I want you to turn back in your
Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 1, as we deal with another
preliminary to the series we plan on engaging in over the
next couple of months. Revelation, chapter 1. The apostle
John receives this revelation somewhere between the year AD
70 and the year AD 100. Most conservative scholars would
agree that the most likelihood is during the reign of Domitian,
the terror-ridden reign of a despotic emperor who was so insecure in
himself that he demanded that people bow to him and worship
him as God. It was a precursor to what you
and I will be dealing with toward the end of time when our fascist
government is no longer tolerant of theology or a people that
are serious about Christianity and will target directly your
conviction of who the true and the living God is and his depository
of truth, which we call the Bible, the Word of God. The Bible is
very clear that virtually every generation where the Christian
church has left a revelation of the glory of God in Christ,
ultimately culture and government turns on that Christian witness
to challenge the authenticity of the faith of the people of
God. As our elder said, you and I live fairly comfortably in
this present age. We don't know why it is that
God has given us this tenure. If you don't believe in the election
for any other reason than the fact that God chose you to live
in America, you didn't choose to live here. You better understand God is
sovereign where he places the nations. And we've got brothers
and sisters who know what the heart of the book of Revelation
is all about even presently in our world. And you and I have
a privileged position of standing on the sideline in a certain
sense. I am not taking away from the
fact that we go through trouble. We do. But we don't go through
near about the trouble. Other people do. and especially
for the cause of Christ. So as we look once again in Revelation
chapter 1, what I want to call your attention to is the importance
of understanding how God has intended to introduce Himself
to the church through John the Apostle. The importance of these
opening passages will help us again get a grip on the benevolent
nature of God, the kindness of God, the care of God Almighty,
His real earnest care for the church in the first century,
the church in the Middle Ages, and the church right now where
you and I are, is that we would know what his mind is concerning
those of us who have been called to bear witness to Jesus Christ
and his glorious gospel. And as we opened up last week
dealing with the intentionality of God to reveal the glory of
that which is given to Jesus Christ by the Father to Christ. And then we saw how that Christ
gave that revelation to the church. The church now is about to experience
the opening prologue of that revelation through John, who
would be the vehicle by which the church receives the revelation. So our Lord speaking through
verses 1 through 3, we ended with verse 3 last week. Blessed
is he that reads and they that hear the words of the prophecy
and keep those things that are written therein. for the time
is at hand. You will note that there was
a blessing given, a blessing articulated in verse 3. You are
blessed if you read this epistle. You are blessed if this is part
of the religious task in the church where the minister of
the word is opening up the scripture, the totality of scripture preaching
to you and you are blessed if you are hearing the readings
of these prophecies and if you'll note in your bulletin there are
seven blessings in the book of Revelation this is the first
blessed is he that reads and upon that statement upon that
statement John is told in verse 4 John who identifies himself
to the seven churches which are in Asia and Grace be unto you
and peace from him which is and which was and which is to come
and from the seven spirits which are before his throne and from
Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten
of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth unto him
that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood and
he hath made us kings and priests Unto God and his father to him
be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen That's the end
of the letter for me Will you notice what's taking place under
inspiration of the Spirit of God is that John is now being
the mouthpiece of the triune God as they give a benediction
to the church, that's our first point a triune benediction I
want you to understand the device of this. This is a blessing being
poured upon the church even before the letter is fully developed.
That's point number one. The triune benediction, a great
blessing of introduction. Wouldn't you say? A great blessing
of introduction. For those of you who are still
worried about the book of Revelation being some type of hyper-esoteric
message that's basically threatening human beings of utter and total
annihilation, and bestowing upon you dread and fear, know this,
the book of Revelation from the beginning to the end is nothing
but a blessing to the church of the living God. The writer
is opening up with a benediction, a benediction from the triune
God. What a gracious way to open up
the letter to the seven churches. Mark point number one then in
your outline. the benediction or triune benediction
a great blessing to let the church know that all three persons father
son and holy ghost care you mark it it says grace Be unto you
and peace verse 4 part B. Do you see that that's a common? Salutation a common greeting
a common Benediction that's given from someone to someone else
when they when they have your welfare at hand when they want
the best for you The Hebrew people constantly said grace be unto
you grace be unto you children of God I don't know if you know
this but you need that grace and Grace be unto you, grace
be unto you, grace and peace be unto you. And I'm glad to
know that all three persons have bestowed this blessing of grace
upon us. Point number one, then in your
outline, the infinite care of God to capture the souls of his
people with a view of his eternality. Will you notice how it says,
grace be unto you and peace Do you see that it describes for
us the origin of this benediction? It's first from the father now
notice how the father describes himself in the text grace and
peace from him which is and Which was and which is to come do you
see that? Grace and peace be first from
the father who's telling you he is Which is now watch this
Which was that is he's the same God yesterday That he is today
and which is to come and he's going to be the same way tomorrow
and when we say that this is the gracious expression of the
father in terms of his eternality what the father is saying my
desire for you to know my grace is eternal in nature is consistent
with who I am. My desire is that you be blessed
in the same way I blessed my people at the beginning of time.
In the same way I blessed national Israel when I brought them out
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. In the same way I blessed
the children of Israel in the days of David, in the days of
Solomon. In the same way God blessed the
people of God in the days of Jesus Christ. In the early church,
the blessings of God the Father are a permanent disposition his
soul towards us now Saints market from him do you see that from
him this is from the father the father is eternal he doesn't
change and as some have stated Revelation chapter 1 verse 4
part B this which is and which was and which is to come totally
corresponds with the great I am of Exodus chapter 3 verse 14
I am that I am Now watch this because I am that I am I do not
change and because I never change I never have changed I never
will change my desire for grace in your life is eternal Thank
you father Thank you father. I want you to grasp that now
because you see what all three persons are doing They're taking
their time to give you a personal benediction. I Individually now
they could have done it corporately They could have done it as one
whole but they each took their time to say as the father is
here speaking You know what? He's saying. I bless you. I Bless
you people of God he who was and is and is to come the great
I am God Almighty himself. I bless you. I bless you with
peace and grace You're in good shape when God the Father does
that are you hearing what I'm saying? See, I want you to understand
then that their whole intention is for the people of God to be
utterly blessed by their revelation. And you and I are just getting
a peek into the uniqueness of the Father here as he is being
described by the which is, which was, and which is to come. And
then notice that the next person to utter the benediction is the
Spirit of God. And from, do you see it? the
seven spirits which are before his throne. Didn't we say earlier
that the number seven is the number of perfection? It's actually
denoting the totality of the work of the spirit of God all
around the world and the cause of bringing God's elect to Christ.
He is the fullness of God in the ministry of the word to draw
his people from every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue. And
the blessing is coming from the spirit of God too. Do you see
that? It's as it were, the Father says, I bless you. And the Spirit
is saying, I bless you. The Father says, I bless you
with all that I am in my eternal, unchangeable, immutable character. And the Spirit is saying, I bless
you with all that I am in my purpose to save, draw, reveal,
manifest, quicken, keep, and bring into the fullness of the
covenant. I bless you. I bless you. So
now I'm double blessed. I'm double blessed right now.
The blessing came from the father and now the blessing has come
from the spirit who has identified himself with the redemptive work.
You'll see that as we go through the book of Revelation, the seven
full spirit, Revelation four and Revelation five. He is the
one who finalizes and culminates and bring to pass the will of
the father. The purpose of the Sun I bless
you. I bless you. I'm double blessed
now notice what he goes on to say Which are before his throne
and from you see that next 1.5 verse 5 and from whom Jesus Christ
Grace and peace be from him which is and which was and which is
to come and from the seven spirits Which are before his throne and
from Jesus Christ That makes them persons Makes the Spirit
of God a person Because only a person can bless you Did you
get that the father blessed you with his own? articulation of
blessing Consistent with his character the son the Spirit
has blessed you with his own articulation of blessing and
benediction Relative to his character and your knee and now the Son
of God is blessing us. I'm triple blessed I'm triple
blessed now watch what he says and from the Jesus Christ Who
is the faithful witness? The first begotten of the dead
and the prince of the kings of the earth. There's your Hebrew
triad again So now mass our master the Lord Jesus Christ who has
uttered the third blessing here Notice then that we're not always
bound to an order of the structure of the three persons father son
and Holy Ghost, right? I Here we see the Father, the
Spirit, and now the Lord Jesus. And the reason for which the
Lord Jesus will be third is because He will emerge up out of the
blessing to be the revelation. He will now speak last in His
intentionality for grace and peace to be in our life because
that grace and peace is going to come directly through Him.
And it's going to come through Jesus Christ by virtue of this
triad that we are now contemplating. Will you see what he says? And
from Jesus Christ, which is the what? Faithful witness, the first
begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, if you are honed in, locked in,
tied down, committed, focused like John, watch this. Everything
that God is saying, I'm paying absolute attention to. every
detail. I'm committed to every jot and
tittle of what God is saying. I don't want to miss nothing.
I want to understand every description of each person and I want to
understand how they work in the redemption of my soul. See, the
father said what he said, the spirit said what he said, and
the son is saying what he's saying as part of the total objective
to reveal themselves to us in this book. Hence, I might say
the revelation is unfolding right before our eyes. Am I making
some sense? Are you seeing these glorious
persons and their intention to bestow blessing upon the church?
Are you seeing it? Now we are disciplined and instructed
to contemplate the third person along these lines, and that is
his role as the one who is the faithful witness, the first begotten
of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. That
is under our first point. Look at what he's saying. He's
saying that I am the one who has been faithful in my full
testimony towards God the Father in such a way that my faithful
testimony has resulted in my death. Secondly, I am the first
begotten from the dead. As you and I know, He is the
firstborn from the dead. He is the first begotten from
the dead. He is the firstborn of many brethren. It describes His resurrection. It describes His overcoming and
triumphing over sin. the one of whom we are contemplating
now, who is bestowing blessing upon the church, is first and
foremost, the faithful witness. And might I say, really? He's
the only faithful witness? Might I say that? Might I say
in reality, there is no other faithful witness to the glory
of God, but his son, Jesus? Can Christ own this term, the
faithful witness, for himself? And therefore, there's a benefit
when he says, Grace be to you and peace from the faithful witness. What he's saying then is this
you and I can trust him We can trust that his witness his testimony
his faithfulness to the father Will be a constituent element
in the blessing that he's going to bestow upon you in other words
if Christ was not faithful The blessing wouldn't be mine He
couldn't render a benediction to me had he not obeyed all God's
commandment. If Christ was not truly the faithful
witness before God, before men, before angels, what good would
his benediction be to me? He'd be no different than you
and me. Now, this ought to teach you and I something about blessing.
When I bless you, it's fundamentally a desire, has no substance at
all for you. I just want you to know that
when I bless you and when you bless me It's a desire has absolutely
no substance to it. Whatever because it's not tied
to anything credible but when Christ blesses you His blessing
is tied to not only who he is but what he did and not only
what he did But who's he is as he is one with the Father and
one with the Spirit his blessing now is efficacious So the faithful
witness is a blessing to us because we know that when we are in Christ
We never ever ever have to worry about as it were marring our
testimony Our testimony being so flawed our testimony being
so weak That it would inhibit God's capacity to bless us because
God is not blessing us on the basis of our testimony But on
the basis of Christ's testimony And so the third person is saying
in this context, the son is saying, grace and peace be to you on
the basis of my faithful witness. That's good. Thank you, Lord. I want that. I want that benediction.
And really a benediction is designed for you and I to derive from
the one who is bestowing the blessing, emotional and psychological
and spiritual comfort. You got that? This person with
this authority to bless us, Is the one who is faithful in his
witness to death. He is the one that is begotten
from the dead That is he has risen from the dead and he's
only risen from the dead saints because he was perfectly obedient
in all things This same one that's risen from the dead is the prince
Of the kings of the earth. Did you get that? Well, I love
this The one that's blessing you with the benediction of grace
and peace is the ruler over all the kings of the earth See what
he's doing? He's immediately shoring up your
confidence in Him, in them, because of the things you are going through.
Now, if I'm already blessed by God the Father, who never changes,
is impeccable in all of His ways, ever-present, His eternality
is very clear to me, He won't change, He won't change, and
therefore you sons of Jacob are not destroyed. And if I'm blessed
by the Spirit of God, who is never going to fail in achieving
the goal of redemption for His people, and if I'm blessed by
Jesus Christ, who not only is the faithful witness, who not
only rose again from the dead, but He rules over the kings of
the earth, God, watch this now, not a thing in this world should
move me since I know He is Lord of lords and King of kings. See,
the intentionality of the benediction here is to help the church because
of what the church is going through. See, the church hasn't heard
from the master in some 30, 40, 50, 60 years, ever since he ascended
and went back to heaven. The church is going through persecution,
as I said. If we are dealing with an early
date, we're dealing with the days of Nero, right before the
destruction of the temple. If we're dealing with latter
dates, we're dealing with Domitian. And Domitian and Nero has harassed
the Christians and the Jews, and Domitian particularly the
Christians, so that the Christians are now wondering, watch this
now, where is the Lord? Have you ever been there? Have
you ever been there in your life where things have been difficult
so long you really quietly have asked the question, where's the
Lord? See, the Lord has just shown up in the servant John
who is going to see to it that this letter is sent to all the
churches in Asia Minor. Let them know God the Father,
God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are on their job. And
their job is to let you know that they bless you, they bless
you, they bless you with grace and peace. Grace and peace is
yours, Church of the Living God. That's the point. That's the
point. And I love it. I absolutely love it. Because,
you know, if you're a parent and you have a child that is
struggling and really laboring to have a sense of self-security
because of the difficulties of their life, do you know how immeasurable
The blessing is that comes from mama and daddy to them when they're
in trouble Do you understand how profoundly impacting it is
to tell your son or your daughter? I love you I love you. I love
you. This is what they're saying when
they say I bless you I bless you I bless you and not just
as corporately us individually the father blesses you The spirit
blesses you the son blesses you i'm good to go right there If
they have blessed me, guess what? I'm blessed. I can't be more
blessed than that. How can you be more blessed than
the great blesser himself? This is why we say praise God
from whom all what flows every blessing. Every blessing is a
very important for you not to contemplate this. And when he
talks about grace, he's talking about the believers permanent
standing before God. Do you understand that child
of God? When he says, grace be unto you, he's talking about
the believers permanent standing before God, the church's position
as a sealed status of eternal favor. When God bestows his grace
upon you, you are always in the sight of God, perfectly righteous. When God bestows his grace upon
you, there's nothing in the universe that can change that favor in
your life. The gratuitous nature of God
towards you in the context of grace is this. You have now obtained
all that Christ has obtained and the Father views you in Christ
and his favor upon you is in Christ and all that Christ has,
you have. And I can tell you this if you
don't know it. The Father loves the Son. See, I'm trying to drive the
point home. This is a glorious opening letter to churches that
are really struggling. The Father is saying, I love
you and I bless you. As we read in Ephesians chapter
1, verse 3 and 4. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. according as
he has chosen us in him before the world began in order that
you and I might be sons of God through Jesus Christ to the praise
of the glory of his grace that's blessing that's blessing I don't
know if you know that that's blessing and so it's important
for us to understand this opening triune benediction there are
other things here that are critical to that statement but we won't
deal with that point number two the impact of Christ's emergence
and exaltation because truth be told when we deal with this
benediction We only have one brief statement of the character
of God in terms of his eternality That is the father and a very
brief statement concerning the character of the Spirit of God
in terms of his his redemptive and evangelical work the seven
spirits of God which are before his throne But we have quite
a detailed description of Jesus Christ, don't we? the faithful
witness, the first begotten of the dead, the prince of the kings
of the earth. Now watch this, watch this. Unto
him, you see how now the focus is turned to Christ? Stay there
because there we are. We are now contemplating the
revelation of Jesus Christ. Unto him that what? Loved us. Unto him that loved us. John
is now focusing his thoughts and his meditation upon the benediction
of all three exclusively upon Christ. Now watch this, saints,
unto him that loved us. Do you see that? Now generally
in the word of God, the love of God described in terms of
its application to you and me is almost always in the past
tense. Almost always in the past tense,
but not always. It's almost always in the past
tense because God's love towards us is not about this kind of
gushy emotional sentimentality of the moment where the attitude
might be on the part of the Christian. Do you love me today? Do you
love me now? Show me how you love me now.
It's one thing that you love me 2000 years ago when you died
for me on Calvary Street. But how do you love me today?
That kind of mentality will get you in trouble every time. Because
God's love is part of God's nature Do you guys believe that God
is love? Therefore his love never changes
That we would question whether or not God loves us today. Did
God love you yesterday? Did he love you 10 years ago?
Did he love you 2,000 years ago then God loves you today? Am
I making some sense but the text is Advisedly is in what we call
the present tense form. And this is what it's saying.
Now unto him who presently loves us. The Lord Jesus presently
loves us. Now you know someone loves you
when they know everything about you and still like you. Unto him that loves us presently. Now this is how I know he loves
me. He ever lives to make intercession for me. He stands between me
and the Father to make sure all of the covenant blessings that
are mine are bestowed upon me at the right time in the right
way so that I give him honor through those blessings. Christ
is constantly mediating in my behalf because he constantly
loves me. Now watch what it says. Now this is true for you too
if you're a child of God. Listen to what it says. It says, unto
him that loves us and has washed us. from our sins in his own
blood. We could actually describe this
as an exegetical, an explanation or a definition of his love.
Is that true? Child of God, will you please listen to me? If all
Christ did for me in his love towards me was to wash me from
my sins, I'm happy. Do you understand that? But really
what this is simply describing is the nature of his redemptive
love towards us, which is necessary to bring us into relationship
with him. He must wash us. You and I are filthy by nature
outside of Christ. As sinners, we are as filthy
as dirt. And if God's going to have a
relationship with us, he must wash us. And the only agent by
which our sins can be washed is the blood of the Lamb of God.
Which means the washing of Christ was the laying down of His life
in your behalf. And thus the Scripture says,
greater love hath no man than this, that that he lay down his
life for his friends. Does he love us? He laid down
his life, didn't he? He laid down his life. Now the
word washed there has a dual connotation and it's in your
outline because of the different manuscript arguments. In some
translations it will say loosed or released, who released us
from our sins. In our translation it says washed
because the two Greek terms are so very closely related. The
word loo-o is washing. The word loo-tron means to make
a payment for sin. The word loo-o is for washing.
The word loo-tron means to make a payment for sin. And so in
some manuscripts, the earliest manuscripts have washing, the
latter manuscripts have releasing. But will you hear me? It was
the blood of Jesus Christ that paid for my sin, that released
me from my guilt, that delivered me from my bondage. And it was
the same blood that washed me from the filth of my natural
corruption as well. So I can go with both translations.
Can you? I can go with both. He paid for me and then he cleaned
me up. He redeemed me by a price, and
then he washed me up. He justified me by the payment,
and then he sanctified me by the cleansing. I can go with
both. And either way, it's called loving
me. And God has loved us, and the Son has loved us. And this
is profound, because what he's getting ready to do is teach
you and me the character and nature of our relationship as
he begins to reveal his glory. And here it is. Look at the latter
part. Watch what it says. Not only did Jesus Christ wash
us from our sins. Not only did he do that, but
he made us look at verse six. Look, it was and he has made
us what kings and priests unto God and his father. Do you see
it? the effulgence and the emergence
of the Lord Jesus Christ in the context of his faithful witness,
him rising again from the dead, and him ruling over the princes
of the earth. Remember what he said? All power and authority
has been given unto me. Do you believe that? And from
his rule in heaven, he has now been building his church. And
guess what? Every member brought into the
church is made. First, he has loved us. Second,
he has washed us. Third, he has made us kings and
priests unto God. Kings, that's love, isn't it?
See, because before he actually brought you into the experience
of grace, you were a pauper. You are a broke, hell-bound sinner
in terms of the revenues and treasuries of heaven. You didn't
have a dime in the bank account in glory. You were just as broke
as broke could be when it came to spiritual things But when
once Christ purchased you and watched you and made you now
you are a dignitary Before the throne of God with the 24 elders
ruling over everything With God the father and God the son heirs
and joint heirs with Christ Jesus. Am I helping you? Am I helping
you? See, so in other words, the opening
of the letter is raising the saints up to where the triune
God is themselves. Hey, come up here because this
is where you are. Now, again, this is remarkable
to me because they know exactly what the people of God are going
through down here on earth. Sometimes we don't feel like
kings, do we? The last thing we feel like is
a king. The way this world will beat us up sometime. We wonder
what on earth are we ruling over, the way we get tossed to and
fro. Ruling over what? Isn't that true? And sometimes
we don't act like priests either. Our hearts are so cold. See,
this is when we get into the seven churches, you're going
to see this. Sometimes we don't operate out of the dignity and
calling of being that mediatorial role. We get so selfish in ourselves,
we forget that God has saved us to think about others. He
has made us a kingdom of priests, a kingdom of priests, a kingdom
of priests, royal priesthood. I told you all the nomenclature
concerning national Israel is now ours called the church of
the living God. That's why Peter said in first
Peter chapter two, that we are a kingdom of priests. That's
the way God deals with us. You are a priesthood. Why? Because
Christ is a priest. You are a king. Why? Because
Christ is a king. To Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever and ever and ever. And the next thing I want
to call your attention to with that is John's identification
with the church briefly before we move to our subsequent points.
We touched on briefly verses 7 last week with regards to the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. When Christ comes, there won't
be any partying. But verse 8 opens up this way
because this is going to be an interesting connection. I will
not develop verse 8 fully. I will touch on it. Because I
do want to get to verse 9. But here's what's taking place.
As John is being the vehicle by which the revelation is given
to him, John hears these words in verse 8. I am Alpha and Omega. Do you see that? I am the beginning
and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, and which
is to come. Now who are we describing? The
Father. Is that not so the context demands
it back in the previous verse the opening benediction The father
said I am the one who is and was and is to come the almighty
So john is hearing from the father. Is he not? He's hearing from
the father because the revelation as you guys are going to learn
is given from the father to the son to the church and john gets
to experienced that transition of revelation from the father
to the son. This is a father-son church experience. And John is the vehicle by which
this is happening. Now mark what John says. I want
you to mark this now. I, John, who also am your, what? And companion in tribulation
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, I was in the
isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ. What is John saying? He's saying,
brothers and sisters, this letter is not coming to you from the
Palatial Hotel, a five-star hotel, where I'm kicking back under
air conditions. No, this is coming from an island,
20 miles off the coast of Ephesus, where they have exiled me for
preaching the gospel. They left me here for dead. I'm
laying on a pile of rocks. sitting out here suffering for
the gospel sake. Now watch what he says. Just
like you. Isn't that good? Just like you. In other words, John is saying,
I am your companion in tribulation. All right. You need to know something
about this. For those of you who are brand new Christians,
you need to get over trouble, get over trouble, get over it
and get on top of it. Because trouble is designed to
draw you near to God. And if you don't deal with trouble
right, you're gonna run from God. Trouble is God's servant
to burn up the chaff, to bring you low, to teach you how to
pray, how to call on God, how to fellowship with God. Trouble
is designed to show you your need of God. Get it right now. Get it right now. Stop thinking
it's strange. It's not strange. It's common.
It's common. You will not grow in Christ until
you embrace suffering, embrace difficulty, embrace trouble as
part of God's ingredient by which he draws you near to him. Get
a hold of it. Listen, I know our toilet's not
working. I know that. I'm praying for
you, OK? Because I know some of y'all
about to leave the church. I ain't coming back here until the toilet
get fixed. I feel sorry for you. That's tribulation for you. Boy, you couldn't stand one missionary
trip with me to Africa. You couldn't stand one missionary
trip with me to India. Cause they didn't have bathrooms.
We took a break and scattered out to the bushes. Yes. And then we came back 30 minutes
later. Nobody asked any questions about where you washed your hands
and cleaned up. No, you came back 30 minutes
later. Tens of thousands of people. Now y'all try to work that tribulation
out. Are you hearing what I'm saying? John says I am your brother
in tribulation Tribulation is an element of the kingdom of
God is central to God's glory in the world Jesus says you shall
have what? But be a good cheer. I've overcome
the world I'm your companion in tribulation and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ watch it I was in an isle of
Patmos for the Word of God's sake for the testimony of Christ
and I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day. Now be careful, we're getting
ready now to use John as a porter, a porter into the revelations. John now is a porter. John is
gonna be a door into, a door into the revelation. We're getting
ready to go into the revelation, okay? This is what we're getting
ready to do now. We're entering into the revelation
and we're gonna be there until we're done. This is the door
in. And quite remarkably, John is
teaching us that the door into these revelations is trouble.
You and I don't come into accurate and effectual and fruitful knowledge
of God like we do when we go through trouble. You know how
you read your Bible and you think you understand what it says?
And then you go through some trouble and you go back and read
it again And that thing goes boom it opens up that little
tin font now is 34 font and it's very clear All who live godly
in christ jesus shall suffer persecution and then you go.
Oh god meant that Because you went through some trouble Right
and then you learned other things about what the word of god said
about yourself like you're weak But you thought you were strong
and then when you found yourself on your back you read that verse
again when I am weak then he is strong now it makes sense
to you Those are the doors that open up to bring you into a greater
experiential knowledge of divine truth so that you can agree with
God And that's what's happening here. John is saying we're going
to enter into the revelation but as As co-heirs with Christ
in the sufferings of Christ, so I have three points under
this one John's identification with the church One is our common
troubles two is the authority to endure the authority to endure
Do you notice that John is not writing a letter to the seven
churches to ask them to appeal to Caesar to get him off that
island? Ooh, I can go down that road. So like we go into prison ministries
and we do a bunch of ministries and once we do those ministries,
guess what we get? A bunch of letters. Because some of them
are looking for doors out. Could you write a letter to help
me get out? You understand what I'm saying? John's not writing
a letter to help him get out. He didn't ask one member of the
church in Asia Minor to find a way to get him off the island.
You know why? Because the revelations that
John is having about Christ and the Father and the glories of
eternity so far outweigh the trouble that he's going through
that he'd rather stay there and get the whole of the revelation.
Reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy
to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us
Do you believe the Word of God see to me? That's the rate of
exchange and God always rewards obedience that way if you will
stand there and suffer for Christ's sake he will reward you manifold
for that and it will be far more an exceeding and Revenue a benefit
when we do so he's going through common troubles and we are called
to Endure and this is why it's called the kingdom and patience
of Jesus Christ. You see that phraseology Haven't
you ever thought that strange the kingdom and patience of Christ
you see that? First of all, it's a kingdom
It's a kingdom now when you are a part of a kingdom you are a
part of an institution with a constitution with bylaws with privileges with
blessings and authority When you're in the kingdom of God,
you are possessed now of the authority to endure suffering
for Christ's sake. When you're part of the kingdom
of God, you now are an inheritor and a possessor of the spirit
of glory by which you are now able to endure suffering for
Christ's sake. When God brings you into the
kingdom, you now have the authority to suffer for Christ. That's
strange, isn't it? But it's so. Read it for yourself,
Romans chapter 5. Look at Romans chapter 5, verses
1-5. I just want to make this point
before we go on. I want to remind you of what
the apostles said in Romans 5, verses 1-5, concerning difficulties,
concerning tribulation. Verse 1, Therefore being justified
by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access by faith, into this grace wherein
we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God, don't we?
Not only that, but we glory in tribulations also. I heard one
person go, hallelujah. See, this one hurts. This one
hurts. Because some of us have never
ever gloried in tribulations. Some of us have never ever seen
the connection between the trouble and the purposes of God in our
life. Some of us have never had the clarity of understanding
the will and purpose of God in the midst of the difficulty that
allowed you to rejoice in the suffering, knowing that the end
of that suffering is an advancement in the purpose of God in your
life. But see, what Paul is saying is we glory in tribulation. We
learn to glory in it. Now, Paul said, I had to be taught
this. You guys remember that. I've been taught these things.
God has taught me how to abound. He has taught me how to abase.
He has taught me how that in all things I am to be content
with whatsoever things God has given me. That's a discipline. God has to teach you how to endure
for his namesake. And if we don't, this is the
danger of the Hebrew writer again, that we might be what? Bastards.
All whom the Lord loves he what? Therefore endure suffering. It's
the kingdom, child of God, it's the kingdom. Let me just add
this little pastoral clip to this point before I move on.
If you really want to be blessed, and I mean blessed, get a handle
on this principle. That when you are going through
trouble, and it's trouble wherein you are clear that it's not a
direct consequence of some explicit sin that you have committed,
Because when it's like that, there's no discombobulation or
kind of wondering. You ain't got but one thing to
do when it's a consequence of your sin. Repent. Confess your
sin. Get on your knees quickly and
say, God have mercy. And he will. But the longer you
wait, the more you will endure his chastening. But if you are
going through troubles like Job went through trouble, The only
thing you're to do is endure that trouble, knowing that you
will be blessed on the other side of that trouble, just like
Job was. See, when God puts his people
in the fire, it's in order for him to get glory. And most of
the time, it's in order for the fourth person in the fire to
show up. Do you remember Shadrach, Meshach
and Abednego? And the king said, now I thought
we threw three brothers in there. How is it that I see a fourth
person? Because the sufferings of the
saints lead to the revelation of Christ in the midst of that
suffering with them so that it's redemptive for the people of
God and maybe evangelical for the ones who are on the outside.
Why do I want to get out of the fire when my master will show
up in the fire? Am I making some sense? And so
this is what this is what we are learning here. Listen to
what he says. He says, we glory in tribulations also, knowing,
do you know this, that tribulation teaches us how to endure. Tribulations
are nothing but weights that we use to build our stamina,
build our core, build our core. Put some more on, brother. Put
some more on. Put some more on. Put some more.
And patience, experience. Because see, when you learn to
endure, guess what endurance does for you? Endurance starts
to change your priorities. It starts to change your categories
of thinking and your categories of what you think is right and
what you think ought to be. Experience teaches you how to
rearrange what's important. It builds character. And that
character builds hope. And hope makes not ashamed because
of the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost
which is given us. Do you see it? So on the front
end is justification. On the back end is the work of
the Holy Ghost constantly pouring into the heart, the love of God.
Trials make you love God more when you're born again, when
you're born again. All right, let's go back to point
number four. I know I didn't get much out of that one either.
That's OK. I don't care. I love where I'm going. Watch
this now. So John's identification with the church is to let them
know that this revelation, this glorious revelation that they're
about to get, about to receive, is coming from a place of suffering
in his life as it was for theirs. And he identifies the time and
space wherein this takes place. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
day and I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. This moves
us into our next contemplation. Point number four, this is a
very critical truth. It's called the voice of authoritative
command, which I heard and I turned to see. The voice of authoritative
command. Why do I say that? Because John
says the voice that he heard was like a trumpet. Isn't that
what he said? Look at it. He says, I was in
the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a great
voice. of a trumpet now remember we
are in the apocalypse and Because we are in the apocalypse we are
dealing with symbolism typology metaphors imagery, right? We're
dealing with these images in the symbolisms and typology of
the Old Testament, right? So immediately upon contemplating
the trumpet I've got to go back to the Old Testament. I Because
we are now in the apocalypse. The apocalypse is a high-intensity
set of genres by which you have to think through everything that's
being said. Don't just let the idea, his
voice was like a trumpet. It was a great voice of a loud
trumpet. So what? So what? The trumpet here, in
the context of what John is going through, underscores the nature
of the relationship between the prophet or the seer and God speaking
to him. John here is occupying the office
of Ezekiel and Daniel and Isaiah, but more particularly Ezekiel.
Son of man, Ezekiel 33 verses 1 through 7. You don't have to
go there. Son of man, I have set you upon the wall as a watchman
that you might blow the trumpet and let my people know You will
hear the word from me. And when you hear the word from
me, you blow the trumpet and let them know, warn them from
the judgment. And so the voice of the trumpet
is an authoritative command given to the prophet by which the prophet
is compelled to respond. Will you mark then, John is not
hearing a flute. He's not hearing a whistle. He's
hearing a trumpet. So if anyone is going to move
with urgency upon the authority of the message, it's the prophet.
Now the people may not be as passionately driven as the prophet,
but the prophet is compelled because the manner in which he
hears the word is as a trumpet. And the Bible tells us in the
book of Amos, if the trumpet be blown in the city, shall not
the people be warned, shall they not fear? When a trumpet is blown,
people who understand the blowing of the trumpet realize it's now
time to pay attention. Am I making some sense? It's
now time to pay some attention. And so in our context, there's
some interesting things here I just want to develop briefly
around the voice of command. I will have you to know that
John says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and I heard
behind me, behind me. Now, ladies and gentlemen, this
again, an Ezekiel type of prophetic insight because Ezekiel had the
same experience in Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 12. Mark what it says
in Ezekiel 3 12. Remember now Ezekiel saw some
of the same glory John did didn't he? Zechariah saw some of the
same glory Daniel saw some of the same glory Isaiah saw some
of the some of the same glory, but Ezekiel will play a large
large sort of principle of recapitulation for the book of Revelation Because
John will not only see what Ezekiel saw but experience it as well.
Notice what it says in Ezekiel chapter 3 verse 12 Are you there? Then the spirit took me up."
There it is. John said, I was in the what?
Spirit. Now watch this. And I heard behind me a what? Voice. In this context, it's
a great rushing saying, blessed be the glory of the Lord from
this place. So also Ezekiel heard behind him. Now, ladies and gentlemen,
let me just make an application to this idea or this position
of being, hearing a voice behind. Frequently, the prophets are
used by God to serve as a picture of the condition of the people
to which God is speaking. And often God would have the
prophet do weird things. Isaiah had to walk around with
his butt out for two, three years. Isn't that wild? He had to walk
around with his butt out. Now, I know you're tripping.
Read your Bible. I'm not twisting it. I'm not
reading into it. I'm telling you what he had to do. All right?
because he was serving as a type of Israel's uncleanness in whorish
ways. And what God was saying through
his prophet was, my wife has her butt out. I'm just telling
you. Ezekiel chapter four, God told
him, I want you to lay on your side for 130 days. And I want
you to lay on your side another 40 days, 130 days for the rebellion
of the 10 Northern tribes, 40 days for the rebellion of the
two Southern tribes. And then I want you to actually
fix your food with man's dawn. I know you don't believe me,
but read it for yourself. Now Ezekiel said, now Lord, I do
all that other stuff, but cooking with man's dung, now that's a
little over the top for the brother. Can we use some cow dung? And the Lord said, okay, you
can use cow dung. It indicated how severely angry God was with
the manner in which his people were acting. And daily the people
would walk by as Ezekiel would be on his side, building a human
parable of the disposition of God towards Israel. Are you hearing
what I'm saying? And they would get a visible
image of it. They would get a visible image of it. You and I are getting
a mental image of it. And then we have other accounts.
John the Baptist is a walking parable. He's got a girdle of
camel's hair and he's eating wild locusts and honey and he's
girded about with a leather girdle. John the Baptist is wearing a
garb full of unclean things. They would have never been allowed
in the kingdom of God. But John is serving as a model
of the nation of Israel being in an unclean state before God.
That's why he never went to the temple. Are you hearing what
I'm saying? And in this context, for the
word to be coming behind Ezekiel and from the backside of John,
where John is hearing it behind him, means that there's some
work to be done on the part of the person hearing. Do you know
what that work is? You need to be turned. When you
and I have our backs towards God, he will still speak, but
it won't be in favor. Because the only time we hear
God in favor is when we see Him face to face. A husband and wife
are in favorable relations when they are face to face. That's
position number one. But when my back is turned, I
am indicating that I do not have a high regard for what my wife
is saying. When she turns her back on me,
it means she has no regard for what I'm saying. Do you know
what would happen to me if I turned my back on my mama when I was
little? Flying objects would begin to rise up and hurl. Wouldn't
they? Hurl. And I could hear them in
the wind coming. And even when I turned the corner,
they would turn corners. Are you hearing me? I got knots
right now from them turning corners. Heat-seeking missiles. The arrogance
and pompousness of sinners who would turn their back on God,
cast His commandments behind their back, And that's why John
said, I had to turn. I was so compelled by what I
heard, I had to turn. And ladies and gentlemen, you
and I have to be turned to get the revelation. There are a lot
of folks we know who hear it from behind, but they don't see
the revelation. They know in their conscience
it's the word of God. but they don't have a favorable
relationship with God face-to-face. And that's why the children of
Israel cried out in the Psalms, Turn us again, O God, turn us
again. Cause your face to shine upon
us and we will be saved. See, God has to turn us. He has
to turn us. It's not just hearing it in the
atmosphere. When you are in a relationship
with God, you want to see His face. Every saving knowledge
of Christ is a revelation of God's glory in his face. That's an open revelation where
God is making himself plain to you and you're in a proper relationship
with God. Remember, God talked to Moses
what? Face to face. That's what we're
talking about here. That's what we're talking about
here. Let's go on because I don't want to waste too much time.
So point number one, hearing from behind, that is a prophetic
parallelism to Ezekiel. It's a dangerous place to be.
It's calling you to turn. You and I have to be converted,
converted, converted to know. Isn't that right? That's why
in Acts chapter 22 verse 11 through 16, Paul was explained to by
the angel of the Lord. God has chosen you, Paul. He's
chosen you. He's called you. He's called
you that you might know his will, watch this, and see that just
one. That you might know his will
and see that just one. Salvation is a revelation and
a seeing of the glory of God in Christ. How are you going
to see his face? unless you're first converted.
Am I making some sense? You've got to see his face. You've
got to be converted to know. And then you've got to be granted
to see. I want you to see what John sees
now, so we can quickly move forward. The voice of authoritative command,
which I heard and turned to see. Now, automatically, for those
of you who are grammarians, you might notice what seems to be
a contradiction or a paradox. Because how can you see a voice?
Right? But the prophet is a seer. And
it's words that paint pictures. And that's why in the book of
Isaiah chapter 2, Isaiah turned to see himself, the Word of the
Lord. The Word of the Lord that Isaiah
did see. The compilation of biblical truth,
the depository of truth we have as the Word of God paints a picture,
doesn't it? The Bible is the vision. Christ
is the revelation. Christ is the revelation. John
is about to see the revelation. Are you ready? This is absolutely
marvelous. Listen to what it says in point
number four then in our outline here. When he turned, when he
turned the voice of authoritative command, when he turned point
number five, the vision of our glorious high priest. It's amazing. I think I'm going
to wrap it up here. I want you to see this. Listen
to what it says. And I turn to see the voice that
spake with me. That's verse 12, right? And being
turned, see that language being turned? That's what we call a
completed act. That's a completed act. I turn
and being fully turned, I saw. Got it? How are you going to
see unless you turn? I saw seven golden candlesticks
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like the son
of man clothed with the garment down to the foot and gird about
the paps with a golden girdle He had his head and his hair
was white as wool White as wool and as white as snow and his
eyes were as a flame of fire His feet like undefined brass
as if they burned in a furnace and his voice as the sound of
many waters And he had in his right hand seven stars, out of
his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was
as the sun that shineth in his strength. Amazing. That's the first revelation of
our great high priest, Jesus Christ. And I tell you what,
if we take the time to deal with that revelation, it would take
a whole sermon in itself. because what you see personified
will be the execution of the office of Christ fully in the
ministry of the church. What you see personified in what
John describes will be the exercise of Christ as the great high priest
fully in his church and fully throughout the world. The apparatus,
the things described in this, and I'm just gonna touch on them
lightly, will span through the rest of the book. Everything
you see here concerning Jesus Christ, who stands in the midst
of the seven golden candlesticks, are going to span the rest of
the book. I just want you to get that, right? Okay, so even
though right now we have it all collected in one place, in one
person, it's going to work itself through the whole of the revelation. So right now you have centered,
the whole revelation is wrapped up in a person. And I just want
to make a few points about that so that you can grasp this. What
John sees is absolutely glorious. Pay close attention to this truth. The glory of our Savior in this
vision, the things that John sees in this vision, I want you
to mark this now, is not primarily about the garment and the girdle
that John describes. Notice in verse 13, in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, one like unto whom? That's right. That's a marquee statement, isn't
it? Clothed with a garment down to the foot. You guys see that? That's the external garb that
he wears, isn't it? And girt about the paps with
a golden girdle. For those of us in the 21st century,
the only thing that John has described is a full length robe
with something that girds around his waist, his loins, and around
his chest. and he's described the girdle
as being golden. He hasn't even given us a color
scheme concerning the robe. He hasn't told us anything about
the robe. The robe has no content to it. It's not fine linen, it's
not leather, it's not any other kind of material and so far as
a description. Are you with me? I want you to
understand what's taking place in this revelation before we
go. John tells us he's clothed and the clothing for us would
underscore his role as high priest. These garments are high priestly
garments, okay? So we are dealing with our high
priest. But what John is really describing is not the existential
garb. John is describing the substance
of his person. The thing that blows John away
that you must get is that John is overwhelmed by the details
of the person. I want you to get this. This
is very important. John describes briefly the garments. They're relatively simple statements. Sure, they're important, but
there's nothing elaborate, nothing exquisite, nothing profound,
nothing complex or otherwise, right? There's nothing there.
In other words, watch this, ladies and gentlemen. The saviors of
this world, the heroes of this world, are all known for the
glory of their existential guard. They're known for their apparel.
They're known for their uniforms. When you and I get caught up
in the heroes of this world, we get caught up in the way they
dress. I like Spider-Man. Do you? I like Batman. Do you? I like Superman. They're all heroes. I'm really
jazzed by Iron Man. I want one of those suits. I
do. I want you to mark something,
however. And those guys are all pseudo saviors. They're all false
saviors. And they are false saviors who
are put together by the minds of carnal men. And what carnal
men are saying by these kinds of saviors is, we're more concerned
with their external appearance, by their outer garb. These folks
are really empty suits. I mean, take Spider-Man and separate
him from his suit. What you got? Nothing. a wimpy
little news guy, right? Take Batman from his suit and
you got nothing. Take Iron Man from his suit and
you got an alcoholic drug addict, right? Now stay with me now.
This is how pathetic the heroes are in this world. But the one
we serve, we're not moved by his external garments. The one
we serve, the one we love, the one we adore, draws us in by
the intrinsic glory of his being. His person is glorious. He's
glorious in who he is, not what he wears. My master is not an
empty suit. My master is substantive in his
being. John will tell you, will you
notice that his hair is white like wool. Now that's not describing
your African-American. I'm sorry for you ethnocentrists. Straighten that out now. He is
called the son of man. And this takes us back to Daniel
chapter 7. For in Daniel 7, Daniel saw the
vision of one like the Son of Man who came to the Ancient of
Days. Verses 6 through 9. The Son of
Man is the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a title for His deity. His
eternality. His preexistent presence. And He goes to the throne. And
the one sitting on the throne is called the Ancient of Days.
Guess who that is? The Father. But Daniel tells
us that the Father's hair is white as wool. And now Jesus'
hair is white as wool. Why is that? Because when you
start studying the apocalyptic language, as I said last week,
you got to start tying old and new. You got to start bringing
them together and combining them. They are conflations now of two
rich theological truths. Are you ready? The Father is
now being revealed in the Son. The Son now is bearing the attribute
of the Father since He is now taking the Father's throne and
ruling over the masses of the world. That when you see the
Son, you see the Father. When you see the Son, you see
the Father. Are you guys hearing me? When
you see the Son, you see the Father. Yes, they are independent.
Yes, they are distinct in their persons, but they are one in
nature. And the Father has chosen to
manifest His glory in the Son. Now watch this. The Father owns
the Alpha and the Omega, but the Son owns the first and the
last. They both bear the same nature
and they're both from everlasting past. They are both very God
and very God of very God. Are you hearing what I'm saying?
And there is no knowledge of the Father apart from the Son.
And so the revelation that John is giving concerning Jesus raises
him to the height of equality with his Father in terms of his
dignity and his nature and their oneness of purpose. He's glorious. he's glorious and then you'll
notice that it says and his feet are as bronze bronze there again
my brothers and sisters we ain't talking about black folks bronze
Now if you go to the book of Daniel chapter 10, you will see
the same imagery in Daniel chapter 10 of the one who was revealed
to Daniel in the vision as not only being bronze in his feet,
but bronze in his arm. That means he was bronze all
over. Now bronze, just like gold, just like silver, are idols in
the temple that have to do with those purified, enduring metals
that God typifies as representing himself. For Jesus to be described
as having feet, Feet like bronze means that he has the dignity
the right and the authority to dwell in the presence of God
in Daniel chapter 7 It says his throne was encompassed about
by the fiery flame If Jesus is at the right hand of God That
means he has the capacity in his own person and dignity to
dwell with the consuming fire Our gods are consuming fire The
throne is filled with fire And when you take metal and pass
it through the fire, if it's substantive, it comes out pure.
And I'll tell you what I've told you long ago. When you look at
the lovely feet of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he has lovely feet,
he walked through the depths of hell from the front side to
the back side as a substitute for guilty sinners like me. He
went through the wrath of God all by himself. He tread the
depths of hell. He went through the judgment.
He went through as it were the fire. And he came out on the
other side as pure bronze in his perfect atoning work for
me. My great high priest ever lives
because he made it through on the other side. Are you guys
hearing what I'm saying? He's gloriously triumphant. because
he passed through the fires of hell and now he can be a savior
to those who call upon him. Glorious, glorious, glorious,
glorious. And what John goes on to say
is this, not only is his hair white like wool, not only is
his feet like a burnished brass, but he has eyes as a flame of
fire. Do you see that? And see, when
you love somebody, don't you pay attention to them? Is John
paying attention to the Lord Jesus? See, fellas, y'all better
learn some things. You know how the white, they
throw these quick litmus tests on us. Oh, so I noticed you didn't
say anything about my dress. That's what they do. Now, they
bought that dress seven months ago. And you saw it when they
bought it. And you meant to say something,
but it slipped past you. And now they got you. Oh, you
don't care. But when you care, you notice.
And John noticed everything about Jesus. And I will ask you, is
Christ so compelling to you? Is he so wonderful to you? Is
He so splendid to you? Is He so magnificent, so glorious
to you, so effulgent to you? Is Christ so stunning to you
that you are willing to sit there fixed on the Son of God, to pay
attention to every detail of His being? Don't you want to
know Him? And this is eternal life, that
they might know Thee, the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom
He has sent. And since our Father remains
invisible, The only way I'm going to know Him is through the Son.
The Son gets to bear the attributes and the characteristics and some
of the predicates of the Father in order that I might know the
Father. And if the Father is glorious, the Son is glorious
too. And John is looking at a glorious,
glorious Savior. Not an empty suit, a glorious
Savior. And may I say this? I've got
to wind it up here. For John, Christ is so stunning
He's drop-dead gorgeous. Did you get it? Drop-dead gorgeous. Look at it for yourself, verse
17. Look at verse 17. Look at it. See, that's when
you love someone. See, now John been loving him. He been loving
him ever since he was on the earth in his humility, but he
loves him even more so now. I got to tell you about my master. He's glorious now. Look at it
in verse 17. Are you there? And when I saw
him, I fell at his feet as dead. Now, that's not drop dead gorgeous. I don't know what is. As dead. The Lord is good, isn't he? Isn't
he good? Glorious is this revelation.
And I have to stop here for time's sake so we can partake of the
Lord's table and eat and go home. But listen, we are just at the,
we're at the precipice. We haven't even broken into.
The revelation of Jesus Christ in high definition, high definition,
in absolute detail, proceeding from his mouth is a sharp two-edged
sword. See, our Lord is not caught up
in externals. Take away his robe. Take away
his girdle. And he's still glorious. Take
away his robe. Take away his girdle. He's still
glorious. Is he glorious? Is he glorious? Amen, amen. We're going to stop
right there.