What do you feel like you need in life? What are you desperate for? What comes to your mind when you finish a thought like, “If I only had . . .”? The way we answer that question reveals a good bit what we think life is about, doesn’t it? If we answer the question by saying that we wish we simply had great riches, then it might expose that we think the riches of life is found in being able to afford things, being able to provide for our material needs and wants. If we answer the question along the lines of saying that we just want to be known, recognized, and appreciated, then it may well expose that we think life is about acquiring as much glory as possible – that the great treasure of life is found in the glory others give to us. Answering the question of what we think our greatest need or desire is highlights what we think life is about, doesn’t it?
And we all know that we are prone to thinking poorly about these kinds of things at times, aren’t we? Of course we all know that it’s wrong to answer these kinds of questions by saying, “I want riches,” or “I want man’s praise,” or the like. But, if we are honest, we are prone to losing our bearings on occasion and beginning to think that way. We can sometimes slip into thinking, “If I only had [fill in the blank], then my life would be fulfilled,” when whatever that thing is may be nothing more than an idol that we’re attempting to build our lives around.
This is why it’s good for us to stop and consider what we’re to be about as believers, how are our lives to be characterized, what are our greatest needs, and what have we been given in Jesus Christ. And I think looking at Revelation 1:9-20 on this Easter Sunday morning gives us an opportunity to do that. In short, I think that Revelation 1:9-20 reminds us what we are called to as believers, what we have, and why we should delight in our calling. I think this text reminds us that we are called to faithful endurance in a world of suffering and that we can rejoice in the midst of this difficult calling because of who Jesus is, who he is toward us, and what he has done. This morning, I simply want to highlight these realities from this text. But let’s get just a bit of context for our passage before we dive into some of these truths I want us to recognize.
The text begins with John telling us who he is and how he received this vision that he’s going to write about over the next twenty-two chapters. He writes in 1:9-11 that he is writing from the island of Patmos, where he has been exiled for his faithfulness to and proclamation of the gospel. That’s what he means when, I believe, when he says “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). He’s been faithfully proclaiming Christ as true and his life, death, and resurrection as the only hope of salvation, and he’s been exiled for it. Most suggest that he wasn’t there living like a slave, most likely, but he had been removed from his home and made to live in Patmos, nonetheless.
But it isn’t his life on this island that takes center stage. Rather, John wants us to know that something happened to him there. He writes in verse 10-11, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, ‘Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
John is telling his readers that what he is writing to them is something that he saw, something that was commanded of him in a vision. By saying that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” is probably a reference to say that the Spirit gave him a vision one particular Sunday. This is the only place the phrase “on the Lord’s day” is found in the New Testament, but it came to be the title associated with Sunday, since that was the day that the Lord rose from the dead. Thus, even as this particular Sunday is a day that we set aside to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, the resurrection of Jesus Christ is recognized and celebrated every time we gather on Sunday morning. We gather on this day because it was on this day that our Lord was raised. And on one particular Sunday, on the island of Patmos, the Spirit gave John a vision that he was commanded to write down. And what he writes, we know as the book of Revelation.
But before moving too quickly into the development of this vision that he was to record and send to these seven churches in Asia, I want us to note that John highlights something about the Christian life in his statement about himself. Namely, John recognizes that . . .
With this, I’m highlighting one thing I think this text reminds us of – the task of our lives as believers. That is, I think this is the answer to the question, “What are our lives to be about as Christians?” The answer, I think, is this point, namely, that Christians are called to conquer in this life by patiently enduring affliction. But let me show you how I get there with this text.
First, we can jump ahead briefly and consider a refrain we find in the letters to the churches in chapters 2-3. In every one of these letters Christ promises something “to the one who conquers” (2:7, 11, 17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21). This is what we’re about as Christians. We are those who conquer in this life. We are to be conquerors. But when you hear that, you’re not supposed to envision taking up weapons against God’s enemies. Rather, listen to some of the ways that Jesus encourages them to be conquerors. In 2:10, for example, he says, “Be faithful unto death.” Again, in 2:13, they are told to hold fast to Christ’s name, not deny the faith, and be faithful witnesses. In 3:4, they are to keep themselves pure. And we could go on. But the idea is we conquer by remaining steadfast in holding to our gospel confession, keeping ourselves pure, and being faithful witnesses of Jesus Christ in the midst of a people who hate him and persecute his people. Thus, we are called to conquer in this life by patiently enduring affliction.
However, we don’t have to wait till chapters 2-3 to see this. We see it right here in John’s introduction of himself. John doesn’t write these words wanting his readers to know that he thinks of himself as better than them and of a greater status than they hold. He writes, wanting them to know that he is one of them. He identifies himself in 1:9 as “John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.”
And the way this phrase is written grammatically, this is not to be understood as three, separated, isolated things John is picking out – tribulation, kingdom, and patient endurance, but a connected reality for those of us in Christ. So, how are these three related? After all, tribulation and patient endurance make an easy connection, but what about kingdom? Doesn’t kingdom entail conquering? Haven’t we heard people claim that they shouldn’t have to deal with sickness, persecution, or poverty because, after all, they’re children of the king? Well, that is an unbiblical picture of what it means to be part of the kingdom of God (in this age). Yes, our Lord is the king. And yes, he’s transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his marvelous Son. But, think about how our king showed his powerful reign over Satan, sin, and death. He faithfully obeyed his God, even to the point of death.
Therefore, when John identifies himself as a partner in the tribulation, kingdom, and patient endurance, I think he is reminding his readers that the way we show we’re conquering as citizens of the kingdom of heaven in this life is by patiently enduring suffering as faithful witnesses of Christ. This is our calling as those who belong to the kingdom of Christ and yet live our day to day lives in enemy-occupied territory (or “where Satan’s throne is” as we read in 2:13).
This is our calling. Therefore, the thought that life must be peaceful and easy if we’re united with Christ simply fails to recognized that we are united with one who was faithful to the point of death. What this means is that the reproach of your family against you for following Christ may never change. The mocking your receive in the workplace for bearing witness to Christ may not go away. Your unbelieving spouse may never be converted and serve Jesus Christ. And the suffering you know day in and day out may only increase. But you and I are called to be conquerors, to demonstrate the reign of our Lord Jesus Christ in this world. And the way we do it is by faithfully enduring affliction and tribulation in this life as faithful witnesses to Jesus Christ.
But is there then any encouragement, or hope, or comfort? Of course. Next, John turns to see the voice behind him, and he sees Jesus. And with this, he sees three truths that are to be of comfort to him, his original readers, and us as well. First, he is shown that:
As John turns around to see this voice that sounded like a trumpet, commanding him to write in a book and send to the seven churches what he’s seeing, John sees Jesus. But this isn’t the picture of Jesus we might anticipate. It’s not Jesus in the room with his disciples, letting them touch his hands and side. Rather, John says that as he turned, he saw seven golden lampstands (which I’ll comment on later), and in the midst of them, one like a son of man. That is, one like a human. But instead of being described like you or me, John says he was “clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as 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” (1:13-16).
Now, that may not be what we anticipated. But before we get too confused, we can remember from last week that apocalyptic literature often uses symbols. Therefore, as I said last week, instead of mentioning kings or kingdoms, you’ll often get a picture of horns on a beast – which almost always symbolize kings or kingdoms. And the same thing is going on with this picture of Jesus.
Therefore, John’s intention is not that we try to draw this or picture Jesus with fire coming out of his eyes and a sword coming out of his mouth. He’s not telling us what Jesus looks like, as if we’re supposed to react by saying, “Interesting, I always thought he would have darker hair.” Rather, visions in Revelation show us how things are.
For this reason, instead of describing Jesus as one who judges the nations with his word, he is simply pictured with a double-edged sword coming out of his mouth. Instead of saying that he is both king and priest, it is simply said that he had a long robe with a golden sash – the kind of clothing worn by priests and dignitaries. Instead of commenting on his eternal nature and wisdom, he simply notes that he had brilliant white hair (something that is continually used to point to age and wisdom). Instead of talking about his might and the might of his Word, he mentions that his voice was like the sound of many waters. Instead of noting his purity and holiness, we are simply told that he has fire coming out of his eyes, feet like burnished bronze, and a face that shone as bright as the sun at full strength. So, what John is seeing is not something to be drawn but something to be understood. Jesus is the eternal one, with all wisdom, who is a almighty king-priest, who will judge the world in perfect holiness. What a powerful way to communicate these truths!
Yet, I think there’s something more we’re to see here. I think that this vision of Jesus is screaming that he is God, the Son. You see, these images are not by mistake. Rather, every one of them can be found in the Old Testament as images that are used to describe God and his Messiah. So, for example, when the Messiah (the Servant of the Lord) is spoken of in Isaiah 49:2, we read, “He made my mouth like a sharp sword.” And this description of one “like a son of man” is found of the one in Daniel 7:13-14 who is given an everlasting dominion and kingdom to reign over the whole earth forever.
But, we might say, that doesn’t necessarily say that the Son is God. That’s just a description of the Messiah – the Savior who would come. But notice something else in Daniel 7. Prior to this one like a son of man being given dominion and glory and a kingdom by the Ancient of Days, the Ancient of days is himself described in verse 9 as having hair “like pure wool.” Do you see what John is seeing? This one like a son of man is shown to him in the same terms that God is presented in the Scripture.
In fact, in the Old Testament, sometimes creatures who attended to God’s throne or served as his messengers would be presented in ways that bore truths to us about God so that in Ezekiel 1, for example, seeing the odd images of the creatures was communicating to us truths about God. We find the same thing in Daniel 10:5-6, Daniel speaks of a heavenly man visiting him, and he says, “I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a multitude.”
You see, these descriptions of God and his glory are all now being shown in this one standing before John, as if he is a man, and God, and God’s Messiah. But who is he? How do we know he’s not simply an angel? We know because he identifies himself. After John sees him, he falls down at his feet like a dead man, and he says that the man laid his right hand on him and said, “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” (1:17-18).
There is only one who has died and been raised to live forevermore – Jesus. That’s what we celebrate at Easter. Again, that’s what we celebrate by meeting every Sunday morning. So, John is seeing that Jesus is a man, the Messiah, and God. And just in case John may have missed the message, Jesus tells him that he is the first and the last.
Now, that designation is remarkably close to how God identified himself in 1:8, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” But it is exactly how God identifies himself in Isaiah 44:6, when he says, “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.” Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus takes upon his own lips the very designation of God whereby the Lord declares, “Besides me there is no god”? And if all that is not enough, Jesus will end the book of Revelation saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” just in case we missed it.
You see, what John sees when he turns to see where this voice is coming from is a vision of Jesus that was bearing the truth before John that Jesus is himself God the Son. That’s who Jesus is. He is the man who reigns over the earth. He is the Messiah. He is God the Son. He is the God-Man, the King and Lord of all.
Now, this is important that we understand what this text is telling us about Jesus because unless we get this, we won’t be encouraged as we should. Think of who God is. He is the Creator and Ruler of all. No one else gets that designation in Scripture. God alone is Creator and Ruler or all. He alone is Almighty. That’s what Jesus is showing us is true of him. And that’s important because of two other truths that John sees in this vision.
As John turns, before he goes on to describe Jesus, he mentions that he sees “seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands on like a son of man” (1:12-13). Then, as he goes on to describe Jesus, there is one element I didn’t reference earlier. He notes in 1:16 that “in his right hand he held seven stars.”
What does this mean? Well, thankfully Jesus interprets this for us. After telling John in verse 19 that he is now charged to write what he has seen, is seeing, and will see, he says in verse 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.”
Now, it’s probably best for us to start with the easiest. The seven lampstands represent the seven churches. And, since seven (at we saw last week) is an idea of the whole, the lampstands represent the churches in Asia with represent all of the churches. But what are the “angels of the seven churches,” when Jesus says that the stars in his right hand represent the “angels of the seven churches”?
Well, commentators give various solutions but the strongest argument is that these angels are literally angels. That is, this heavenly vantage point is showing us that there are angels charged in the care and protection of the churches. This makes sense when we consider that angels are ministers of God, and his care is for his churches. Remember after Jesus undergoes temptation from Satan in the wilderness, the text says, “Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him” (Matt. 4:11). Therefore, it makes sense that they are also charged with ministering to the churches. But, the angels also seem to serve to represent the churches themselves as well, since each of the letters is addressed “to the angel of” each church, while the letters go on to address the actions of those who make up the church.
And if this is the case, then when John turns and sees Jesus standing in the midst of the lampstands and holding the angels (which care for and represent the churches) in his right hand, then it is a picture of Jesus’ presence in the midst of his churches and his control over his churches.
You see, imagine we were being persecuted left and right so that some of our own brothers and sisters here had been killed, some of us were being imprisoned, and many of us were facing death. There would be a great temptation to feel that we’ve been abandoned by our Lord or that somehow the enemy has gotten the upper hand. But John gets a glimpse not of the way things might look to our physical eyes, but he gets a glimpse of how things actually are. It may look like Jesus has abandoned his persecuted people, but he’s present right in their midst. In fact, he’s so one with his church that when Paul is persecuting the church before his conversion, Jesus asks him, “Why are you persecuting me?” And it may look like the enemy has gotten the upper hand, but he holds his people in his hand.
The one who is God the Son, the Almighty One, is present with us and holds us in his hand. God the Son is with us. This morning, the living Jesus Christ is present among us through his Spirit. This is why the church is called the temple of God, because Christ is with us. And he is in control of what happens to us.
But let me add one last note before we bring this altogether because there is another truth revealed in this vision John sees:
After John sees this powerful vision of Jesus, he falls at his feet like a dead man, and Jesus reaches down, lays his right hand on him, and says, “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” (1:17-18).
Jesus tells John he doesn’t have to fear. Why? Because Jesus has conquered his enemies. Death and Hades are pictured as enemies of God in the Scripture. Paul notes in 1 Corinthians 15 that the last enemy that will be defeated is death itself. And at the end of the book of Revealtion, we see death and hades being thrown into the lake of fire. Therefore, as Jesus tells us that he holds the key to death and hades, and since keys represent authority, Jesus is saying that he has authority over death and hades.
But how? How has he conquered death and hades so that he exercises authority over them? He answers by presenting himself as the one who lied, and lives forevermore.
You see, when Jesus died, he went into the heart of the enemy. He was subjected to death as he paid the penalty for sin. And if Jesus’ death had been the last word on that Friday, that would have spelled no hope. But on Easter Sunday morning he rose from the dead, conquering death and hell forever. So right now he reigns at the Father’s right hand, alive forevermore, and death and hell have no power over him. And nor do they have power over those in him – his people.
That is what Jesus is telling John here. He holds authority over death and hell. Yes, we will suffer. Yes, we may suffer to the point of death. But death will not hold any power over us. Our death will merely be the last sting of the enemy before we are raised because death is powerless to hold all of those who are united with the risen Christ by faith.
This morning, I don’t know where you are, and I don’t know what tomorrow holds. There may be peace when we awake in the morning, or we may find ourselves in the midst of overwhelming persecution. But we are called to live as conquerors in this life. And that doesn’t mean we’ll avoid persecution or affliction. It means that as those who are conquerors through union with Christ our king, we will demonstrate his authority by our patiently endurance in affliction in this life as we live as faithful witnesses to Christ. But we can endure because God the Son is the Almighty One, who stands in our midst, is present with us by his Spirit, and holds us in his right hand. He has even conquered the enemies of death and hell so that neither can have any ultimate hold on us. This is what Easter means. And this is why we can endure.
Therefore, let us conclude the service, understanding that we are victorious soldiers in Christ’s army by taking the bread and the cup which represent the body and blood of our conquering risen King, and declaring by faith that we will walk as faithful witnesses, enduring with patience, as we await the day when Christ will return, put down all opposition, and save his people so that we might reign with our risen King forever and ever. Amen.