Book of Revelation - Ch. 1, Vs. 10-18 (02/25/2018)

Revelation 1 and the Vision of the Son of Man

With me, no, I'm pretty sedentary. So I guess we'll just go ahead and start, and as people come in, we'll just let them join, or not. We have been working, racing through the book of Revelation, and last week we got to verse 15, finished verse 15.

I'm gonna pick up again this morning with verse 10, and just read a little bit, and then we'll go on. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

And what thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia, and to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pegasus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of them, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and gird about the palace with a golden girdle.

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as flames of fire. And his feet were like unto fine brass, as if they had been burned in a furnace. And his voice as the sound of many waters.

We did all of that last week. Here's where we'll pick up this morning. And he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The Seven Stars, the Right Hand of Authority, and the Sword of His Mouth

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he lay his right hand upon me, saying, "'Unto me fear not. "'I am the first and the last. "'I am he that liveth and was dead, "'and behold, I am alive forevermore.'".

Amen. And I have the keys of hell and death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be 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 of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks, which thou sawest, are the seven churches. People talk about Revelation being hard to explain. It's not hard at all. It tells you what he means.

We started this passage with being in the midst of candlesticks, and before we get through, he tells us what they are. The problem is, he doesn't always tell us in the same chapter like he does here. Sometimes he tells us in obscure places.

And so we've got to search the scriptures to see what things are so. Let us pray. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us together again into this place where we can worship, where we can study your word, where we can bring praises and thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ.

Protect us and keep us. Help us to understand the words that you have laid out for us today. Again, bless us and keep us. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. I thought I would do something a little bit different, is I would start today by saying, I know that we didn't handle everything last week totally to conclusion.

Is there any comments or any questions remaining from last time? Or do you remember any? If you don't, we'll plow on, and we will start with a verse, and there's like five or six items in this verse that need focus.

And he had in his right hand seven stars. We know what those are. They're the angels of the seven churches. And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Okay, so we know the seven stars are the angels, the messengers that represent the seven churches. I have a passage that I'd like to read also. Go to Daniel chapter 12, verse three. I kind of picked this passage up from David Jeremiah one morning when he was talking about these stars.

He said the stars were the pastors of the churches. And think about that as the angels, the stars being the angels or the messengers to the seven churches. And now read along with me Daniel 12, three.

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament. What's the brightness of the firmament? Those are the stars. And they that turn many to righteousness as stars forever and ever. So they are wise, they shine as stars, and they turn many to righteousness, so they will shine as stars also.

Do you think that's the role of the pastor? Do you think it's the role of the pastor to present material, to shine bright as a star himself? And to present material that will encourage others to shine as stars themselves?

Well, I think it is. Do you think it's a role for yourself to shine bright as a star and encourage others to shine bright as a star? We had this little discussion, Dianne, and I did this week about Billy Graham.

Billy Graham, of course, Billy Graham just died this week. And he would have been 99 years old. I told Dianne, I said, you know, he would have been 103 years old if he, and she said, where did you get that number?

Well, I'd been thinking about my dad. If my dad had lived until today, he'd be 103. But all of that has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. What I'm talking about is what was the role of Billy Graham and how would that compare to a role of a pastor like Brother David or a pastor like John MacArthur?

How are they different and how are they alike? Billy Graham was an evangelist, but not only was he an evangelist, and Brother David is not only an evangelist, he's a pastor. And John MacArthur is not only a evangelist, he's a pastor.

A pastor of a flock. A teaching, a teaching pastor, rather than Billy Graham, who was not a teaching pastor. The big difference between Billy Graham and John MacArthur or Brother David is, their role, they see as nurturing the flock.

And Billy Graham's role, as he saw it, was to be a star for Jesus Christ, a messenger to introduce people to Christ and then send them to a church to be taught. Both things are important. And some of us, our job is to witness.

And some of us, to live our life in a way that people recognize that we are different than they are and wonder why. And some of our roles is to teach. And that doesn't diminish any man's purpose. Billy Graham is one of the greatest of all current evangelists.

Well, I can't say that anymore, can I? In any case, okay, I'm gonna go that route, Ron, and stick with that. But here is what I really wanted to get at in this passage. Where does Christ hold these stars?

In his right hand. The right hand is the hand of authority. That means he controls the church and he controls the church's leaders. If he doesn't control the church's leaders, it will not be his church long.

And that's one of the things we're gonna find as we go through the letters to the seven churches. Several of them are giving it a warning. Repent or your light will cease to shine. And maybe the most, John, did I see John?

I see him back there. John Carpiak, not too long ago, was in England. He visited, he traveled a good bit. And I was going to ask him if he had had an opportunity to go to Spurgeon's Church. Brother David, have you been to Spurgeon's Church?

And the saddest thing that I have heard is the condition of the tabernacle there. They're empty, there is no light in that church anymore. It was one of the brightest lights in the world for a time. And now it is empty and almost dead.

Well, Calvin's church is the same way. God, Christ is in control of the churches. And if he's not, they won't be his churches long. In Ephesians, you don't need to, you don't need to go here. I'm just kind of looking at right hand, things where right hand comes into play.

In Ephesians 1 .20, it says, he, that's God, wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead and set him at his own right hand in heavenly places. Jesus Christ sitting in the position of power and authority next to God in the heavens.

So the right hand is the hand of authority, it's the hand of control, it's the hand of power. That will be important just a little bit later. And in that hand are the seven stars. And out of his mouth, and that's a funny place, and out of his mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword.

Now, John, you weren't here when I asked you the first question, so I'm gonna ask you another one. Is that a funny place for the sword to be? If you take the sword to be a symbol of the word of God, then that is not at all a strange place to see the word of God.

Brother David was talking in one of his sermons just the other day about the difference between the literal thing that is said, like, I am the bread. I believe that was the one you were talking about.

Do you really think Jesus was ever a loaf of bread? Do you ever think a broad two-edged sword ever stuck out of Jesus's mouth? No, that is a symbol of something. It's a symbol of his power, the symbol of the power of his word.

Now, sometimes the word of God is always the almighty word of God, but sometimes it's the audible word of Jesus himself. When Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us, living on the earth, and he spoke, he spoke the words of God, because he was God, and everything he spoke was a word of God.

What about us in our time? Do we have the word of God with us? And if we think we hear something from God, if we think we hear something from a voice, if we think we hear something from a dream, if it is real, and it may be, I'm not saying that a person can't really hear or dream or have a vision of something, but if you have a dream, it will be a prompt.

It'll be a prompt to read the scripture, because it's in the scripture where you're gonna get your information. You're not gonna get information from the dream. If you say, I had a dream, and I dreamed that the Lord told me that if you will do this and this and this and that, you'll get a Cadillac or a Mercedes.

If that's what you're dreaming, I suspect you are being informed that, but it's not of God. Demons can fool us. Demons are smarter than we are. Therefore, the only way we can fight against the demons is to immerse ourself in the scripture.

And if it doesn't line up with the scripture, it's not of God. I can say that definitively without any worry about contradiction. If what you think you are being told by some spiritual being does not align with God and God's holy word, it is not of God.

It is in the scripture that we find God's answers to our problems. I'm gonna now go to Hebrews 4 .12. And I went here because it talks about the word of God and a two-edged sword. And then I'm gonna compare Hebrews to another passage, one that we've already read.

Hebrews 4 .12. For the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight, but all things are naked and open to him. Unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Well, I'll start there. With whom we have to do.

Him with whom we have to do. Who is that? That's Jesus. Now let's back up a little bit. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight. Who is that talking about? Well, as I work my way back, I'm gonna get to all of us.

And it may be right here where you get the blend back. The very last, the eyes of him with whom we have to do, no question that that's Jesus. Any creature not manifest in his sight, that may be in Jesus' sight, certainly.

What about in our sight? Is there anything that we have available to us to make things become manifest in our sight? Let's go back a little bit more. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit and joints and marrow, and is a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart.

Does Jesus need a discerner of thoughts and intents of the heart? Do we? So in the beginning, you could relate that verse to us. At the end, it is totally Jesus. Now, what about this discerner of the thoughts and intents of men?

If you do a word study on that, I did. Diane made me do that. Discerner, the very first word he gives in the Strong's definition is to judge. And then a second is to discern. Well, would this be to judge or to discern?

He said, King James said, discern. I'm not trying to trick you. King James said, discern. Who discerns? We discern. Well, we do too. I said, we discern. Yes. Who judges? He judges. Well, we do that too.

We shouldn't. It is given to us to judge also, John. So that's why I said, yes and no. We're gonna go yes and no with that one. We're gonna get to, yes, sir. I'm sorry, what about intents? The word is the discerner, the word of God, and you can take that to be Jesus all the way through.

I'm not gonna quibble about that. But what I'm trying to say is we can apply Hebrews to ourselves. And the word of God will help us to discern. I think so. And maybe I cluttered that too much because I was dancing around a conversation that Diane and I had as I read this to her yesterday.

So the large two-edged sword signifies for us wisdom and discernment. That was where I was gonna get eventually. The large two-edged sword signifies for us wisdom and discernment. Now, let's drop back or look down in Revelation to Revelation 2 .16, Revelation 2 .16.

That's one of the letters to one of the churches. And he's described himself as a person with a sword in his mouth. But here's what he says to the church. Which church is that? You're there, is that Pergamos or is that Thyatira?

12 is Pergamos, Thyatira is where? So it's Pergamos. This is the letter to Pergamos. So he says, repent, or else I will come to thee quickly and I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Here the sword is a little bit different.

First of all, it's a different word for sword. And it has a different purpose, not discernment, judgment. And there's one other difference. This one, this one is not the written word. This one is the audible voice of Jesus.

He is going to speak to them and fight against them with the sword of his mouth. Skipping on down to Revelation 19, 15. And out of his mouth goes a sharp sword that with it he should smite the nations.

This is gonna be a long passage, I'm not gonna read it all, but I just wanted to look at times where out of his mouth is this sharp sword. And what is this sharp sword? Either the audible or written word of God.

It is either the word of God or the written word of God, or it is the word of Jesus. Out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword that with it he shall smite the nations. And then it goes on to talk a little bit about what's happening.

And he saw a beast and the kings of the earth gathered together to make war against him and going on down. The beast was taken and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him with which he had deceived them and received the mark of the beast.

And them that worshiped his image and both these were cast alive into the lake of fire with burning brimstone. And you go on down and it says and a remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth.

Who is that remnant that was slain? And when did this happen? The martyrs were slain by the agents of the beast and the false prophets. These are slain by God or Jesus. And these were slain by Jesus upon his second coming at the end of the tribulation period.

What's gonna happen is the antichrist was cast into the lake of fire. The beast was cast in the lake of fire. And the people that were left on the earth that were not his were slain with the sword of his mouth.

And if you go on down to 20, you'll see an angel come down from heaven with a key to the bottomless pit. I missed earlier, the Satan has already been thrown into the pit. So the angel comes down having the keys to the bottomless pit, lets him out after the thousand years is over.

So we have the beginning of the tribulation, the end of the tribulation, the beginning of the millennium, the end of the millennium, and then the final. And there's judgments both at the end of the tribulation and at the end of the thousand year period for the nations.

Okay, I got really tied up in that. And I don't wanna go anymore there because we will spend two or three weeks in about half a year, maybe. So go to John. That's just kind of like a tease is what we're gonna do in a few months.

Go to John. I think I said 1 John, but it's not. It's the gospel of John chapter one. And we're gonna look again, one more last time at this word. This word is not viewed or symbolized as a sword. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God.

Hard to misunderstand that, isn't it? The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In case we didn't understand at first. And in him was life, and the life was the light of men, and the light shineth in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.

All of these passages that we have read, of course, refer to Jesus and to words that proceed out of his mouth. When Jesus was Emmanuel, God with us, living as a man on earth, he was the word and he spoke the word.

When he returns to the earth to end the tribulation, he will be the word and he will still speak the word. But what about now? Is that same word audible to us today? I guess I got out of turn a little bit, didn't I?

So what's the answer? Is the same word available to us today? Yes, in the Holy Bible, the only word that we have access to. And it's the only perfect thing that exists on the earth today. And if that's the only access to the word, to whom is that access available?

Let me ask you differently. Can everybody read and understand the Bible? Can everybody read the Bible? I think I'm gonna say yes. There are probably people who can't read, but I understand exactly what you mean and I'm totally with you.

Not everybody can understand. Who can understand? It is. He says it this way all the way through Revelation. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear. If you have an ear to hear, you can hear. If you don't, you can't.

The Face of Christ, the Transfiguration, and the More Sure Word of Prophecy

And he had in his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth went a sharp, two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. I read that again because it's been so long since we'd read it.

His countenance. What is his countenance? What does that mean? The way he looks, what part of him? His face. But it's not just his face. It's really his entire being. The face. His face represents his entire being.

And what does it say about his entire being? Was as the sun shineth in his strength. So bright no one could look at it. Are there any other times that his face shone brightly at the transfiguration? I actually did that.

Is there any time that anyone else's face shone brightly? Moses's did too. Do you think Moses has shined as brightly as Jesus's? I don't think so, but I don't know. We do know that Moses was there at the Mount of Transfiguration.

That Moses was there along with Elijah and Jesus and the disciples were struck not by the shining face of Moses nor Elijah, but they were struck by the shining face of Jesus. Matthew 12, Matthew 17, two, I should say.

I'm just gonna read that when you need to go there. And he was transfigured before them and his face did shine as the sun and his raiment was as white as light. So not only did his face shine, his clothes were white and not just white, but glowing white.

Who saw this? Peter, James, and John. And then in Acts, we have Paul's experience. He's recounting it late in the book of Acts, Acts 26, 12. And he says, whereupon as I went to Damascus with authority and with commission from the chief priest to do what?

What was the commission for? To imprison and kill Christians. At midday, O king, now think about that. When? At midday, when the sun is right overhead, at is it very brightest of the day. I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness of the sun.

So which is brighter? The brightness in the way or the sun? Is above the, I think it means above the brightness of the sun, more bright than the sun. Shining round about me. And then which journeyed with me.

And when we were all fallen to the ground, what did they do? They all fell to the ground. I heard a voice speaking unto me and saying in Hebrew, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.

And then we have a recount by Peter of his experience at the Mount of Transfiguration. But he discounts it and puts something even brighter than that. Second Peter, chapter one, verse 19. We also have a more sure word of prophecy.

And what is that more sure word of prophecy? Well, at this time, Peter is writing his letter. It's here, it's going to be the written word. We have a more sure word of prophecy. Where unto you do well to take heed as unto a light that shineth in a dark place.

Until the day dawn and the day star arise in your heart. Now he has recounted the fact that he can remember the Mount of Transfiguration and all the things that happened and he had it so clearly etched in his memory because it was such a strange and wonderful thing.

And we talked about that before where when he goes through, he describes it two different ways, two different times. That's because he was recalling from memory. But he says there's a more sure way than actually seeing Jesus in person on the Mount.

And that is the written word. The written word doesn't change. And what did John do when, look at, just go to verse 17 of Revelation one. Verse 17. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. That's what John did.

That's what Paul did. That's what everybody does when they see Jesus in his glory. And he, that is Jesus, lay his right hand upon me. Underline right hand, at least in your mind. Saying unto me, fear not, I am the first and the last.

A common response to seeing the awesome glory of God. We saw the same action by Paul on the road to Damascus. He fell on his face to the earth. What did John do? John fell on his face. What did Jesus do?

He did something before that though. He put his right hand on him. The same right hand of authority was for John the right hand of comfort. The hand in which he held the stars and controlled everything in the church and all the leaders of the church.

The same hand of authority is the same hand that he used to comfort John. Yes sir. I'm pretty sure that that's Jesus. And I'm pretty sure that's Jesus, yes. Thank you. It had to be, he said, I'm the first and the last and the angel was not the first nor the last.

So it has to be Jesus. Yeah. And he didn't say get up. He didn't say get up and don't worship me. I'm a man just like you. He didn't say that. He just said, fear not. I am the first and the last. So if I was in doubt before, I'm not in doubt now.

And thank you very much for pointing that out to me. It's so easy to read and not understand. This is Jesus. So it's right that John should worship him. It's also right that Jesus should comfort John.

John is the disciple that Jesus loved. That's how John described himself. John never called himself John. John called himself the disciple that Jesus loved. How many of the disciples do you think Jesus loved?

I am going to, I am going to, that's like perfect, Mr. John. Well, you can point it out. Which one is it that he didn't love? He didn't love Judas. Why do you think John referred to himself as the disciple that Jesus loved?

Why didn't he say Peter, the disciple that Jesus loved? Yeah, I think that's part of his intent to point all the glory to God. I think part of it is that the only love he felt personally, intimately related to was Jesus' love toward him.

Peter would have had to have said, I am Peter, the disciple that Jesus loved. He didn't say that, though, because he was Peter. He wasn't John. John was more intent on passing the glory back to Jesus than probably any other disciple.

I don't know that for sure, either. Well, it's of course right that Jesus should comfort John, the disciple that Jesus loved. And we should also be comforted because he loves us, too. Now, how many of you have heard that Jesus never claimed to be God?

Anybody heard that? There's no place in the Bible, I've heard a lot of people say, there's no place in the Bible where Jesus claimed that he was God. That is clearly not true. And right here is one place where he does it.

I am the first and the last. That's the Old Testament name for Yahweh, Jehovah God. In Revelation 22, 13, he says, I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. In Isaiah 41, he says, I am the Lord, the first and with the last, I am he.

In Isaiah 44, he says, I am the first and I am the last. Thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts. I am the first and I am the last, and beside me, there is no other.

That occurred to me like this very second. Go ahead and turn to Isaiah 44, six, I didn't mean to do this, but I think we need to. Now, John, how many members of the trinity are explicitly represented or referred to in this passage?

I'm sorry. Ron, how many? Two. What, two? All right, now, I am the, thus saith the Lord, the King of Israel. Who is that? I think that time it is Jehovah God. Thus saith the Lord, King of Israel, the Jehovah God, and his Redeemer.

Who would that be? Jesus Christ, the Lord of hosts. So we got two, we got two. We got the King of Israel, we got the Lord of hosts. We got Jehovah God, and we got Jesus. And who is this saying, I am the first and I am the last, and beside me, there is no God?

The one that's speaking. Who's speaking? Jehovah God. That's not who's gonna be speaking, or that's not who was speaking in Revelation. Look back at Revelation 22, 13, I'll just read to you, don't go back there.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning, the end, the first, and the last. Who's speaking there? That's Jesus. In Isaiah, in this verse, who's speaking? Jehovah God, talking about himself and Jesus, the Lord of hosts.

I am the first, I am the last, beside me, there is no God. Then in Isaiah 48, he goes on to say, I am the first, I am also the last. Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Jesus Christ applies this Old Testament name for Yahweh to himself, clearly claiming to be God. Other people that claim to be God, what do we call them? We got a word, we got a smaller word for it. We call them idols.

That's okay. Idols come and idols go. Jesus was before any idol and Jesus was after them. He was before them and he will remain after them. Verse 18, I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen, and I have the keys to hell and death.

Death and Hades are essentially synonymous. I said hell, the scripture says hell. The commentator that I took this from called it Hades. That's another way of describing hell. It's equivalent to the Old Testament, she'll replace the dead.

Death and hell are essentially synonyms, but death is the condition and hell is the place. Who has the key to death and hell? Jesus Christ. Who decides who lives and who dies and when? Not man, but Jesus Christ.

Who judges? Not man. Who discerns? Jesus doesn't really need discerning. He can discern. We need ability to discern. So to whom is judgment left? Judgment is left to Jesus, and I recognize that there are times when we're told to judge.

The Outline of Revelation and the Church Ages

Write the things which thou hast seen and the things which are and the things which shall be hereafter. Simple outline for the entire book. Things which you have seen refers to the vision John has just seen.

Things which are denotes the letters to the churches. The things which will be hereafter refer to revelation of future events. That's the outline of the whole book. It's simple enough, but applying the outline to the book is not quite so simple.

There are at least three suggestions. There's the pre-tribulation suggestion. If you are of the pre-tribulation bent, here's how you would divide it. Things that you have seen, chapter one. Things which are, chapters two and three.

Things which will be hereafter, chapters four through 22, and you got a problem with four through 22. Why is it even there? Does it have any significance, or is it just for your entertainment? Mid-trib rapture, things which you have seen, chapter one.

Things which are, chapter two through 12, the middle of the tribulation. Things which will be hereafter, 13 through 22. If you're bent as post-trib, things which you have seen, still chapter one. Things which are, I think, until sometime in chapter 20, from two to 20, and things which will be hereafter, after that.

Well, he goes on to tell us then, all he says in chapter 20 is, the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Now finally, I'm going to look at the, because I'm running out of time, and I want to get to here. A view of the church ages. The churches that receive the letters. Each church represents a portion of church history.

And as we go through it, I'll just lay them out for you. The letter to Ephesus. That's the apostolic church. That's less, John the last apostle died somewhere around the year 100 A .D. And so that's the end of the apostolic church.

Smyrna, the age of persecution, from 100 to 313. Somebody talked about Constantine last week. Constantine issued the edict that brought the church and the state together in 313. And Pergamos represents the imperial church.

That church from the beginning with Constantine and going into the advent of the papacy. 590, Sardis, the reformation church, from 517 to the tribulation. Last year at the Shepherd's Conference, we celebrated the 500th anniversary of the reformation because it was 2017 last year.

The Philadelphia church. This list was done by a pre-trib rapture person from 1730 to the rapture. And the Laodicean church from 1900 to the tribulation. You notice there was tribulation, tribulation, tribulation, tribulation, rapture.

They think that Philadelphia was taken out prior to any of the tribulation. I don't know about that, but those are the kind of the outlines. So, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a great voice as a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.

While thou seest writing the book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, and to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and into Laodicea.

When we start back, we will start with the church of Ephesus, the letter to the church of Ephesus, and we'll go through it in great detail. Most gracious heavenly Father, thank you for this day. Thank you for all the many blessings.

Protect us and keep us and go through the rest of the services today. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.