Good morning. Please turn in your Bibles with me to Revelation chapter 1 and verses 9 to 20. Hear the word of the Lord. I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying to me, do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. 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 and the seven lampstands, which you saw are the seven churches. Thus ends the reading of God's word. Let us go before the Lord and ask his blessing upon the preaching and hearing of this word this morning, our father in heaven. We pray and call upon you and ask you to send forth your word and the power of your spirit that you would be pleased to speak with us today. Have your way with us this morning. Be pleased to help hear and preacher. We pray these things in Jesus name. Amen. So as we consider our text this morning, there's a few things that need to be said beforehand. First, we're dealing with apocalyptic literature. John, in this vision, in the Spirit, is given a glimpse of spiritual realities. He has the curtain pulled back for a moment, if you will. And the way God, through the Apostle John, communicates these truths to us that we're going to get in this revelation is by way of symbols. These fantastic symbols give us something tangible of the realities behind them. Example would be we cannot see an angel because they're spiritual beings. So how do we go about describing them? There are hosts of spiritual forces of darkness at work against our exalted Lord Jesus Christ and his church. How do we describe it? This is what's taking place in our book here in front of us and in other apocalyptic passages throughout the Old Testament, Ezekiel, Daniel, to name a couple others. We all know what it's like to see something so beautiful, so majestic, so haunting, that you say, I just can't describe it. Or in attempting to describe it, you have to qualify it with, you just had to be there. That's what we have here, except turned up several notches. John receives this vision of other worldly spiritual realities, and the best that he can do to describe it is give us these symbols. This is especially true concerning the glorified and risen Christ. We can't handle that vision now. We won't be able to handle it until we have glorified bodies, eyes, and intellects. And here's a helpful definition of symbol. that you might take with you. Symbols communicate things that cannot adequately be expressed by other means. Now, this all might sound a bit complicated, but the message behind these symbols in the book of Revelation is very simple. God wins this cosmic battle in Jesus Christ, and his people are more than victorious in and through Christ by his Spirit. Turn to Revelation 17.14 with me, please. Revelation 17.14. This is one of the verses that captures this theme in Revelation very well. Revelation 17.14, "'These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them. For He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with Him are called and chosen. and faithful. Amen. And in addition to this, it is a book. In addition to all these things that we're going to get to see about Revelation or that we get to see in this book, it's a book that's meant to bring about comfort to the militant suffering church, to bring assurance to persecuted saints. Because we all know that there have been many times throughout the church's history where we don't seem to be winning. It doesn't seem like the church is being built up in the kingdom advancing. This book gives us this window into the current and future state of Christ conquering all the forces of darkness to the glory of God and the salvation of his bride. And lastly, what it does is it compels the church to obedience to further holiness. It calls to faithfulness and to repentance. And this book is full of beauty, majesty, and awe. It's full of the terrible judgment and holiness of God as he conquers his and our enemies. And it is full of anticipation, longing, and glory. As we open up our text, we are in the introduction to the book as a whole. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ given to John. A blessing is pronounced on the one who reads and hears aloud the words of this prophecy. John writes this letter as a fellow brother and companion in tribulation. Even though he's an apostle and he has that authority, John identifies himself with us. John has been exiled to Patmos because of his faithfulness to the gospel. and to Christ. And as we open up our text, we're going to look at it in three parts. One, the vision that John receives. Two, the response. And three, the explanation of the vision. And in the vision, we'll consider the following two heads. One, the character of the one in the vision. And two, the function of the one in the vision. So to verse 10, and to our first point, the one like a son of man has divine perfections. I heard a loud voice, verse 10, I heard a loud voice behind me as of a trumpet. The one speaking to him and commissioning him speaks with the power and authority of Yahweh. It takes us back to Exodus 19, 16 and 19, which says, Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of a trumpet was very loud so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. And in verse 19, and when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by voice. And he speaks, next, he speaks as one who has total sovereignty over all history. Revelation 1.11 says, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And he is one who commissions like a king. He commands what you see right, he tells John. In Revelation 1, 14 to 15, it says his head and hair were like white like wool, as white as snow. This alludes to Daniel's vision of the ancient of days, and it depicts for us Eternal existence, one who possesses all wisdom, who possesses all knowledge. His eyes like a flame of fire. He has a searching and piercing gaze that only belongs to Yahweh. His feet were like fine brass as refined in a furnace. He is entirely pure in his being, works, and words. And in verse 17, it says, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His word is powerful and effective, and it is sure to cut. Just as his gaze pierces without resistance, the same with his word. Hebrews 4.12, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And lastly, his countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. He has the glory and brightness of the only true God and Lord. When we combine all these passages with the allusion to Daniel, we learn that he is the ancient of days, the eternal and only wise God, but he's also the son of man. He is the one who by nature has all authority and power, but as we learn from that text in Daniel, he's also been given all authority and power. This one is the fulfillment of Daniel's son of man. I encourage you to read over the cross references throughout the week for your own edification in this passage, and you'll learn very quickly that John is very dependent upon the Old Testament for the writing of this book. I think it's something like three out of four verses have either a direct reference or an allusion to the Old Testament. What's John doing on Patmos? He's meditating on Old Testament texts and comparing them to the life of our Savior. So what are his functions now? His functions, first, he is present with the church. This divine human figure is present in the church. He is in the midst of the candlesticks. He even walks in the midst of the candlesticks. We have temple imagery here. The church is God's temple and he is once again walking in their midst. He is present with them. We are told in verse 20 that the candlesticks are the church. And so the first question for us this morning is why did you come this morning? Are we just here to do church? Are we here to maybe just do or exercise our weekly social, spiritual social club? Maybe you're a visitor and you're just here because it's Easter Sunday. Children, why are you here? Is it simply because you're required to be here? Or are we here because we are anticipating the blessed presence of our triune God and our risen Savior with us? He is here today with all power and authority. Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the ages. He says, I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. In what manner is He present? How is He present with us? He is present as our prophet, priest, and king. He's present as our prophet. We've mentioned already that He speaks with power and authority. His voice is the very voice of God. When He speaks, nothing resists the sword of His mouth. It cuts regardless. Anything that stands in opposition to the perfection of His precepts and promises will be obliterated. He is too pure to behold iniquity in His temple. And when you read on, you see that several of the churches are caught in various sins. And if they persist in their rebellion, they will feel the sword of His mouth. He's speaking with judgment even in the midst of His church. His all-knowing and penetrating gaze will sound forth in His all-searching, penetrating voice. Again, listen to Hebrews 4, 12 to 13. For the word of God is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit and of joints and marrow, and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from his sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. The heading in the New King James Version nails it on this section. It says, the word discovers our condition. And we ask another question this morning, who did you come to hear? In one sense, you came to hear me. In one sense, you came to hear Pastor Rendell. But in another greater and more awesome and glorious sense, you come to hear the risen Lord Jesus. He is a present Lord and he is not silent. Maybe a better way to put it is, do we come to be confronted? Do we come to be disrupted in one sense? Lord, discover in me my hidden sins, my hidden faults. He will search, He will discover. One thing is for sure, when He speaks, there are no neutral hearers. We don't get to stand over the Word as a master. It masters us. Our Lord and His Word are not tame. And if we are honest with ourselves, it will expose us, it will wound us, but for our good, if we repent, if we confess our sins. But there's certainly no going away and saying, well, that was interesting. I'll consider that further this week. I'll give further thought to it. No, the Word is alive. It is powerful and effective, as we've already learned, softening or hardening. And there's a warning for how we hear. Both Hebrews and Revelation, I believe, give us this dire and earnest consideration on how we hear the eternal word of God. Be careful that you don't harden your heart, says Hebrews. Repent and endure to the end in Revelation. Again, in Revelation, he who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. As Reformed folk, we've confessed this idea for a few centuries, that the Word of God preached is the Word of God, Second Helvetic Confession. Now, when we say that, it doesn't take away or dismiss discernment, but it's a regular posture of how we hear when we place ourselves in a church and under a faithful ministry. When the Word of God is preached, it is the Word of God. From what we've caught of the vision so far, we can conclude that this one in the vision is neither a tame Lord nor a safe Lord. We cannot get him under our control, and he's not to be trifled with. But he also speaks peace and comfort and assurance to us. He is not a tame Lord, but he is a good Lord, to use the famous words of C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia. Ephesians 2.17, And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. Well, when did he come and how did he come? This is 20 years after he's been exalted, raised and exalted into the heavens. He comes in the preaching, in the ordinary preaching of the word by his appointed ministers. 1 Thessalonians 2.13, For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it, not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe. He is at work both to break, to soften sinners, to break down idols, and He is at work to bind up. with the healing balm of the gospel. And he is present as our priest. He's present as our messianic priest king. He tends to the lampstands. He walks among them as he tends to them, trims their wicks, pours oil in them, a priestly function. He keeps them bright and burning and clear. And this is what Jesus does in his church now. He's here to keep us bright and shining lamps by His Word and Spirit. And He keeps us bright and shining as individual Christians by fellowshipping and communing with us. He knocks at the door of your heart. He is there to pour the oil of His Spirit afresh into the lamp of your soul. He would have fellowship with His people collectively and individually. And He rules in our midst as a King. He is clad in kingly garments. exercising kingly authority, protecting us from the enemy. And John's response is just what we would come to expect when God reveals himself in such ways throughout redemptive history. He falls at his feet as though dead, hearkening back to many accounts. This is the appropriate posture for a fallen sinful creature standing before the exalted and risen Christ. And perhaps it teaches us something of how we are to approach Him in worship. What are our hearts' posture? What it should be? God's name is to be hallowed in our prayers, in our thoughts, in our attitudes, both individually and corporately. There shouldn't be any flippancy to our prayers, to our worship, nor our attitudes. Hebrews 12, 28 says, Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. This vision should surely shape our worship. I was thinking how great a text this would be as a call to worship. To hear this as we're called to worship and be reminded of this as we approach unto our triune God. What a wonderful thought. There's the response to the vision. And now we come to the explanation of the vision. And first we have the Savior's touch. He put his right hand on me. Is he a tame Lord or a safe Lord? No, but he is a good Lord. He means to do John well, to lift him up and support him, to strengthen him, to further equip him as an apostle, to further pour out his spirit upon him as his great high priest. And just as we need the same heart posture of fear and reverence as we approach God, so we need the same assuring touch of our Savior, that assurance of pardon to know again his priestly function as our offering for sin and continual intercessor. Any good liturgy should lay out the reality of the depth of our sin and lowliness and then build us up with the assuring pardon of the gospel of Christ. That's what Jesus does here. John has already given us this wonderful opening benediction in verses 5 and 6. Verses five and six say, to him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and has made us kings and priests to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. He is for us in all this terror and majesty and splendor. He is for us. And this is where the vision begins to be explained by Christ. Everything here basically follows the run of the mill on visions in the Bible. There's a vision, the response, and there's the explanation of the vision. It's an interesting contrast, just an aside, an interesting contrast, John laying in Jesus' bosom. John being the disciple that Jesus loved, the intimacy that he had with him. and now falling before him is dead. We're not sure whether John was aware of who it was up to this point in the vision, but we know one thing, this Christ is entirely unlike the Christ John knew according to the flesh, that is, in his earthly days. The Jesus according to the flesh was one who had not completed his earthly mission. He had not been exalted yet, and the one in the vision here, the risen and exalted one, is the Jesus that John needs, without a doubt, though a bit more disruptive. And he's the one that we need as well. This is the Jesus that we are now striving to be made ready for. Think about that for a moment. If there's anyone who could behold the risen and exalted Lord Jesus, we'd have thought it would have been John out here in exile, meditating on the word of God in Patmos. Or Paul. But it isn't. And he isn't ready. And that's what we're striving for. We want to be those who are striving to be made ready for that vision of Him that will be ours in glory. It should cause us to strive after that purity, that sanctification that will one day be ours and make us fit and ready for beholding Him. And the question that poses itself to us as we consider this vision is whence this state, whence this glorious state, whence this exaltation, Whence this glory and majesty? How did all of this come about? And Jesus answers that. But first he commands us, do not fear. These are words found on Christ's lips throughout his ministry and are frequently on Yahweh's words to his people in the Old Testament. And they're often connected with the following, I am the first and the last. He's saying, I am the creator and cause of all things and their final end. All of history is falling out according to my good and wise plan for my glory and your good. He is sovereign over history from the initial creation to the fall, to the cross, to the current text that we're in in revelation to our present state. And to the consummation of all things are exalted and risen Lord Jesus is saying, I am the only sovereign Lord of history. Turn with me to Colossians 1, 16 and 17. Colossians 1, 16 and 17. Colossians 1, 16 and 17, for by him, All things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. Everything bends, tilts, tends, and leans toward Jesus and for His exaltation. It is all about Him from beginning to end. And he is before all things, and in him all things consist. Fear not, he says, all things are in my hands. And let me prove it to you, is what he says next. Notice the pattern. Living in verse 18. Living, dead, and living. Do you want to know whence my exalted state? Do you want to see my sovereign control over all things? Even the forces of death are subject to me and under my authority. I am he who lives. Listen to one commentator on verse 18. He says, Christ describes himself to John in five statements as the basis on which he commands and commissions John to write and send the contents of the vision to the churches. The first statement, first and last, speaks of Christ's essential nature as eternal God. The next four statements show that the life he possesses, the living one, is the life of one who was dead and who has conquered death to bring in life forevermore. Taken together, these descriptive names develop the full identity of Christ as the divine Messiah. He has come into his present station through suffering, death, and vindication. The reality of the vision we've seen comes about through suffering, death, and vindication. He says, and I was dead. The one who possesses life in himself was dead. The word became flesh, died for us, and is now alive forevermore. He is deathless. And behold, he says, give diligent attention. I am alive forevermore. I have unending life. And I have the ability to give it. I want it for you. And I have the power and authority over death and Hades. If death is already overcome, then by what can Jesus be overcome? Nothing. Behold, give diligent attention. I have overcome the greatest enemy of mankind. I have defeated and have dominion over it. I have power and authority over the realm of the dead and death itself. And what I keep bound stays bound. What I set free, none can resist. If the Son of Man sets you free, you will be free indeed. I have the keys of death in Hades to conclude. We just want to consider that Jesus is glorious as the victor over death in Hades. He descended into the realm of the dead and into Hades. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2, 7, and 8. 1 Corinthians 2, 7, and 8. Or you can just listen. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery. The hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew. Those rulers are demonic forces. Satan and the demonic forces are the rulers of this age there. For had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Satan enters into Judas to go and betray him over to death. Had he known, he would not have done that. Here's what they thought. Everybody went into Hades. Everybody went under the earth. This was the holding place for the dead. If we can just get Jesus into Hades, then somehow we can keep him there. That's what their thought was. but they can't hold him. Jesus has descended to the lowest parts of Hades. He has disarmed the devil and the powers of darkness. He has taken the keys of death in Hades, which implies power and authority over him. He has proclaimed his victory to them. He did not preach to them. He proclaimed victory over Satan and the powers and rulers along with him, as well as to the wicked dead, to Satan and the powers. He says, you have fallen into the pit that you dug for me. Your wicked plans have fallen down on your own head to your own hurt. To the wicked dead, I'm the one you denied. Noah preached to you, many others preached to you, and you denied me. And now you await your eternal torment. And the righteous dead come with him out from under the earth where all had to go. And they are into his blessed presence where they await the resurrection of their bodies in conformity to his glorious body. This is the gospel. This is the good news. For those who are in Christ, there is no more Hades. There is no more terror of death. Jesus has the power and authority over death and the realm of the dead. And now all of those trusting in him will no longer experience the torment the devil places on us of the swallowing powers of death. It's lost its sting in Jesus. It has no victory because Jesus is the victor, our mighty conqueror over our greatest enemy. We are more than conquerors in him who loved us and saved us. This is why Lennice could go with such confidence to her death. It had no power over her. And she's with the Lord even now. Right now, she is present with the Lord, lives in His presence. Yes, away from the body, but in her soul, she is present with Him, free of pain, suffering, sin, tears, and awaiting the consummation. We have ample testimony of saints on their deathbed expressing this same out-of-this-world confidence. that just cannot be expressed by anything other than Jesus has conquered death and Hades. So why? It's because of the resurrection, because of what we have in Christ, because the exalted station, our Lord, has been exalted to, has been brought to in this vision. Because we have what we have in these precious promises to us in him, because his Holy Spirit works those realities and assuring graces in our minds and hearts, that's how we can have confidence in the face of persecution, in the face of suffering, even in the face of death. Strive to be this kind of Christian, a Christian who sees beyond The appearance of things and by faith sees the realities of God defeating sin and death and ushering in his own kingdom. Like the Puritans, we want to more and more learn to live and die well. Does the resurrection play into that? Yes, absolutely. Does the glorious person of our risen Lord affect that? Yes. That's what Revelation wants to give us. It gives us a glimpse of our conquering Lord getting the victory in Christ. It doesn't always look that way. Doesn't always look that way. But John would assure us that it is so. And even so, we pray that the Lord Jesus would come. He would come in assuring us of these things and that he would consummate that victory to bring in all of his elect and to raise the living and the dead. Even so, come Lord Jesus. Please pray with me. Father in heaven, what a blessed reality that Jesus is the ever-living, ever-reigning, ever-ruling prophet, priest, and king. And he's in our midst. He's dwelling with us. He's here. He's here to bless us. You're here to bless us today. in and through him. We thank you for this, and we pray that all these realities and glorious offices that have been established by his victorious resurrection and exaltation, that you would give us greater assurance of these things, that you would move us by your Holy Spirit to greater obedience and faithfulness in the days ahead. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.