Christ’s Instructions Regarding the Revelation

Transcript

GR 1982
Christ’s Instructions Regarding the Revelation
11/06/2016
Revelation 1:17-20
Gil Rugh

We’re going to the book of Revelation chapter 1, and believe it or not we are making progress. We are finishing a foundational chapter to the rest of the book. We have moved from the introductory comments that this is a message coming from Jesus Christ ultimately to His churches. Each individual church is being addressed, evaluated, rebuked, commended, warned, promised; so a very important book for us as a local church that continues down to today. There are seven churches that will be selected and we will be moving into those as we come into chapter 2, but right now we have the first vision, if you will, of the book of Revelation. It is John’s vision of the resurrected Christ and this is indeed the basis for the rest of the book. It will be crucial to understanding the messages that he’s giving to the seven churches and the different characteristics revealed about Christ in this vision will be part of the basis of His addressing the churches. We’ll see that as we move through each of those seven churches.

This is in the context of Revelation 1:5, that Christ has “loosed us from our sins by His blood”--and now He loves us with an everlasting love. The promise that is the focus of the book in verse7 is “HE IS COMING IN THE CLOUDS again.” (cf. Dan. 7:13) That’s what we’re building to--that time in (Rev. 19) when the heavens will open and Christ will descend and (chap. 20) when His kingdom will be established. Then we have the final judgment of those who will spend eternity in hell and then (chaps. 21-22) carry us into eternity; but now John’s attention is drawn to see the glory of the Savior that he loves and serves.

Remember Christ chose John to be one of His innermost disciples and John really probably is the one given the honor of being the closest to Christ. In the gospel that John writes he identifies himself (Jn.13:23b) as the disciple “whom Jesus loved”. Now obviously He loved them all but it indicates that there was a special relationship that Jesus had with John. He’s already written his gospel; he’s already written his three epistles and now he is chosen by God to be the penman of this final revelation. He’s heard a voice and John turns to see the voice that’s speaking. It instructed him to “write in a book” (or a scroll) letters to seven specific individual churches. (Rev. 1:11) Naturally John turned to see the voice that was speaking with him and he sees Christ in His glory.

There are certain things about Christ that are portrayed; the symbols there representing something of His character. We’ve looked down through (Rev. 1:12-16). The “seven golden lampstands” in (v.12) represent the “seven churches” and we are told that down in (v.20) and Christ is “in the middle of the lampstands” (v.13). We noted that position there is so that He can be evaluating each church individually and He knows accurately and in detail the condition of each of those churches.

Then John gives the description of Him and we’ve looked through this. He has a “robe and a belt (or girdle) that is a golden sash girded about His loins.” (v.13) He’s a priestly Judge and the emphasis in the book of Revelation is on His situation as Judge but it’s founded on His High priestly ministry as we’ve noted. Back in (v.5) “He loosed us from our sins by His blood” but now He is the Judge evaluating; He is the priestly Judge. His clothing is that of splendor, of authority. He has “hair white…like snow” in the first part of (v. 14) denoting He is the eternal God. He has existed from eternity past and He will exist for all eternity into the future so that picture of the white hair--we’ve looked into some of the Old Testament passages that described God in a similar way. The middle of (v. 14b)—“He has eyes like a flame of fire”--knowledge, judgment. He perceives everything and He is the refining Judge. He sees through the dross that which is worthless which would be burned away. He knows all He judges all; the church must not forget this. His position in relation to the church has direct impact on us; we are one of His local churches. In (v.15a) in the first part of the verse, “His feet” are “like glowing bronze” and this again portrays judgment. We looked at the Old Testament like the brazen altar in the context of the Old Testament tabernacle and temple where sin is judged and dealt with. So it’s glowing, the bronze like in a furnace in a fire picturing His purity and judgment. Sin will be judged ultimately on an unbelieving world in His wrath but in His churches it will be judged as well.

He has a voice at the end of (v.15b) like “many waters.” He has complete authority so the sound of that voice demands attention, commands--He is the authoritative one. “In His right hand,” (v.16) “He held seven stars.” The seven stars according to (v.20b) represent the messengers of the seven churches and He has complete authority over them. They are under His care and protection but He has authority. We’ll see that demonstrated and exercised in each of the letters.

“Out of His mouth come a sharp two-edged sword” in the middle of (v.16b) and that is the word of God that will be judging the churches and the world. Jesus said the words that He spoke would be the judgment of the last days; we’ll be judged by His word. “His face” at the end of (v.16c) “is like the sun.” Again the Old Testament used a similar description of God; His shining like the sun, His glory, His splendor, His magnificence and you see the impact on John at the beginning of (v.17a) “When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.” It’s overwhelming, it’s awesome.

Now keep in mind this is the disciple that fellowshipped with Christ during His earthly ministry. At that last supper he was reclining at the position closest to Christ. He’s the one being used to write large portions of our New Testament. He has served the Lord faithfully for these sixty some years since Christ left the earth and yet when he’s confronted with the glory and power and awesomeness of the Master that he serves he’s overwhelmed. He just falls over like a dead man. The picture is of a dead man at His feet. You know we lose that recognition and I remind you of this. We are a local church comprised of believers and Christ is addressing local churches comprised of believers. He’s using His servant John. We sometimes lose perspective. We are directly under the gaze of the Master of the church.

We think that we are doing something good because we want people to feel comfortable. I have a letter in my file with this because of my connection back many years ago with the church and it had changed over the years. They were talking about how they were going to be trying to implement what some of their staff was learning in a different ministry of how just to make people feel comfortable at church and then hopefully over time they’ll become involved in church. You know it’s not the perspective we’re given in the word, not that we can’t be comfortable in one sense but this is an awesome scene. We are either more concerned about how we feel and we get concerned if they bring people will they be offended? This is the consistent pattern of scripture when people are confronted by the glory of God.

Come back to (Isa. 6:1). We don’t have time to look at a lot of references but we’ll look at two out of the several that I have. Isaiah is given a vision; “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple.” (v.2) “Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings:” (v.3) … They cry out constantly, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.”

Remember in (Jn. 17:5) Jesus prayed to the Father and said, “glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.”

Earlier in John’s gospel, in (Jn. 12:41) John writes and quotes from (Isa. 6) this portion and said it was about Christ. Think about that, this is the pre-incarnate Christ. When Christ prayed to the Father to “restore to Me the glory” this is the heavenly scene you think of.

Note the impact on Isaiah, (v.5.) “Woe is me, I am ruined! I am a man of unclean lips, I live among a people of unclean lips; My eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” That sense of unworthiness of the glory of God. By God’s grace he’s cleansed, his lips are cleansed. He’s usable to God but you see the impact. The same in Ezekiel. Ezekiel has these repeated visions; (Ezek. chaps. 1:28c; 3:23b; 43:3b) and each time it says, “I fell on my face, I fell on my face; I fell on my face.”

Come over to (Dan. 10:5) and you’ll see this vision of Daniel is very similar in description to what we have in (Rev. 1). “I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.” You see that same thing--we saw Christ with that robe and that belt or sash of gold girded about Him. (v. 6) “His body was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lighting, his eyes like flaming torches,” (See the similarity in the description we saw in (Rev. 1.) “…his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, the sound of his words like the sound of a trumpet.”

A great dread fell on the men that are with Daniel. They didn’t even see the vision but there is an atmosphere of dread and awe and they ran to hide. What did Daniel say? “I’m not afraid. I know the Lord--I’m very comfortable in His presence.” No. What did (v.8) say? “I was left alone, I saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, I retained no strength. (v.9.) I heard the sound of his words; and as soon as I heard the sound of his words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground.”

Daniel is a unique man. God said in (Ezek. 14:14) “even if there were three men who came and requested Me to delay certain judgment” (Daniel is one of those three God mentions) ”even their prayers wouldn’t be enough to change My mind.” That tells you the exalted position Daniel holds. He is referred to as the one ‘highly esteemed’ when the angel comes and addresses him and yet what’s the impact of the presence of the glory of God? What do you think it is going to be like when we are in the presence of the Lord? It’s going to be awesome and yet we are like the churches that are going to be addressed and we realize this is the One examining us. This is the One who is present to see us even though we don’t see Him at the present time.

Sometimes we become more concerned about our comfortableness, our casualness and it becomes common. That’s not how Christ starts out the revelation to this precious servant or the revelation He wants conveyed to His churches. It would be good for us to come back as members of one of His churches and read this description regularly to remind us of the One that we serve, the One that is gazing upon us to evaluate us. That’s an awesome scene. We get concerned about making people comfortable. How could you make ungodly people comfortable in the presence of God? You want them to be overwhelmed with their unworthiness--not in this building but we are here worshipping the true and living God. He is an awesome God.

So we come back to (Rev. 1:17) and John “fell at His feet as a dead man” but something wonderful happens. Jesus takes that right hand, places it on John and says, “Do not be afraid;” It sounds like what He had to say after His resurrection to comfort the disciples. So it’s not that He is trying to push John away. He doesn’t push us away. He’s given us great assurance and comfort but we must never cross the line in recognizing and forgetting who He is and the reverence and respect and obedience that is not optional. He puts His right hand on John. That’s what happened to Daniel. (Dan. 10:10) The Lord put His Hand on him as well to restore him, if you will.

What does Jesus say to John? (Rev. 1:17) “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,” What an awesome statement, “Don’t be afraid;” (v.18.) I am “the living One;” Whoa; it’s a wonder it doesn’t say John fell back down again but it’s the right hand of God. That statement, “I am the first and the last.” is a title that belongs to God. It denotes His eternality again. We saw this in (v.4e) of God the Father. He is the One “who is and who was and who is to come,” There is no one before Him, there’s no one after Him. He’s the eternal God. Down in (v.8b) we have the same thing. It’s from “the LORD God, “who is, who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” (v.17d) “I am the first and the last.’

Come back to (Isa. 41). As we’ve mentioned part of understanding Revelation is the background from the Old Testament. John being raised a Jew, obviously Jewish could identify with the Old Testament, expressions and so on that Jesus uses. Sometimes we’re not as familiar with the Old Testament and so the connection escapes us. So we’ll take a little time to look but we don’t need to look at all the connections but a sample that makes clear.

Note what he is saying in (Isa.41:4a). He writes to encourage to challenge Israel and remind them. “Who has performed and accomplished it…” (--and this is the power over nations) (v.2) “Who has aroused one from the east whom He calls in righteousness to His feet? He delivers up nations before him, and subdues kings. He makes them like dust with his sword, as the wind-driven chaff with his bow.”

You know we have an election coming up. Alright think about it. Before the earth was created the Lord had already appointed the one who will win the vote so relax—whew! (v.4a.) “Who has performed and accomplished it, calling forth the generations from the beginning? I the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’ ” That’s the point—Israel listen! God has to call out; “I am God, I am the first and the last” and with the last we are saying the same thing, I am the last. Whoever’s last, I’ll be there because no one can be after Me; no one was before Me and no one will be after Me--I’m the eternal God.

Come over to (Isa. 44:6) “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: ‘I am the first and I am the last,” (What do you mean?)…”there is no God besides Me.” You know that ought to comfort us as believers. Well of course we know we worship the only true and living God but do we live in light of that truth? “I am the first and the last.” There is nothing to worry about, He’s had it under control from the beginning and it will end as He says; He’s our Redeemer. That should control how we live--the only God--the true and living God--there’s no God besides Him and I belong to Him.

John is exiled on the island of Patmos by the Roman emperor; who has more power than Domitian the Roman emperor and what has happened? John who has suffered greatly and we saw those close to him had died a martyr’s death. Now here he is as an aged man exiled to an island penal colony. It’s alright John; everything is under control--I am the first and the last--there is no God besides Me. Where’s Domitian? Where’s the mighty Roman emperor who spent the closing years of his reign trying to destroy Christians; punish them, make them miserable? John, ‘you are right where I placed you. I am sovereign, I have it under control; don’t be afraid.’

One more passage since we’re are in Isaiah. Come over to (Isa.48:11), “For My own sake, for My names sake, I will act; how can My name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.” His glory as God cannot be shared. Now in one sense He gives glory to us as His children but the glory of His deity is His. That’s why we can never lose the distinction; He is God we are not. He will always be God and we’ll never be God but by His grace He will bestow glory on us. (v. 11b.) “My glory I will not give to another.” (v.12.) “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last.” (v.13.) “Surely My hand founded the earth, My right hand spread out the heavens; when I call to them they stand together.” Can it get any clearer? Now when Jesus says to John, “I am the first; I am the last,” what is John’s mind grabbing on to? This is the God who has always been, this is the God who revealed Himself to Israel throughout her history. This is the God that now addresses me; that tells me, do not fear; I am the first, I am the last.

Come all the way back to (Rev. 22:12) before we return to (chap. 1). “Behold, I am coming quickly, My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done.” (v.13) “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Why does He have to keep telling us, his people, that same thing? I know--we worship You. I’m Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; the first and the last, the beginning and the end. You understand there is no other God; there is no one who competes, there is no one who can frustrate His will, His purposes and plans. You know why?

Some of you are worked up about the election. You needed to be reminded today. We do, we get mired down and our attention gets drawn to the transitory things going on around us and some things they get bad enough we find ourselves saying, ‘Lord, where are You? Lord, have you forgotten me?’ John on this island—you think the Roman Empire is nothing. God goes ‘whew’ and they’d be gone. Back in (Isa. 41:2d.e), He said they “are like the chaff”--these nations; they’re nothing. God said the nations of the earth don’t even make a speck on the scale. We should be worried, we should be concerned? The God that we serve is the true and living God. He is the only One.

Come back to (Rev. 1:17). He is “the first and the last,” (v.18) “and the living One;” What do we keep saying? He is the living God, He is the living One. It is a common way of referring to God in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We can’t go back but (Josh. 3:10; Ps. 42:2; Ps. 84:2) and on it goes—He’s the living One, the living God. We use to have the “God is dead” movement. Well those people were dead and God is alive. We serve the eternal God. He is alive.

Now the amazing thing here and this gets into a wonder that my mind cannot grasp with any depth. (Rev. 1:18b) “I was dead,” the eternal God, the living One, I came to be dead. “I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore,” Amazing that the second Person of the Triune God, God the Son, born into the human race still fully God but now fully man; not two different persons living in a human shell; a man and God but one Person. You know the problem we have? We appreciate symbols, we appreciate metaphors and we appreciate things for our kids when they are young; we try to use pictures and help them see it. I can’t picture God in that sense. The one God eternally existing in three Persons and the God who in the beginning already was, who is life and all life comes from Him. He who is the, “living One; was dead,” but “I am alive forevermore,” and theologians for centuries spend time in and we plummet--and we’re never done; how can I grasp this? But it’s true, He is the living One, He was dead and note that attention getting word in (v.18). I am “the living One; I was dead, and “behold,” (pay attention, listen) “I am alive forevermore,” (That’s it) “I am alive forevermore.”

Come back to (Acts 3:14). I was going to skip doing this but it’s too good to pass. You know Peter and John and the other apostles have opportunity to stand on different occasions before Jewish leaders and later we see Paul before Roman leaders but the same truth is proclaimed all the time. Peter and John; the John who is writing Revelation and here they are addressing the people. They reminded them they rejected their Messiah, had Pilate proceed to crucify Him when even Pilate, the pagan Roman governor wanted to release Him but He wouldn’t have it. (v.14) “But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,” (v.15) “and put to death the Prince of life,”

You have in the margin of your bible ‘the Author’. We get the English word, ‘Architect’ from this word. The Author of life…wow…does that sound like you put to death the One who has created life? Where did life come from? God took a pile of dust, molded it into a man and breathed into his nostrils the breath of—life not some premortal soup and you know, somehow it just jelled together. Marilyn has cooked soup a lot of times on the stove and it never came to life. But somehow people think, “oh, you just have your faith. I have my faith in something that is foundational rock; you’re believing in a balloon and somebody ought to pop it--life just c-a-m-e.” You’re a scientist, did you ever see life just c-o-m-e? You sit and watch that rock for the rest of your life then call me when it comes to life.

The amazing thing is I believe this but I can’t comprehend it all. The Architect of life was put to death but God raised Him from the dead. It is awesome truth and God cannot die but the Son of God was put to death. I realize we are dealing with the One who is God-man but the mystery of that…He began at a point in time to be man, the One who had eternally been God. He will now for eternity be the God-man and that’s what we see Him as in the book of Revelation. The One who has come to life. His body is not in the grave but humanity was joined to deity in God and He is alive forevermore.

Since you are in Acts we might just as well look at the next verse I was going to skip as well, (Acts 5:30). “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. (v.31.) He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.” You know it is simple. You think well boy we’ve got some problems here that need to be answered. If He is the Author of life how could we put Him to death? And now you say God raised Him back to life and then they repeat the same message here. All we have to do is tell people the truth. I’m not going to try to explain it.

You are a wretched lost sinner. At a point in time almighty God had His almighty
Son come to earth and be born into the human race so He could die on a cross to
pay the penalty for mankind’s sin and then be raised in victory because it had been
paid in full. Now you can either believe it or not.

You say, well you will have to give me a better explanation than that. I have no better explanation.
This is what almighty God says, if you believe it He’ll cleanse you from your sins, declare you forgiven for time and eternity and He’ll begin to prepare you for the final end of glory in His presence. If you don’t you are going to hell. Well I don’t believe that.

I can’t help you. That’s what we find. They just keep coming, telling them the message, telling them the message. We say well, I hope he’s not going to preach on sin today, I brought my friend. I hope it might be something positive that will make them want to come back. If this doesn’t make you want to come back there’s nothing to come back for. That’s what you need. That’s what I needed. That’s what the saved here by God’s grace have experienced.

Alright we have to come back to (Rev. 1:18c) because we are going to finish chapter 1 no matter if it takes until four o’clock this afternoon. I’m kidding; the ushers have locked the doors though.

What does he go on to say at the end of (v.18)? “I have the keys of death and of Hades.” He’s talking about physical death and the following up of physical death and this is where the unbelievers go upon death—to Hades. He is sovereign over it all and He hasn’t given the keys to the Pope. They picked that up from the gospel of (Matthew 16:18-19). We have the same authority with the message I just told you. That is the message you must believe to be saved. That is the only message that will save you from an eternal hell.

The keys of death and Hades; He (Christ) has the authority. We know that’s what the keys represent and we know Roman Catholicism teaches that the Pope has that authority. That’s why that authority is passed down to the priest so they remain in control over the people. You note Christ doesn’t give anybody authority over the churches here and in that sense--He is the One. The message is the same but Christ has ultimate authority over death and Hades. We are not going to go back to the Old Testament to look at this expression. (Ps. 9:13; 107:18). The gates of Hades, Sheol in the Old Testament; Hades in the New Testament is the place where unbelievers go upon death.

Look over at (Rev. 6:8). We’re into the coming seven-year Tribulation. These are the four horsemen of the Apocalypse as they are known. (v.8a) “I looked, and behold, an ashen horse; he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following him.” (And the picture here is of this ashen horse as it comes through with its judgment causing death and following is Hades gathering the souls of these people into Hades because these are unredeemed under the judgment of God.) (v.8b) “Authority was given over a fourth of the earth,” In this one judgment one quarter of the earth is going to die-- you see the tragedy but note death and Hades.

(Rev. 20:14) here we are; having gone through the seven-year Tribulation, having gone through the first thousand years of the eternal kingdom. We have the final judgment of scripture at the Great White Throne Judgment called that because of (v.11) “I saw a great white throne” then you come down to (v.13) “The sea gave up the dead which were in it, death and Hades” (so there’s our two together) “gave up the dead which were in them;” in other words, all the dead bodies of the unbelievers are going to be resurrected at this point and their souls which have been in hell, their spirit, their immaterial part will be rejoined to their body. So all those whose physical bodies and their souls that have been in Hades will come back together. They come for judgment and all those that have been resurrected from the dead (v.14) with their spirit returning to their body, they are “thrown into the lake of fire”. You note, Hades is not hell, the lake of fire is hell. The King James Version sometimes translated Hades as hell along with the word Gehenna but Hades is not hell. Hades is the place where the spirit of the unbeliever goes immediately following death and will await there the final resurrection of unbelieving dead who will appear at the great white throne for final sentencing to hell. We’ll talk about these matter and I will have some charts to share that will clarify the distinctions between the different judgments the different resurrections that some of you have studied.

Come back to (Luke 16). It is important that we as believers are clear and Jesus gives an account here of a rich man and a poor man. (v.19) It’s not that the rich are going to Hades and the poor are going to go to heaven but just drawing the sharp contrast there can be with what you might have in this life and what you might have in eternity or not have. (v.22) “Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom;”

Now some understand this, some of you may and that’s fine that there was two compartments in Hades; the good compartment for believers, Abraham’s bosom and Hades for the wicked. I personally don’t hold that but I know good people do hold to that and some hold to the other view. I hold that Abraham’s bosom is just a reference where the righteous were which would be the presence of God and the rich man is in Hades. I don’t think Abraham’s bosom was part of Hades. I think it is just a way for a Jew--where would a Jew want to be? Well with Father Abraham. Their claim was that they were the children of Abraham. In (Rom. 4) Abraham is the example of “righteousness by faith alone” even for New Testament saints. At any rate, the rich man was carried to Abraham’s bosom which obviously is a place where the righteous are; a place of blessing where Abraham the friend of God is.

(Luke 16:22) “…and the rich man also died” (and they add something here) “and he was buried.” (His body was buried.) (v.23) “In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment,” At the end of (v.24) he says, “I am in agony in this flame.” See what happens? Death is not the end. You’ll read in obituaries in the paper and you’ll see articles where people died and--we know he is in a better place--I know she is with the angels--I know he’s watching me. Forget it, people just want to make themselves feel good. The reality of it is loved ones that I have had who have died who have not believed in Christ are in Hades in torment beyond description. Do I want to focus on that? But the reality is I’m not going to pretend their floating with the angels just watching us and they’re up there having a good time or they have joined the party in the sky. We don’t want to grapple with reality. Then when reality intrudes into our lives we can’t cope with it so we just try to hide from it and say something nice.

Not that we are glad that people are going to hell. We’ve studied Peter and Peter said what? (2 Pet. 3:9b) God doesn’t desire “any to perish but for all to come” to the knowledge of Christ. (Jn. 3:16) ”God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,” so that we wouldn’t have to perish in eternal fire. Now Hades is a place of fire but that’s not hell. We’ll get into these distinctions when we get to the great white throne. Hades is the holding place. We saw in (Rev. 20) there will come a time when their bodies are resurrected. They’ll come out of Hades, their spirit will move back into their body, and then they will be judged and sentenced to an eternal hell in their resurrected body that will never die; never be consumed but will suffer forever. That’s too terrible, I just don’t think God would do that. What can I say? I mean He is God, I am not. All I can do is tell you what He said and warn you. It is a serious mistake to think God would be wrong. He’s the God who cannot lie so why wouldn’t you believe Him? There is no win in this. If you say, ‘I don’t believe God’ where do you go? You know you create your own God so this is what He is talking about.

Come back to (Rev. 1:18c) “I have the keys of death and Hades.” Satan doesn’t rule over hell. You see the rich man--he’s not talking about all his friends down there or it’s not pleasant but we’re having a great time. (Luke 16:13-21) He says, I hope my brothers hear the message and believe it. Maybe you could send someone. You know what he says in (v.31) if they don’t believe the word of God they won’t believe, “even if someone is raised from the dead.” That’s true. God raised Jesus Christ from the dead and yet some may sit here and still won’t believe in Him. That’s just an excuse--I have the keys, death and Hades and He is sovereign over that. He is the One who will sit on that great white throne in (Rev. 20) do the final judgment and everyone at that judgment is going to hell. Well that means most of the people are. That’s exactly what Jesus said. (Matt.7:14) The gate to heaven “is narrow…and there are few who find it.” (Matt. 7:13). “The way to destruction is broad” and people are crowding into it.

I have the keys of death and Hades--the Pope doesn’t have those. Don’t be deceived by false religion. All kinds of false teachers, not just the Pope but protestant, charismatic all variations come around and act like they have this power. The only power I have is to tell you is that the gospel will save you. (Ro. 1:16) That the gospel is “the power of God’s for salvation to” (any and) “everyone who believes,” And for those who do not believe, God gives His eternal word that they will suffer eternally in hell. When Jesus says, “I have the keys” it’s only in Him; only in Him the One in whom you can find redemption.

Come back to (Rev. 1:19) John is then instructed to write, which almost all commentaries take is the three-fold division of the book of Revelation. (v.19). “Write the things which you have seen,” which would be the revelation of Jesus Christ. The vision is just in the process of being written down; “the things which are,” and that’s the condition of the churches that he will write down in (chaps. 2-3) “and the things which” will be yet future after the churches and that’s (chaps. 4-22).

(v.20). “As for the mystery” Now you are going to get some interpretation here. A mystery, this is just a Greek word brought over into English. The Greek word is musterion and we transliterate the ‘u’ in Greek as a ‘y’ in English. We have that in some words but when we are using our ‘y’ we pronounce it differently. But as for the mystery; something that could not be understood apart from divine revelation. It’s not as if somebody will say, we’ll see the book of Revelation is going to be a mystery; it’s mysterious. Everybody gets different ideas and that is not what it means. A mystery is something that God intends to be understood when He gives the revelation. So, “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches,”

We don’t have time to talk more about the distinction between whether these angels are spiritual angels like we think of and are through the book of Revelation or are these human beings who are messengers. The word, angel, aggelos is another word we just bring over into English but its basic meaning is a messenger. The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches. Just to say, I think these are human messengers, not angels because the revelation from Christ was given to an angel to give to John to give to the churches. There would be no reason for Christ to give it to an angel to give to John to give to another angel to give to the churches. I think it is a human messenger called a star. The churches are lampstands, lights in the darkness. What are stars? Lights in the darkness. These messengers seem to have some kind of position of authority and responsibility in the churches. They’re here representing these churches and the message given to each church is given to them to pass on to the churches. The fact they are called stars indicates some kind of authority or place of prominence. They are singled out in this special way. Stars are the angels of the seven churches.

The seven lampstands are the seven churches. That’s our role. Whatever it is. My role is to shine with the truth of God. Your role is to shine with the truth of God. Our responsibility together as a church is to be shining; giving off the light of the knowledge of God in Christ Jesus and He is evaluating if everything is being done His way. We get all entangled in things here and my view, your view, this idea, that idea, this and we forget about the One whose opinion is the only one that matters; the Lord of the church, the One who is Master over His slaves. And you remember in (Rev.1:1b) this is “to show to ‘His bond- servants” which is a translation of the Greek word for a ‘slave.’ He requires obedience. He holds us accountable. We shouldn’t be afraid in the wrong sense but we should have fear in the right sense. We should have a fear. I mean He is standing and evaluating our local church. Now, what’s He seeing? What did He have to say? We’ll find ourselves in these letters. How are we doing and we’ve got this, we have that but I don’t know. Wait a minute. That’s not the way you are going to be talking to Him. John, first has to pay attention. You have the right attitude toward Me.

This is foundational and foundational with it, ‘Are you even part of one of the churches?’ Do you belong to the church? Not have you joined this church or joined another. What is your relationship to this body of believers? The local church is the manifestation of the universal church. That is why He addresses individual churches. The only way you can… the only ones that belong to Him are those at the end of (Rev. 1:5). The only ones that are being loved by Him are those who have been released from their sins by His blood—(Jn. 3:16) “God so loved the world in order that whosoever believes in Him might not perish but have everlasting life.” (v.36) “He that has the Son has life. He that does not obey the Son shall not see life but the wrath of God abides on Him.” That’s a terrible condition to be in. “The wrath of God abides on Him.”

If you haven’t trusted Christ and you were to die this afternoon, you would immediately
open your eyes in Hades. Tormented, knowing that you are there just awaiting a final sentencing to the lake of fire. What an awful destiny but what a glorious promise. God
did love the world and you can be loosed from your sins, its power, its penalty by believing
in Christ. You can sing the song, “I did it my way” but that’s not the way to heaven. You
believe God’s way, God’s provision and that’s the way to forgiveness.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for the riches of Your word. How awesome it is that we gather together and open a book which is the very word of the living God. What You have spoken, directed to be recorded, preserved so that we as Your people could open it up, look into it, study it, have the Holy Spirit teach us to bring salvation to our lost hearts and Lord to nurture us that we might grow as Your children all in preparation for the wonder of what You have prepared for those who love Christ and we pray in His name. Amen.










10