The Revelator...Revealed, Part 1

Revelation chapter 1, verse number 9 down through verse number 20. We won't cover that all this evening, but we want to talk a little bit to you this evening about Jesus Christ. Because the book of Revelation gives to us our Lord Jesus Christ as no other book gives us Him. Tremendous study as the revelator, Jesus Christ Himself, is revealed to us in a way that will impact us like no other passage of Scripture this evening. We will look at Jesus Christ and His ministry to the churches.

We'll look at His ministry to us as individuals. As you recall, this book was sent to seven churches. Some of those churches were compromising in their stand for the gospel. Others had tolerated sin. Others had become very powerless. Tonight, you need to ask yourself the question: Have you compromised in some area of your life? Have you tolerated sin? Are you becoming more and more powerless? When it comes to living the Christian life, the letter given to these churches, this book, the book of Revelation, was designed to give to those seven churches.

An opportunity to see Jesus Christ in all of His glory and all of His splendor, and to see exactly how He would minister to their lives. This passage of scripture tonight tells us how he does that. So it promises to be extremely encouraging to all of us, of us who love the Lord Jesus. Christ. Tonight you will learn what Christ is doing this very hour as he ministers to your life and to mine. Two things we want to cover. First of all, the declaration from the Revelator, and then number two, the description of the Revelator.

Revelation chapter 1. Let's begin with verse number nine. I, John, your brother, and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus. Was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, like the sound of a trumpet. saying, Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna. and to Pergamum, and to Thy, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Look first of all with me under this declaration from the Revelator at number one, the person. The person in whom this declaration was given to was, of course, the Apostle John. We have been introduced to him already in verse number one and in verse number four.

But I want you to notice how he relates himself to these churches. He says, I, John. Your brother and fellow partak. It 's interesting how he doesn't introduce himself. He doesn't say, I, John, the great apostle. One of the disciples that was involved in the inner circle of Jesus with James and Andrew and Peter. He doesn't introduce himself as one who was the one given the responsibility to take care of the mother of Jesus, although he was given that responsibility. He doesn't say, I John, the one who would recline on the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ at the Passover.

He doesn't say, I, John, the author of the Gospel of John. The author of three epistles that introduced himself that way. He is a fellow, brethren. He is one among them. Who happens to be graced with a vision, the vision of our Lord. And look what he says. I'm a fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus. Listen carefully. In Jesus, very unique phrase. He says, I am a partaker. Of those things that are distinctively Christian, distinctively A part of a believer.

Three things that distinguish a true believer. One is persecution. Second, one, they're a part of the kingdom.

And the third is that they persevere. I'm a fellow partaker. I'm one of you. That's John. He's the person who receives the declaration from the Revelator. Notice, second of all, the place where John is.

It says, Was on the island called Patmos. Where's that? That's a little rocky island out in the Mediterranean. It's shaped sort of like a crescent, about 10 miles long, about 5 to 6 miles wide, 40 miles west of Miletus, where Paul himself would talk to the Ephesian elders. It was. In the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor. It's one of many rocky islands located there in the Aegean Sea. Why was he here? He was banished. He, in their terms, was a criminal. It was a common form of punishment for them to banish criminals to islands where there'd be no way of escape.

That's the place John was. We've already talked about it. He's 80 years or so of age. And these people who were banished to these islands were exiled as prisoners, were beaten, tortured, denied warm clothing, denied adequate food. And this man, the beloved disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ, found himself isolated. Remember, how did he describe himself in the Gospel of John? The disciple in whom Jesus loved. Where is the disciple in whom Jesus loved? Isol, alone, on an island. Banished from civilization, tortured, and persecuted.

The deeper the distress, the clearer the Christ. Remember that. The deeper your difficulty, the clearer your Christ, the more you're going to see him, the more you're going to know him. You see, when we grow spiritually from the human standpoint, it's the scripture. From the divine standpoint, it's suffering. That's the way it works. It's a suffering that drives us to the scripture. It's a scripture that tells us about our God. And the more we know about God, the more we endure the persecution, the more we persevere because we understand we're citizens of his kingdom.

That's the way John was. John got the vision. Can you imagine what would happen if he lived the fluffy, puffy life? He would have never had the vision. We then would have never received a picture of the glorified risen Christ. We would have never been able to decipher the Lord Jesus Christ as John him saw him because there would have been no one to write it. So you see how his banishment, how his isolation, how his affliction led to your spiritual growth. And your opportunity to see Christ. That's why we need to understand that when things happen to me, It's not about me.

It's about how God's going to use me to paint a picture of Jesus Christ to those who listen and hear what God has done in my life. Such a rich truth. It's so easy for us just to pass over it. Oh, here he is, John the great apostle, on the island of Patm, because of the testimony of the word of God. I mean, you know, let's just read over it and get on to the heavy stuff: the Antichrist, the beast, the dragon, the tribulation, the bold judgments, the sealed judgments. Let's get on to the real, gory, gruesome stuff.

But all this is first because you need to understand a relationship with the living God. John had it. And we can praise God for it. The third thing I want you to notice is his position.

His position. It says that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. And I heard behind me a loud voice, like the sound of a trumpet. He was in the Spirit. Here's a man who could sit on the rocks, and if he was chained to those rocks in virtually no clothing whatsoever, he had to sleep on the bare ground with hardly any clothing at all. Would be cool nights, times which he was extremely cold. He'd be fading away fast because he was up in age, there was hardly any food to feed him, and he could be grumbling and complaining, but instead, he is in the spirit.

He is in tune with God and he becomes transcended from where he is, similar to what Peter was in Acts chapter 10 and Ezekiel in Ezekiel chapter 2. God would transcend this man out of the realm of the natural into the realm of the supernatural. He would do for this man what he has done for no other man. Because he was loyal to the Word of God. Fourthly, the purpose. It says, There was a voice like the sound of a trumpet. There was a loud voice, a powerful commanding voice. It was the voice of God.

And there's a commanding voice that comes with a purpose that says, write in a book. What you see and send it to the seven churches. Twelve times in Revelation, John is said, is told, Write it down, write it down. Write what you see. One time, that's Revelation chapter 10, he is told, don't write what you see. Don't write what you have just seen, John. Instead, he is to eat the scroll, and it becomes bitter as well as sweet in his mouth. And when we get to Revelation chapter 10, we'll talk about that.

You write it down and you send it to the seven churches, seven prominent churches in Asia. They were seven postal districts in Asia. central points for instant dispatch of information. It would be the normal route that a postal carrier would take letters if he was to go to each city. And each of those major cities then would dispatch that letter to other cities. and to other churches. There was a purpose. People needed to hear and read about what John would see. As he was taken up in a vision. What this is to point number two: the description of the Revelator.

The description of the Revelator. Text says, And I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and having turned, I saw seven go lampstand. Evidently, John's back was to the voice that he heard. And so he turned to listen to this voice. Now, whose voice is that? Well, if you jump over to verse number 18, it tells us whose voice it is. It says, 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 in Hades. It was the voice of Jesus Christ himself. That's who's speaking. And it says, having turned, I saw seven golden lampstand. Now what are seven golden lampstand? Simply turn to verse number 20. It tells you the seven golden lampstand. It says the seven lampstand are The seven churches. That's what they are. And these churches are designed, like every church is designed to give light in the midst of darkness. Christ would say in Matthew 5, verse number 16, that we are to let our light so shine before men that they may see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven.

Over in Philippians chapter 2, verse number 15, it says that as children of God in the crooked and perverse generation, we are to appear as lights in the world. Now this is very good because how do you appear as lights in the world? Verse 16 of Philippians 2 tells you, holding fast the faithful word of life. Do you want to know why churches today are not lighting the world? Because they're not holding fast the faithful word of life. Do you want to know why churches today are just kind of floundering?

Do you want to know why churches aren't making any impact in their community? It's because they're not lighting the way. They don't light the way because they don't hold fast. They don't tightly have a grip on the Word of God that they might give the message of God to a lost world. That's why. So John turns, he sees seven golden lampstand representative of the seven churches in Asia that are representative of all the churches down through the years. The church is the light. of the world. And we are to be that light.

Now why are they golden? Simply this. Gold is the most precious of all metals, the most costly of all metals. It shows the value we have to Christ, that he would shed his blood to purchase the church of Jesus Christ. Why is there a number seven there? Why are they seven? Not eight or six or ten or twelve. Seven is the number of completion. It's a number of fullness. So those seven golden lampstand now represent all churches of all times throughout all the ages. So when John writes this down, it wasn't specifically just for the seven churches there in Asia, but a representation to all the churches throughout all the church age, that they might understand the truth.

Of what God is saying. Tonight, I want you to see four things that describe the Revelator: one is his ministry, second is his purity, third is authority, and fourth is glory.

First of all, let's look at his ministry. He says, In the middle of the lampstand, one like a son of man. Clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his breast with a golden girdle. This is his ministry. That's what it is. It helps us understand the ministry of the Revelator, Jesus Christ him. He says, there is one like the Son of Man. Literal trans, one who is the Son of Man. Now think about that for a moment. Here is John in this vision seeing the Son of Man. That was his messianic title.

That's what Jesus Christ called him. Note this: Jesus Christ is 100% man. When he became flesh, he took on the form of a man, became 100% man while maintaining the fact that he was 100% God. And from now on, he is always 100% man and always 100% God. There was one mediator between God and man, and who was that? The man, Jesus Christ. John says, I see the Son of Man And there's something specific about the Son of Man. He walks around in the midst of what? The seven golden lampstand. It tells you about his ministry.

If the seven golden lampstand are representative of the seven churches, and the seven is a representative of the number of completion, it talks about his presence among us. That 's his ministry. He is present among us. He walks in the midst of them. Look over in chapter 2, verse number 1. It says, To the angel of the church at Ephesus, right, the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand. the one who walks among the seven golden lampstand says this. He is right in the middle. He is the centrality of all ministry.

He is what ministry is all about. It's not about me and what I want to do. It's all about God and His influence in the seven churches that are representative of all churches. He is present with us. His ministry not only is to be present among us, but to be praying for us. He is our high priest. He is the one, according to Hebrews 7:2, who lives to make intercession for us. And it gives us great comfort to know that he is here. And that as he is present among us, he continually prays for us. That's his ministry.

The second thing I want you to see is his purity. It says in verse number 14, and his head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. And his feet were like burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in a furnace. John moves from his attire that which clothed him to his person. He moves from the fact that God's ministry among us is to be present here, as well as to pray for us, as well as to, are you ready for this? To purge us. This is his purity.

He is the holy God of the universe. It speaks of his purifying, chastening work as he walks in the middle of the churches. He has a ministry to do. It stems from his purity. His head, his hair were white. If you refer back to Daniel chapter 7, verse number 9, the same phrase is used to describe God. It speaks of the deity of Christ. In Daniel 7, he's called the ancient of days. The Lord God of the universe. Here he is called the Son of Man. Jesus Christ is God. It says it was white, blazing, brilliant, shining light.

It glowed. Remember 2 Corinthians 5:2? He knew no sin. The Bible says. Hebrews 4:15, he was without sin. It speaks of his purity, the brilliance, the glow, the whiteness. There is nothing in him that's dark. There is nothing in him that's evil. He is so pure. He is so holy. And as he walks in the midst of the churches. His desire is for the churches to be as pure and as holy as he him is pure and holy. He says it's wool. It's like snow. Reminiscent of Isaiah chapter 1, verse number 18, where he says, come, let us reason together.

Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson, they shall be made as wool. They're going to be made just like Christ. He cleanses us. He purifies us. John says, I see him in brilliance. I see him in all of us. Splendor and he is glowing as white as snow, and that's what Jesus Christ does when he saves a soul. The Holy God cleanses the sl. Takes away the defilement, takes away the sin, takes away all the ugliness, all the evil. Praise be to God for the cleansing work of His Son that makes us pure in His eyes.

For without that, we would have nothing. I like what it says about his eyes. They were like a flame of fire. Can you imagine that? His eyes were like lasers. His feet It says that his feet were like burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in a furnace. A clear reference to judgment. How do you know that? The feet of a king were the symbol of his authority. When a criminal was brought before a king, he would bow where at his feet. Recognizing the authority of the one in whom he bowed before.

And it speaks of God's chastening authority. Which leads us to point number three: his authority. And John says, And his voice was like the sound of many waters. And in his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword. We'll stop right there. It speaks of his authority. What God gives us is his word, and his word is not optional for us to obey. It is essential to our life. Because he speaks with authority, and because he speaks with authority, we are to respond as citizens of his kingdom in obedience to his word.

That's what John wants us to understand. How many times has God, with his authoritative voice, spoken to you through his word, and you have turned a deaf ear to what he has said? And it says that out of his mouth came a sharp, two-ed sword. Oh, this is so good. Because it's a sword that Jesus Christ Himself wields in defense of His church. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. And so we trust God to yield and wield his sword against those who try to disrupt what happens.

Within the church. He wants to protect his people. He wants to preserve his people. And how will he deal with them? He will deal with them with the sword of his mouth. That's how he will. The description of the Revelator, his ministry, to be present among us, to be praying for us. His purity. He is so clean. He wants us to be as holy as He Himself is holy. And as Peter would say over in 1 Peter:. Let judgment begin with the household of God. Let it begin with us first.

Let the Spirit of God do its cleansing work among us that we might be the lights that shine in a world of darkness. His authority, he's in control. He rules. He is the leader. We are subject to his rulership. And lastly, his glory. It says, his face was like the sun shining in its strength. His face would shine with full strength, with full brightness. The point being is that as the Lord Jesus Christ. Ministers in and among his church. He shines through his church. That's why he wields his sword against those who seek to corrupt the church.

Because he wants to make sure that people see him, that people are able to get a glimpse of his glory, not man's glory. And we who love him want to reveal him to a watching world. And here he is with his face, his countenance shin in its full strength. I tr that upon reading about the Revelator, we would fall on our face as dead men.