Our Exalted Head

As we end this current year together today and begin next year together as a congregation next week, we are, perhaps, troubled by what may lie ahead for us. We face changes, both known and unknown, individually, in our families, our workplaces, our society, our nation, in our church and the church at large. Our hearts and minds certainly can race toward a lot of “what ifs?” And we may have a pretty good assortment of some “most likely to occurs” thrown in for good measure. Some things we hope are for the good; we know that somethings may be heavy and grievous. So we might be given over to fears and anxiousness about what may ensue.

The way we best can deal with this is to keep our eyes and hearts fixed upon our Exalted Head, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to draw from Him all that we have need of.

There are things about Christ that we need very much at the end of this year. (Piper)

We need the perseverance of Christ in the face of affliction. We need the energy and strength of Christ in the face of depleting pressures. We need the wisdom of Christ in the face of complexities of life and ministry. We need the stability of Christ in the midst of rapid social and political and personal changes all around us. We need the assurance of his sovereign authority in a culture sliding farther and farther from his truth. (Piper)

It is no exaggeration to say that we need Christ present to our view and for our fellowship more than we need anything else. (Piper)

So, to encourage us in the coming year, let us fix our eyes upon Jesus — Heb 12:2

Hebrews 12:2 ESV

2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

A. His Location - Revelation 1:9-10

Revelation 1:9–10 ESV

9 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. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

This vision is given to John by God. It is written down and sent by John to the seven churches of Asia Minor, which is today the western part of Turkey. He is on the isle of Patmos, a small island in the Aegean sea. He describes himself to the churches as their brother. This is significant because it is an indication of how closely he is aligning himself with them in what is to come. (Pett)

He is a ‘partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom (kingly rule) and patient endurance which are in Jesus’. Thus he aligns himself with them in what lies ahead. (Pett)

John was there on Patmos as a prisoner of the Roman Empire. But though he may have been sentenced by Roman officials to be there, John is stressing that he was essentially there in God’s purpose, that he might receive God’s revelation. (Pett)

God gives John a remarkable chance to behold Jesus. He gives him a vision. And he does this not just for John but for the seven churches of Asia and for us.

In verse 10 John says that he was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. That means that on one of his Sunday's on the island he was deeply in tune with the Spirit of God. So much so that suddenly (v. 10) he "heard behind [him] a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet." (Piper)

The voice says in v. 11, "“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches....”

The vision John is about to get is meant not just for him but for us as well. And the point of writing it down is to transmit to us the same kind of experience of seeing Jesus that he had.

Jesus does not intend to come to each of the seven churches the way he came to John. He could have appeared to each congregation with this same vision. But he doesn't. He appears to John and says, "Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches." John gets the vision. We get the book.

But this is not because Christ wants to be distant and impersonal with his churches. It is because he wants to come to us in and through his Word. He wants us to seek him in his Word, and know him by his Word, and gaze upon him steadily through his Word. And when we do, the Lord stands forth from his Word in ways beyond the merely rational and intellectual possibilities of reading.

The primary way of gazing on Christ today is through his Word.

Unless we seek Him in His Word, we will not find Him. We will not be seeing Him, being shaped and molded by Him in, by, and through it: 2 Timothy 3:16-17

2 Timothy 3:16–17 ESV

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

For us to see Jesus this next year, to keep our focus upon Him, we must be continually in His Word.

Bible Reading calendars.....

B. The Description of Christ Revelation 1:11-16

Revelation 1:11–16 ESV

11 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.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 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. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 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.

We are told that John turned around to see where the voice had come from. He saw seven golden lampstands.

But this does not hold his attention because there is something greater. It isn’t the church itself, represented in the candlesticks that holds his attention, it is this sight of the Lord Jesus Christ. He sees him in the very midst, and it is the vision of the glorified Savior that holds him fascinated.

This book is first and foremost a revelation of the glory of Christ. It sets before us in almost every chapter the majesty of Christ, as the one in whom all of human history is to find its meaning and at last its consummation. (Thomas)

John looks at his glorious Lord and the first thing that strikes John is the humanness of the exalted Saviour. It is the same Christ he knew in His earthly ministry, and this Christ is still human, but he is now exalted. He is clothed with a regal garment, a golden sash. His head and his hair are white like wool as white as snow. (Thomas)

The significance of this is found in Daniel 7 . There we see the Son of Man. He is also the Ancient of Days and the Great and Almighty God. John sees this same vision as Daniel. He acknowledges the Son of Man to be the Lord Jesus Christ. He has that very mark of deity and divine splendor that had belonged in the Old Testament to God the Father. So we are seeing first of all this risen Lord, that he is still human, but we are told this also that he has an exalted, transformed, transfigured humanity.

We mus remember this, that although the Lord Christ is today an exalted and risen Savior, yet that exaltation has not destroyed his humanness. The man Christ Jesus has still a human body and psychology but He has inherited the earth. He has undergone the most sublime transfiguration – not only his body, but his soul and spirit too. He is not today a ‘man of sorrows and acquainted with grief’. He remembers those days when his heart was broken and weariness set-in, when he experienced renunciation and abandonment by the Father. That memory is the stuff of his compassion, but God has wiped away every tear from his eye. All that is gone; his body has been transformed. The clarity of his vision has been increased, and out of his life sorrow and sighing have fled away. And if you are in Christ Jesus this morning, that is what awaits you as well!

John and the churches are being shown this for a reason. All around him there is imprisonment, captivity, persecution and death. The world is dealing with the church as it dealt with the church’s Lord, and John is shown for his own encouragement and comfort, where the Lord’s own pilgrimage has wound-up, and he is given the assurance that such is the glory which the church will one day itself know in accordance with the Lord’s own prayer that where he is there they may be also. Their bodies undergo the same transformation; their souls experiencing the same comfort. They sit with him as partakers in his eminence and of his sovereignty.

Where is this exalted Lord? He is surrounded on all sides by the seven golden candlesticks. In other words we are told that these represent the Christian church and that therefore the risen Christ is in the midst of his church. He is shown in all his eminence and all his exalted glory, and yet he is equally the one who is in the very midst of his church on earth.

We have the promise that where two or three gather in his name he is there and we ourselves know that promise fulfilled today. We are to know that he is present not because we have certain feelings or that there is some kind of atmosphere in a meeting created by lights, candles or light streaming in through stained glass windows, mood music playing, nor ecstatic experience.

Not by any of that human engineering do we know that Christ is in a certain place. Suppose today that our spirits felt utterly dejected and this building felt chilly (admittedly, this may be difficult on a day like today!) – like a spiritual icebox. John’s point is that even then Christ must still be here.

Jesus has promised this, and so always in the midst of his churches you will find the Saviour. The head is never separated from the body. He gives directions to his body; he speaks to his own beloved people and he listens to them. He makes his gospel come not in word only but also in power and in the spirit and in much assurance.

We are to search ourselves so often as to ask ourselves whether we prepare to worship, to serve, to do anything, are we seeking Christ whenever we gather here?

As we pray or sing are we conscious that we are directing our words to the most powerful being in the universe and beyond? Do we listen to his words in the preaching as those on whose ears his words are falling, not simply as logical utterances but with life-giving spirit and life-giving power? Christ is in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. Christ being here, seeing all we do, hearing all we say. This is an inescapable reality in our Christian lives

Christ is the glory in the midst of the church. He is at the heart of the church and he is the church’s splendor.

What can we as a congregation offer to the world, to this community, in which we live? All we can offer is Jesus Christ. We have nothing else, and we must be exceedingly careful lest we attempt to find something else to offer.

We must also be careful that we do not become content with something else. We have no alternative. We must realize and live the reality that all we have to offer is Jesus Christ.

How exceedingly careful we should be to ensure that the Lord is indeed our glory as a congregation, because when people walk into this kind of meeting there is no possibility of our entertaining them. We might flatter ourselves, but really, we are not particularly interesting people, and if we don’t have Jesus Christ then we have nothing. He is the glory that is in the midst of the candlesticks. We have a Lord who will shepherd, a Christ who will save, a prophet who will teach them, a priest who will plead for them, and a king who will lead them. That is all, and if we don’t have Him we have nothing. (Thomas)

But we must also know that our security is only in Christ. Christ is in the midst of the church as the LORD in Psalm 46, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved.” That church, with Christ’s glory at her heart, is never defeated. The gates of hell will not prevail against her because Christ is in the midst. So long as this particular congregation is built upon the rock Jesus Christ, and as long as its pulpit and its people point men to the Lamb of God who bears the sin of the world, then this church shall stand secure. Our future as a congregation will then be rock solid, because we are established, rooted, and grounded in the One who is the Solid Rock, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Does His presence in His church, in His people, in you, believer, comfort and encourage you? He never leaves nor forsake any for whom he died, can we say with Paul in Galatians 2:20 about Christ Jesus

English Standard Version Chapter 2

who loved me and gave himself for me

Are we conscious of this day by day? Christ is in me, and Christ is with me, and around me, that underneath are his everlasting arms, that from one point of view as a Christian I never have a moment’s privacy; I am never alone.

No matter what the temptations and the sufferings and obligations I face, whatever they may be I am not facing them alone because Christ has come and dwelt in my sould and so there is always that fellowship and togetherness.

So John sees the exalted Lord and he sees him in the midst of the candlesticks, a glorious presence which means that church living under his constant overwatch, and sustained by his strength, and directed by his day to day leadership because there he is always, in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.

He is among the lampstands—the churches—as the son of man, the one with power over the nations and with everlasting dominion and glory. He is the great high priest that has put away the sins of his people once and for all. He is as aged and wise and mature as the great white-crowned Ancient of Days, yet with eyes that are aflame with the fire of youth and energy and hope and exhilaration for his unstoppable plans for you and for this church and for the world. (Piper)

What John sees is the ascended, glorious Jesus the King of glory who is nevertheless right down in the midst of his suffering church! And as he is the "light of the world" (John 8:12), he is himself shining to the world through his light-bearers, the church (Matt. 5:14; Ex. 25:31; Zech. 4:2). Do you see what this means? It means that Jesus Christ, the King, who has all authority (Matt. 28:18), is not sitting idly by as the world grows ever darker. He is actively engaging in evangelizing the world through his church. This means that we must be active in preaching, teaching, evangelism, loving our neighbors, sending out missionaries, being active in our communities as his lampstands.

So in reading and interpreting this marvelous vision, what are we to say? The "big idea," the overall message of this vision is that our exalted and ascended Lord, Jesus Christ is presently reigning and active in our midst. Does this not fill you with wonder and awe? Does this not comfort your poor desolate hearts? (Hyde)

C. How This Awesome Christ Humbles the Church Revelation 1:17-20

Revelation 1:17–20 ESV

17 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, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 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.

John tells us very plainly that perceiving this Christ he fell at his feet as though dead (v.17). He is utterly overwhelmed by the Lord and the light of his countenance. It was as brilliant as the sun shining in its strength.

John, as he sees Christ is utterly overwhelmed. All the strength drains out of his body and he collapses prostrate before the Lord.

John falls at his feet as dead, impotent, defenseless, possessed by a total dread because he has looked into something that he found to be utterly threatening, different from any other being whom he had approached in his life. He falls on his face before this extraordinary holy being. (Thomas)

You cannot be comforted by Christ until you see Him in His holy majesty. You cannot understand His love and care as your Great Shepherd until you have seen Him as holy, righteous, judge — and your utter unholiness — that you deserve His wrath and curse. Have we as a congregation gotten that vision? Have you, in your own soul, gotten this vision of Christ?

So how are we to respond to this glory of Christ? We are to respond in godly fear, in reverence and in awe of this glorious Christ. We, like John, like Moses before the burning bush, like Isaiah in the throne-room of God, are to fall at his feet "as though dead." As we stand before him even now may we bow in humility as we acknowledge his holiness and our manifold sins and trespasses. Do you not realize before whom you appear today in worship? Do you not know that his eyes of flaming fire penetrate our hearts and can see our souls?

Yet do not despair, beloved, for the Gospel is revealed here as well, to lift us out of the merely pit: "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" (vv, 17, 18). By his resurrection he has overcome death, and sin, the cause of our spiritual death as he delivers us from death's power and sting. Do not be afraid, beloved, for the King of glory is also the merciful shepherd who lifts up his wounded sheep. Behold your King! A true vision of your King, and no mere humanly contrived substitute. (Hyde)

Gaze upon this Jesus in the last days of this year and let his royal power and his priestly forgiveness and his ancient wisdom and his fiery hope fill you with confidence afresh that this year has not been in vain, and that next year will be the appointed brush-stroke on the canvas of your life and on the canvas of history till the great and majestic masterpiece of God's work is done. 

Works Cited or Consulted

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