Vlog 2 - The Apocalypse of Jesus
There's A Man Going 'Round Taking Names • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
11 saying, “Write in a book what you see, 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.”
So today we pick up our look at chapter one by taken a second deeper look at chapter one and the first glimpse we are given of Jesus in the book of Revelation.
We notice first the description of God is familiar to us Revelation 1:8
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Here that Father gives His seal to the authenticity of the revelation.
It show su the fulness and completeness of God.
To do this GOD uses the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”
Again we shown the eternalness of GOD by, “Who is and who was and is to come.”
God is complete, eternal and almighty, all that done through His Son, Jesus Christ, is from GOD and had GOD’s approval.
This shows us that the vision of John has been given the approval of the Father, “the Almighty.” His name form the book of Genesis.
Verse 10 is important to understanding some of what John was able to see.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,
“I was in the Spirit,” shows that John was under the direct influence of the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was John’s guide in writing this revelation. It was through the Spirit that John wrote the things, which he saw and heard.
The he tells us when this Revelation took place; he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.”
This is the only place in the New Testament in which we find this phrase, “the Lord’s day.”
Most likely it refers to the first day of the week.
Now we come to the vision of Jesus this serves as our first glimpse
12 And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;
When he turned to see a glorious vision, he saw seven golden candlesticks. In this vision of John, he is shown seven individual lamp stands.
As we see later in verse 20 the lamp stands, signify the seven churches and their independence from each other. Though separated, they are bound together by a common faith.
The unity of the church is in Christ the one who walks among the lamp stands.
The purpose of a lamp stand is to give light to the area in which it stands.
13 and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle.
Jesus walked among these lamp stands as their king.
“Clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle,” this signifies Christ rank and stature in the kingdom.
Christ is knows and understands every part of their life which will be apparent in chapters 2-3
What follows in verses 14-16 is a wonderful vision of the Christ
14 And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire;
15 and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
16 And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
The white wool used to describe the hair, signifies Christ’s purity and holiness.
“And His eyes were a flame,” a penetrating and burning flame that sears right through to the hearts of men.
This phrase is symbolic of Christ’s ability to discern the thoughts and intents of the hearts of men.
In verse 15 John pulls again form the Old Testament book of Daniel.
6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.
This would be imagery not only familiar to Jews in the churches but also to the Gentiles in the churches. Both to those who worked metals but also the idolatry that plagued the seven churches.
Then in verse 16 we shown the authority of Christ.
“And out of his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword;” here the word “sword” comes from the Greek word rhomphaia is properly defined as a long Thracian javelin, also is used of a long sword typically worn on the right shoulder of a Roman soldier.
It is used only seven times in the New Testament, only once outside of Revelation in Luke 2:35.
This word is always used figuratively in Revelation, referring twice to Christ’s judgment upon his church (2:12,16).
Twice it is used of Christ’s judgment against the world (19:15,21) and once reefers to the massacre of Christians (6:8).
In this passage the “sharp two edged sword,” refers to Christ’s readiness to make judgment, go into battle and to wage war.
Then we come to Revelation 1:17-19
17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,
18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
19 “Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall take place after these things.
Here Jesus shows His eternal nature.
Then how he represents the true gospel, the good news is Jesus.
Man need no longer fear death, as Jesus has the keys.
In the New Testament, the word “keys” is never us literally.
We can always find this word used figuratively or symbolically.
“The keys of the kingdom” (Matthew 16:19), “key of knowledge” (Luke 11:52), “the key of David” (Revelation 3:7), “the key of the bottomless pit” (Revelation 9:1) & “the key of the abyss” (revelation 20:1).
We can see the word “keys” in the New Testament implies power or authority.
The implication of Revelation 1:18 is Christ has power and authority over both death and Hades.
The chapter is drawn to a close as John relates the command given to him to record everything he sees, those things that are and those that will be.
Then in verse 20 Jesus provided some interpretation of what John saw
20 “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
So there you have what a beautiful glimpse of Jesus walking among the lampstands.
Showing He is fully aware of what his church is doing or not doing and what they face from society and from Rome.
The is a really good reminded for what we will see next week as we are given a glimpse into what Jesus sees in four of the churches of Asia.