“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’ I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.’”

Even so, Amen – A Revelation of Great Hope

As a congregation we’ve made our way through the gospel account of John, as well as the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John. We now find ourselves beginning his final contribution to the canon of Scripture – the final book of the Bible as a whole. I want to confess something, something I’ve likely made mention to in previous outlines, but is extremely relevant now, because I imagine it will apply, at least in part to many people. I did not have a healthy relationship with the book of Revelation for most of my life. As a child, and for the majority of my teens I was terrified of it, and for most of my twenties I relegated it to its own special corner in my mind – a piece of Scripture that was disturbing, awe inspiring, and above all else, confusing. I grew up in a Southern Baptist church – nothing remotely wrong with that, as I am a member of a Southern Baptist church today – but I remember messages around Revelation in my childhood church having a lot of fire and brimstone, blood and judgement. Ultimately, it was a book of fear. I never knew any interpretation of things beyond a pre-tribulation rapture, and given that this was around the time of the “Left Behind” movies, that was a very real nightmare I lived out. I believed that I was saved, and yet there was so much that I didn’t understand, I was convinced that I was going to mess something up, that the world would be raptured, and that I would be left alone. If my parents were outside doing yardwork and I couldn’t find them, if I lost track of them in the grocery store, if they were away from the house and I called them and they didn’t answer, my first assumption was that they were gone, and that I’d been left behind. There were nights when if the house were too quiet I would creep down the hall just to make sure they were still in their bed. The return of Christ, tragically was something terrifying to me, the idea of the rapture was more like a very real boogeyman than a joyous, glorious event. And this why I want to address this out the gate – because the book of Revelation is not what so many people have made it out to be. It’s not a horror show, it’s not about shock value, it’s not some simple cudgel to use as a scare tactic in a “turn or burn” sermon so that people walk away with a distorted version of Scripture. It is heavy, and it is serious, but people act like this is the only book were the final judgement is discussed, like Jesus didn’t say in Matthew 13:47–50,

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

And that’s one example. The parable of the weeds in Matthew 13:24-30, the parables of the ten virgins, the talents, and the goats and sheep, all in Matthew 25 – and these are to name but a few, and in just one of the gospels. This is not a topic confined to a single book, but is found throughout Scripture. Look at this one section from the Song of Moses from Deuteronomy 32:34–42,

“‘Is not this laid up in store with me, sealed up in my treasuries? Vengeance is mine, and recompense, for the time when their foot shall slip; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and their doom comes swiftly.’ For the LORD will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants, when he sees that their power is gone and there is none remaining, bond or free. Then he will say, ‘Where are their gods, the rock in which they took refuge, who ate the fat of their sacrifices and drank the wine of their drink offering? Let them rise up and help you; let them be your protection! ‘See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. For I lift up my hand to heaven and swear, As I live forever, if I sharpen my flashing sword and my hand takes hold on judgment, I will take vengeance on my adversaries and will repay those who hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall devour flesh—with the blood of the slain and the captives, from the long-haired heads of the enemy.’”

Why is the idea of the final judgement so prevalent throughout Scripture? Why is it something that should come as no surprise? Because the world is fallen, and God is perfectly just. The justice of God isn’t something that the Bible saves as some gotcha moment, hiding like a monster at the end of the story – it’s everywhere, and it’s good. The other issue is that tripped me up for many years, and I believe causes many people to stumble over this book is explained in what Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3:1–3,

“But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”

Revelation is not milk. Terrified as a child, I thought in my teens that I would read Revelation, understand it better, and that my fears would be abated… That didn’t work. It didn’t work, because I didn’t really know my Bible. It wasn’t that I didn’t believe, but I was a lazy, perpetually baby Christian, doing little to nothing to feed into my sanctification. People will jump to this book and read it and find themselves confused, because they have no idea what is going on. This is solid food. It’s one of the wonderful and gracious things about the fact that as a church, we’re not just diving into this book off the cuff, but have spent almost two years studying the Word of God as written by His servant John before entering into the last of his writings. And so I implore you as we begin looking at this book, to read what the text says, and not get bogged down in the parts that aren’t revealed. Pre-trib, mid-trib, or post-trib rapture, the matter of the “rapture” itself, and the fact that Christ’s return may not even look the way we (or certainly I) was taught growing up. We are given information, signs to look for, and foreknowledge of what is to come, but Jesus says in Matthew 24:36–44,

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

Do not read this and be afraid, do not think that you suddenly have to be “extra” good so that Jesus doesn’t catch you by surprise. Rather, do not be a hypocrite and in obedience to the Spirit that you serve, which lives within you, live a life that is pleasing before God. For Jesus goes on to say in verses 45–51,

“Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom his master has set over his household, to give them their food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that wicked servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ and begins to beat his fellow servants and eats and drinks with drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know and will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

This isn’t new! This is the very thing that we’ve read again, and again, and again, beautifully and painstakingly laid out in John’s writing – the contrast between Light and dark, Truth and lies, Love and the villainy of the world – you are a Christian, or you are not, you are either a child of God, or you are not. If you are in a state of rebellion against Holy and Righteous God, this is not meant as a scare tactic to manipulate you into obedience, it’s simply the reality of where all of us are heading without the redeeming blood of Jesus. If you are saved, born again, made a new creation through the blood of Christ, then take heart. This is not a book of gloom and misery, but of perfect Justice. Think and speculate, give the Text the consideration it deserves, but do not become bogged down in infighting, when no one knows the day or the hour – rather rejoice, because we are not abandoned in this lost and fallen world. He is coming, and He is coming soon. May you read the words of this book and know through the peace of the Spirit that even in the face of the destruction of the universe, God is good, just, loving and holy, and that we as His children may look on these words and say as we see from John in today’s passage – even so, amen.

1. The Glory of God Unifies the Church

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.”

Here we see something that deserves some clarifying, as it may sound like Jesus is being called an angel. The Greek word used for “angel” which is the same word used when we see it at the end of this passage in regard to the seven stars, is “angelos.” This word is often used in Scripture for what we think of as angels, heavenly servants of God, like when Gabriel visits Mary in Luke 1 to tell her of the coming birth of Jesus. But the definition of angelos is actually, “a messenger, an envoy, one who is sent, an angel, a messenger from God.” So this identifier doesn’t change what we already know about Jesus, it doesn’t reduce His station or diminish His authority. This is always what Jesus, the Son, who is One with the Father has been about. John 5:15–18 tells us,

“The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Jesus says, before entering Jerusalem on the week of His crucifixion in John 12:27–28,

“‘Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”

Jesus is God, His will and the Father’s will are One, and so in bringing the prophetic message of Revelation to John, Jesus is accurately called the Father’s “angel” in that He is serving as messenger.

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”

The idea of the “time being near,” as well as earlier when we read that these things “must soon take place,” has been a point of contention within the church – really as long as the church has existed. When Jesus ascended He was expected by many to return within their lifetimes, and so the fact that it’s been around two thousand years makes some people question, if not outright mock the church. Firstly it helps to understand that there are things in Revelation that have already happened – I don’t mean this in a preterist way, saying that most or all of what Revelation prophesies has already come to pass (that’s an entirely different conversation). I simply mean that John relays the message of Christ to seven real churches that existed in Asia at the time of his writing. They faced active trials and persecution, and in most of their cases, stumblings in their faith and practice. The repercussions for this were not a far off or distant thing, but were coming, soon. We need look no further than the first church that Jesus addresses, Ephesus. He says in Revelation 2:5,

“Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.”

Ephesus still exists today – as a preserved archaeological ruin. It is an uninhabited tourist attraction, but not a functioning city, and certainly not the location of a functioning church. We can say with certainty that whatever happened, and however it came to pass, that Ephesus had their lampstand removed and ceased to be a church, and this happened “soon” after John’s writing to them. This understanding helps in part, but it doesn’t come close to fully resolving the matter, because the opening states that John has been shown, “the things that must soon take place,” as well as that “the time is near,” and this isn’t presented as specifically relating to the warnings to the churches, but the prophecy of Revelation as a whole – but Scripture provides a broader answer as well. Something we see in the writings of Paul, Peter, and John is the tempering of those who will be left after the last of the Apostles have passed. Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:3–8,

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. But as for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

In 1, 2, and 3 John, we read the words of the last Apostle, giving guidance to an early church that is already contending with heresy and false gospel. Understanding the context of John as the elder, old by even modern standards, giving this message to his “little children” lets us see him bracing them for the future of the church after he has passed on. Peter may be the most direct of the three, both in communicating the need for carrying on in Truth after his departure, as well as the time until Christ’s return. He writes in 2 Peter 1:12–15, after listing the qualities that supplement a believer’s faith,

“Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder, since I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.”

And near the end of his letter he writes in 2 Peter 3:8–13,

“But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

Jesus is coming soon. Soon enough that we should not crave the things of this world, but hold an anticipation and longing for the perfection of the next. Soon enough that we have no time for complacency, for the idea that we can pursue the lusts of our flesh, thinking He will tarry long enough for us to indulge, repent and return. That may be a day, or it may be ten thousand years, but understand that Jesus is returning, and while we who are limited in space and time may not fully understand the implications of His timing, we can know that our greatest Hope draws ever nearer. 

“John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.”

It’s interesting to note that there were more than seven churches in Asia. Just in looking at the map in my study Bible I see Colossae, to whom Paul wrote Colossians, situated close to Laodicea – but Laodicea is one of the seven addressed in Revelation, while Colossae is not. There could be a perfectly reasonable logistical explanation for this, but the number seven help guides us toward what this means for the Church as a whole. Most people know there’s a relevance for seven in Scripture, if for no other reason than the seven days that span the creation account. But to quote the CrossExamined website, and their page on numerical relevance in the Bible,

“7 is one of the most important numbers in the Bible. It symbolizes completion, perfection, and rest. God finished creation in 7 days. There are 7 great land masses. 7 colors of the rainbow. 7 notes make a perfect scale. 7 days in the feast of Passover. 7 weeks between Passover and Pentecost. 7 days for the Feast of Tabernacles. God had 7 covenants with humanity (Adamic, Noahic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, Levitic, Davidic, and Messianic). In Revelation, one finds 7 churches, 7 letters, 7 candlesticks, 7 stars, 7 angels, 7 Spirits of God, 7 Seal Judgments, 7 horns, 7 eyes on the Lamb, 7 trumpets, 7 thunders, 7 mountains, 7 bowls, 7 kings, and so on.”

While we’ll come to many of these as we work our way through Revelation, this list helps us to see the widespread relevance of seven in Scripture and in creation itself, as it all relates to wholeness or completion. This is what we can understand of Jesus’ message, and that it’s not meant only for the seven churches, but for the entire Church as a whole. We are united, not separated by ethnicity, geography, or language when we are joined together through the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

This affirms what Jesus said in John 8:34–36,

“… Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

As well as what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2:9 saying,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

We are different because we are free – not enslaved by sin as those who walk in darkness are, but liberated by the blood of Christ, we as the Church are joined together in the priestly service of God our Father.

“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

In Scripture we see God called, “The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob,” as well as “the Holy One of Israel,” and all of these things are true – but God is not limited to a people, or a nation, though the Old Testament clearly shows Him set aside a people and a nation to Himself. God is the God of the universe, the God of everything. From earthquake, wind, and raging fire, to quiet stillness, He is there. From the highest highs, to the lowest lows, there is no mystery hidden from Him, no place He can’t reach. God is always God. As the Spirit hovering over the face of the waters when time began, as the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man, as the Father and the Son – He is always fully God, fully holy. Who He is as loving Father, and righteous Redeemer is exactly the same as who He is as unyielding judge. Alpha and Omega, He is eternally consistent. He does not put on a mask, He does not change His face – and this means that in His constancy, we, the people of the earth, some who are estranged from Him and some who are called His children, do not all share the same response to His return. During the sham trials carried out before Jesus was crucified, we see His response to the false accusations brought against Him in Matthew 26:63–68,

“But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, ‘I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.’ Jesus said to him, ‘You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.’ Then the high priest tore his robes and said, ‘He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?’ They answered, ‘He deserves death.’ Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, ‘Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?’”

Not just to the first century ruling Jews, but to the world, Jesus is an obstacle, a barrier of Truth between them and the lies they pursue. What response can they have at the coming of the One they mocked and tortured and crucified, but to weep? Weep in the face of righteousness, weep in the face of coming judgement, weep and mourn and gnash their teeth at the utter darkness that awaits them – but this is not our relationship with Jesus. Christ is our Lord, our Savior, our Father, and our God. This idea of universe ending judgement, of, as Peter writes, the heavenly bodies being burned up, is heavy, and it can be disquieting if we do not approach it in the right mind. To our flesh this is unnerving, but in the unifying Holy Spirit that binds us together as the Church and Bride of Christ, what we see is the fruition of our greatest hope, our deliverance from a fallen world and, not wanton violence and destruction, but justice, poured out on the world who has hated its creator, our holy, righteous Father. It is knowing this that we can say as John does, “even so, amen.” Amen. The word itself is miraculous, in that it was transliterated directly from Hebrew, to Greek, to Latin, to English, to a whole host of other languages, to the point that it’s an almost universal word. Spoken at the beginning of a statement it can be understood as “truly.” Coming at the end, as it is in so many of our prayers, and as we see John say it here, we can read it as, “so it is, so be it, may it come to pass.”

2. The Glory of God Warns the Church

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’”

John’s gospel account, as well as his three previous letters were all written with authority – nothing overbearing, nothing entitled or elitist, but delivered genuinely as an eyewitness and Apostle of Jesus Christ. What he says here doesn’t diminish that, but it does provide perspective on the relationship between God’s children, regardless of our station in the Church, as he calls himself, “brother and partner.” This ties directly into what Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:1–3,

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”

Neither John, nor Peter compromise the authority that God has blessed them with over His flock, but they both acknowledge their fellowship with those they teach and lead, as we are all children of God, serving righteousness in the face of a world that despises us. As John continues writing in today’s passage we see further humility. He tells us that he’s on Patmos, “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” He’s not there as a voluntary missionary, but as an exile, punished by the Roman empire. Church history (which can be helpful, but is not infallible as Scripture is), says that after Rome attempted to execute John by boiling him in oil, only for the process to have no effect on him, he was exiled. But John doesn’t rail against Rome, and its injustice, he doesn’t wag his finger or spend any time complaining over his hardships of his present situation. He is where he is on account of his mission, punished by a wicked world for standing in Truth and declaring the gospel of Jesus, and nothing more need be said about his present condition. We see events occur on “the Lord’s day,” that being Sunday, the first day of the week, and the day on which Jesus was resurrected, and we see John say that he was “in the Spirit.” We see John actively living out what Paul instructed in Colossians 3:1–3,

“If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

We shouldn’t assume that John is unaware of his surroundings – he just told us that he was on Patmos, why he was there, and even what day of the week it was. But we can fully know from what he writes that he was not limited by his surroundings, and that his heart and mind are fixed upon God, not his present condition. It is in this state that he hears a voice commanding that he record the vision he is about to receive for the seven churches – a voice like a trumpet. A trumpet can serve many purposes – it can be celebratory, declaratory, or serve as a warning. A passage I’ve been mulling over recently is Ezekiel 33:1–6 which says,

“… Son of man, speak to your people and say to them, If I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from among them, and make him their watchman, and if he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then if anyone who hears the sound of the trumpet does not take warning, and the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet and did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But if he had taken warning, he would have saved his life. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, so that the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any one of them, that person is taken away in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

God is not unjust, and He is not a hypocrite. Through His Word, and His Spirit, and the enormity of His creation we are warned of the gravity between our sin and His righteousness – and yet in His mercy, we’re offered insight and this explicit warning that is held in Revelation. Despite the fact that everything He’s already given is more than enough, God calls, with a voice like a trumpet to give revelatory warning to John that will be dispersed to all the Church.

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

What we witness here is something that was glimpsed in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Matthew 17:1–2 says,

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”

The transfiguration served as a sort of preview of the post-resurrection, glorified Christ – the Jesus whom John now stands before. Reading ahead, we can see that the lampstands are the seven churches, and in this again, we can see a warning. Jesus stands in the midst of the lampstands – He is not glorious because of them, their glory is received from Him. He appears “like a son of man,” telling us that He is human in appearance, but calling us back to Daniel 7:13–14,

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

He is dressed in a long robe with a golden sash – this has some similarities to the priestly garments made for Aaron, as mentioned in Exodus 28:39,

“You shall weave the coat in checker work of fine linen, and you shall make a turban of fine linen, and you shall make a sash embroidered with needlework.”

But Jesus’ garments are not exactly like Aaron’s, which helps draw the difference in that Jesus is the Great High Priest, not after the hereditary order of Aaron, for His station has no end, and His work is not ongoing, but is completed. His eyes burn as if with fire, visible even though His face as a whole shines like the sun at full strength. Jesus teaches in Matthew 6:22–23,

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

The Light of Christ is true Light, complete Light, and it shines from Him with a glory and brilliance that can’t be withstood. We see the voice, compared to a trumpet initially, now likened to roaring waters, and my mind is drawn to standing in the middle of a thundering downpour, at the edge of a rushing river, or next to a pounding waterfall. Water in this volume drives out all else – it completely surrounds you, and you don’t just hear it, you feel it. We see that Jesus holds the seven stars, the angels which we’ll discuss later, and that from his mouth comes “a sharp two-edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12–13 tells us,

“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

And John 1:1–5 says of the Word,

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

I say that the glorified Christ stands as a warning because He stands in the midst of the seven churches. If this righteous, holy, all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful, foundational God of the universe who is the Word, and Life, and Light is removed… What are you then? When you distort or water down the convicting truth of His gospel, when you blaspheme the blood of the Lamb of God, you’re not even a church anymore, but a shrine devoted to punishment and utter darkness. Look upon Jesus, our God and savior and take heart, because He loves us, and understand that He is everything. And if you reject everything, what’s left to you but nothing?

3. The Glory of God Comforts the Church

“When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.”

To behold the glorified Living God, standing before you must be a magnificent and terrifying thing. How can mortal eyes take in His holiness, and how can mortal flesh bear to stand before One who is so vast and unknowable in His perfection? John’s response is entirely relatable, and it’s not dissimilar from what we see from the prophet Daniel when met by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 8, and an unspecified messenger of God in Daniel 10. What John writes here also calls us back, as he did before, to the transfiguration recorded in the synoptic gospels. Matthew 17:5–8 says,

“… behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, ‘Rise, and have no fear.’ And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”

What we see is that, despite debilitating fear and sense of overwhelm in witnessing the glorified Son of God, One so pure and holy we can’t properly take it, John is offered comfort. Lying at the feet of his savior, Jesus comes to His servant and friend and lays His hand on him – His right hand, the specificity of which also shows us the glorious authority that Jesus holds, which He brings to us – we receive mercy from the One who is seated at the right hand of God. What John witnessed physically from Jesus was overwhelming, it is as we discussed before, a warning, but a terrifying one to behold in that His greatness, His holiness is just a confirmation of the (from our perspective) unbridgeable gap that exists between God and fallen man. But while Jesus’ image may seem too much, His words are kind, comforting, and a wellspring of hope. He is the first and the last, the Alpha and Omega, the Living God of the universe. But then the words, the words that remind John, paralyzed on the ground, and remind us each time we read them of the gap that was bridged, the rift that was mended by Jesus’ work on the cross. He died and yet He is alive – alive forever. He holds the keys – the keys to death, to hades, to the darkness, to the prison of eternal night where there is nothing but fire and weeping and gnashing teeth – the place we have earned for ourselves in our sin. He holds the keys, He is our freedom. We can stand in His presence, we can take heart in Him, for our life is no longer in us, but in Him. We are made new, set free, raised to new life because our God and Liberator is the Son of Man, the Ancient of Days, the God of all creation – and we need not fear.

“As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

Having already discussed the lampstands that are the seven churches, and the glory they know through Jesus, all that remains is to address the matter of the seven stars. We started our look at today’s passage studying the word “angelos,” and this is where we find ourselves ending. We don’t know who these angels of the seven churches are – they could be human messengers who will carry the message written in Revelation to each respective church. They could be (and this is the interpretation I personally find most compelling), the pastors or leaders over each respective church. They could be the angels we all think of when we hear the word, supernatural angelic beings, sent by God and watching over each church. Or, as some commentators will put forth, they could each be a personification of a church’s identity that is being addressed. Regardless, we have to look at what the text says – the churches surround Jesus, the stars are in His right hand, firmly held in the grasp of glorious, loving God. Jesus says in John 10:27–30,

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

This does not absolve us of responsibility, it does not permit us to grow lax in our calling of obedience, but it does provide great comfort and confidence that nothing is snatched from the hand of God. This is the hope of the seven angels, the seven churches, and of every Christian saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, held in the hand of the Good Shepherd. As we proceed through the book of Revelation we’ll read things that are glorious, things that are brutal, things that are exceptionally straightforward, and things that must be handled with the utmost delicacy and discernment – but I hope you see as we make our way through that this is not a book of terror, not one of fear and uncertainty. Rather it is a book of hope, a book that shows the workings, and justice, and peace and promise of our God. It is my earnest prayer that in it you may find rest, contentment, and joy in the hope of what is to come – that in every part, through the peace and understanding of the Spirit you may read and say with great certainty, “even so, amen.”

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YU3_IGCrcY0