What To Expect With Jesus

Happy Sunday Crossway. This morning. You have Rob and Becky Willie here with

you. And when we think of Rob Willie, we think of the word

leadership. Yes, Rob shows a tremendous amount of leadership in our church planting

network, the Great Commission Collective, and he's shown a lot of leadership for

me personally. He has been someone that I've admired even as we began church

planting. So please welcome Rob Willie. Thank you. That's super kind of

you, super kind of Josh and Kara. I want you to know from

the top that I love your pastor and Becky and I consider he and Kara

friends, and thankful to God to be partnered in ministry with them and the

Great Commission Collective, and just a joy privilege for me to come and stand

in his pulpit and for him to have invited me to do so, and

your elders as well. So I'm so thankful to just get a glimpse of

your work of ministry and the work that God is doing here among you.

I bring greetings from our church, Corndale Bible Church in Davenport, Iowa.

We are in our nineteenth year and loving every minute of it. Becky and

I had the blessing of planting the church back in two thousand and four,

and we have had a front row seat to see a work of God like

we have not seen in any other part of our lifetime. So God is

good. We're thankful for it, and we're thankful to be here with you.

I also just want to commend you for just blessing your pastor with a

sabbatical. The sabbaticals extend ministry. Sabbaticals increase vibrancy, and really they profit

the church in general. If the ministry of your pastors is extended, if

his vibrance he is increased, if his joy overflows all the more as a

result of a sabbatical man, the church at large is going to benefit from

it, and your church here especially, and so bless you for that.

I trust that Josh and Kara are just having a phenomenal time with their family,

with one another, with the Lord, and just recouping and revamping for

the next season of ministry here in your church. I'm here with my wife,

Becky. As has been mentioned already, we have been married almost thirty

five years next month, thirty five years. I haven't forgotten Swede. He

prays the Lord for that. Yeah, we have three daughters, twenty seven,

twenty nine, and thirty one, all three married and living their lives,

and more important than them as six grandsons that they have given us,

and as seventh on the way, though we don't know whether that's going to

be a grandson or a granddaughter. But emphasis on six grandsons, no daughters.

We've told them the first one to give us a granddaughter gets all the

inheritance. So far it has it worked. Nonetheless, we're thankful to God

for all that he has granted us, and his blessings overflow. Turn with

me, if you will, shall wait to a Revelation chapter one. If

you need a copy of God's word, just get the attention of one of

the lushers. They'll be happy to get one into your hands. Revelation Chapter

one Versus nine to twenty. Since we're in the book of Revelation, by

the time we're done here, I'll tell you everything you ever wanted to know

about the end times and then some. All right, yeah, that's definitely

a joke. But Revelation is an exceedingly exceedingly rich book. We've been working

our way through it as a church this past year and a half. We

just finished chapter nineteen last weekend and can't wait to get to the best of

all of it in chapter twenty one and twenty two. Having said that,

the entire book, starting in Revelation one, is exceedingly rich, and one

of the reasons for it is that Revelation was written so as to increase our

perseverance. It was written that we might hold fast until Jesus comes. He

said so himself in Revelation to twenty five persevere, keep the faith, hold

fast his words until I come, and then he repeats it in different ways

throughout the rest of the book. It was written that we would hold fast

while we await the second coming of Jesus to take us home. As we

just got through singing, I hope that wasn't lost in you. And one

of the recurring themes of Revelation is Jesus himself. The main purpose is to

encourage us to hold fast, and it does so by revealing Jesus himself.

It's not only his revelation to us, but he's the focus of it,

his attributes, his coming, his judgment, his victory. It's Jesus first

in the book, of revelation, Jesus last and Jesus always, Jesus first,

Jesus last, Jesus always. And this passage is no different here in

chapter one. It's all about what we can and should expect with Jesus,

and not just later, but right now today, what to expect with Jesus.

You follow along starting in verse nine, I John, that's the apostle,

John, I John, your brother and partner in the tribulation. He's

writing to the church. That's the why he says, your brother and partner

in the tribulation. He's writing to believers and those who have put their faith

in Jesus is Lord and Savior, repented of their sin. I John,

your brother and partner in the tribulation, and the kingdom, and the patient

endurance that are in Jesus, in Christ. That is, all these things

that go hand in hand with a relationship with Jesus, being in union with

Jesus connected to him. Hi. John was on the island called Patmos on

account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The island of

Patmos, you need to know, was the Alcatraz of their day. You

know what I'm talking about. Alcatraz. It's no longer a thing. It

used to be a thing where the worst of the worst criminals would be sent

to Alcatraz. A little bitty island, Rocky Island, just off the coast

of San Francisco, Patmos, about ten miles off the coast of Asia Minor.

I'll come back to that in a second, rocky outcropping, not a

very big island at all, and pretty much abandoned except for this exile that

John was in. And he was exiled there for preaching the Word of God

and the testimony of Jesus. Just like it says there in verse nine.

You see it. He was exiled, imprisoned, if you will, separated

from the rest of culture. Is so because of the preaching of the Word

of God that he gave himself to and the testimony of Jesus that he was

all about. The Roman Empire didn't want him influencing anybody else. They had

had it up to hear with him. Verse ten. I was in the

spirit on the Lord's Day, that is, under the Holy Spirit's influence,

in this case a state of mind where he saw visions and heard sounds.

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 Na,

and to Pergamum, and to thiah Tira and Desartus, and to Philadelphia and

the Laya the sea, the seven churches of Asia Minor. All right,

you're gonna have to use your imagination here for a little bit. I want

you to picture that the screen behind me is the Mediterranean Sea. Over on

the other side of the world, the Middle East, and that's the Mediterranean

Sea. Over on the right edge, just off the edge of the screen

would be Israel. Okay, you know where I'm at. Israel. Over

off to the left edge of the screen would be the boot of Italy.

You know what I'm talking about. Let me shake your head just to make

me feel good. Awesome, awesome, And so right in the middle of

that Israel over the are Italy. Over there, you've got the bulk of

the Mediterranean Sea. And just above that, just off the top edge of

the screen is Asia Minor, what would be modern day Turkey, or the

bulk of modern day Turkey, Asia Minor. And over here to the left

edge of Asia Minor is the Aegean Sea. And in the Aegean Sea,

just a few miles off the coast of this big land mass is Patmos.

Okay, So John's up there, just off the edge of the screen in

the Aegean Sea that connects with the Mediterranean Sea, just off of Asia Minor.

And in Asia Minor are all of these seven churches that John lists out

here. Okay, f Thesis and Smyrna and so on. Asia Minor,

you need to know, was the first century province. This is not just

a geography lesson. All right, there's a point to this. Bear with

me. Asia Minor was a first century province of the Roman Empire, and

the churches listed here are both representative and strategic, representative of all churches across

all time, including yours. Right here John is speaking, He says,

as our brother and partner partner in all of these things. So these churches

are representative of all churches, and they're strategic because they were the distribution centers

for the seven postal districts in the area of Asia Minor, which was a

subset of the larger Roman Empire. People wrote letters in that day too,

all right, These are the seven postal districts, these particular cities, and

so churches were established in them, and from those churches the word of God

would spread out. So Jesus says to John, write these things down,

distribute them somehow as people were maybe were allowed to visit him on patmost distribute

these things that you're going to write down that I'm going to show you and

that you're going to hear from me in the Book of Revelation, and then

distribute them to these seven postal districts, these main distribution centers, so that

the word of God from there can go out to all the other places in

Asia Minor, and from there all the other places over the world. And

here we are. Isn't it amazing how God works all of that to say

that Revelation is written to real people in real places, just like you and

I, people walking with Jesus, just like us, with various expectations about

walking with Jesus, just like us, various expectations. And John starts with

a very important part of those expectations that's often left out, namely that with

Jesus we should expect difficulty. That's the first point I want you to grab

a hold of and dial in on with Jesus. Expect difficulty with Jesus.

Expect adversity with Jesus. Expect obstacles and hurdles in the course of your life

with Jesus. Expect trouble. Look at verse nine again, I John,

your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that

are in Jesus. Tribulation, kingdom work, and patient endurance go hand in

hand with the relationship with Jesus. That's what he's saying. They go hand

in hand. You can't have one without the other. You can't have Jesus

without tribulation. You can't have Jesus without endurance. We can't have Jesus without

the kingdom. They're all a part of being in Christ, all a part

of being connected to Him in union with him. That's the whole idea of

what in Christ means, or in Jesus it means in union with Him,

in relationship with him. Every now and then somebody will ask me, why

is it that you sometimes say that Christianity it's not about a religion, it's

about a relationship. Well, actually it's about both. It is a religion

and it's a religion that is based on a relationship, or where do you

get the relationship from? In Christ, That's what it means. It means

to be in relationship with Him, to be connected, to be in union.

That was all for free, but so important for you to get all

of these things. Tribulation, kingdom, work in patient endurance are part of

being in Christ. Not only that, but they imply difficulty, difficulty in

tribulation because by definition, tribulation is difficult. It's bad difficulty in the kingdom,

the Kingdom of God because it's opposed, it's opposed by Satan, and

it's opposed by the world. You experience that in your week to week living.

And there's the difficulty of patient endurance because enduring is hard, especially patiently

enduring and waiting for God's promises to be fulfilled. Not the least of which

is the return of Jesus Christ in glory. As we say, walking with

Jesus involves difficulty. All three of these things that John laid out difficulty.

There's just no getting around it. If someone told you somewhere along the way

that salvation means a life of bliss, or that's what you expected in your

relationship with Jesus. You were wrong and they were deceptive. Because the truth

is, trials and tribulations are part and parcel of the Christian life. They

go hand in hand, trials and tribulations difficulties. That's one of the reasons

that the asperity gospel quote unquote, which is a contradiction of terms in and

of itself, but it's one of the reasons that the prosperity gospel is so

so wrong. You know, just give your life to Jesus and all your

problems will go away, including your financial ones. Except Jesus said things like

in John sixteen thirty three, in the world you will have tribulation. Speaking

to us, in the world you will have will have tribulation. And second

Timothy three twelve says all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted. All who desire to live a godly life and Acts fourteen

twenty two, through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God.

Many and James one two count it all. Joy, my brothers. When

you meet trials of various kinds, not if you meet trials of various kinds,

but when you meet them and last, but not least, it's Philippians

one twenty nine. It has been granted to you that for the sake of

Christ, you should not only believe in Him, but also suffer for his

sake. It's been granted to us to suffer for Christ on his behalf,

proclaiming the word, just as John did, and sometimes bearing the brunt of

it. So John's not telling us something new here in Revelation. He's reiterating

something true, something that was already said over and over and over again well

before he wrote these words in Revelation, something true that with Jesus in a

relationship with him, we should expect the difficulties of trials and tribulations. We

should expect the difficulty of kingdom work, whether that means the kingdom work of

holding a baby who's crying so someone else can soak up the word of God

as we speak, or it's spending a week with teenagers and trying to keep

up with them. Like there's difficulty in kingdom work, there's difficulty in the

work of ministry. That's why the apostle Paul said to Timothy, as the

pastor at the church in Ephesus, fulfill your ministry. We need the encouragement

of that because ministry oftentimes is hard. Don't get me wrong, it's fulfilling,

but it's also hard. It's rewarding, but it's also difficult, and

we should expect it. We should expect the difficulty of kingdom work, and

we should expect the difficulty of patient endurance. And not just later, but

now, not just during the Great Tribulation, but now. The Great Tribulation

is just an intensification of what the intensification of what the Church already suffers and

has suffered throughout the centuries of church history. We should expect difficulty with Jesus.

Unfortunately, we think we're the exception. Oh you may not have ever

had that conscious thought, that explicit thought, that intentional thought, but by

default that's how we live oftentimes, I know, I do. We think

we're the exception to difficulty, and we strive to ensure that we're the exception

by catering to our flesh instead of the spirit doing what we want to do,

instead of doing what God is nudging us to do and compelling us to

do, and willing us to do, enjoying us to do. I don't

want that. There's difficulty in that we think that we're the exception, and

we strive to me to ensure it by living like the world instead of the

Kingdom, living for ourselves instead of the Lord sitting in compliance, instead of

standing up for Christ. That's our m many times, so that when suffering

does come our way, whether from the fallenness of this world or the acts

of evil people, and we're surprised, how can that be? How can

that be? I gave my life to Jesus. We're devastated. We're devastated

when the bad news comes to us because we expect just the opposite in this

course of life. We're crushed when somebody says something bad about us or bad

to us because of our faith in Jesus Christ, or the stand that we

take, or the life that we live that's different from that of those around

us. Sometimes we're so crushed and devastated we shake our fist to God and

say, how could you? But that doesn't make us exempt as his child

accomplishing his work for his purposes. It doesn't make us exempt. It doesn't

mean that we're going to see any less tribulation in our life just because it

devastates us or crushes us, or we don't expect it. It doesn't mean

we're going to see any less kingdom work, or that there's going to be

any less kingdom work to be done. It doesn't mean that there's going to

be any less need to patiently endure. If you're in Christ, if you're

with Jesus this morning, it's part of life. Difficulty is not that his

peace doesn't reign every singlet up of the way, not that his joy doesn't

abound and glory fill our souls, but that trials and tribulations on account of

the Word of God are unavoidable, which means if we don't manage our expectations

accordingly, both now and later, we won't hold fast. We'll give up

the ship and show that we were never sailors. With Jesus, expect difficulty,

difficulty from trials and tribulations, difficulty from kingdom work, and difficulty to

endure expected. He'll give you the strength. The next expectation comes from verses

twelve to seventeen. Check it out, John continues. He says, then

I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. First he heard

it, then he saw it's a pattern that's repeated in the Book of Revelation,

and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of

the lamp stands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe

and with a golden sash around his chest. Now, before we keep going

here, let me just say this about apocalyptic literature, which revelation is.

That is literature about the end times and the devastation to come, and the

imagery that goes along with it. It was a type of literature in John's

day that was used to both reveal and conceal. Reveal the truth to those

who were in Christ, but conceal it from those who weren't, so as

to somehow get the word out without being exiled and even killed and not writing

it at all. Apocalyptic literature, Revelation is with apocalyptic imagery, and apocalyptic

imagery is not meant to paint a picture, but rather give a description.

If you try to form a picture in your mind as we read these verses

here, you're going to end up with something really, really bizarre, and

people have tried to do it over the course of the centuries. It's not

intended to paint a picture, give a picture for us. It's intended to

provide a description. And so as we go through this, I'm going to

try to unpack these imagery, this imagery, this apocalyptic imagery, and give

you an idea of what the meaning is, or probably is. We don't

know for sure on some of these things, so that you're catching the drift

of what Jesus is giving instead of focusing on some sort of a picture that

has nothing to do with the reality of what he's conveying. Right with me,

and that all right? We left off at the end of thirteen right

verse fourteen. The hairs of his head were white like wool, like snow.

This one the son of man that he saw. When he turned,

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.

I'm not even sure how you would picture that verse sixteen. 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.

Here it is, when I saw him, I fell at his feet,

as though dead to stop right there. When I saw him, John says,

I fell at his feet as though dead. With Jesus, expect to

be floored. That's the second thought. With Jesus, expect to be floored.

Expect to be overwhelmed in the most terrifying sense of that word, and

the most and the best sense of that word. Overwhelmed. With Jesus,

fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. With Jesus, expect to

be amazed. Expect to be awe struck, expect to be heart struck,

just like John was in verse seventeen. He was floored literally literally, because

that's what infinite power does, that's what seering holiness does, that's what reverence

leads. To Listen, listen. If you're not floored by Jesus, at

least metaphorically, at least spiritually, you haven't encountered Jesus, not up close,

not with the eyes of your heart, because he's that amazing. He

is that amazing, he is that incredible, that overwhelming, just like John

describes. Look at verse twelve again, I heard a voice, and on

turning I saw seven golden lampstands. I'll come back to that later. And

in the midst of the lampstands here it is one like a son of man,

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

The robe and the sash probably symbolize his dignity and authority. Dignity and authority.

Like many earthly authorities at that time, they wore long robes. They

wore sashes either diagonally across their chest or horizontally around their chest, and it

symbolized their dignity and authority. And the phrase one like a son of man

refers to his divine anointing as our Savior, our deliverer. Expect to be

floored by his divine anointing. Our four little subthoughts for you underneath this point.

That's the first one. Expect to be floored by his divine anointing,

his divine anointing. It's all based on this phrase, one like a son

of man. Do you see it there in verse thirteen, One like a

son of man. It comes from the Old Testament prophecy in Daniel seven,

that one like a son of man would come from God, be anointed by

God and rule overall all the way back Daniel seven, One would one son

of man would come from God, He'd be anointed by God he'd rule over

all of the world. And so son of man, that phrase started out

as a description. So let's connect these dots. That's the first dot.

One like a son of man started out as a description in Daniel seven,

and then during the Inner Testamental times, you know, the four hundred Silent

years rough roughly four hundred BC to when Jesus was born. During that time,

during the Intertestamental times, that phrase one like a son of man became

synonymous with the Messiah, the Christ, and the one that God's people of

old, the Messiah longed for. Christ is simply the English word translate the

Greek word Christos, which translates the Hebrew word Messiah one and the same Christ,

Messiah. They all mean anointed one. And so during the Intertestamental times,

that phrase more from a just a description, one like a son of

man, into a title someone chosen and empowered by God for special purposes,

someone anointed. And that someone, last, of course, is Jesus,

not only because he fits the description back in Daniel seven or here in Revelation

one, but because son of man is the most common title that he of

himself in the gospels. So when John quotes here's full circle. When John

quotes Daniel seven saying that he saw one like a son of man, he's

referring to Jesus as our Messiah, the anointed one of God, chosen and

empowered to save our souls, make us whole, build his kingdom, and

intercede on our behalf. As we speak, He's the one. Jesus is

the one. No wonder, John was floored. No wonder, he was

floored. He was face to face with the Exalted Christ, the one,

even in his day, that they longed to see again, just as we

do in ours. He was face to face with the Exalted Christ, the

divinely annoy one. Plus his insight was piercing. That's the second part here.

Expected to be floored by his piercing insight, the piercing insight of Jesus,

the divinely anointed one. Look at verse fourteen. On this the piercing

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

snow, probably referring to his purity and wisdom. Purity and wisdom, white

hair, snow, and his eyes second part of ours fourteen were like a

flame of fire. Makes me think of some of those superhero movies that are

out. It just goes to show there's nothing new under the sun. They

got that idea from Revelation, all right, and John got it from Jesus.

Okay, who knew that Jesus was the writer of movies. His eyes

were like a flame of fire, probably indicating a piercing omniscience, able to

see right through us, past our facades and into the depths of our soul,

to know every single thing there is to know about us. He sees

it all, doesn't He He sees it all, and he knows it all,

good and bad. God forgive us. And he acts accordingly according to

his perfect omniscience, his piercing insight. He acts accordingly with perfect wisdom,

thank God, in ways that are so much higher than ours we can't even

fathom it, with mercy that's so far beyond what we can understand. It's

hard to even accept sometimes that his mercies are new every single morning, all

the depth and the riches of the wisdom and the knowledge of God. I'm

floored by that. I'm floored by what he knows, floored by the fact

that he knows what I need before or I do, and knows my motives

better than I do, or at least far better than I'm willing to admit

Sometimes and I'm floored by the fact that he sees my sin more clearly than

I do. It's piercing insight. I want to tell you this morning.

Expect to be floored by that. Expect to be floored by his perfect omniscience

in your life. If you're not a you're living a dream, a fallacy,

a falsehood. If you don't think that Jesus knows and be If that's

not you, you need to make an honest assessment of your heart and soul.

Have I really let the Lord Jesus in? He already knows. Have

you let him in? Next is his glorious power. Expect to be floored

by his glorious power, his divine anointing, his piercing insight, and his

glorious power. Look at verse fifteen. His feet were like, we don't

talk this way anymore. This doesn't mean anything to us in our day and

age, but he's thinking in times of old and massive statues. His feet

were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace, probably indicating power and stability.

Like bronze is the burnished bronze is shiny metal that was crafted in a furnace

and just conveys this idea of power and stability. His feet were like burnished

bronze. And his voice, Oh, I love this. And his voice

was like the roar of many waters, and that is it was full of

power and authority. Anybody ever been to Niagara Falls? Some some good good

You can check me on this if you've ever been to Niagara Falls and taken

one of those boat rides, you know the ones where they get you so

close to the waterfall that you have to wear the rain poncho and cover it

up completely otherwise you'll be drenched to the bone. And they get you so

close, but there's a legal limit, which I think is actually several hundred

yards away in the boat, but they get you so close, and the

water is so roaring that if you try to talk to one another next year

back and I try to do this, you can't hear one another. You

can barely even hear if you yell at one another when you're right next to

each other. It's that loud. And not only that, but you can

actually feel the rumble of the water as it hits the water in your chest.

It makes you vibrate. It's a ah inspiring. It's like the time

in college when I stood seventy five yards from a Harrier jet taking off.

You might ask yourself, how did a college kid get that close to a

Harrier jet? True confessions, myself and some of my buddies, we snuck

out onto the flight line at an air show. Weren't supposed to be that

close. We got there, and remember those old Harrier jets, old Harrier

jets, they took off vertically, and so their thrusters pointed down, and

they took off straight up, and then as their thrusters would slowly rotate,

they'd start going in the forward direction. They could actually also back up as

well. And that Harrier jet did that seventy five yards away from us,

and we were en raptured, and we could literally feel our chests vibrating.

In fact, I glanced over at my buddy. Was the only time I

took my eyes off that jet. I glanced over. I looked at his

T shirt. I could see his teeth, you know, like those subwolfers

that vibrate in the cars that pull up next to you at a stoplight and

boom and the windows are vibrating. That's how his t shirt was. We

were locked in. It was awesome. The power coming from that jet,

so too, with Jesus multiplied by everything you can possibly imagine. His voice

like the roar of many waters and the thunderous vibration of jets. He's that

powerful. But listen, that's not it. Look at verse sixteen. There's

more. In his right hand, he held seven stars. I'll come back

to the stars, but his grasp of them is a symbol of sovereignty and

control, power in and of it self, sovereignty and control. And from

his mouth, as if that's not enough, from his mouth came a sharp,

two edged sword, symbolizing divine judgment. This two edged sword coming from

his mouth, and so check it out. In one sense, the voice

of Jesus powerfully commands our attention. Like John heard right behind him. It

powerfully commanded John's attention. He turned, He couldn't help but turn. He

turned, and he locked his eyes in on him and couldn't take them off.

So, in one sense, the voice of Jesus powerfully commands our attention,

And in another sense, it powerfully defeats his enemies sharper than any two

edged sword. Jesus created this world by speaking. Jesus rules this world by

speaking, piercing our hearts and souls like a two edged sword he Brews for

dividing to soul and spirit. Jesus created this world by speaking. Jesus rules

this world by speaking. And Jesus is going to defeat and destroy this world

by speaking. Someday he's that powerful, and of all things we should expect

it. And then last year, expect to be floored by his powerful glory,

his glorious power, and his powerful glory. The second part of her

sixteen, his face was like the sun shining in full strength. You probably

can't get away from that picture. With all the full strength sun you get

down here. We walked out of the hotel this morning at seven o'clock,

when we're like, man, it doesn't get this hot at three o'clock in

the afternoon in Iowa except on a really bad day. And then they tell

everybody stay inside. I'm gonna come on, man, they live in this

stuff down south. His face was like the sun shining in full strength,

blindingly glorious, blindingly brilliant, never to be eclipsed, never to be clouded,

never to be dimmed in any way, sheep or form. Listen,

if you've ever tried to look at the sun, you know what I'm talking

about. It's over well mean, isn't it. You can't look at it

for more than a split second, and doctors and scientists tell us not too

because it can cause damage. So don't go, you know, out here.

If you're somebody like, hey, the pastor told me I could look

at the sun, you cannot. You should not. It's powerfully glorious.

Do you know that old worshiped song. I can only imagine, remember that,

surrounded by your glory? What will my heart feel? Will I dance

for you Jesus? Or in awe of you be still? Will I stand

in your presence? Or to my knees? Will I fall? Will I

sing Hallelujah He's God, praise Yahweh? Or will I be able to speak

at all? I can only imagine. The fact is it's probably going to

be all the above. But I'm pretty sure that we're going to start on

the floor. I'm pretty sure because the apostle John did fell to the floor

and he had already walked and talked with Jesus for three years. It's going

to be our first sighting when he returns. Can you imagine? And I'm

pretty sure that our eyes will behold his anointing like never before, and our

souls will feel his insight like never before, and our hearts his power,

and his face, our face, his glory like never before. And the

beauty of all of that is that we can experience some of it right now

still, to a degree that it floors us, sometimes overwhelms us. Sometimes

it's not just for later, it's for now. Every time we worship together,

we ought to be floored by the powerful glory and the glorious power of

Jesus Christ, every time we come together and we sing, every time we're

of one voice, every time we're on our own where, every time we're

having those moments with the Lord, which should be constantly, making him the

ceaseless partner of our prayers, the focus of our prayers, constant before we

read the Bible, we should be floored every time he leads us. Sometimes

that still fall voice, as it is so clear we should expect to be

floored every time he goes. We can't imagine. We cannot match floored with

Jesus expected I saw him fell at his feet as though dead. But he

laid how fear living one right there for 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,

little and what he had showed him earlier. As for the mystery of the

seven stars that you saw on my right hand, and the seven golden lamp

stands. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the

seven lamb stands are the seven churches. Yes, yes, there's difficulty in

walking with Jesus, but there's also peace. Praise the Lord. There's still

peace. There's a sense of being at rest. There's a supernatural contentment and

confidence. Peace, not self confidence, not the world's kind of confidence,

Not the world's kind of peace. I'm talking about the peace that comes from

a quiet confidence in God and God alone. I'm talking about the peace that

comes from the strength that he provides. I'm talking about the peace that comes

from the protection that He gives, and only he gives. John says in

verse seventeen, he laid his right hand on me, saying, fear not

I am the first and the last. Fear not as in be at peace.

I'm right here, I'm present, never to leave you or forsake you.

Never underestimate the touch of Jesus, you know, that gesture of calm

and comfort, like when someone puts their hand on your shoulder, maybe in

a time of uncertainty or grief or whatever. Never underestimate that gesture. That

touch is the one extending it, which he does every single minute of every

single day of every single year, throughout our entire lifetime and all through eternity.

With the touch and the presence of His Holy Spirit within us, he

touches you now if you know him as Lord and Savior, and with his

presence peace, peace that goes way beyond our understanding. But nonetheless it's always

there, It's always available. But that's not the only reason for it lives

right now and forever. In fact, there are three more reasons for his

peace and the peace that we should expect with Jesus. The first is because

he's firmly in control. With Jesus, we can expect peace because he's firmly

in control. It's indicated by the phrase I am the first and the last.

They're in the second part of Ourse seventeen. Do you see it.

I am the first and the last. He's basically sign I'm the one who's

above all, in overall, I'm the one who started it all, I'm

the one who's going to end it all, and I'm the one who controls

it all in between. Jesus first, Jesus last, Jesus always. And

because of that, we can have peace. He's in control. It's an

expression this, I am the first and the last. It's an expression of

sovereignty that will dispel your fear and bring you peace if you only believe it

and rest in it. Do you believe it? Do you believe that he's

in control? Do you believe that he's sovereign, over all, ordaining some

allowing others, in control of everything. If you believe it, you'll have

peace. You'll know the peace that is yours. And then there's the phrase

the Living One. I am the first and the last and the living one,

Verse eighteen, I die to behold, I am alive forever more.

We can have peace with Jesus because not only is he firmly in control and

due to his sovereignty, but because he's alive. He's alive and always will

be forevermore. Which means his control. His sovereignty will never wane or lapse.

He's even in control of death itself. Second part of verse eighteen.

I have the keys of death and Hades, and that is the realm of

the dead, meaning that he's sovereign over who dies who doesn't. And when

numbering our day before we were ever born, securing our future. The moment

we believe in repent with Jesus, expect peace because he's firmly, firmly in

control. Don't ever doubt it. And when you do, repent of it

and turned him and say I believe, I believe. Second, with Jesus,

we can expect peace because he constantly holds us. He's firmly in control.

He constantly holds us Verse twenty. As for the mystery of the seven

stars that you saw in my right hand, a reference to verse sixteen and

the seven golden lamp stands. The seven stars are these of the seven churches,

and the seven lamp stands are the seven churches. So Jesus offers peace

because he holds us. That's the idea of stars or angels. They're most

likely referring to the pastors of the churches. Can't know for certain, but

given extra biblical literature at the time connecting the other dots of revelation, most

likely here these angels are referring to the pastor of the churches to say Jesus

holds them as a way of holding us, a way of preserving us no

worries. Remember, apocalyptic literature was intended to both conceal and reveal, and

so I think this is Jesus conveying to John put down on paper his message

to convey to those who were in the know about what angels of churches would

have meant in that day, referring to the pastors reveal it to those who

were reading it, but conceal it to those who didn't believe and were contrary

in the Roman higher. Either way, we can and ought to have peace

because he constantly holds us. And then last, there's peace with Jesus because

He's always with us. Last part of verse twenty. The seven lamp stands,

Jesus says are the seven churches, referring to the golden lamp stands back

in verse thirteen. You remember with Jesus in the middle of those golden lamp

stands. The lamp stands check it out. The lamp stands represent the churches

as shining testimonies for Christ. Representing your church. There's a shining testimony for

Christ. Our church. There's a shining testimony for Christ. The lamp stands

represent the churches, and Jesus is right in the middle of them, right

in the middle of us, Immanuel God with us. It's not just for

Christmas, it's for always. It's an affirmation. In fact, this picture

here in Revelation one, it's an affirmation of what Jesus himself said in Matthew

eighteen twenty, where two or three are gathered in mind there I among them.

Thank you Lord, Thank you Lord. We worship you, Lord,

we follow you. He's here offering peace that suppresses all understanding, even when

the world's at war, even when nations rage, even when people call wrong

right and right wrong, even when doctors the crazy heinous to the bodies of

people in order for them to change quote unquote their sex and gender. Even

despite all of that, despite all of that, peace reigns because Jesus is

present. You can expect it. Expect peace, not without difficulty and not

without awe, but peace none the less, surrounded by his glory, whether

on your feet or on your knees,