bible says that it's very clear that he was made alive in the spirit.

His flesh died. His spirit remained alive. God is a spirit. And yet he enwrapped himself in flesh so we could see him, so he could become like us. He could become a partaker of flesh and blood. As it says in Hebrews chapter two, verse number 14, we by nature have flesh and blood. He now becomes flesh and blood so that we can understand the greatness of his humility. As he came to die for the sins of man in his humanness, he died without ever ceasing to be God. This was the only way to save man. This was the only way that we could be redeemed.

I am the living God, and yet I was dead, John, and I died for you, John. This is your security, that you believe in me, you will never die. John, you believe in me, you will live, because as I live, you will live. Speaks of the beauty of Christ as he helps John understand that he voluntarily, that he humbly, that he deliberately came to die. And that's why Christ said that no one takes my life from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative, because he was in charge. So you move from his unfathomable eternality to his unimaginable humility, that this eternal God would wrap himself in flesh so that he could partake of flesh and blood, so that he could die for your sins as your substitute in your place, that you might experience his life.

And then you have his undeniable immortality. And behold, I am alive forevermore. This is his undeniable immortality. 1 Timothy 1.17 says, Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and never. 2 Timothy 1.10, Jesus Christ has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. In other words, what he did is undeniable, that this was the one who is alive forevermore. He came to abolish death. He came to take the sting away from death.

This is what he did. He made death. Listen carefully to what I'm going to tell you. I don't want to be misquoted. I don't want to be misrepresented. So listen very carefully to what I'm going to tell you. Okay. What he did was make death the highlight of your earthly existence. He made death the highlight of your earthly existence because he took the sting out of death. He is the ultimate victor, the ultimate warrior. He is the one, according to Hebrews chapter two, who says in verse number 14, these words, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same.

That is, he took on something he had never had before. God is a spirit, right? But he became flesh and blood and through death, he might render powerless him who had the power of death that is a devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. In other words, when you're an unbeliever, you fear death and you are subject to its slavery. But when you are born again by the God who is immortal, who gives life, all of a sudden Paul says for me to live as Christ and to die is the pits.

Is that what he said? For me to live as Christ and to die is what? Is gain. How can death be gain? Because it is looked at as Paul and secondly, before as a departure, a departure from this life filled with sin to a life in glory, where there is no sin, a life where your inheritance is a life where everything is because it is the eternal blissful life in the presence of a glorified God.

And that's where we are going. So therefore what he did by abolishing death is to help you understand that death now becomes the highlight of your earthly existence. It is the ultimate of your earthly existence because it opens the door to glory. It opens the door to the presence of God. And that's what Christ came to do. This is the security of the believer. This is the security that extends to the church, extends the provision of God to the church because they needed to know that there is a God who is the great I am, that he is the first and the last, that he is the living one who was dead, who died for them.

Okay. But behold, he is alive forevermore because he is a living, resurrected Christ. So you move from his unfathomable eternality to his unimaginable humility, to his undeniable immortality, to his unquestionable sovereignty. And he says these words to John, he says, and I have the keys to death and Hades. That's his unquestionable sovereignty. John, don't worry. I know you're on an island in the Aegean Sea. You're in your 90s. I know all that, John, but I hold the keys. I hold the keys to your condition, which is life or death and the place, which is Sheol, place of the dead.

I'm in charge. John, nobody dies by accident. Everybody dies by divine appointment. Nobody dies too early. Nobody dies too late. Everybody dies on time. I just can't get that through people's minds. People always die on time, never too early, never too late because there's somebody who's in charge. Christ says, I hold the keys.

If you have keys, you have access, right? You have access. You have control. You have authority. You have keys to your car. People can't get in unless they have the key. They can break in, but they can't get into your car. You have the keys. You're in charge. Can't get into your house. Can't get into your lockbox. Can't get into your office. You got the keys. You're in charge. You're in control. Christ says, I hold the keys to death and Hades.

I hold the keys to man's condition, and I hold the keys to the place he ends up. I'm in charge. And John needed to know, the churches needed to know that Christ was in charge. This is his unquestionable sovereignty. Listen, if you're in charge of life and death, you're in charge of everything. And this is Jesus Christ, our Lord. All authority has been given unto him. All authority. And so, therefore, nothing is going to happen in your life that he is not controlling. Not one thing. I don't care what you think that one thing is, and it seems so bad to you.

We know that God can cause all things to work together for good to those who love him and are called according to his purpose because he is a sovereign God of the universe. And there is nothing that demonstrates his being in control as when he gave up the spirit, when he died of his own free will. He died on time. He died when he wanted to die. Didn't die before his time to die. He died when he wanted to die, when it was finished, when the work of redemption was complete. Then he gave up the spirit.

Then he died. He died in the flesh. He was alive in the spirit. He rose again the third day as the victor over sin, Satan, and death.

He took the sting out of death, took the fear out of death. He removed it all for us so we could rest in his sovereign control over everything. And Christ says to John, write it down.

Write it down. He says very clearly to John, he says, therefore write the things which you have seen. Write this down, John, what you just saw in the risen glorified son of man. Write it down. Write it down word for word, just exactly as you saw it. Write it down. The things which are. That's the letter to the seven churches, which he's going to give them, the message to the churches and the things which will take place after these things. That's the revelation for and following. He says, write it down, John, because everybody needs to know what you just saw because this is what really matters.

You need to know me. The church needs to know me. They need to understand me and they need to understand my ministry among them, how I scrutinize everything that they do, how I'm in complete control of all that's happening, how I'm in a work of purging and purifying and pruning the church on a regular basis, and how I am praying for the church, how I live to make intercession for the church, and how, John, listen, you need to understand that I am all in for the church. I died for the church and I want the church to represent me clearly and accurately.

I want the church to be just like me. And as you read through the seven letters, which we will begin in just a couple of weeks, as we read through those seven letters, you're going to see all these depictions of Christ reiterated again to different churches to emphasize exactly what he's doing in those churches. Because what he did in those churches is what he does in every church because he wants us to represent him. He wants us to be like him. He will stop at nothing to make you and me just like him.

We got to be thankful for that because we truly are his ambassadors. We are the citizens of his kingdom. We represent Christ's lost world. And these churches, they had to represent Christ to the lost world. And as we become more and more like him, we can better reflect him. We can better represent him. And that's what he wants. So having seen the ministry of Christ among his church, we will now look at the message of Christ to his churches and ask ourselves, where are we?

Where are we in this conversation? And do we have the ears to hear what the spirit says to the churches? Let me pray with you.

Father, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the beauty of your holiness. We thank you, Lord, for all that you do in our lives, for truly you are a great God. And we ask that Lord, as we gather together to partake of the Lord's table, you'd help us never to forget who you are, that truly we would best represent you as clearly as possible. We love you, Lord, because you first loved us.

And we truly want to be like you. We ask this in Jesus name. Amen.