He is risen. He is risen indeed. That is a great tradition. I'll never get tired of that. I'll get another one or two of those in today before I let you go. The fact that Jesus Christ is risen, the fact that God became a man, that he lived and died, but that he is not dead now, but that he is alive, that there is a first fruits of the resurrection, this changes everything. As you've heard well said, We are growing in our understanding, being able to recognize the truth, the significance of this most important event for ourselves, for our families, for this world that God has made. The resurrection truly changes everything. And if we can grab hold by faith of this simple truth that Jesus Christ has risen, it revolutionizes your worldview. It revolutionizes the way that you live your life, what is important to you, what you value. This does, in fact, change everything. This morning, we're going to be directing our attention to the book of The Revelation of Jesus Christ, and that is its proper title, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, to John. But please turn to Revelation chapter 1, where we'll be beginning. As we look into God's Word this morning, I'm reminded that there's so many different angles upon which to look at the truths that are presented to us in Scripture. The book of Revelation is a marvelous book. I'm looking forward to preaching it in full here in this pulpit someday, now that we're almost done with Romans and I've preached Isaiah. The last book on the difficult to preach book list that needs to be preached is the book of Revelation. I've shared parts of this book with you in my years in the pulpit, but this book is so rich. There's so many different ways that you can look at all of God's Word, including the revelation of Jesus Christ to John. And this morning, we're going to be looking at the actions of Jesus Christ, as you see in our outline, his glorious appearance, his presence in the church and how he speaks to the church in chapters two and three, the promise of his coming, and His invitation to all people in the world to receive Him as their Savior. Because in the past, when I've looked at Revelation 1-3 with you, I've focused on ecclesiology. What does God value in a church? What does He look for in a church? What is healthy? What is unhealthy? What is good? What is bad? In the Lord's sight. And that's very different from man's perspective and from the way that our culture would evaluate churches and what is good and what is not good. But this morning, we're not gonna be focusing on ecclesiology, but we're gonna be focusing on Christology. For there is a lot of rich teaching and doctrine about the Lord Jesus Christ in these opening chapters of the book of Revelation. Even as we had read in our scripture reading in Revelation chapter five, which you see is not part of our outline this morning, but the Christology of the book of Revelation is very powerful, very strong. It's a great way to read this book with an eye to the person of Jesus Christ the risen Lord of the church. And so I'd like to begin in the first verse, look in your Bible. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He, Jesus Christ, made it known by sending his angel to his servant John. You see the actions of Jesus Christ here is that God has given him a unveiling, a revelation, And that Jesus Christ has given it to us, his servants. And that Jesus did this by sending it to his angel, to his servant John. And so there's this chain of command from God the Father, through Jesus Christ, to the angel, to John, to us as the slaves, servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is alive, he is active, he is doing things, and we're going to see that throughout all of these chapters. Now, the unveiling that comes to us is given to us so that we might know, it says, the things that must soon take place. Now again, I'm not gonna focus on eschatology here this morning, but I do want to give a couple of words about this teaching about what we can expect in the future. And so I love this quote by Merrill Tenney, I shared it with you before and I wanted to put it before you once again, that the book of Revelation was not written to mystify, but rather to explain the truth of God more clearly. God in Jesus Christ did not give this to scholars. He didn't give it to the church hierarchy. He gave it to the saints. He gave it to you. And the Word of God is given to us in a way that we are able to understand it. It's not hidden behind some academic wall or some ecclesiastical wall, but it is open for all to read and understand. It doesn't mean it's always going to be easy to understand. There is work that is involved with understanding it, and the book of Revelation probably requires more work to understand it than any other book in the Bible. Keep in mind what Merrill Tenney wrote. For this reason, because it was not written to mystify, but rather to explain the truth of God, we should approach it with the expectation of learning, not with the expectation of being confused. And so, so many people, they don't study the book of Revelation, they don't read the book of Revelation, because they think they're just gonna get confused by it. And they'll say, well, we'll just leave that to other people, that's not for me. And the Bible says, no, it is for you, that blessed are you if you read this. Blessed is the one who hears and understands the things that are written in it. You may not understand all of it. I don't understand all of it. But I keep on reading it. I keep on learning. I keep on growing in my understanding of this wonderful revelation that God has given to us. Along the same line, if one quote is good, two quotes are better. Mark Hitchcock, who walked us through a study of the book of Revelation in our Adult Sunday School via video, a few years ago, he said this about the purpose of the book. So this revelation, this unveiling, it's not just about wars and catastrophes, it's not just about judgments, but these wars and catastrophes and judgments that are recorded in the main body of the book are given with the view of showing us that Jesus Christ is going to become King of Kings through judgment. That he has come to be Savior through suffering on the cross. But he's coming to be King not by suffering, he's coming to be King by judgments, which is what a king does. And so the judgments of God are actually an unveiling of the person of Jesus Christ in his kingship. And that's what we need to be reminded of as a church. When I say we, I mean the Bible-believing church throughout the world today. We need to be reminded that we not only have a suffering Savior, but we have a victorious King, and He is coming to be that King, and He's going to do it through judgment. And so we must remain faithful in our time of suffering, recognizing that if we suffer with Him, we will also reign with Him. And believing that gives us the power to be faithful and godly in this present time. You look at the book of Revelation as a whole, and what is it that is being revealed? What is it that is being unveiled? Let me walk you through it here at the beginning of the sermon. What is unveiled by Jesus Christ, our Lord, to us? The heavenly glory of Christ is unveiled in chapter 1. This is the counterpart to the Gospels. In the Gospels you see a humble Christ, you see a servant Christ, you see a weeping Christ, you see a suffering Christ, you see a homeless Christ, you see a poor Christ. But in the book of Revelation, especially here in chapter 1, which we're going to be looking at in our outline in a moment, you're going to see His glorious appearance in chapter 1 verses 12 through 17. So chapter 1 unveils the heavenly glory of Christ. Chapters 2 and 3 are an unveiling of the true state of the churches. Christ selects seven churches as examples for all the different kinds of churches and their different spiritual states that we find throughout the world, throughout history, and today. And as Jesus Christ writes a dictated personal letter to each one of these seven churches, we are able to understand the true state of the church and to be able to look with Christ's eyes, not only upon our congregation, but upon many varied congregations around us. Chapters 4 and 5, part of our scripture reading this morning, is an unveiling of the throne room of God in heaven as it stands today. where Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the Father, waiting for that moment when he will come and take out of the hands of the Father that scroll which is going to unleash the judgments that are going to lead to his kingdom, his everlasting reign. And to be able to have that, just think about what a treasure that is. To not have some person's imagination of what it might be like, but to have the word of Christ himself the revelation of Christ signified through visions to his servant John, who wrote it down, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to give us exact information that God wants us to know about his heavenly throne room. You ever wonder, where is Jesus Christ? Yes, he's alive, but he's not here. And that makes it sometimes hard for us to believe that he really is alive, because if we just go by our sight, if we just go by our senses, he seems to be as deceased as any other person from ancient history. They're not here. Christ isn't here. How do we know that he's alive? Where is he? Well, Revelation 4 and 5 unveils where he is. And you can see that the place, so to speak, where he is, it's real. You know, Christians sometimes will talk about the real presence of Jesus Christ when they're talking about the communion service, the Lord's Supper. Some people believe that the real presence of Jesus Christ is in the bread and in the wine. But what do we mean by real? Are you talking about some kind of physical manifestation of the presence of Jesus Christ in the bread? What is real? Well, I would propose to you to challenge your materialistic thinking that material things are not as real as we sometimes make them out to be. And I'm not saying they're not real. But what is more real, if you could put it on a scale of reality, what is more real than this physical world is the spiritual world. And the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ with us is a real spiritual presence. The Spirit of God is in our hearts. And the spiritual dwelling place of God in heaven is a real place because the spiritual world is even prior to the physical world. That before God created the heavens and the earth, he already was. And God is, in his own person, in his own essence, spirit. Doesn't have a body. And so, if God is spirit, God is more real than anything that he has created. And so the spiritual world, well let's not say that's not real, okay? So, just think about what do you mean when you say, is it real? Jesus Christ is in a spiritual place, but he's also in a physical body. And so is that place a spiritual place but also a physical place? And those are things that go beyond our understanding. But the fact is, is that we have an unveiling of that reality in Revelation 4 and 5. And then as you continue throughout the rest of the book, what is unveiled throughout Revelation chapter 6 through 19 is the coming judgment. The hour of trial that is about to come upon the whole world. tells us these events before it happens, gives us the history in advance, as our quote stated, unveiling those cataclysmic wars, the famines, the natural disasters, the disease, the persecutions, and the second coming of Christ together with the beginning of His eternal kingdom. What a privilege to have that information entrusted to us, given to us, so that we might be encouraged to faithfulness and godliness in following our Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of the book, God unveils, Jesus Christ unveils for us the new heavens and the new earth, your eternal dwelling place, your eternal home. You can read about it, you can think about it, you can meditate on it. The most important thing is you can believe it. Faith, when faith is united with the message of God's word and when you read it with the eyes of faith, that's when understanding really comes. You don't need a big brain in order to understand the book of Revelation. You need a lot of faith. Faith is the most important tool for interpreting scripture. For you could have all kinds of knowledge of the God's Word, but without faith, that knowledge is not going to do you any good. And so, we need congregations that are full of faith. We need pastors and preachers who are full of faith, more than we need their knowledge. them to be believing the simple truth that Jesus Christ is alive and that he's coming back soon. And the more we believe that, the more power we'll have, the more we'll honor and glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the most important hermeneutic. Now, as you continue on through this first chapter of Revelation, take a look at verses four and five. John, to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you and From him who is and who was and who is to come. That's a reference to God the Father. And from the seven spirits who are before his throne. A rather cryptic and strange reference to the Holy Spirit. Only here in the book of Revelation is the Holy Spirit referred to as the seven spirits. Well, that's not my sermon this morning. That would be a good study of pneumatology, but this morning we're focusing on Christology. So let's look at verse five. And from Jesus Christ. the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. He gets the most titles in this Trinitarian greeting at the beginning of the book of Revelation because this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not just the revelation that is coming from Jesus Christ, but it is a revelation also of Jesus Christ in his person. And here we have three marvelous titles appended to his normal title of Christ. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. The systematic theology that the elders and I were reading about Jesus Christ focused on Jesus Christ as prophet, priest, and king. And you see all three of those aspects of his person in these titles. As prophet, he is the faithful witness. As priest, he is the firstborn of the dead. And as king, he is the ruler of kings on earth. But that's not all that John has to say in focusing our attention on Jesus Christ at the beginning of this revelation. But notice what continues on in the second half of verse five. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father, To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. So not only is the greeting focusing on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, but then he immediately follows it with a doxology to Jesus Christ. When he says, to him who loves us, that is a wonderfully encouraging aspect of this doxology. We are all very familiar with the truth that Jesus loves me. We learn that at a very young age. Notice that the song doesn't say, Jesus loved me, but it says, Jesus loves me, in the present tense, because Jesus Christ is not dead. He didn't just love us and die, but he loves us now, because he is alive. Did you know this is the only place in the New Testament where the love of Jesus Christ for us is written in the present tense? There's a lot of Bible verses in the New Testament that talk about how He loved us. Oh, how He loved us when He died. But this verse, focusing on the resurrected Christ, focusing on the glorified Christ, focusing on the living Savior of the church, puts it in the present tense. He loves us. I've shared with you before an anecdote about a very learned Bible scholar who was presenting And one of the people in the audience or the classroom came up with the question, what is the most profound truth in all of Holy Scripture? And the speaker said, well, that's very easy. I can tell you that. The most profound truth in all of Scripture is Jesus loves me. When you understand who Jesus is, when you understand who you are, there's nothing more amazing than that. Who are we that we should be companions and friends with the Holy Son of God? Who are you that you should be a co-heir with the one that God has chosen to be ruler of the kings of the earth? Jesus Christ loves you, despite all you've done, despite your smallness, despite your weakness. Him and his power, him and his glory, him and his perfection, he loves you. That's grace. That's encouragement. That's wonderful. That's the present grace of the Lord Jesus Christ towards us. He is here and he loves us. But John is not going to leave out how he has loved us in the past by pointing out that he has indeed freed us from our sins by his blood. You can't think of the love of Jesus Christ without thinking of the cross, without thinking of the crown of thorns, without thinking of the beatings and the scorn without thinking of the wrath of God being poured out upon him and him drinking the cup of God's wrath fully. He has released us from our sins by his blood. And then thirdly, the present grace of Jesus Christ towards us is that he has made us a kingdom, priest to his God and Father, to him be glory forever and ever. Friday evening we focused on the high priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he has also brought us into a priestly ministry. That he has made us to be a kingdom of priests just like Israel was intended to be in the Old Testament. And so take some time and think about your priestly ministry. Again, not the focus of my sermon this morning. We've got to keep moving on because our focus is on Christ. But what Christ has done for us is he has made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father. Now you come down to verse 7 and you see the theme of the book. Behold, he is coming with the clouds. Present tense once again. John invites our souls to look to the clouds and see the Lord Jesus Christ coming back with the eye of faith. This is not a maybe, a hopeful, a someday, a possibility, but you can behold it. It is as good as done. It is reality. As sure as the history of God that was written in advance has happened, so this momentous event will happen. As surely as Christ was born, He is coming. As surely as Christ died, He is coming. As surely as Christ arose, He is coming. He is coming with the clouds. You can see it, present tense. and every eye will see him, future tense, even those who pierced him, and all the tribes of the earth will wail on account of him, even so, amen. He's coming. His coming is a blessing for us, it's a joy for us, it's something to look forward to. We are not appointed for wrath, we are appointed for salvation. All of the judgments and wrath that are written in this book, that hour of trial that is about to come upon the world, we don't fear that, we don't dread that. Jesus Christ has promised to keep us from that hour that is coming upon those who dwell on the earth. What we look forward to is the kingdom, the glory, the new heavens and the new earth, the millennial reign, all of that blessing that is there after Bill's tribulations that are predicted. That's the future grace that John focuses on here in John chapter one, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, we're gonna skip the rest of what's here in these first 11 verses and get into the second point of our outline because I know you're not planning on being here till three o'clock. So we're gonna focus on verses 12 through 17 briefly on the glorious present status of Jesus Christ. If you were to see Jesus today, you would not see somebody who looks like me. You would not see somebody who looks like the actors who portray Jesus on television or in the movies. That is not what Jesus Christ looks like today. That's what he looked like then for a brief time. But even when we come to the writing of the New Testament, as Paul wrote, as Peter wrote, as John wrote, Jesus Christ no longer was in his humiliation. He was no longer in the form of a bondservant like us, but he had been restored to the glory that he had with the Father before the world was, even as he prayed in John chapter 17. And so what is that glory? It's the same glory that the Old Testament prophets saw. For no one has ever seen the Father, there's no way to see the Father. What you see is the light that comes from the Father, and the light of the world is Jesus. He is the one who reveals and unveils the Father. To see Jesus is to see the Father, and so when Daniel saw visions of God, when Isaiah saw visions of God, when Ezekiel saw visions of God, he did not see the Father. What he saw was the pre-incarnate glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's the glory that he has been restored to. And that is the glory that John describes here in verses 12 through 17. Jesus speaks to John in his exile on Patmos. He turns to hear the voice that was speaking in verse 12. And on turning, John writes, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe 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. This is our Lord. This is our good shepherd. This is our master. We serve, not the humble carpenter of Nazareth, We are serving the resurrected, exalted, glorified Word of God. That is the one who cares for us. He is the one who is looking out for your needs, who hears your prayers, who intercedes for you before the Father. This mighty God is standing at the right hand of the throne, interceding for us. He is our man in glory. Yes, He is still a man. He still shares with us our humanity. He's resurrected in a body of flesh and bone, but his glory has been restored. When you go to God in prayer and you think about the Lord Jesus Christ, I'd encourage you to remember this picture of the Lord Jesus Christ that he has given to us, this final portrait. For when he was on the earth, none of the gospel writers took the time to write about his physical appearance. What color was his hair? How long was his beard? What color were his eyes? How dark was his skin? None of that matters. His physical appearance was not anything noteworthy. And so when you picture the Lord Jesus Christ, what means something to me are his words, his teaching, his actions, his spirit, his nobility, his courage, his love for God. All of that is what is in my mind when I think of the Lord Jesus. But if I want to get some kind of visual picture, if I want to get some kind of visual imagery, well then I can't do any better than what God has given us here in Revelation chapter 1 verses 12 through 17. These verses are worth meditating on and memorizing. The glorious appearance of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And all of this is introduction to the message that he gives us in Revelation 2 and 3. Now if you have a red letter Bible, there's a lot of red letters here in the book of Revelation. This is a red letter letter. Out of all the epistles of the New Testament, this one is the one that is dictated by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that doesn't make it any more inspired than any other part of the New Testament, but somehow it's still special to me. Somehow it still is significant that here we have the dictated words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And what it does for us as a church is it helps us to realize that Christ is not far distant from us. He's not watching us from far away seeing a little bit of what we're doing and having some idea of what's going on. But no, the Lord Jesus Christ, He is here in our midst. He is watching. He is listening. He is speaking. He is observing. He is rewarding. He is punishing. He is alive and He is with us. He is standing among the lampstands. The same person that John ate and drank with is now glorified and he is present in his spirit. This Christ, the glorified Christ, speaks to his church and we are privileged to be a part of the church. The church is where Christ stands. He doesn't stand in the White House. He doesn't stand in the Congress. That seems pretty obvious. He doesn't stand in museums, or he doesn't stand in the Grand Canyon, or any of our national parks. He stands in the churches. This little group of people here is where Christ's heart is, where his concern is. This is where his portion is. That he died for us, and he cares deeply about everything we do, everything we say, how we love one another. Lampstands are a place to put light. Christ is the light. That's why the church is represented as the lampstand. Our whole purpose is to be the pillar and support of the truth. And Jesus Christ, the word of God, is the truth. And so you can have a wonderful building, but without Christ, it's nothing. You can have a lot of people, but without Christ, it's nothing. You can have amazing music, but without Christ, it's nothing. God is not impressed with the things that impress people. And as we look through Revelation chapters two and three, you're gonna see exactly what the present speaking Christ thinks of this church and all the churches that are around us. He walks among the seven golden lampstands. Look at chapter two, verse one. To the angel of the church in Ephesus write this, the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, those are the messengers who will be delivering these letters to the churches, who walks among the seven golden lampstands. And what does Christ say? The first thing, and he repeats it to every church, I know. I know. I know your works. I know your toil. I know your patient endurance. and how you cannot bear with those who are evil but have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not and found them to be false. I know, he repeats it again twice in this opening one and then throughout all the others he says the same thing, I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up for my name's sake and you have not grown weary. This is encouraging. The Lord Jesus Christ knows the endurance of Christians. He knows the faithfulness of churches that are standing for what is true and what is right. He's watching. He knows. He's very familiar. But not only do we have the encouragement of knowing that Jesus Christ knows, but there's also a little bit of fear involved with this truth that Jesus Christ, He's here and He knows. There's nothing that's hidden from His flaming eyes. He peers to the heart to the very division between soul and spirit. All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of the one that we have to deal with. And so, verse four, but I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. And he goes on and exhorts them to get back to the love that they are supposed to have. But notice verse six, yet this you have, You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. You know there's things in the church that Jesus Christ hates? Oh no, you know Jesus Christ, he accepts and loves and he's so humble and meek and... No, no, no. Read the Bible. Jesus Christ hates false teaching in the church. So that's why the men are getting together on Saturday to watch Enemies Within the Church because we want to hate the things that Christ is hating. You can't love the truth without hating a lie. And you can't love a lie and love the truth at the same time. Jesus Christ, He loves when people are loving and truthful. You've got to have them both. The church at Ephesus was not great at the love part. They were great at holding on to the truth. And that's not enough. They need to recapture their first love or else it's curtains for their church. Notice the commendation is still there, and Jesus Christ is so good at this. He knows how to tell us when we're doing what's wrong, but he also knows how to encourage us in what we're doing right. He can use the carrot and the stick. He can use praise and blame. So this is a great example for all of us. If you're going to critique somebody, look and see if there's anything that you can praise them for, and that'll make it a little bit easier for them to accept your critique as well. There's wisdom in the Lord Jesus Christ that we want to pattern and follow in all aspects. But let's look at the next letter also. It starts off the same way in verse 9, I know. Christ knows the tribulation and the poverty of the church at Smyrna. But he knows that though they have a physical poverty, that spiritually they are rich. He knows how they are slandered by the Jews, And He knows how they're going to suffer persecution, and so He encourages them to be faithful unto death. Come down to the next letter, the church in Pergamum, verse 13, I know. I know where you dwell. And so, what is the Spirit of God saying to us today? What is Jesus Christ saying to us today? Well, if the Word of God is any guide to go by, which is the only guide to go by, right? then what Jesus Christ is saying to us today is, I know. I know all about Firth Bible Church. You haven't escaped my sight. Just because you're small, just because you're out in the country, doesn't mean that the Lord of the universe is not concerned. He knows exactly what's going on among the elders. He knows what's going on in the congregation. He knows what's going on in your families, in your household. He knows what our strengths are. He knows what our weaknesses are. And He cares. And His Holy Spirit is speaking to us on those issues. Praising us for what we're doing right. Condemning us for what we're doing wrong. And so, you must obey what the Word of God says. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Every letter gets this exhortation. Every church, each of these seven churches, are told to listen to the Spirit of God. And so, as the Word of God dwells in us richly, the Spirit of God works within us as a whole and as individuals, for praise and for blame, so that we might be able to grow up in all aspects into the maturity that Jesus Christ designed us for, that he saved us for, that he brought us together for. Not only here in this local congregation, but everywhere that we go, every Christian that we touch, every life that we connect to, bringing the power of the gospel to bear. So are you listening? The things that Jesus Christ has been praising you for. The things that Jesus Christ has been condemning you for. You've got the Spirit of God. You're not left alone. You're not an orphan. Are you listening? He wouldn't have to command us to listen if it wasn't our tendency not to listen. What are you not listening to? Now we're tempted most often probably to not listen to the rebuke, the condemnation. But you know what, I think we can even be tempted not to listen to the praise. Jesus Christ wants to encourage you. Allow Him to encourage you in those areas where you are doing well. And I want to encourage you. I don't want to be the preacher in the pulpit who's always saying, you're doing this wrong, you're doing this wrong, straighten up. I want to tell you, this is what you're doing right. This is what you're doing great. Keep on doing it. I love it. That's what we all do with the Spirit of Christ. And he goes on and through every letter, I know your works, I know your works. In chapter 3, he continues on, I know your works, to the church in Philadelphia and to the church in Laodicea, the seventh letter, I know your works. The point is, he knows. And he knows our deeds, not just our profession of faith. He knows our real faith, not the faith that we pretend to and put on. And that's what he is really interested in. What you actually believe and how it affects your actual life. As you look at all the praise and condemnation, praise and blame throughout these letters, you come up with a general idea of what the faithful and true witness has to say about churches. Now, when the faithful and true witness speaks about churches, you can read throughout these letters, and I think you will find, you will agree with me, that he mentions nothing about the size of the church as far as praise or blame. Big churches aren't praised, small churches aren't blamed. He doesn't say anything about the beauty of their meeting place. He didn't say anything about their fine standing and respect in the community. He didn't say anything about their political influence or their finances or the buzz in the church, the excitement. He didn't say anything about their relevance to the culture. But instead, what he does look for, what he does praise, what do seem to be his concerns, doctrinal purity, moral excellence, active in ministry, unintimidated by the world, sharing the faith, steadfast in hope, growing in love, fully dependent upon him, and listening to his spirit. That's what he wants. That's what he is concerned about. I was tempted recently to count the number of people in our pictorial directory. I was like, oh, no, Timothy, don't do that. It's like David taking a census of the people, right? What was so wrong about David taking a census of the people? Good question. As you look at Revelation 2 and 3 and you see the present speaking Christ, you recognize that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is important for our daily life together as a church. It's important for us to recognize that He's here, that He's watching, and that He's speaking. But, beyond that, it's important for us to recognize that He's coming. And this is a key emphasis here in Revelation 2 and 3 in his message to the churches, even as it's the theme of the whole book of Revelation. Come back to chapter 2 once again, verse 5. We'll run through these as well. Remember, therefore, from where you have fallen. After rebuking the church at Ephesus for abandoning their first love, he tells them to remember to repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come. First time he says that he's coming, I will come. Come down to chapter two, verse 16. To the church in Pergamum, who are the opposite, they're very faithful and loving, but they're tolerating false teaching, the works of the Nicolaitans. So the church at Ephesus and Pergamum are mirror images of each other, getting the opposite praise and the opposite blame. But notice verse 16, therefore repent. So both churches get this repent message. If not, I will come to you soon and war against them with the sword of my mouth. He's coming. Look at verses 21 through 23. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Speaking of this false prophetess named Jezebel. Behold, I will throw her onto a sick bed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works. Notice the emphasis on repentance. Notice the emphasis on Jesus Christ coming in judgment. If you ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit, then Jesus Christ will deal with you. You don't want that kind of dealing from the Lord Jesus Christ. You want the praise, you want the grace, you want the mercy, and that comes through repentance. Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ and do what he says, or else he will come. Now you say, I thought he was already here. We've been talking, he's here, he's here, he's here. Yeah, he's here in spirit. He's here watching. But when he talks about coming, he's talking about bringing the stick. Don't mess with Jesus. Don't play games with the Lord. This is a message for me. This is a message for all of us. We tend to think, well, you know, he's so merciful, he's so gracious, he's just gonna let it go. He loves you. That's why he's not gonna let it go. He will tell the church at Laodicea, those whom I love, I reprove. Be zealous therefore and repent. It's the love of Jesus Christ that causes him to discipline us for our good that we might share his holiness. If you don't learn from the gentleness, then as a wise father does with his children, you bring in more severe discipline. Not because you hate your kids, but because you love your kids. and you're not going to allow them to build a character and go down a road that is self-destructive. Jesus Christ will not allow this church to go down a road that is self-destructive. He will come and He will discipline those who need to be disciplined. He's alive, not just some distant future reality. Notice also chapter three, verse three. Wake up, he tells the church at Sardis, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. That's verse two. Verse three. Remember then what you have received and heard, keep it, and, there's our word again, repent. If you will not wake up, I will come like a thief. And you will not know at what hour I will come against you. Now, throughout this section you might be asking yourself the question, when Jesus says, I will come, is he referring to his second coming? That we know that he is coming in power and glory and that all things are going to be revealed and he's going to separate the sheep from the goats and he's going to judge each one of us according to what we've done. Is that the coming in judgment that he's talking about? And the point is, is that maybe, but we don't know. It could be today that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming back and the scripture constantly exhorts us, in light of the second coming of Jesus Christ, to live ready. To have repented of evil deeds and not be caught unaware, surprised, and guilty when Jesus Christ comes back. Now for all of those who are in Christ, you can't lose your salvation, but you can lose rewards. And you can lose the joy of His coming. When He comes back, are you going to have a full reward and be glad to see Him? But if he delays his coming, don't think that he's not gonna do anything. Don't think that he's keeping all of his judgment and all of his discipline and all of his rebuke until the second coming. If God should say to Jesus Christ, wait a little bit longer before the glorious appearing, it doesn't mean he's not gonna come to your household. It doesn't mean he's not gonna come to this church and straighten things out. He's gonna throw Jezebel on a bed of sickness and kill her children with disease. That was Jesus Christ coming with the stick. He gave her time to repent. She didn't take that opportunity, and so he came. He came, he will come, and God be blessed, he is coming once and for all with the clouds and every eye will see him. Two more things before we wrap this up. Concerning the coming of our Savior and King, I want us to not only focus on His coming to discipline, His coming with the stick, but notice the joy, the hope of His second coming that we have to fix all of our hope upon. He does this in every one of the letters, once again, repetition for emphasis, repetition for clarity. Look at chapter 2, once again, verse 7. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, The one who conquers is the one who knows the will of his Lord and does it. That one who conquers, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the paradise of God. He's coming to reward. He's coming to give. He's coming to grant favors that he alone is able to grant. Receiving what Jesus Christ is able to give should be the goal of your life. It should be the passion, the ambition, not only for yourself, but for your children, for your wife. You want your loved ones and yourself to get what Christ has to offer. He has benefits to bestow that no human being can compare with. This one, eating from the tree of life in the paradise of God. Think about that. But also, look at verse 10. Chapter 2, verse 10. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death. Verse 17. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone with a new name written on that stone that no one knows except the one who receives it. Fascinating. And I will give him some of the hidden manna, he says there in verse 17. Look at verses 26 and 28. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations. And he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earth and pots are broken in pieces. Right now the most worthless men are set over the nations, but Jesus Christ is coming and he's going to set people over the nations who have kept the works of Jesus Christ until the end. Faithful people, humble people, loving people, truthful people. The liars will be in the lake of fire, and those who have spoken the truth in love will be on the throne reigning with Jesus Christ. It is done. There is no doubt. So live wisely. What will that faithful Christian do? He will rule the nations with a rod of iron, as when earth and pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my father. You see an iron rod shattering a clay pot. That's the power of Jesus Christ in his holy ones, in his godly ones, to exercise judgment upon the earth. God is going to give the faithful Christian, the overcomer, the morning star in verse 28. Chapter three, verses four and five. You have a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. And he continues on with the church in Philadelphia and the church in Laodicea. But let's talk about that church in Laodicea, because God ends these seven letters with this church for a reason. The church in Laodicea, by all human accounts, was probably the best church in the area. Everyone looked up to and admired the church in Laodicea. If there were conferences given about how to do church, the Laodiceans were center stage. They had it together. They knew what was going on. But their success in the eyes of man was utter failure in the eyes of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, it's so easy to get along with an imaginary Jesus Christ. It's so easy for us to be blessed by our own creation of a Christ in our minds and our hearts who loves everything we're doing and affirms us in every way. But the coming of Jesus Christ will shatter that false image the imagination of mankind in thinking that Christ is just like sinful people, that he loves what we love. Let's read this whole letter to the church in Laodicea. The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness. All men are liars, but there is a faithful and true witness, and he is the beginning of God's creation. He says this, I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. would that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I'm rich, I've prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you, the Lord Jesus Christ counsels the lukewarm church in America today to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments, so that you may clothe yourself, and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline." Jesus loves the lukewarm church. He doesn't love what they're doing, but he cares about them. He speaks to them. He counsels them. and His arms are open wide. They can return at any moment and He will blot out the ledger of all of their pride and selfishness and treat them with perfect grace. Repent therefore, Jesus says. Behold, verse 20, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him. Even if the rest of the church doesn't, even if they're unrepentant and continue on in their worldliness, in their doctrinal impurity, in their sexual immorality, if one person in the church hears the voice of God speaking in Jesus Christ, he will come to that one. And that person can eat with Jesus Christ. The one who conquers, Jesus Christ will grant to sit with him on his throne as Jesus conquered and sat down with his Father on the throne in heaven. And it says at the end, once again, for all of us, he who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit of Jesus Christ is speaking. He's not dead, he's not distant, he's here and he's speaking. We must listen, we must hear. So throughout these three chapters, we've had the opportunity this morning to behold our mighty, wise, victorious shepherd. The Lord is our pastor. The Lord Jesus Christ is the shepherd of this church. We shall not lack any good thing. He has guided us and he will continue to guide us to spiritual food and peaceful rivers of grace. He rebuilds and restores the soul of each one of us as we continually damage our souls with sin. He restores us. He will guide us in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. We can be sure of this one's goodness and loving kindness all of our days. And we know that he will receive us into the house of the Lord forever, as he has promised. Amen. Bow your heads with me for a word of prayer. Where would we be, O Lord, without you as our shepherd? Lord God, guard us. Keep us near to you. Let us not wander away from you. We see it happening in the seven churches. Some of those were dead and dying. Lord God, we know that we are made of the same fleshly stuff and have the same potential. We ask you, Lord God, to speak to the hearts of the shepherds of this church. Make the shepherds of this church, your under-shepherds, spiritually attuned and sensitive to your word, your spirit. May we know what your mind is, God. Help us not to bury anything, but to listen carefully and to do all that you say. And Lord God, we pray for the congregation, that each one here would hear you rebuking, correcting, praising, encouraging, and that we would respond to your spirit so that the whole church might be filled up with the Spirit of God and that each one of us might be able to carry out our part in making this church a true lampstand in this world where the light of Jesus Christ is shining bright and powerfully. We pray this for our good and for your glory in Jesus Christ. Amen.