04-30-26 Study of Revelation Chapter 1:9-17 The Vision of the Glorified Son Part 1

➡ This Bible study focuses on the book of Revelation, specifically chapter one, which presents the first vision of Jesus Christ as revealed to John. The book contrasts the humble Christ depicted in the Gospels with a glorified Christ, emphasizing his majesty and power. The study also discusses the importance of understanding Christ’s glory in the present, not just in the future, and how this understanding can provide encouragement and strength during difficult times. Lastly, it highlights the role of John, who was chosen to write down these revelations, not to interpret them, but to share what he saw.
➡ John, the writer of the gospel and three epistles, presents himself as an ordinary believer, not as an apostle or authority figure. He emphasizes that he is just like the readers, sharing in their experiences and struggles. His writings, especially the book of Revelation, are not commandments but personal observations and experiences, meant to inspire and guide. John’s message is that everyone is part of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and we all have the choice to listen and overcome challenges in our lives.
➡ The text talks about a man named John who was banished to an island for his political beliefs. Despite being a prisoner, he was treated well and given privileges. However, if his crime had been criminal in nature, he would have been part of a chain gang. John’s banishment led him to have a deep connection with God and he was given visions of the future.
➡ The text discusses the significance of the Lord’s Day, or Sunday, in Christian tradition, as it commemorates Jesus Christ’s resurrection. It also describes a vision of Jesus Christ, with vivid imagery such as a loud voice like a trumpet, and physical attributes like white hair and eyes like a flame of fire. The text emphasizes the importance of this vision, which was shared with seven prominent churches in Asia Minor, and the powerful, commanding nature of Christ’s voice. The author encourages readers to pay attention to these revelations, as they are crucial to understanding the teachings of Christianity.
➡ John saw a vision of Jesus, the glorified Son, among seven golden lampstands, which represent the seven churches. This vision symbolizes the presence of Jesus in the church, empowering and guiding it. The churches are seen as the light of the world, shining forth the light of life. The number seven signifies completeness, symbolizing the whole people of God and the entire body of Christ.
➡ The text discusses the symbolic representation of Jesus Christ as a high priest, emphasizing his role in interceding for his church. It highlights Christ’s ability to sympathize with human struggles due to his own experiences, and his role in purifying the church. The text also underscores the importance of maintaining purity within the church, and the consequences of not doing so. Lastly, it describes Christ’s divine nature, symbolized by his blazing white light and fiery eyes.
➡ John describes the Lord as all-knowing and all-seeing, with a vision that penetrates everything, revealing all secrets. The Lord is holy and deals with the sins of his church. He is present to empower, intercede, purify, and speak authoritatively to the church. He also controls the church, holding its leaders in his hand, and protects the church, symbolized by a sharp two-edged sword that signifies judgment.
➡ The text discusses the power and glory of Jesus Christ, who protects his church from threats both inside and outside. It emphasizes that God’s glory shines through his church and his followers, who are likened to a blazing sun. The text also highlights the importance of living a life that reflects Christ’s teachings, as this is how believers can show his light to the world. Lastly, it underscores the awe and reverence that the sight of Christ’s glory can inspire.

All right, guys, welcome. This is Thursday night Bible study. We’re in the book of Revelation. We’re still in chapter one. We’ll be here for a while. And we’re looking at just Revelation chapter one, verse starting in verse nine tonight. And we’re going to look at the vision of what I’ve called the glorified Son. This is the first great vision of the Lord Jesus Christ revealed to John in this wonderful book. Okay? And it. And if you recall from the last two times together, this is Christ revealing through an angel to the servant John. Now, I, I remind you that the theme of Revelation is Christ in his glory as contrasted with the Gospels, which are Christ in his humiliation.

All right? The Gospels show Christ as a humble individual being the sacrificial lamb for all sins. The book of revelation is the 180 degree opposite, which is Christ in his glory in his kingdom ship. So the theme of this book is the majestic revelation of the exalted One, glorified Son of God. And we’re going to look at him after his ascension in heaven and his second coming again in majesty. Remember, he told his disciples, when his disciples asked him, when are you going to conquer Rome so that we can get on with this? And he says, it’s not my time.

Well, Revelation is his time. So this particular description that runs from verse 9 down through the first part of 17 is equaled in grandeur only by one other description of Christ in the book of Revelation. And that is found in chapter 19, verse 11 to 16. And that’s very near to the end of the book. And this is very near to the beginning of the book bookends, as we talked about on Tuesday night. I am the beginning and I’m the end. I’m the alpha and omega. This is what you see. He’s laying out who he is for you to understand.

Who you are. And he gives you the two bookends. Now, these two glorious revelations of Jesus Christ set the pace for the book. There are brackets in which all other revelations occur. Between these two bookends, this vision of Jesus Christ, along with the rest of them in Revelation, must have been a monumental encouragement to the persecuted, distressed, discouraged, beleaguered believers in Asia Minor who first received this great book. Remember, that’s what John wrote this book for, was to the seven churches. Who’s the seven churches? You. Your life today represents elements of each one of those seven churches.

So this book is written to you as it was written to the seven churches of Asia Minor. Now, there they were going they were undergoing persecution, extremely difficult persecution in some cases, but persecution which under Domitian, which was the ruler of Rome, had resulted in John himself, the author, being exiled and banished to the Isle of Patmos. So in history, what you’re seeing is the persecution basically in your face. That’s what’s going on today. And it in this very difficult time, when it looked as if things were bleak for the Church, it was a wonderful thing to receive a book which predicated the glory of Jesus Christ in the future.

Not only just that, but which defined and described the present glory of Jesus Christ as we see it here in chapter one. Why is that important? Because that’s exactly how you need to see it today. You’re not going to know who you are unless you understand who Christ is. And you must understand who Christ is through the scripture as. And the best book to do that is what the book we’re going through right now. So the vision of Jesus Christ is not a future vision, it’s a present vision. That’s important because you need to be able to apply this vision to you.

It’s not something you’re going to look forward to tomorrow. Or you can say that happened in the past. Nope, that’s happening right now in you. So this vision of Jesus Christ is one that will be like and what he will do in the future. It is one which says, this is what he is like now and this is what he is doing now and what he will do in the future. Specifically, a vision of the glorified Lord of the Church. Two identities you have. One is individual relationship with Jesus Christ, Ephesians 4, 5 and 6. And the other one is the Church.

All chapter of Acts, it depicts Jesus Christ in his majestic glory in the present ministry to his church, which was going on even then and is going on even now. You and shall be unto his he comes again. You were saved historically, you are saved presently and you’re saved in the future. That’s who Christ is. There’s not one condition in your life that God doesn’t have the result. For it’s only you that complicates a matter. You can either accept it or reject it. But he’s the same yesterday and tomorrow. That’s what he does. So it’s all up to you.

And if you got, as I said, if you got issues, good, just go look in the mirror. Because it you’re the ones that caused it. So. As an attack. Is that we look at this vision that’s going to open your eyes to see the glory of your Lord and the Lord of the Church. Not only are you going to see Christ as individually tied as you in a relationship, but you’re going to see the glorified Lord of the Church, which is what gives you your ability of all blessings. Now, the passage opens in the first couple of verses with the setting of circumstances in which this vision came.

Let’s go back and look at some. Let’s look at these verses. In verses 9 through 11, I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in. Jesus was on an island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. That says a mouthful. We’re going to unpack it. I was in the spirit of the Lord on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet saying, write. Oh, think about this. A sound of a trumpet telling you to write a book.

Now, this is interesting. How does that happen? A trumpet’s a musical instrument. How does that happen? I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, right in a book, what you see physically and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamon and to Saritara and to Sardis and Philadelphia and to Laodicea. Now, in John’s opening, he introduces himself as the writer and says some things about himself. Then he introduces the situation in which the first vision came. And he also included a declaration from heaven itself to write down everything that he saw and heard.

So you have here a statement about the author. You have a statement about his circumstances and a statement from God regarding his commission to write. John’s whole purpose was to write. He didn’t need to interpret anything. All he was told was to write what he was seeing. So before we can look at the vision itself, we must give some attention to these very important three verses. Beginning in verse nine. John wants to identify for us himself as the writer, not as the interpreter, but as the writer. That’s all he’s doing. He’s writing what he’s seeing. Time travel, okay, because he’s seeing the future.

He says, I, John. Leaving the preliminaries of verses 1 through 8. He speaks almost here with amazement. He has mentioned himself a couple of times, verse 1 and verse 4 as John. And now he adds the demonstrative personal pronoun I, As if to say, almost unbelievably, I. John had this experience and was commissioned to write this book. That’s what he’s trying to tell you, it’s almost as if he was so utterly unworthy that it shocks him that he would have such an inestimable privilege. And you can think all kinds of things about why Christ chose him, about doing this.

Okay, well, number one, he was the last apostle on earth. Okay. Number two, he was the most trustworthy because what did Christ do at the cross? He says, john, take care of thy mother. Mother, this is your son, John. Okay, so what Christ is doing here is showing us that our relationship that we build in Christ in Ephesians 4, 5 and 6 is predicated on his delivery to us of our calling. If you’re not active in him, he’s not going to call you. And who more was active in Jesus Christ other than John, the protectorate of his mother? The most intimate setting that you could have on this earth is to put somebody in charge of your family and know that that’s what they’re going to do.

He doesn’t relate himself to the readers in a position of authority, though he could as an apostle, as that very unique apostle in the inner circle with Peter and James, as one who reclined, as it were, or the very heart of Jesus at the Last Supper, as one who was ennobled with imminent gifts. One who was given privilege of writing the gospel, the gospel that intended to exalt the deity of Jesus Christ. One who was given the privilege of writing three great glorious epistles. First, first, second, third. John, he doesn’t exalt himself in any of the those ways, but rather speaks of himself in a very common and familiar terms.

Why? Because he has to relate to you. These letters are to you. So John has to show you that he’s you. So he says, I, John, your brother, your brother and fellow partaker. I am you. And then he introduces himself from any thought of elevation that his apostolic office or experience might have rendered him, and he brings himself down as a simple brother and a fellow partaker. I’m no different than you. I am not elevated in stature. And when you read the Scripture of Revelation, you need to read it as though you were me. Because John is putting himself in the position of you.

So he wants no official status in this. In fact, he doesn’t really speak as an apostle here at all. If you go back and look at the New Testaments and how the apostles wrote all of the epistles, that’s not the same John that wrote Revelation. It’s almost as though he’s writing you a personal letter. Here’s my notes that’s another way of looking at, here’s my notes on my journey in the island of Patmos. When you read them, I’m no different than you. He is one among many believers. That’s what he’s putting. He’s just one of us.

He is not writing authoritarian. There’s nothing authoritatively in this book of revelation. It’s just about the glorification and the future of Jesus Christ. Oh, and as the church, you have no commandments here. None. You have the ability of choice. That’s all you have. It’s a choice. And all seven letters to the churches, it ends with if you have ears to hear, hear. Okay. And oh, if you overcome, here’s your blessing. It’s your choice. So he’s not making a commandment here at all. He’s giving you a choice. In fact, he doesn’t really speak as an apostle here at all.

He simply writes as what? An eyewitness to what he sees. He is one among many believers. He’s not writing authoritatively. He’s not writing as an epistle. He’s not writing even as an elder, which he calls himself in one of the epistles, by the way, John has relegated himself to nothing but a believer, just like you. That’s it. He’s really only a witness to these amazing visions and revelations. Now, as he writes as nothing more than a fellow believer, a fellow partaker of the life of God, not commanding, not exhorting, not articulating argued doctrine, but simply bearing witness to what it is that he sees.

He is a Christian brother. He’s a Christian companion, a filler, partaker or partaker with you, just one of the believers. What he’s saying is, I am no different from you in what I’m telling you. I’m seeing it, I’m told to write it, but what I’m seeing, I’m seeing it from just a fellow believer, not as an apostle at all. That’s the reason why the scripture opens with those who read this are blessed. Only book that does it. By the way, just in reading it, you’re blessed. He is. He is exiled to this island. Could completely identify with the suffering church, you that was even being killed for the cause of Christ in some places that’s happening today.

Secondly, he says, I also identify with you as to the kingdom. Okay, now this needs to take shape for you. What do we mean by the kingdom? It’s not some future kingdom. We’re talking in the present tense here. What is he talking about? He’s talking about your life on this earth at this present time, it’s not some future thing, and the that’s going to happen. He’s saying, hey, guys, wake up. What you’re living in today is the kingdom of heaven and you need to pay attention. He says, I identify you as a fellow member of the kingdom over which Jesus Christ rules.

Not yet his earthly visible kingdom, but the spiritual, invisible kingdom. The very same kingdom he referred to back in verse six when he said that Jesus Christ made us into a kingdom. What’s that kingdom? It’s the church. In other words, he says, along with you, I’m a subject of Jesus Christ. I am a member of the redeemed community over which he is lord and over which he is king. He’s setting the stage for you to understand your earthly life. He says, I have a common kinship with you in that I am going to share with you the reign of Jesus Christ in my life and I wait for the glory of his millennial reign to come, of which I am to write.

Third, he says, I can identify with you in the matter of perseverance, that very familiar Greek word, hopeon, which means to remain under. And it speaks of endurance preservation in difficult times. If you guys ever want to dispute with me that we’re not living in difficult times today, well, you need to go figure out what rock you need to go under. So John simply says to them, I’m amazed. I’m. I’m astonished. I’m not only science. I’m shocked that I, John, as a common brother to you and a fellow partaker to you, who knows what it is to be persecuted and to suffer, who knows what it is to be part of the kingdom and what it is to have to endure.

Just like you have been given the privilege of seeing and hearing and writing such great truth. Now. So John does, in a humble and sweet way, bring himself down to share with you, the persecuted Christian, in a joyful endurance, the joy of waiting for the blessed coronation and reign of Jesus Christ. So let’s look at John’s particular circumstances. Oh, this is critical because John’s circumstances are your circumstances today. John just gave himself up to tell you, just see what I’m doing and you’ll see what you’re doing. Those which have come upon him are in Jesus. That little phrase is so wonderful when you understand it.

He simply makes the point that these experiences are distinctly Christian. They belong only to Christians, for only Christians understand the tribulation of persecution in the name of Christ. Only Christians enjoy the presence of the kingdom, and only Christians have The supernatural power to endure awaiting the great coronation in the future. I’m going say something. If you know, you know. Where have you heard that? Why did Christ speak in parables? Because he didn’t want him to know. But if you know, you know. What’s the difference today? None. Well, so much for John and his placement in understanding how you should look at this.

Let’s look at his circumstances. He says, I was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Now you will remember that he said that same thing in verse two. The word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And I told you at that time, that’s two ways of saying the same thing. If you go back and listen to our study, you’re going to hear it for the sake of divine revelation, for the sake of the truth from God. It came as the word of God, it came as the testimony of Jesus.

And both phrases in those two verses refer to the same thing. He says, I’m exiled to this island because I preached what I received from God and what I received from Jesus Christ. Now, some would say that the word of God could be a reference to the Old Testament. Remember, the testimony of Jesus could be a reference to the New Testament. And so what John is saying is I am here because I proclaimed the whole revelation of God. I preached the truth. I spoke the word without evocation, without hesitation, because I am on this island called Patmos.

Now what is Patmos? If you understand history and you go, and if you ever get to go to this area in time, you will understand that Patmos, even as today, is a barren place, a rocky little island. It’s like Alcatraz out nowhere. Okay? It’s just a little island that they put people on that were condemned for jail time. No different than what you got in California. It belongs to a group of about 50 islands in the Mediterranean area. It’s shaped like a crescent and the crescent part, the open harbor part, faces to the east. Oh, do we have biblical scripture for this? It’s about 10 miles long and its width, widest point is between 5 and 6 miles and it’s a barren, rocky place.

It’s about 40 miles west of Meltas, which was the nearest harbor to the city of Ephesus and where the Apostle Paul, if you’ll remember, met the elders of the church from Ephesus. This is where it was. It’s right here. It is in the Ag Sea off the coast of Asia Minor. A really non descriptive little place. It’s. It is Like a. It’s like a banishment to. To. To. To be put on this remote island. And it was a common form of Roman punishment. And if the crime was political, the person vanished to the island, could have a certain amount of freedom to do whatever he wanted and move about.

Okay, the degrees of. What’s. The government wants you to fit in. If it’s. If you were a crime of political nature. Oh, they did not really want that. That you were being a subject. You were buil. You were. You were seen as a. A mortar, a false flag, Take one for the team type thing. That’s what was going on here. They put you on the island, but you were a kept prisoner. You had privileges, you got better food. You. You got, you know, all kinds of things as a political prisoner. But if the banishment was criminal, then he was a part of what we would call a chain game.

Oh, I remember the movie with Bert Reynolds, okay. Where he was part of a chain gang. So here was John. He having committed what would have been a default as defined by the Roman government as a criminal offense. Cool. Analytic, right? Probably about 90 years of age and serving as it were, on a chain gang, probably breaking rocks or something, on the island of Patmos, which was a penal colony. It was. That’s what it was set up to be. You gotta understand Roman Empire, and when you understand Roman Empire, you understand today. See the early Christian tradition, if he was banished there under the leadership of Domitian, when Domitian was reigning in the Roman Empire, anyone who was banished lost all their civil rights, lost all their property.

Now, I’m not sure in John’s history whether he had any property or not, but he would have civil rights. But whatever he had, he lost. Lost everything. There were mines and quarries and every prisoner had to work. Now he’s 90 years old. He’s on Cheng. Since he had been the leader of the hated Christians and probably the last of the possibles that was still around by this time. He is writing in about 96 AD. Banished and hard labor was his day. Foreign Ramsay, one of the great historians, says John banishment would be the quote I’m quoting.

Preceded by scourging, marked by perpetual fetters or chains, scanted clothing, insufficient food, sleep on bare ground, a dark prison, cave work under the lash of a military overseer. That’s where John was. And he’s writing to you. He’s giving you the advantage of seeing who Christ is in his eyes, because that is what God had revealed to him through the messenger angel. Now, Pat Moose has Become famous even to this day. If you go to that part of the world, you can visit that little island and somebody will take you to a little cave overlooking the Agent sea and tell you the story that that’s the cave in which the apostle John was given the visions of the book of Revelation.

It’s an island for criminals. But John makes it very very clear that his only crime was unshakable loyalty to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Oh, let’s just stop here a moment. Self assessment time. Guys. Are you persecuted like this. Ever in your life? Have you been persecuted like this because you want to speak the truth? You’re persecuted to an island of criminal behavior? I can almost tell you with 100% certainty no. So my next question is, when are you going to pay the price? When are you going to be so willing to let yourself go in order that Jesus Christ can show himself through you as John did? And so the wrath of the wicked brought that St.

John near God as it always does. And Patmos was persecuting Ro was the persecuting arm of Rome is suddenly the door to the most sublime and most no majestic and most glorious communion any man has ever had with heaven. I have said that if you don’t strategically make yourself involved with persecution you will never grow. John’s teaching you that John’s doomed to a rock of exile, the apostles sword on the wings of prophetic revelation to the very throne of God. He was shut out from the world. He traversed the heavenlies. And in these bleak circumstances John was given the most extensive revelation of future things ever given to anybody.

Now I can’t. I was just saying this. This is God’s way. Guys. Word here. We gain the greatest knowledge of God through the deepest suffering. Why? You’re paying attention. And so we hear about John himself and about the circumstances. A further word comes in verse 10 as we hear about the commissioning I. John was in the spirit of the Lord’s day. And I heard behind me a v loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. Now this is a very interesting note. He says I was what in the spirit. He identifies his separation as a spiritual being living a physical body experience which is exactly what we’ve talked about for three years.

What he’s saying here is this. He was somehow transcended from normal human apprehension. So you’re to think of the things above and not think of the things of this world. You are to operate as Christ. You’re to think like the mind of God which says you need to be in the spiritual form, because none of that happens in this physical form. He had gone beyond sight and hearing and taste and touch and smell, the physical elements of this physical life. He was experiencing something that is not experienced by normal human senses. John could do it, so can you.

He says it’s no merely human experience. Energized by my what, own mind. He’s saying I am not allowing my physical mind to take hold. I am ascending to a spiritual awareness that Christ needs me to be at so that I can comprehend what I see. Oh, just think about that Self assessment wise. He says I was brought by or empowered through the Holy Spirit to an experience that is beyond the normal senses. What do we said? The first person you should go to on any consideration of any decision is the Holy Spirit. Not some friend to tell you an opinion.

Not some, you know, physical book that gives you all of the things you think you understand. You need to go to the Holy Spirit. So John says, I was taken into a condition which God could supernaturally reveal things to me. You want to experience life. That’s exactly how you experience life. This would have been very much like the experience of Ezekiel. Very much like the experience. If you want a New Testament counterpart of Peter in Acts, chapter 10 and 11, when he is given God’s vision. To go where? Cornel? John says, I was supernaturally transported out of the fleshly world and I was in the Spirit.

Oh, wow, that should be revelational to you. I was what? Supernaturally transported. What does that mean? Time travel. I was awake. I was not sleeping. This is not a dream. But his senses were empowered with such clarity to perceive revelation from God. What revelation? Future. Future. I’ve time traveled to a point in future that nobody has ever been. He even tells us when this happened. Look at it. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. On what? The Lord’s Day. It’s so good that the translator of the certain Bibles, like the New American Standard, translated that the Lord’s Day instead of on the Day of the Lord.

Well, two different things. Lest we think he’s talking about some future prophetic, eschatological day. The term the day of the Lord is a term used for the final judgment of God. And we will see that unfold in the study of, in the book of the Revelation. But here, at this point in time, It’s translated as the Lord’s Day. Specifically to make a distinction, When we say it the Lord’s Day, we were talking about a final day of Esco. Eschatological. Judgment. No, we’re not. What are we talking about? We’re talking about Sunday. We’re talking about a day.

Some have suggested that this refers to that final day that I was in the Spirit and I was transported to the day of the Lord. But that doesn’t seem to fit into this context because the vision that he’s given here has nothing to do with the day of the Lord. Logic. Read Scripture with logic. It has nothing, absolutely nothing to do with the day of the Lord. Furthermore, when you look at this vision, he receives here has nothing to do with the future point because he’s experiencing it in the present. Beyond that, this form in the Greek is an adjective rather than a noun.

When you study Scripture, you got to study words, you got to study context. You got to study, you know, it’s positioning in the sentence and what it means, whether it’s a verb, noun or adjective, or what. The form of Lord here is ejectable. It’s an adjective. So it describes a day correctly in the educative, educable way. The Lord’s day, rather than being a noun. The day of the Lord. Okay, finally, the Greek phrase. When I look at this, the Greek phrase has nothing to do with the day of the Lord. The vision he receives here has nothing to do with the future.

It describes a day correctly in adjective way. The Lord’s day, rather than being a noun, the day of the Lord. This appears. This same word appears in a number of Christian writings from the very same error and refers to Sunday. It’s a day of the week, a specific day. The Lord’s day came to be the customary way of referring to Sunday because it reminded everyone of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Now, I want you to think about this. The Sabbath is what? The seventh day. Completion. Completion. So when John says, I love these little notes. It was Sunday on the isle of Patmos and Division K.

I heard behind me a loud voice, like the sound of a trumpet. Well, whose voice is it? Was it the angel? No, it was Jesus Christ himself that told John, wake up, listen to me. I am going to provide you a scribe to tell you what I need to tell you. You need to hear up, which was the angel. And Christ identifies himself after the vision to John. Why is that important? Because John’s writing to you and says, I’m the same as you, and if it happens to me, it can happen to you. And to John, that voice was like the piercing brilliance of a trumpet.

In fact, if you’re questioning whose voice it was, and you don’t Want to wait? Just look at verse 18. The one who was dead and is alive forevermore and has the keys of death and Hades. He’s the one speaking. Those are the two keys. Remember that he went to hell to get when he died on the cross. All of this should be coming together to you like light bolts. Now, I’m not sure if you remember. In the account of the giving of the Law in the Old Testament, the Bible says this. There were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount.

What are we talking about? The mount of Sinai, when Moses went up to meet Christ. And the voice of a trumpet, exceedingly loud, very loud. God’s voice, or the voice of Christ in supernatural glory, sounds to the hearer like a great loud, piercing trumpet. It’s a brilliant, shrill and clear voice. And it came with commanding clarity as a trumpet. Oh, okay, let’s talk about this. Music is conveyed by what? Energy. Music’s heard by your ears as what energy. Your hairs in your ears interpret what you hear as what energy. You interpret that energy based upon the language that Christ has given you, the Alphabet.

And you understand. What John is saying? I had an over empowering energy behind me that I heard at a level so great I could not mistakenly classify it as any other person in Jesus Christ. If you got ears to hear here, you might want to make a mental note that throughout the book of Revelation, a loud sound or a loud voice indicates the Solomon to you of what is about to be revealed. Okay. It’s so common in the book of Revelation that I can’t even take you through all of them. Number one, they’re in chapter 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 16, 19, and many other times throughout Scripture.

Every one of these chapters, you hear this loud voice, a loud sound. And then comes what? The solemn revelation. This is the first of those getting John’s attention. Oh, your attention. He’s talking to you. He is you. The lords are written to you. Do you have the attention to understand? And what it indicates is the powerful, sovereign, commanding voice out of heaven. In this case, it is the voice of the risen, glorified Christ. It’s the same voice that’s going to call you home as the church, all at the same time. Then the voice of Christ says in verse 11, write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches.

And he spells the churches out. Ephesus, Samaria, I’m sorry, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thar, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Leia. That tells you to whom the book of Revelation was sent. Now, yes, I also need to understand that back then, the history was that if a letter was sent to one church, it was sent to all. So when he says write in a book, think about this. The word book there is the actual Greek word that referred to scroll, the scroll that was rolled up. And this is the word that doesn’t refer to the animal skin like scroll, but Biblis refers to parchment.

Write it on purpose. Now, it’s also interesting to note that 12 times in this book, John is told to write something down. 12 times, Once he’s told, don’t write what you saw. Once Christ says, oh, we’re getting into a point that you need to allow them not to see this. Go back to Daniel. What did Christ, what did Christ say to Daniel? Don’t write this. They don’t need to know it. They’re not worthy of knowing it at this time. He has commanded you to write this down and to send it to the seven churches that have already been noted in chapter one, verse four, which you’ve already gone over.

When it says Asia, it means Asia Minor, which would be today modern Turkey. Oh, let’s think about that. These churches were in the seven most prominent cities at that time. Now, I think it was Norm Jean saying, how did the seven get selected? Well, here’s the reason why, because those were the seven most prominent churches of that time influencing the rest of the world. Just to give you a little bit more historical fact, historians tell us that these seven cities were the seven postal districts of Asia Minor, which made them central points for the dissemination of information.

Everybody came through Asia Minor in trade. Everybody had to talk to somebody in Asia Minor where best have the churches June today. And because there were seven postal centers, they would have attracted the concourse and the influence and outgo people and would also be the key place for instant dispatch to send these things further. And so those seven cities were suited to spread what, the revelation of Jesus Christ. There were also seven cities in Asia, Asia Minor, where churches had been planted. And by the way, from history, there were other cities where churches had been planted also, but they’re not included among the seven as we talked about on Tuesday night.

Another interesting note is that if you study a map of Asia Minor, your early maps, we started with that, remember early maps and bloodlines, you will see that the order of the cities in route that a messenger would take if he was going to visit all those places. And so what is he saying? Write this down and send it off. And first it’ll go to. Ife Ephesus. And from there it will go to Smyrna, because that’s on the route. And then it would go to Pergamum, which is the next on the map. And then you go to Thyroidara, which is next on the map.

And then Sardis, and then Philadelphia, and finally reaches Laodicea. If you were to walk the trade route, those are the cities that you would walk through to get from beginning to end. Oh, now think about that, about history. These seven churches represents the historical and factual, by the way, in our history, the conditions of our history as it relates to these seven churches exactly to the text. Anything by coincidence? I don’t think so. See, that would be the route that a messenger would take. And we’re going to learn a lot about these churches as we move through this study and those cities and circumstances that existed there when we get into chapters two and three, because we’re going to carefully look at their detail.

And so John is commissioned. He tells us about himself, about his circumstances and about his commission to write. And then he moves into verse 12 and it comes to the vision. He says, as I turned to see the voice behind me that was speaking to me. And having turned, I saw what seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of those lampstands there was an entity, one like the Son of Man, which is Jesus Christ, as defined throughout the New Testament. Son of man is Jesus Christ, clothed in a robe, reaching to the feet and girded across his breath with a golden girdle.

And his head and his hair were like white, like wool, white wool like snow. And his eyes are like a flame of fire. He’s identifying Christ in his glory, not in his humble state of walking. This earth is man. And his feet were like burnished bronze. Oh, that’s unique. And when it has been caused to glow at a furnace. And his voice was like the sound of many waters. And his right hand he had seven stars. And out of his mouth came a sharp two edged sword. And his face was like the sun, shining in its strength.

And he says, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as a dead man. What did God tell Moses? You can’t look upon me because in my glory you will die. Say, that’s the vision. John had his back to the voice. So in verse 12 he says, I turned. That’s going to be significant here. And when he turned, he saw the vision of the glorified Son, and he saw the Lord of his church. And he saw him in the midst of his church, turned. Transformed, regenerated it is bringing together all of salvation’s process into a final state of being able to see, guide face to face.

He says, in the end, you’ll see me face to face. That’s what John saw. I turned and I saw. What is John picturing for us here? Well, he’s p. He’s picturing us here. The ministry of the glorified Son in his church, not in the past, not in the future, but in the present. Now. You. The voice is the voice of the risen glory, glorious Christ. I turn to see the voice that was speaking to me. And as he turns, instead of seeing only the glorified Christ, he sees first of all, seven golden lampstands. What are they? Well, if you look at verse 20, it tells you in the second half of the verse, seven golden lampstands.

What are they? They are the seven churches. You. Everything about your life is revealed to John as he turned. So he’s seeing it. He’s seeing the vision of all the churches. There are portable lampstands made of gold that would be set around a room and at night a little oil lamp would be set in them for light. Oh my gosh. What revelation of, of prophecy that. Is the Old Testament going to be the light of the world? Right. Israel was chosen as a nation to be what? The light of the world. The. The witness to the world of Jesus Christ and they turned it down.

Well, what’s the church? The same thing. The church then is seen as God’s lampstand from which the light of life shines. The church then is seen as God’s lampstand from which the light of life shines. So the church is the light of the world, as Jesus said, by the way. And God’s people are assembled in the churches so that they can shine forth the light, light each church a light in its own location. Oh, that’s interesting. Self assessment time. What’s your location? Is you. Where. What were. Where are you at in this light shining event? Oh, the lampstands are golden.

Why? Because gold was the most precious, the most lovely and most, most beautiful metal that God gave to man. And he called it his currency. Yes. The value of gold that he gives to you has a value that you attribute it to. His currency is you, not a piece of metal. That’s the trade. The amount of light that you have and that you radiate is the value of your currency. You said it. Nobody else does. The congregation of God’s people are not only to be lights of the world, but they are to be the Heart of God.

The most costly, the most beautiful, the most precious and the most valuable on things on this earth. No valuable that he is, he was willing to purchase them with his own. What blood. You are his currency. The value set that you set for you is determining the value set that you set for the blessings which determines the financial strength in your life that you obtain. Your limit is only going to be based upon what? What’s between your ears. Now there’s seven of them. You may ask why are there seven? Well, seven is the number of completeness.

You see it a host of number times throughout this book. I’ve given that to you in the self study. You can see it back even in Exodus, chapter 25, verse 41 to 50. In God’s design for the temple and the tabernacle, a sevenfold lamp. God didn’t prepare you to be six, he prepared you to be seven. Why? Because six you are plus. One hymn is completeness. You can see it in Zechariah, chapter 4, verse 2. And again in Moses and Zechariah had seven lamps on their stands. It’s a symbol of completeness, symbolic of the whole people of God and here the whole church, the whole body.

Body of Christ. So what do we have? We have a vision of the church in the midst of the vision of the church. He sees in verse 13 one entity, the Son of man, the center of you is Christ. It comes and seals your heart upon salvation, regenerates you, gives you a new life, can transforms your body into a right side up part of humanity directly associated to God. Here’s Christ in the midst of the seven churches. Yeah, Literally who is the Son of man? Jesus Christ that walked this earth. So what John sees here is the glorified Lord in the midst of his precious church.

Christ ascended back in the Gospels to heaven and says, I will. I will return to the same place that I had sinned from in the same manner as I ascended. And when I come, I’m coming for my church. Now what is he really doing here? I think this is so thrilling of a part of the scripture. This is so exciting to me and I can only hope it’s the same to you because we’re now going to find out what the glorified Christ does for his church. He is. He was doing then for his church and what he has been doing for 2000 years for his church and what he is doing for his church now, what he’s going to do for doing for us and what he’s going to do for you.

First thing he does, he empowers his church. Where does your power come from? He empowers his Church. That is implied in verse 13 in the middle of the lampstands. One like the son of Man. Son of man is the messianic title for the Lord Jesus Christ. And he sees him. John sees him, the Lord of the Church, in the middle of the lampstands for life. He’s moving in the midst of his church. He it pictures him there with his presence amidst the church. What is the import of that? Oh, well, let’s go back into Scripture. And what did Jesus says? Hello, I am with you.

What? Always? He’s always in the midst of you. Jesus said, I will not leave you as orphans. Jesus said, if anyone loves me, I will make my abode with him. The great promise that Jesus Christ gave his disciples was that he would not never leave them, he would never forsake them, but he would take up his abode with them. I submit to you that what you see here is the living, exalted, glorified Christ in the midst of of your life, the church. Then why is he there? Well, to me it should be obvious. Very logical thinker here.

So to me it’s obvious. To a parish church, if you want power, you got to get it from the Source. And you can’t get the power from the Source. It’s the source is not there with you. Paul says in Galatians 2:20, I am crucified with Christ nonetheless. I live, but yet not I. But Christ lives where? In me. Therefore the life which I live, I live not by the flesh, but by his power. That’s Paul’s point. We are empowered by the indwelling living Christ. Holy Spirit lives inside of you. The Holy Spirit is Christ and he gives you the power.

He is present. Present, not past, not future. He’s present to what lead you. He is present to empower his church. Yeah, We don’t worship some crucified martyr individual. We don’t worship some dead, heroic religious leader. We’re to have continual communion with the living Christ. I walk daily. I die daily. I am supposed to be like Christ daily. I’m supposed to think like the mind of God daily. First Corinthians, chapter 10, where the apostle Paul even says, when we break bread and drink the cup, we are partaking with the very blood of the body of Jesus Christ.

We’ve already talked about this. We’ve said you have a transformation that goes on in every communion activity that you do with the Lord Jesus Christ at what your heart’s table. That’s where communion should be. Yeah, you physically have a representation, but you need to understand communion is at the table of your heart. Do you remember the promise that the Lord himself made in Matthew 18 that when the church does its holy work on earth and only two or three are gathered there in the holy work of confronting sin. In that case, what he says there I am in the midst.

He is in his church. To what empower his church. Next he intercedes for his church. Verse 13 says he was clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and gutted across his chest with a golden sash. Two things here. Clothed in a robe reaching to his feet. Kings only wore robes that went to their feet. In fact, Jonathan and Saul, Jonathan being a prince, wore such a long robe. The Greek word is used in the Old Testament Septuagint version even to the to refer to the robe of kings. Not only did kings wear such robes, but prophets wore such robes as well.

In fact, if you go to Daniel chapter 10amessenger from God that the and that the messenger had a linen linen, not petroleum based linen robe made out of fine linen that was all the way down to his feet. And there the septuagin uses the same word that is used here. Perus mean again it is used in the Old Testament to speak of the robe of a king and the robe of a messenger from God. And so it could be that it indicates Christ. Christ’s kingly wrote. It could be that its illustrations his prophetic role. Now some simply thinks of the great dignity of Christ.

And there’s something beyond even this. Well, why don’t we get there? Because most particularly and uniquely this kind of robe in the Old Testament belong to the high priest. And most of the occurrences of this word in the Old Testament Greek version called satu and refer to the garment of the high priest. Who is the high priest? Jesus Christ. Now it seems to me that what we see here is Christ in his priestly role. And then when you add the fact that he had across his chest this golden not girdled so much, but a golden sash, we are reminded that the priests in the Old Testaments wore on their chest what above their armpits, a sash.

Exodus 28, Exodus 29, Exodus 39, Leviticus 16 speak of this type of robe research for the high priest. So I believe that what John is giving to us and we should see is that the Lord Jesus Christ is in his priestly role acting as a royal high priest on behalf of his church. You got to remember these words Jesus says therefore he had to be made like his brethren. All things. Things. And he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since he himself was tempered in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

The church. He’s in the middle of the church. Christ is a merciful and faithful high priest. And what does the high priest do? He intercedes. That’s Hebrews 2:17. In Hebrews 31, he is called the high priest of our confession. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 14, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God. He is not a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and may find grace to help in time and need.

What is he doing? Christ is interceding for his church before God. He’s in the midst of the church. So what do we see? Today? We have this great high priest among us. Guys, he’s moving among the lampstands. The church. He’s moving in his church. He has unequaled capacity to sympathize with us in all our dangers, sorrows, trials and temptations. Why? Because he lived it. He was exposed to them all. And he is our sympathetic high priest. And because of what he says in chapter 1 1, verse 5, that he loves us and released us from our sins by his blood, we know that he will continue in that love to be a faithful, compassionate, merciful high priest.

He never fails. Remembering the Gospels. He was in all points tempted, just like we are without sin. So he knows the path of victory in every temptation. Why wouldn’t you want to speak to the Holy Spirit about what’s going on in your life? Because you need to claim victory. Just like Christ had victory in the same manner. How are you going to know that unless you’re talking. Guys, this is your comfort for the persecuted church. To have knowledge and to know that the high priest is moving within the midst of his church. You seeking from God based upon the last will and Testament, inheritance for you, your blessing.

So we see the glorified, exalted Christ in present to empower his church. He’s present to intercede for his church. And then another ministry strikes the eye of John. He says he is there to purify his church. Remember Ephesians 4 the first element of your application was to maintain your purification. You can’t do that without Jesus Christ. And so what John sees because he’s there to purify his church. Verse 14, his head and his hair were white like white wool, like snow. Now, after John had described his Clothing in verse 13, he moves to his person and he starts with his head, his hair, then his eyes, then his feet, then his voice, and then his right hand, then his mouth and then his face.

There’s a reason for this. Now let’s count those. Head, hair, eyes, feet, voice, right hand, mouth, that represents him. His face, You, you’re to be pure. John’s not seeing his clothing anymore. He’s gone from the lampstands to the cloth clothing to the very features of the exalted Lord of the Church. Lying because it’s you. It’s you. He sees him primarily in his purging, purifying, discipling, chastening work through other features are certainly apparent as well. Now, I’m not going to make a big issue out of the fact that the New Testament is very clear on the standard that Christ has set for his Church.

We’re getting that in Acts. We understand the history of the church, we understand the standards of the Church. We understand once you understand the standards of the church, you’re held to a higher accountability. So I don’t think we need to go through that here. Let’s see. What Paul tells you is this. He wants the church to be a chesty virgin, pure, pure. Paul said the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself for the Church, that he might sanctify and cleanse her, that she might be glorious without wrinkle or spot. Are any such blight, blemish. Paul says he wants the church blameless and holy.

Paul said that Jesus Christ reconciled the church in order to present her before what him that is God, holy and blameless, above reproach. Peter even reminds us that he wants the church as a holy as he is. Hebrews chapter 12 says that it if need be his discipline and he will chest chasten and he will scourge his own people for their what purification. If he has to. What John tells us in John 15, he says he’ll take out the pruning knife and he’ll cut off the sucker branches that bleed the productivity of any believer. He’s talking about your life.

You will cut off that which you’re using, not for him. I’m going to tell you something. Sometimes you’re to the point that is chastening is even fatal. I Told you un requested. Forgiveness of sin leads to inequity, and inequity leads to death. And your physical life may be taken for lack of forgiveness. You see that in Ananias and Safara in Acts, chapter five, and as it was for some in Corinthian church who were sleeping because they had abused the Lord’s table. What’s the Lord’s table? You are the temple of the Lord’s table. Your heart is where you commune with God.

Now you want to understand why you have issues. It’s you. It isn’t any wonder that Peter said in First Peter, chapter 4, verse 17, Judgment begins with the household of God. He will cleanse the his church. He will purge his church. And we see him here in that purge. Perfect vision. That’s what John sees. Notice his head and his hair were white like wool, like snow. That’s an obvious reference to Daniel79. Daniel79. It is describing God. Here it is describing Christ. What a marvelous parallel that this to indicate again to us that Jesus Christ is in fact God.

He is the same attributes and the same characteristics as God. Look at the word white for a moment. This is not white like a flat white color. It’s not white like a white piece of paper or white wall or white garment. That is not the definition of this word. This word white by definition means blazing. It’s not a flat white color, but it has the potential to mean a blazing white, glowing white light energy. He is seeing. John’s seeing all the glory here, all of the energy as a blazing light. Well, have you ever seen energy arc in physical world? Have you ever seen energy arc? Take two, take an electrical circuit and watch it arc.

What do you have? You have a blazing light. See, he sees his glory. He sees the symbol of eternal, glorious holiness. Whenever God showed his Shekinah, he was showing his holiness. It demonstrates his purity of life. It demonstrates the purity of his truth. He is wise and he is holy. He is blazing, glowing, brilliant, shining light. And then he adds something else to this. John says, and his eyes were like a flame of fire. What is he saying? He is seeing the blazing white, brilliant, shining glory of Christ. And coming out of it like two lasers, one from each eye, come the very flames of fire.

What is this? What John is describing is the holy, glorious, exalted Lord with searching, penetrating God, days, looking to the depths of his church, the depths of your life. He sees all, knows all, but sets and waits on you. That’s what it is. In chapter two of Revelation, verse 18, the Son of God. There also is seen with eyes like a flame of fire penetrating in to see the church. We see the same thing at the end of the book of revelations in chapter 19, verse 12. Those gazing, penetrating, supernatural lasers that penetrate right through with holy intelligence to reveal to him everything he wants to see.

Listen guys, when Christ moves through his church in all his holy glory, his penetrating eyes see absolutely everything. He knows the deepest secret. And his vision is so accurate, there are no secrets. There is nothing, nothing ever hidden from him whatsoever. That is why the writer of Hebrew says it very straightforward. There is no creature hidden from his sight. But all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of him who. Who with him we have to do. Hebrews 4:13 says it all. The Lord of the church is holy. The Lord of the church sees everything and he’ll deal with the sin of his church.

And verse 14, verse 15 points it out. His feet were like burnished bronze. When it has been caused to blow in a furs. What’s that? What he’s saying? It’s red hot. It’s coming at you. And I’m quite sure many of us, if not all of us, have seen metal in a furnace. It’s glowing, burning brass or bronze. By the way, I have a footnote going back in history. Oh. And I want you to apply what we’re going to talk about to you because you’re. Or the temple, right? All the temple and all of the tabernacle furniture that was in any way used in a sin offering was always brass.

Oh, think about that. Why? Because it had to be burnt red hot. That is what is going to happen to sinners in the last days if they don’t turn to Christ. They will go to what? Hell in the burning fire of brimstone, which is red hot. When you see brass in this situation, you know it has something to do with sin. And here you have feet glowing hot, very clear reference to judgment. Anytime anybody came before the king, the king always in ancient times, sat on an elevated throne. And when a criminal came in to be sentenced, he was always below the feet of the king.

He would bow down and look up to the feet and then the throne and the body and then the head. The feet of the king became the symbol of his authority. We find Jesus Christ, red hot feet moving through his church to exercise his chastening author authority. Blazing, molten, pure, redefine, refined, gleaming feet of judgment. See, the metal is pure. Who happens to be the metal he does, refined by the holiness and the glory of God and ready to deal out pain if need be, to a sinning Christian and a sinning Church. And so the glorious Lord of the Church is present to empower the Church.

Not just to empower the Church, to intercede for the Church. Not to intercede for the Church, but to purify the Church. And lastly, he is present to speak authoritatively to the Church. The end of verse 15 says this. His voice was like the sound of many waters when he spoke. No longer was it the crystal clear short note of a trumpet. But John described it like the crushing of the surf against the rocks of an island. You find this same reference in Ezekiel 43. 2 has the same thought about God again. It is the voice of authority.

It is a thundering voice, like the crush of Niger, Niagara, the voice of power, the voice that commands. It is the voice that John 5:28 29 says, which will someday speak and every grave will cough up its dead victim. And all the eons of human history, it is the voice of Christ speaking to his Church. He speaks with authority. In Hebrews one God said at sunry times, in diverse manners in time past, spoke unto the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken. Spoken unto us by what? His Son. He is the one who’s speaking to the Church.

He speaks through the Word. He speaks to us through the Epistles. He speaks to us through his Spirit. The Lord of the Church is there to empower. The Lord of the Church is there to intercede. The Lord of the Church is there to purify. The Lord of the Church is there to speak. Now, the last thing that John sees, he’s there to control his church. Verse 16. In his right hand he has seven stars. What does that mean? Well, go down to verse 20. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my hand, the seven golden lampstand, the seven stars are what? Literally? Literally, the messengers of the seven churches.

Meaning those that are in control to the of the churches. Who’s in control of you? You. Who’s the messenger of you? The church. You. In his hand he holds the seven stars. Some may think, well, well, that’s safety and protection. I happen to completely disagree with that. This majestic holy glory of this vision of the Lord makes it more likely that what that means is that he controls the church. And each of those churches has a representative messenger, somebody who represents the church and he controls them. You are the Church. He controls you 100% of the time.

See, the right hand in symbolism of Scripture is also the right hand of power. It’s the right hand of might, it’s the right hand of authority, it’s the right hand of strength. And you will see that same thought again in chapter two, verse one, and in chapter three, verse one. And they both suit the same idea of control. The Lord of the church controls the seven stars. Who are that seven Messengers. The word Angelos literally means messengers and it can mean angel and does throughout the book of Revelation. But I don’t believe it can refer to angels here because we have no teachers teaching in the Bible anywhere that angels are the leaders of the church.

You are the what? Control of the church. You’re control of you. She’s not speaking to angels here. He’s speaking to you. Some others suggest that the seven men who represent the seven churches are most likely they are seven prominent leaders in the church. Elders, pastors, etc in the corporate church. That’s true. You are the church. That’s you. And Christ is saying, I hold you in my hand as a symbol that I hold all the leadership of that church in my hand. Oh, now see the difference. I hold you in my hand as I hold all the leadership of that church in my hand.

Two separate identifications. You he’s speaking to, the corporate church he’s speaking to and I hold that church in my hand. Each must. Each, each. You can’t have one without the other. Each must be significant leader to be held in the hand of the church. I’m sorry, in the hand of Christ that is you. They’re not just messengers. You’re not just messengers who are going to deliver this letter as something they’re not angels. Because the Lord would never give a letter to an angels to give the church. But rather they are seven key leaders representing the eldership of those churches.

And he says I hold those key leaders in my hand as I hold all of the leaders in that church in my hand. There’s a pure plurality of elders taught in the New Testament. But see, there can only be one who represents the plurality as a spokesperson. Even as 12 equal apostles had one spokesperson, namely Peter, your spokesperson is you. You can’t blame it on anybody else. And so what’s Christ saying? He’s saying I control you. I control the church. I mediate that control through the leaders. You see, that’s what a spiritual leader is in the church and what he does, he’s simply a tool through which Christ mediates his leadership.

You own nothing. Christ owns you. He died for you. He paid the price for you. He’s simply an agent by which the sovereign Lord of the church controls the church. That’s why in the New Testament standard for being a leader in the church is so high. Because all you are is an intermediary through which Christ can control his church. And you have to be committed to to doing his will no matter what the cost. Self assessment guys. The Lord is present to empower the church, intercede, heard, speak authoritatively and exercise sovereignty control. I didn’t think I was going to get here, but I’m.

I’m going to finish this. He’s there to protect his church. Verse 16. Out of his mouth came a sharp two edged sword. This signifies judgment. Over in chapter 19, verse 15. From his mouth comes a short sword so that with it he may smite the nations. You know what this says? The Lord of the church has a sword and he wills it in defense of his church. Chapter 2, verse 12. To the messenger of the church of Pergamon, right? The one who has the sharp two edged sword says repent or I’m coming to you and I’ll make war against them with a sword of my mouth.

Listen guys. Anybody inside the church that threatens the life of that church, anyone who tries to show to so lies any unbeliever who comes into corrupted church as they try to in that church. In chapter two he says I’ll kill, take my sword out and I will use it. You don’t think you’re protected? Oh my gosh. What planet do you live on? God will protect his church. He doesn’t mean to fight the battle on the outside. He means to fight it on the inside. The word sword, Ramphaya is a large two edged broad sword that would do tremendous damage.

It’s almost as if he is echoing. I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. Here is the Lord of the church defeating his enemies. Those who attack his people, those who would destroy his church. Inside or outside, they’ll take the sword of his mouth and he’ll deal with them. His word is potent and destructive and so is his power. The Lord of the church reflects his glory through his church. The end of verse 16. His face was like the sun shining in strength. He simply says here that I looked at his face and it was like the blazing sun.

That takes us back, shouldn’t it? To the first glimpse he had when he said his head and his hair were like white wool. Blazing weight. Here he sees it in full brightness. Guys, gotta listen to this. This is wonderful. We’re going to close but you gotta listen to this. John saw his face. The first time ever anybody has seen him face to face. John saw his face and it was like the sun at its blazing fullness on a clear day. John borrowed that expression from Judges. Way back In Judges chapter 5, verse 31 it says, but let those who love him be like the rising of the sun, sun in its strength.

John says, I saw his face and it was like the sun shining in its strength and all blazing height. Back in Judges, that’s what the Holy Spirit wrote about those that love God, that they were like the blazing sun at its height. Judges 5:31. The ones that love God are like the blazing sun. Revelation 1:16. Jesus Christ is like the blazing sun. What’s the point here, Jim? The point is that the Lord shines in his church. He shines through his church. God doesn’t do it his own. He uses people to do what he needs to do.

He who loves him reveal his glory to the watching world. That Note in Judges 5:31 about the faces of those who love him shining like the sun is linked with the idea of judgment in this very same verse, Judges 5:31. And that also supports the interpretation of two edged sword here as a sort of judgment to protect the church from destruction by its enemies. So the Lord will show his glory through his church. That’s what he desires to do. Matter of fact, that’s what he will do. Where did we learn that? Oh, let’s go back to Ephesians, chapter 3, verse 21.

To him be the glory in the church. He wants to shine through the church. There it is, the opening vision. The glorious exalted Lord of the Church present to power, to intercede, to purge, to speak, to control, to protect and to glorify through his church. That is who Jesus Christ is. And what was John’s response when I saw him? I fell at his feet as a dead man. Absolute shock. Overwhelmed, motionless, almost lifeless. One other time, on the Mount of Transfiguration, it says he fell on his face and was afraid. This time it’s even worse. He says, I was like a dead man.

Why? John saw the awesome glory of the Lord of the Church and it struck him. And it should strike you. That’s part one of the vision of the Glorified Son. We’ll get part two next week. Comments, Questions? Part normal. You ended exactly where I had some written some notes about when John, along with the other two apostles saw the transfiguration and where they fell on their faces and were terrified. And I was looking at that, comparing that to here in Revelation where it says that he fell to his feet as dead, but then Christ put his right hand on him and said, fear not.

So anyway, I’m just glad that you brought that up at the end. Welcome. Anything else, guys? Tim, so isn’t this the parable in Luke about the lampstand? Yes. Okay, let’s just wondering about that, because the light of the lampstand should be put on the stand itself so we can see the light. And who’s the lampstand? We are. That’s absolutely right. That’s what he’s talking about. You should not put yourself. You know, you should not have a lamp shade over you. Yes. You are the lampstand. Exactly. He’s the wick. He lights everything. And as long as we’re hearing and doing, believing, we’re following the right path on the church.

Right. And who’s the church? You’re the church. So it’s not talking about a corporate building. It’s not talking about anything more than you as the church. All right, thank you. Anything else goes. You know, Jim, I think that’s the most beautiful rendition I’ve heard about us being his currency. And the brighter we shine, the more value the currency. I just. That just really hit my heart, and I’m wondering if I’ve missed reference to that in other scripture earlier on. Does he talk about that in other scriptures earlier? Yeah, I mean, Sam just brought it up. You’re not to put yourself under a lampshade.

You’re supposed to show yourself as the light to allow Christ to shine through you. So everything. Everything that you do in your life should be Christ. Right. But you just. You described it as the currency. Right, but see, the value. Think about this. The value of your life in Christ is the fruit that you bear for Him. Yeah, there you go. Okay. Yep. Therefore, the value that you have for him is what he values you as. His currency. Got it. Thank you. Anything else, guys? Sure. All right, let’s pray. Father, thank you for this evening. Thank you for again coming into your word and understanding your truth.

Thank you for the revelation that you’ve given us in searching out the truth of this very terrific and fascinating book that we’re studying. God, we just want to give you all the praise and glory for what you are doing in our own individual lives, us as a collective, family, as a whole, called the church. And God give us not only the grace and wisdom, but the knowledge to understand what it is to live in you, to be sanctified in you, to think like the mind of God, to walk daily in the presence of your understanding. Charlie, thank you for your son.

Thank you for dying on the cross. Thank you for having him resurrected which gave us our host body system and the life that we are able to go home. Thank you for ascension and the ability to understand what that represents is it relates to His Second Coming and His taking home his church. Brother, Be with us. Be with us. Be with the world’s leadership. Be with the governments of this world. Give them discernment and special knowledge to do that which you are commanded them to do. Be with the soldiers. Be with those who are in harmless way.

Protect them. Give their family their the assurance of peace and comfort that they will return home. Father will just give you all the present word once again. Ask all these things in your sins. All right guys.
[tr:tra].