The Glory of Christ

And friends, in just a few minutes, we're going to have a baptism.

But before that, we're going to turn to God's Word.

So would you turn with me to Revelation chapter 1.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

That's page 965 in the Pew Bible.

We began our Revelation series last week with an introduction,

looking at verses 1 through 8.

And there we saw that this book is for the servants of God,

that is, all followers of Jesus.

And we saw that this book is from the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And lastly, we saw that the book is ultimately about Jesus Christ and God's kingdom.

So we're going to pick up where we left off last week at verse 9 of chapter 1

and go through the rest of the chapter.

So let me pray as we turn to God's Word together.

God, indeed, you have no rival and you have no equal.

You are the first and the last, the beginning and the end,

the one who is and who was and who is to come.

And we praise you this morning.

We thank you for the deep privilege that it is to open up your Word

and to hear what you are saying to us,

that we might behold you in your glory and worship you

and live lives for you and for your kingdom and the power of your Spirit.

Jesus, all of this is possible because of you,

because of your incarnation, for your perfect life,

for your death, for your resurrection,

for the fact that you're ascended and seated at the Father's right hand

and coming in glory and we give you praise.

Help us now as we understand this Word that you've given to us,

your church.

In your mighty name we pray.

Amen.

All right.

Revelation chapter 1, verses 9 through 20.

Revelation 1:9–20

Let me read this for us.

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom

and the patient endurance that are in Jesus,

was on the island called Patmos on account of the Word of God

and the testimony of Jesus.

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.

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me

and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands

and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man

clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like 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.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.

But he laid his right hand on me saying,

Fear not.

I am the first and the last and the living one.

I died and behold, I am alive forevermore.

And I have the keys of death and Hades.

Write therefore the things that you have seen,

those that are,

and those that are to take place after this.

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.

This is God's Word.

So, when you're facing a problem

or when you're facing a trial

or even suffering of some kind,

what's the one thing that you need?

Well, perhaps you'd say,

The one thing I really want is for the problem to go away, right?

I want the suffering to stop.

But if that doesn't happen in the midst of pain, suffering, and trial,

what's the most important thing you can have?

And that's really what our text is pointing us toward.

But before we look there,

what are some of the things you might say you need?

Perhaps the presence of caring and supportive friends,

people to walk with you.

That's a good thing.

Or maybe a strategy for overcoming the trial,

a plan to eliminate the source of pain.

Nothing wrong with that.

If you're jobless,

you need a good resume workshop maybe

and a few practice interviews.

If your marriage is in trouble,

a good marriage counselor

and some communication exercises to work on.

Some sort of strategy in the midst of trial.

Or, you know, on the other hand,

maybe the one thing you really want or really need

is answers, right?

Some sort of reason

why you're going through what you're going through

or at least some potential reasons

to help you understand why

or what's really going on.

And of course, all these are good things, right?

They're not bad in themselves.

But our text today points us to something even greater.

It points us to the most important thing

for us to have

when we're in the midst of trial

or about to undergo some sort of trial.

And if I were to put it simply,

what Revelation 1, 9 through 20 is telling us is this.

What a suffering Christian,

what a suffering church needs most

is a renewed vision of the glory of Christ.

When we're facing trials

or when we're about to face trials,

what we need more than anything else

is a renewed vision of the glory of Christ.

So let's take some time to unpack that.

The first thing we see in our passage

in verses 9 through 11

is we see the fact that Christians indeed suffer.

They face trials or problems or persecutions.

They experience distress and loss.

Look again at verse 9.

I, John, that is the Apostle John,

he says,

your brother and partner,

that is someone who shares deeply

in something together with you,

your partner.

In what?

In the tribulation and the kingdom

and the patient endurance

that are in Jesus.

Look at those last three concepts,

tribulation, kingdom, endurance in Jesus.

This is how John is summarizing the Christian life.

First, tribulation.

That word means suffering, distress, intense hardship.

As a follower of Jesus,

there will be trial and hardship

and often on account of being a follower of Jesus.

Look at the rest of verse 9.

He says,

I was on the island called Patmos

on account of the word of God

and the testimony of Jesus.

Because John had been faithfully following Jesus,

bearing witness to God's word,

bearing witness to all that was true about Jesus,

the testimony about Jesus,

he was exiled and in prison

on the island called Patmos.

Now, Patmos is a tiny little island

off the western coast of modern-day Turkey.

And at the time, in John's day,

it was used as a Roman penal settlement.

It was a place where they put people

who were dangerous to the good order of the empire.

They shipped them off

to spend the rest of their days in exile on Patmos.

It was a prison colony.

Now, we today may not experience exactly the same thing,

but notice that John says,

I'm your brother and partner in this tribulation in Jesus.

He writes to these churches saying,

this trial, this hardship,

it's expected,

and we share in it together.

After all, do you remember what Jesus himself said

in the Gospel of John?

He says, in this world,

you will have tribulation.

It's the same word that John uses again here in Revelation.

But John doesn't summarize the Christian life

as only suffering, right?

As only tribulation.

He says in Jesus,

we also share in the kingdom

that is the reign of God,

the in-breaking, liberating rule

of the triune creator and redeemer.

The tribulation and the kingdom in Jesus.

Now, there's a balance here, isn't there?

Christianity isn't just tribulation.

You know, if that was the only thing we thought

about following Christ,

that would be pretty defeatist

or pessimistic or despairing.

But it isn't just the kingdom, right?

That would be pretty triumphalistic.

No, it's both.

It's about God's kingdom

that progresses even through tribulation.

And it's about tribulation

that will one day be swallowed up

and healed by God's kingdom.

It's both.

So what we see in this first paragraph of our text

is that all Christians will experience

both the kingdom and trial.

At some point in our walk with Jesus,

we will face trial and suffering and hardship.

That doesn't overthrow all the joys and blessings

of knowing God in Christ, the kingdom,

but we can expect it.

Now, some of us don't need to be reminded of this fact.

Maybe you've experienced all sorts of hardships

in this life, physical, emotional, relational, spiritual.

Maybe you've been ridiculed for your faith in Christ.

Some Christians in the world today

are being physically harmed and put to death

for their testimony to Christ,

as John puts it here.

But even so, I do think many of us are surprised

when hardships come.

We may think for one reason or another

that we're entitled to a pain-free life

or that being a follower of Jesus

should somehow get us out of it.

Now, don't get me wrong.

Following Jesus will save you

a whole lot of heartache.

To listen to Him, to know Him, to follow Him,

that sort of life is full of joy.

It is full of what John calls the kingdom.

But it also means suffering at times,

and we must not be surprised.

Peter wrote in his first letter,

the Apostle Peter in the book of 1 Peter says,

Beloved, don't be surprised at the fiery trial

when it comes upon you to test you,

as though something strange were happening to you.

So friend, I wonder,

are you experiencing a fiery trial today?

And are you uncertain how you will stand

in the face of it?

Jesus told John to send this book off

to seven churches in Asia Minor.

That's Western Turkey,

and they're listed there in verse 11.

In fact, they're listed in the order

that the kind of main road would take you

if you were delivering a letter like that.

First, you would land at Ephesus on the coast,

and then you would go up to Smyrna,

and then you would start to kind of circle around

to the rest of those cities.

And those churches, as we know,

and as you'll find out

when you read chapters 2 and 3,

were about to undergo persecution and suffering.

Some of them had already started to experience it.

Rome was about to become more aggressive

in the years to come.

The emperor was beginning to demand

not just respect, but worship.

And following Jesus was about to be

more costly than ever.

And as you read through the seven letters

in chapters 2 and 3,

you see what they're up against.

Not just physical harm from unjust rulers,

but in the midst of that pressure,

internal theological confusion,

moral breakdown,

even spiritual complacency.

All things that threaten us

as the church today.

And John wants to call them and us

here to this third thing he lists.

He wants to call us to patient endurance.

That's what he lists and mentions in verse 9.

And notice how all three of these words

are strung together.

We participate in the kingdom

by virtue of our union with Christ, right?

We participate and we undergo tribulation

by virtue of our union with Christ.

These things are in Christ.

But then we also have patient endurance.

Endurance.

The patient endurance to remain faithful

comes also by virtue of our union with Christ.

Again, he says the tribulation and the kingdom

and the patient endurance

that are in Jesus.

And the rest of the chapter

starts to give that to us.

Where do we go to get this endurance

in the midst of trial?

Well, we see in the rest of the chapter

we get it from a vision

of the glory of Christ.

In verses 12 through 16

we see the glory of the person of Christ.

And then in verses 17 through 20

we see the glory of the work of Christ.

Now, if the word glory is a confusing one

or not very clear in your mind,

look at the description of Jesus

in verses 12 through 16.

I admit it's a little strange at first,

isn't it?

You know?

White hair,

swords coming out of your mouth,

all that sort of stuff.

But John's trying to use finite human language

to capture something that exceeds our language.

As you look over this,

what are some of the themes

that you might catch?

First, Jesus is radiant, right?

His face is shining like the sun.

His feet are like burnished bronze,

refined in a furnace.

His hair is gleaming white.

His eyes are on fire.

Even his clothes are resplendent.

He's got a golden sash around his chest.

From head to toe,

Jesus is blazing and bright.

This is the one who said,

I am the light of the world.

So first, the glory of Jesus here is his brilliance.

It's his beauty.

It's his radiance.

But second, it's his power.

His voice is like the roar of many waters.

His right hand is holding seven stars,

and we'll get to what that means in a minute.

Out of his mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword.

That's a striking image, isn't it?

It's as if to say,

here is one so powerful

that his mere word is penetrating and effectual.

What he says happens.

What he says goes.

The judgment that he renders is always true.

He doesn't just declare verdicts,

but his voice creates and recreates.

It's roaring like waters

and cutting the air like a trumpet,

as John said in verse 10.

So the vision of Jesus here,

his glory,

is one of intense beauty

and one of perfect power.

When do we ever catch a glimpse

of beauty and power combined?

You know, in this life,

we often only behold one or the other.

In this life,

beautiful things are often fragile, aren't they?

You know, flowers wither,

sunsets quickly disappear,

and powerful things are often,

well, not very beautiful, right?

I remember years ago watching

the world's strongest man contest.

Do you remember those?

You know,

they were pretty awesome.

You know,

these dudes with names like Lars and Dietrich

would like pull cars and throw logs

and do all sorts of crazy feats of brute strength.

But you know,

I wouldn't necessarily say

that those guys were the picture of beauty,

you know, right?

But here in Jesus Christ,

we see both.

Ravishing beauty

and unparalleled strength.

As John reaches for metaphors

to capture what the risen,

ascended Jesus is like,

he often turns to nature,

its hair like wool,

like snow,

like a snowstorm covering the earth

in layers of white.

There's power and beauty.

His voice like the roar of many waters.

The ocean is vast and limitless.

As the waves pound the shore,

there's power and beauty.

His face like the sun shining in full strength.

The sun,

the stars,

again,

beauty and power.

But in describing the risen and ascended Jesus,

John isn't just finding pictures from nature.

You know,

he's also,

and more importantly,

pulling images from the Old Testament.

You know,

these various images describing

the glorious Christ

come from places like Daniel 7

and Daniel 10

and Isaiah 60

and Ezekiel 1.

In fact,

Jesus appearing like a son of man

is a direct allusion

to Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

And listen to that passage.

Daniel 7,

13 and 14.

Prophet Daniel says,

That's Daniel 7.

And what John is saying here

in Revelation,

what Jesus is revealing himself,

as Jesus is revealing himself to John,

is to say,

I am that son of man.

Jesus ascended to the Father,

the Ancient of Days,

and the Father has given him

an everlasting kingdom

that will never pass away.

And it will be a kingdom

for all peoples,

nations,

and languages,

and it will never be destroyed.

Now,

how,

how then,

does this vision

of the glory

of Christ's person

help us endure in trials?

Well,

it's because this Jesus,

this one who is the sum

and source

of beauty and strength,

this one who fulfills

the Old Testament longing

for God himself

to come as king,

this one,

friend,

his kingdom will never end,

and it will never be destroyed.

No matter what is shaking you

right now,

it will not,

and it cannot,

take the best away from you.

If you belong to Christ,

then you belong to the one

whose beauty and power

cannot fade.

What you have in him,

no amount of suffering

can steal.

What you have in him,

no hardship can diminish.

The vision of Jesus here,

this is Jesus right now,

at the Father's right hand,

living,

ruling,

reigning,

coming again,

this is the one through faith

that you are united to,

Christian.

So even if your health fails,

even if your earthly dreams

are shattered,

you have him.

Imagine a house

full of artwork,

but every single piece

of artwork in that house

is just a print.

It's a reproduction.

It's a poster,

except for one.

Upstairs in the spare bedroom,

there hangs a genuine Monet

worth millions,

beautiful to behold.

Now imagine that same house

one night is robbed.

Every single piece

ripped from the walls

while the owner is away.

You know,

you can imagine the owner

coming home,

seeing the front door

sort of swinging open,

and in he goes,

seeing all of his pictures gone,

and his heart starts to beat,

and he hurries through the rooms,

and where is he going, right?

He's going to the stairs.

He's going up to the bedroom,

and there he sees it

on the wall,

in its place.

The Monet,

it's still there.

They'd taken everything else,

but not the one of real worth,

not the one that had

real lasting value.

That one,

he still had.

Friends,

it's the same with Christ.

It's the same with you

and Christ.

Every pleasure,

every good,

every joy we experience

in this life,

the real,

earthly created goods,

at the same time,

they're just prints

and reproductions

pointing us to him,

the source of all good,

whose face shines like the sun.

And if we have him,

then we can lose nothing.

You know,

some of those prints

in the house

might have had some good

associations for the owner,

but he had the thing

that was of real worth.

Now,

John doesn't just show us

the glory of Christ's person here.

He also shows us

the glory of Christ's work.

In verse 17,

John falls to the ground

as though dead,

but Jesus reaches out

his right hand

puts it on John

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.

When Jesus,

the ever living one,

died

and rose again,

he conquered

sin and death

for all who believe.

And now

he holds the keys

of death and hell.

You see,

friends,

because Jesus died

and rose again,

there's no suffering,

no death

that a Christian

will undergo in this life

that will not be overcome

and turned for their good,

either in this age

or in the age to come.

Jesus died on the cross

taking our worst,

taking our sin,

taking the punishment

our sins deserve,

taking the hell

and wrath

that was ours.

but in his resurrection,

what were we given

in exchange?

His righteousness,

his life,

his reward.

Jesus takes our worst

down into death.

He is the one

who died

but he is the one

who lives again.

So whatever trial

we face here,

we know that with a Lord

like this,

whatever trial we face,

it's not some mistake

in the plan.

No,

God will ultimately

use all of our trials

for our good

and he will make us

more like Jesus

through them.

Fear not,

Jesus says,

I hold the keys

of death and Hades.

I died

and behold,

I am alive forevermore.

And notice that Jesus

is here standing

among the lampstands

and holding the stars

in his hands.

Now the lampstands,

John tells us,

Jesus tells John

in verse 20,

are what?

They're the churches.

Jesus is in the midst

of the church

and it says that the stars

are the angels

of the churches.

Now perhaps angels

there are just that,

angelic beings,

a representative part

of the heavenly host

with a special ministry

to the churches.

Or perhaps angels there

could mean

just messengers.

Angel literally

means a messenger.

Maybe it's the human messengers

of the churches themselves

but either way,

isn't the picture the same?

That Jesus is dwelling

in the midst of his church.

He's present among them.

He's active among them.

He's here right now

even if we don't see him.

The living one

dwells among his people.

He dwells amidst his people,

the ones he purchased

with his own death

and he's ever present

to lead,

to guide,

to teach,

to warn,

to protect.

So this is what we need

in times of trial.

A fresh vision

of the glory of Christ.

When we see his person,

when we see his beauty

and his strength,

we realize that he

is our greatest good

and nothing can take him

or his kingdom away from us.

And when we see his work,

his death,

his resurrection,

his reign for us,

we realize that every bad

will be turned for our good

and we need not fear.

Now let me conclude then

with two applications.

One for those

who are not Christians

and one for those who are.

First,

we've been saying this morning

that those who believe in Jesus

can face trial and suffering

with the utmost endurance

because of who Jesus is

and because of what he's done.

But friend,

don't you see,

if you're here today

and you've not placed

your trust in Jesus,

then these things

are not true of you.

Without a saving relationship

with Christ,

the one who died

and rose again,

suffering actually

will steal

your best in this life.

Your friends,

your possession,

your worldly status,

your health,

none of these things

are immune from death

and decay.

And the bad things

that happen to you,

they will never ultimately

turn for your good.

apart from Christ,

your best days

will be forever behind you,

slipping further

and further away.

And as you head forward,

you are destined

for more loss

and more fear.

But the risen Lord Jesus

says to you right now,

fear not and come to me.

He's standing at the door

and he's knocking.

open to him

and put your heart's trust

in him

and the one who holds

the keys of death

and Hades

will be your Lord

and your protector

from this point forward

forevermore.

And he will come

into your life

and a little later

in Revelation,

he'll say,

I'll sit down with you

and I'll dine with you

and I'll make you my own.

And then you can live

without fear.

And if you have done that,

if you are a Christian,

then I want to encourage you

by way of application

to seek the means

of renewing this vision

of Jesus in glory.

Seek the means of renewing

the sense of the glorious Christ

in your own mind and heart.

You know,

you probably won't have

an actual vision

like John had here, right?

That's okay.

But what are the means

that God has given us

to make the truth about Jesus

more real to our hearts?

Well, first,

notice that John,

even in exile,

is worshiping

on the Lord's Day.

Now, when John says

the Lord's Day,

he's referring to Sunday.

This is one of the earliest

references to Sunday

as a special day

for Christians,

as a day for worship.

This is the day,

the Lord's Day,

Sunday,

when Jesus rose from the dead.

This is the new day

of Christian worship,

no longer the seventh day

under the Old Covenant,

but now the first day

under the New Covenant,

the day when the God of Israel

inaugurated his worldwide reign

in the resurrection of Jesus,

the Messiah, the Christ.

And here is John

worshiping in the Spirit

on the Lord's Day.

Friends, by way of simple application,

that is an example for us.

What we do on Sundays

isn't some rote ritual.

It's not checking off

a list of spiritual to-dos.

It's gathering

in the Spirit of God

to set our minds and hearts

upon the One who died

and rose again for us

to bring us to God.

Regular rhythms

of gathered worship

are essential

to keeping and renewing

our vision of Jesus' glory.

You know, it's easy

to drop off

coming to church on Sunday

when things get hard,

but that's precisely the time

when we need it

more than ever.

Because in gathered worship,

Jesus is present

in a special way,

helping us to recapture

a vision of His glory.

But also consider

your times of private prayer.

And in your times

of private prayer,

brother, sister,

do you take time

not just to pray

all of your needs to God,

though that is important

and good,

but you also take time

to actually set your heart

on God

and enjoy Him.

You know,

this practice

in our own private times

of prayer

is another means

of keeping our vision

of Jesus' glory

fresh and real

to our hearts.

Find a truth about God

or Christ

in your regular Scripture reading

and pause over it

and think over it

and slow down

and worship God for it

and enjoy God

for who He is.

By way of example,

think about Psalm 21.

Verse 1 of Psalm 21 reads,

O Lord,

in Your strength

the King rejoices.

Maybe you read

a passage like that

in your morning reading

or your evening reading.

And if you encounter

a line like that,

pause

to rejoice

in God's strength.

Think about the way

He parted the Red Sea,

the way He stilled

the storm of Galilee,

the way He rose

and power from the dead,

and the way that He's worked

mightily in your own life.

That's what it means

to meditate

on God's Word.

And the Holy Spirit

will use that

to refresh

and to renew

your vision

of Jesus' glory

and to give you

more of that endurance

that we have in Him.

Let me mention

just one more way

that we can do this.

What are the means

that God has given us

to renew our sense

of Jesus' glory?

Well, one other mean

I'll mention,

but there are more.

One other mean

is through the ordinances

or through the sacraments.

In the New Testament,

we see that Jesus gave us

two symbolic actions

to fuel our faith in Him,

baptism and the Lord's Supper.

And Jesus gave us

these practices

in order to keep

our minds and hearts

renewed

in the glory

of what He's done for us.

Now, we know

that the Lord's Supper

is this ongoing act

for Christians, right?

Jesus told us

to take two simple things,

bread and a cup,

and through those

simple elements

we're taken into

the infinite depths

of what He's done

for us on the cross.

We eat the bread

to remember His body

broken for us.

We drink the cup

to remember His blood

poured out for us.

And Jesus offers us

those things saying,

remember me,

eat with me,

take what I've done

down into the depths of you

and let me comfort you

and strengthen you

and change you.

The Lord's Supper

is that ongoing act

for those who place

their faith in Christ.

baptism, on the other hand,

is a one-time act

for those who have

placed their faith

in Christ.

We see in the New Testament

that after someone

hears the gospel,

places their faith

in Christ,

they're then baptized,

they're immersed in water,

they go down

and back up again.

And this going down

and coming back up again

symbolizes our union

with Christ by faith.

After all,

it was Christ

on the cross

who went down

into the waters

of judgment,

down into the grave

for us,

and on the third day

He rose again.

And when we are baptized

in Jesus' name,

it's as if we are saying,

what Jesus did

is now the most true

and important thing

about me

and who I am.

As Paul says in Galatians,

I've been crucified

with Christ.

It's no longer I who live,

but Christ who lives in me.

And the life I now live

in the flesh,

I live by faith

in the Son of God

who loved me

and gave Himself for me.

Baptism is that act

of publicly proclaiming

this great truth

of our union with Christ

by faith.

So Christian,

today as you face trials,

as you face hardship,

what this chapter

of Revelation

is telling us

is to look to the glory

of Christ,

take hold of the means

to see Christ

in all His glory.

glory.

There's an old hymn

that goes like this.

It says,

O soul,

are you weary

and troubled?

No light

in the darkness

you see?

There's a light

for a look

at the Savior

and life

more abundant

and free.

Turn your eyes

upon Jesus.

Look full

in His wonderful face

and the things

of earth

will grow strangely dim

in the light

of His glory

and grace.

Let's pray.

Lord Jesus,

we confess

that oftentimes

our thoughts of You

are so small

and so diminished.

Jesus,

give us a fresh sense

of who You've revealed

Yourself to be

in this passage,

the One Mighty,

the One Beautiful.

All Your judgments

are just.

All Your ways

are good.

You are the prize

above any.

Oh, Lord,

pull our hearts

out from earthly things

and the small

little cares

and concerns

that we become

so occupied with

and lift our gaze

to You again

so that we might

worship You

and so that we

might be strengthened

to run this race

with endurance.

We pray this

in Your name.

Amen.