Who is this son of man? Was their question. I hope you
and I ask this question. Who is this son of man? You know, the answer to that
question has a bearing on every other question that can be asked.
If this question is answered, who is this son of man? Now, the son of man said in verse
32, and I, if I be lifted up, John chapter 12, verse 32, and
I, if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all unto me. You'll notice that men is in
the italics. He doesn't draw all men without exception to
him, but he does draw thee all unto him. And I hope our response
to that is Lord, draw me. You know, the Shulamite woman said,
draw us and we will run after thee. Draw us. Draw me. Oh, can you pray that
right now? Lord, draw me. Verse 33, this he said, signifying
what death he should die. He's talking about the death
of the cross. And evidently these people knew that he was referring
to his death because of what they say in verse 34, the people
answered him. We've heard out of the law, the
Christ abideth forever. This is contradicting what we
have always heard. What is this about death? This
is not how we think it should be. This doesn't seem right. How sayest thou the son of man
must be lifted up? I think that perhaps these were
there when the Lord said to Nicodemus, maybe they heard about this.
And I, if I be lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent in
the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. They were listening in verse
20 of John chapter 12. And there are certain Greeks
among them that came up to worship at the feast. The same came therefore
to Philip, which was of Bethsaida of Galilee and desired him saying,
sir, we would see Jesus. That's our desire. Philip cometh
and telleth Andrew and again, Andrew and Philip tell Jesus
and Jesus answered and said, the hours come that the Son of
Man should be glorified. Who is this Son of Man? Did you know that that's Christ's
favorite title of himself? 83 times. He refers to himself as the son
of man. What a title for the son of God,
the son of man. Yes, he's the son of God, equal
to the father. The only way you can be equal
to the father is if you're one with the father. The only way
you can be equal with God is if you are God, he is God The
son, the only begotten and well-beloved son of God, he's the son of David. He's David's Lord and David's
son. I love the way he's called the
root and the offspring of David. David came out of him and he's
David's offspring. He's the son of David. He's the
son of Mary, born of a virgin. uncontaminated by Adam's corrupt
seed. And yet this was his favorite
title with regard to himself, the son of man. Now, when they
asked this question, who is this son of man? Look the way the
Lord answered, verse 35. Then Jesus said unto them, yet
a little while is the light with you. Now the Lord meant a little
while. He's going to be going to the
cross soon. He's going to be going to the
grave soon. He's going to be ascending to heaven soon. He
meant a little while, just a day or two. But he calls himself
the light. The son of man is the only light
we have as to why God could accept me and receive me. Now he's the
light, he's the only light with regard to that. Walk while you have the light,
lest darkness come upon you. For he that walketh in darkness
knoweth not whether he goeth while you have the light. Believe
in the light that you may be the children of light. These
things spake Jesus and departed. And what did hide himself from
them? Now, that is the last statement
in John's gospel with regard to his public ministry. After this, he's going to begin
the discourse with the disciples at the Lord's table, chapters
13 through 17, cover that. And after this, we're going to
have a kind of parentheses speaking in between these two times. We're
going to consider that in the weeks to come. But the last thing
said of him publicly was he did hide. himself from them. And if he hides, then you can't
find him. That's a very sobering statement
with regard to the end of his public ministry. And then he
spake with his disciple. Now he's first mentioned as the
son of man in Daniel's prophecy. Would you turn to Daniel chapter
seven? Daniel is right after the book of Ezekiel. You have
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Daniel chapter
seven. Verse 13. I saw in the night visions and
behold one like the son of man. came with the clouds of heaven
and came to the ancient of days, the eternal father. And they
brought him near before him and there was given him dominion,
absolute sovereignty and glory and a kingdom that all people,
nations and languages should serve him. His dominion is an
everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom,
that which shall not be destroyed. There's only one person that
is speaking of, the Son of Man, who is the Son of God, who's
given absolute sovereign authority. It was the Son of Man That was
the voice of God walking in the cool of the evening to come to
our first parents after the fall. The gospel promise of the seed
of woman. Crushing the serpent's head refers
to the son of man, the virgin born son of man, the brightness
of his father's glory, the express image of his person. It was the son of man whose delights
were with the son of men before the foundation of the world.
It was the Son of Man who created the universe. It was the Son
of Man who said, let us make man in our own image. Even then, the one God spake
as let us. God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit. It was God the Son who said,
let us make man in our image. In Joshua chapter five, let me
read this to you. Verse 13, and it came to pass
when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked
and behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword
drawn in his hand. And Joshua went unto him and
said unto him, he knew he was somebody, he wasn't real sure.
He said, art thou for us or for our adversaries? Are you on our
side or are you on their side? Neither. He didn't take sides. He said, nay, neither, but as
captain of the host of the Lord am I now come. And Joshua fell
on his face to the earth and did worship and said unto him,
what sayeth my Lord unto his servant? And the captain of the
Lord's host said unto Joshua, loose thy shoe from off thy foot
for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And he did so. Who is this son of man? Well, he's described in Revelation
chapter one, if you'll turn with me there. As a matter of fact, this almost
exact same description is given in the book of Daniel, again,
Daniel chapter 10. You will find when you read the
book of Revelation, if you read Daniel, you see John read Daniel
a whole lot. That might give us a clue that
we ought to be reading Daniel a whole lot as well. But this
is almost a verbatim quotation from Daniel's vision, Daniel
chapter 10, but beginning in verse 12 of Revelation chapter
one. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me. Verse 12, Revelation chapter
one. And being turned. Why did you turn, John? Because
I was turned. That's why. Being turned. I saw seven golden
candlesticks." Now we know as we go on reading, that's talking
about the seven churches to which he was writing. And in the midst
of the seven candlesticks, one likened to the son of man. Clothed with a garment down to
his foot. and girt about the paps with
a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame
of fire, and 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, And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the
sun shineth in his strength." And John says, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me saying, fear not. I am the first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead
and behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and death. What a powerful statement. Whether
you're in hell or in heaven, it's up to me. I'm the one who
has these keys of hell and death. Now let's look at what led John
to make this statement. Verse one of revelation one,
the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what the revelation is.
Everybody thinks, well, it's the end times and what all is
going to happen. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. which God gave unto him to show
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass. And he sent and signified it
by his angel unto his servant, John, who bear record of the
word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things
that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth and
they that hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things
which are written therein for the time is at hand, John, to
the seven churches, which are in Asia, 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. He's
the king of those kings. Unto him that loved us and washed
us from our sin to his own blood and made us kings and priests
unto God and his father, to him be glory and dominion forever
and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with
the clouds and every eye shall see him. And they also which
pierced him and all the kindreds of the earth shall wail because
of him. Even so, amen. Now the son of man speaks. I am alpha and omega. And that's the first and the
last letter of the alphabet in the Greek. And we use this term
A to Z, everything from A to Z. What's that mean? He's saying,
I am everything. Remember when I said the way
this question is answered has something to do with the answer
to every other question. He says, I made a Z. Everything
in this book spells me. He says, I'm the first. No, I am the beginning. I'm the
origin, and I'm the ending. I'm the purpose. Everything comes
from me. I'm the origin of all things,
and I'm the purpose for all things. I am the great end. You know,
the way the Lord spoke of himself, if any human being spoke this
way, you would think, how wicked. But yet, when the Lord speaks
this way, it's altogether truth and glorious. Beginning, I'm the origin, I'm
the end, I'm the purpose. Now I can tell you this for sure,
your purpose is to glorify Him in whatever way He sees fit to
use you. You may glorify His justice,
you may glorify His grace, but the Lord has made all things
for Himself. Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. He is the
beginning and He's the end, which was, which is to come. The Lord
is the Almighty. There's nothing that can prevent
His will from being done all the time. He is the Almighty. Who is this Son of Man? Well,
He's the Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end.
He's the Almighty. Now John speaks again in verse
9. He says, I, John, who also am your brother and companion
in tribulation, And in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ,
I love those two words together, the kingdom and the patience
of Jesus Christ. As he reigns in his kingdom,
he's so patient. He's not worried about anything.
He's not walking back and forth in frustration because his will's
not being done. He's patient. Being almighty,
his will must be done. This is who this son of man is. I was in the isle of what's called
Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Now John's an old man at this time. This was the last book
written, some probably 60 or 70 years after the death, burial
and resurrection of Christ. And John has been banished to
the isle of Patmos, verse 10. And I was in the spirit on the
Lord's day. I love the way Sunday's called the Lord's day. People
call it Christian Sabbath. No, it's not the Christian Sabbath.
It's the Lord's day though. It's the day he was raised from
the dead. And I love the way John calls it the Lord's day.
Sunday's a special day. It's the Lord's day. I was in
the spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice
as of a trumpet. This wasn't any still small voice. This was a great voice as of
a trumpet saying, I am alpha and omega. He already said that once, he's
saying it again. I'm the first and the last. I'm the first in rank and honor,
the last, the end, the purpose of all things. And what thou
seest, write in a book and send it unto Asia, unto Ephesus, unto
Smyrna, to Pergamos, and to Thyatira. and to Sardis and to Philadelphia
and to Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me and being turned." I love that. I turned,
how come I was turned? Turn us again. Oh, Lord God of
hosts, cause thy face to shine and we'll be saved. Now, if you
turn to the Lord, I know why you did. He turned you. Don't you want to be turned by
the Lord? And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. Look in verse 20 of this same
chapter, the mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my
right hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars
are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks which
thou sawest are the seven churches. Now the word angel means messenger.
It's the pastor. And then there are the seven
churches. Now, look what it says about
this one in verse 13. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the son of man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot. Now this is how important Church
is. Where was he seen in the midst
of the seven golden candlesticks? Where was he seen? In church. In church. That's how important
this is. We gather together with his presence promised where two
or three are gathered together in my name. There I am in the
midst of them. He saw him in the seven candlesticks
and look how he describes him. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man." Now this description
he gives was never meant to be painted. It's symbolic of who
he is. There have been people who tried
to paint this white haired with a sword coming out of his mouth
and all these with a brass and this was never meant to be put
on canvas. All that would be would be an
idol. Men would make of it nothing more. You're not supposed to
make any kind of likeness of the divine image, but he gives
us words that express who he is. And the first thing that's
said about him is he's clothed with a garment down to the foot.
and gird about the paps with a golden girdle." Now that's
telling us two things about him. Number one, he's king. That's
what the garment down to the foot represents. He's the king
of kings. He's everybody's king. Whether
they know it or not. He's the absolute king of kings
and that golden girdle around his paps. That's the garment
of the priest having the golden girdle girded about him. He is
the king priest. Now this is who the son of man
is. He's the king. The king is the one whose will
is done and his will is always done. There's never a time when
his will is not done. He is king of kings. And what
a priest, he is the great high priest, he's the king priest,
the priest after the order of Melchizedek, king of righteousness,
after that, king of peace. Now this one who's the son of
man, who identifies himself as the son of man, is king. That means you are in his hand. He's priest. This is the priest
that cannot fail. If he represents you, you must
be saved. You like that? The king, priest. That's who the son of man is.
The king, priest. Verse 14, his head and his hairs
were white like wool. Now that's speaking of him as
the ancient of days. This is speaking of him being
eternal. His age, white as wool. You know, he never had a beginning.
You know, that blows your mind to think about that, but he never
began to be. He's always been the great I am that I am. Now
in the Song of Solomon, he's portrayed as having black hair
like a raven. You say, well, is that a contradiction?
Of course not. That's talking about his eternal
youth. Thou hast the days of thy, thou hast the due of thy
youth. He's eternally young in his strength,
yet he's eternally, he never had a beginning. His white hair
of eternality. Don't you love to think of the
fact that he's eternal? He's omnipresent. He's omniscient. He's omnipotent. He's independent.
He's immutable. He has no needs. His hairs were white like wool,
as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire. Now, what I like to think about,
and this is the image we were given, the light from his eyes
came from him. It didn't come from the sun.
The light from His eyes came from Him. He can see things as
they really are. Me and you can't. We can't see
anything as it really is. But He does with His omniscient
eyes, the light that comes from Him. And listen to this because
he can say things as they are. He can say to every one of his
people, thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. Now that's a quotation from the
Song of Solomon, what he says to his church. Thou art all fair,
my love. There is no spot in thee. Now if there's any sin, he'd
see it, wouldn't he? But he sees things as they are.
And when he says, there's no spot in thee, there's one reason.
There's no spot in thee. You're absolutely beautiful to
him. He doesn't see you as if you're
that way, but he sees you as you are that way. Now somebody
says, how can that be? With his flame and fire of his
eyes, where he sees things as they really are, his omniscient
eyes that burn. How is it that he sees? Well,
let's go on reading. Verse 15, and his feet, like
undefined brass, as if they burned in a furnace. Now, in this imagery, what is
made of brass? The altar for sacrifice. the altar for sacrifice, and
did you notice how it says it's burned as a furnace? You know
every time the word furnace is used in the scripture, this particular
word, it's used with reference to hell. He bore the full equivalent of hell
on the cross. And he did what no one else could
do. Because of who He is, He completely
satisfied all the demands of God's law. He completely put
away all sin. 1 John 3, verses 5 and 6, He
was manifested to take away our sins. In Him is no sin. In Him, I have no sin. When He sees me, He sees one
without spot. holy, unblameable, and unreprovable
in His sight. And the only reason He can see
this way is because this is the foundation, what the feet stand
on, the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the brazen altar
where this furnace took place, this complete putting away of
sin. His feet like undefined brass
as if they burned in a furnace and His voice As the sound of
many waters. Have you ever been in Niagara
Falls? If you have, you've heard that
the power, that'd be a trickle compared to this, a trickle. His voice is the sound of many
waters. You see, this is the voice that
raises the dead. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live. Verse 16. And he had in his right hand
seven stars. Now, He speaks through the preaching
of the gospel. That's the significance of that.
He speaks through the angels. the angel of each individual
church. Now that is a glorious, fearful
thing. Yet he holds these stars in his
right hand. That's how he speaks, to please
God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's, the preacher's nothing. I realize that, but this is the
means that God uses. And that's why this is pointed
out. I mean, this is pointed out in this divine revelation.
He holds in his hand the seven stars and out of his mouth went
a sharp, two-edged sword. And we just read about it, Andy,
when you read that passage of scripture, the two-edged sword
of the gospel, of the word of God, the word of God is is living
sharper than any two edged sword. This is what comes out of his
mouth. Now, obviously this is not talking about a sword literally
coming out of his mouth. This is talking about his word,
his word, the sword of the Lord. It's his word. That's that comes
out of his mouth and turn back to Hebrews chapter four for just
a second. Then we'll verse 12. For the Word of God
is quick, living, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and
of the joints and marrow. And as a discerner of the thoughts
and the intents of the heart, neither is there any creature
that is not manifest in his sight, But all things are naked and
open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Out of his
mouth went this sharp two-edged sword, the Word of God." I love
the way Paul said to Timothy, Timothy, preach the Word. Whatever God's Word declares,
preach it. Don't apologize for it. Don't
hide it. Preach it. Preach the word. That's the word
that goes out of his mouth that he's able to pierce. He had in his right hand seven
stars out of his mouth when a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance
was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw it, I fell at his feet as dead. Now, if I'm not doing that because
I haven't seen him, if I see him, there's only one response. Hit the dirt. Worship. Him for who He is. You remember Joshua, that passage
of scripture I read? He said, are you on our side
or our adversary's side? I don't take sides. I'm the king of the Lord's hosts. I don't take sides. And then
when Joshua said that, he hit the ground and said, what sayeth
my Lord to me? He's not dictating anything.
What sayeth my Lord to me? You know, when Daniel had this
vision, same thing, you can read about this in Daniel chapter
10, you might want to do that sometime this week, where Daniel,
I have no doubt that John, his inspiration came from the Lord,
but I have no doubt that he read about this vision of Daniel. And you know what Daniel said
after he saw this vision? I retained no strength and my
comeliness, that which I vainly thought well of with regard to
me turned into corruption. You see, if you see him, you
can't help but to see that you are a sinner. And if you don't
see that, there's one reason you've not seen him. Isaiah said,
in the year the king Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted
up. His train filled the temple,
sitting on a throne. And what did he say about himself?
Then said I, woe is me. I am undone. For I'm a man of unclean lips. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. For mine eyes have seen the King,
the Lord of hosts." When Job said, I've heard of
thee with the hearing of the ears, but now mine eyes seeth
thee. Wherefore I hate myself, I abhor
myself, and I repent in dust and ashes. Now this is the response
to seeing him. You know, people will say, why
do you talk about being so sinful? What is this all about? I mean,
aren't you saved? This is the only response to
seeing him. That's what happens when you
see him. And when I saw him, verse 17,
I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon
me saying, fear not. Why am I not to fear? I'm the
first. I'm the last. I'm the first. I'm the cause,
I'm the last, I'm the great end. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Fear not. I'm the first, I'm the last and
everything in between. I am he that liveth. You know, I've heard people say,
Jesus is alive and well. That just sounds so irreverent
to me. He's not alive and well. He liveth. He is life. He is life independent,
having life in himself. If you have life, it's because
he gave it to you. I am he that liveth and was dead. The Lord is very cognizant of
the fact that he was dead and what he accomplished by that
death. I was dead. How? I don't know. But he was. He was dead. He died on Calvary's tree. They
put a dead corpse into that tomb. He laid there for three days
dead. But now he lives. You know, nobody
witnessed the resurrection, but his father. I love that. No man,
not even an angel witnessed this. Only his father. As he was in
that silent, dark tomb, his eyes opened. He began to breathe. His heart began to pump. He got up. He was dead. I am
he that liveth and was dead. And remember his death was an
accomplishment. There's something he accomplished
by his death. Get that. There's something he accomplished
by his death. The full salvation of everybody he died for. They
speak of the deceased which he should accomplish. Remember this.
Your salvation's already been accomplished. Quit looking to
yourself for anything. Don't look at yourself. It's
accomplished. It's finished. That's what he
meant. Don't look for something. Don't wait for something to happen.
It's already happened. It is finished. Behold, I'm alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of
hell and death. What that means is your eternal
destiny is utterly out of your hands. It's up to me. What do you think of that? position for eternity in heaven or in hell. You do not have any control over
that. It's up to him as to whether
or not you will be saved. It's up to him. Now, what is
your response? Why? I don't like that. Well, the fact of the matter
is, if it's not up to him and you have some say in this, you'll
never be saved. You'll be in hell for sure. There
will be no doubt as to where you're going or where I'm going.
If some of it is up to us, if we have some control in it, we'll
lose everything because of our sinful natures. So don't anybody
say, well, that just doesn't seem good. No, it's the only
hope you have. It is the only hope you have. And the only way to respond to
this is Lord save me. Have mercy on me. And here's
what is so glorious about this. There's never been anybody in
the history of the universe who truly asked him for mercy that
he turned down. If you seek mercy, you'll have
mercy. Now, if you seek for him to give
you what you got coming, you'll get it and it won't be good.
But if you seek pure, sheer mercy, He says, him that cometh to me,
I will in no wise cast out. Who is this son of man? Well, he's the Alpha and Omega. He's the beginning and the end.
He's the first and the last. He's the king priest. He is eternal. He's the omniscient eye that
can see all, having light from himself. He has the feet of brass
for the salvation of his people and the putting away of sin.
He has the voice of many waters that wakes the dead. He has the
sword coming from his mouth. And he says, fear not, fear not. Who is the Son of Man? He's the
one who is mighty to save and can save you. Who is the Son
of Man? He's the one we trust as everything
God requires in our salvation. Thank God for the Son of Man
who is the Son of God. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name, your son, the son of man, the
one whose delights were eternally with the son of men, sons of
men. Lord, we pray in his name that
you would make yourself known for Christ's sake to each one
of us. In Christ's name we pray, amen.