Fear Not

If you would open up your Bibles to Revelation chapter 1, I'm going to read for us chapter 1 verses 9 through 20.

Revelation 1 · chapter mention

A vision of the Son of Man.

Hear the word of God.

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 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 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.

I heard, I saw him, I was like the spirit of God.

And I said, I will say, the things that you have heard, 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.

our culture is changing

it's becoming more challenging to live out loud for Jesus Christ

if you've been around for a while

you would be aware of what I'm talking about

there's been dramatic change in our culture

over the last 5, 10, 15, 20 years

there are growing pressures in our culture

to keep our views on Jesus to ourself

there's confusion

of what we can and cannot say

in public, in our workplace, governance, schools

and when there's this kind of confusion

it opens the door to fear

and for those of us raising children and grandchildren

to take the Lord Jesus seriously

in every area of our lives

what does our changing culture mean for us?

what does our changing culture mean for our children

and the next generation of Christians in America?

when you have questions like this about the future

what does this mean?

things are changing the way they are

things are getting harder

what does this mean?

when we're asking questions like that

you become ripe to fear

fear the loss of relationships

you start living out loud for Jesus

and you start fearing losing relationships

of those who disagree with you

it's real

many of us in this room

have already lost

significant relationships

because of our following Jesus

we fear the loss of reputation

that our standing in the world's eyes

gets diminished

when they realize

we actually believe

in the risen Jesus

there's the fear of losing remuneration

because of

if I'm a follower at work

and I stand for Jesus

and I've got to say no to things

there's the fear of loss

not getting a promotion

getting passed over

fear of remuneration

there's the fear of unrealized dreams

because I am a follower of Jesus

I may not be able to live the American life

it's real

Isaac Newton

in amazing grace

there are dangers

toils and snares

for us to walk through

on our way

in Acts 14.22

the Apostle Paul

speaking to early disciples

tells them

through many tribulations

we must enter

the kingdom of God

Paul to Titus

who is doing work

in the church of Ephesus

at the time

he says to him

all who desire to live

a godly life

in Christ Jesus

will be persecuted

will suffer hardship

and then of course

there's the words of Jesus

John 16.33

in the world

you will have

tribulation

hardship

on account of Jesus

but then he says

but take heart

I have

I have overcome the world

and this morning

that's what you need to hear

take heart

fear

not

no matter what happens

in the next 5

10

15

20 years

in our country

no matter what happens

we fear not

and here's why

because our Jesus

is the risen

radiant

and reigning

son of man

right here

right now

he's with us

this morning

you need to hear

these two words

of encouragement

from the lips

of the risen Christ

fear not

fear not

in order to help us

fear not

you need to hear

what John

heard

in this passage

in order to fear not

you need to

see

what John

saw

in this passage

in order to fear not

you need to

feel

what John

felt

in this passage

who he heard

who he saw

whose hand

he felt

when he was

prostrate

and when you

hear

and see

and feel

you will find

courage

in your heart

because you've been

reminded

of the one

who's risen

radiant

and reigning

so let's

look

to our Bibles

let's hear

what John

hears

in chapter 1

verse 9

we learn that

the apostle

John

is on the

island

called

Patmos

it was

about

30 plus

miles

southwest

of

the

western

coast

of

Turkey

and he

wasn't

there

on a

vacation

he

wasn't

hanging

out

on a

condo

he

was

in

exile

for

what

verse 9

on account

of the

word

of God

and the

testimony

of

Jesus

God's

word

revealed

through

the

testimony

of

Jesus

that's

why

he

was

on

the

island

of

Patmos

you see

John

was

proclaiming

Jesus

as the

exclusive

unrivaled

universal

Lord

of

all

and it

was a

direct

contradiction

to the

gospel

according

to

Domitian

who is

the

Roman

emperor

of the

time

and who

called

himself

quote

unquote

Lord

and God

quote

unquote

the

everlasting

king

who had

commanded

all

citizens

and subjects

in the

Roman

empire

to

dash

a little

incense

on an

altar

and as

they're

doing it

in this

worship

center

unto

Domitian

they were

to say

Caesar

is

Lord

and here

is

John

exiled

to

Patmos

on

account

of

proclaiming

the

exclusive

lordship

of

Jesus

that's

why

John

begins

in

I

John

your

brother

and

fellow

partner

in

the

tribulation

in

the

kingdom

and the

patient

endurance

that is

in

Jesus

he

himself

is

suffering

tribulation

for

Jesus

he's

in

exile

on

this

rocky

outcropping

called

Patmos

no

dairy

queens

there

he's

a

citizen

of

the

kingdom

of

Jesus

he

is

seeking

to

endure

the

suffering

that

he

is

experiencing

for

Jesus

and

so

if

you

were

one

of

these

seven

churches

and

you

were

in

the

precarious

position

that

they

were

in

some

of

your

members

are

already

being

persecuted

for

Jesus

do

you

know

what

this

means

this

guy's

got

instant

street

cred

he's

writing

as a

fellow

sufferer

as a

brother

who's

enduring

the

hardship

himself

you want

to tune

your ears

to someone

like that

he's

not

a

recent

seminary

grad

he's

been

following

Jesus

for

60

plus

years

at

this

point

he's

the

one

called

the

beloved

disciple

he's

the

one

that

reclined

on

Jesus

chest

at

the

last

supper

he

is

the

one

Jesus

himself

entrusts

his

earthly

mother

to

take

care

of

that's

this

John

and

he's

exiled

he's

writing

to the

seven

churches

and he's

writing

to them

for a

reason

we learn

in verse

10

he was

in the

spirit

on

the

Lord's

day

that's

a

reference

to

Sunday

the

first

day

of

the

week

the

day

that

Jesus

was

raised

from

the

dead

Christians

in the

first

century

would

gather

on

that

day

and

he

was

in

the

spirit

it's

describing

an

awareness

of

the

presence

of

the

Holy

Spirit

so

on

this

particular

Lord's

day

while

on

Patness

exile

the

Holy

Spirit

impresses

on

John

something

profound

the

Holy

Spirit

was enabling

John

to hear

something

verse

10

and I

heard

behind me

a loud

voice

like a

trumpet

it would

have been

like that

the

1030

a.m.

Saturday

kind of

tornado

siren

sound

that

kind of

pronouncement

and

what

John

hears

right here

you gotta

understand

it's not

just in

his

head

he

really

hears

it

and what

does

his

voice

say

verse

11

it

says

two

things

write

what

you

see

in

a

book

and

this

book

is the

book

of

revelation

write

it

down

and

then

he

says

send

it

send

it

to

the

seven

churches

and

then

he

names

them

Ephesus

Smyrna

Pergamum

Thyatira

Sardis

Philadelphia

not

Pennsylvania

Philadelphia

Laodicea

now that

word

seven

is

in the

Jewish

mind

they would

think

very

quickly

of this

sense

of

completeness

and

fullness

and so

these

seven

churches

are a

complete

representative

of the

fullness

of the

entire

church

they

represent

us

all

of

Jesus

blood

bought

now

what you

need

to also

know

about

these

seven

churches

is

that

they

were

on

a

circuit

all

seven

churches

were

on

a

road

that

connected

them

all

about

30

35

miles

from

each

one

and

what

would

happen

is

messages

would

be

sent

out

and

so

the

ordering

of

these

churches

are

actually

ordered

according

to

where

they

are

on

the

circuit

and

so

John

is

said

being

told

to

write

in

a

book

what

you

see

and

send

it

to

the

churches

here's

what

this

means

for

us

John

was

descended

to

the

first

century

church

in

Ephesus

and

these

other

six

churches

and

even

back

then

our

great

God

knew

that

this

book

would

end

up

in

this

church

in

Kenosha

in

the

21st

century

what

he

sees

is

for

us

whose

voice

is

this

whose

trumpet

like

voice

is

this

we've

begun

to hear

what

John

hears

now

let's

see

what

John

sees

verse

12

John

turns

to see

the

voice

that

was

speaking

to him

all

of

us

would

have

been

done

the

same

thing

if

we

were

on

Pat

and

we

heard

this

voice

we'd

be

like

what

is

that

and

John

would

never

forget

what

he

saw

and

we

are

to

never

forget

what

he

saw

it's

this

is

designed

to

grab

your

imagination

imagination

this

is

designed

what

we're

about

to

read

is

to

capture

you

to

press

an

image

on

your

mind

for

you

not

to

forget

and

the

first

thing

that

John

sees

are

seven

golden

lampstands

seven

golden

lampstands

this

is

interesting

what

are

these

seven

golden

lampstands

well

Jesus

is

about

to

tell

us

but

what

you

need

to

understand

is

when

a

Jewish

person

would

hear

lampstand

golden

lampstand

they're

thinking

temple

they've

gone

they're

imagining

God's

temple

there

was

an

elaborate

menorah

in the

temple

but

these

are

seven

individual

lampstands

and

what

Jesus

says

in

verse

20

he

explains

that

mystery

to

us

in

verse

20

did

you

pick

up

on

that

if

you

look

to

verse

20

and

the

seven

lampstands

are

the

seven

churches

so

here's

what's

going

on

this

voice

tells

John

to

write

send

it

to

the

seven

churches

John

turns

to

see

the

voice

and

then

he

sees

seven

lampstands

the

seven

churches

that

he's

going

to

be

sending

the

letters

to

the

book

to

now

what

we

also

read

is

someone

is

in

the

midst

of

these

lampstands

verse

13

and

in

the

midst

of

the

lampstands

one

like

a

son

of

man

now

I

know

your

elementary

school

grammar

taught

you

that

when

you

read

see

that

word

like

one

like

a

son

of

man

you

want

to

start

thinking

okay

there's

a

comparison

going

on

here

that's

not

what

John

is

doing

this

is

not

a

comparison

John's

not

saying

this

one

I

saw

had

the

form

of

one

like

a

son

of

man

that's

not

what

he's

saying

John

is

quoting

Daniel

7

13

he

is

seeing

the

quote

one

like

a

son

of

man

the

one

who

would

come

to

the

ancient

of

days

in the

ancient

of

days

God

the

father

would

give

him

dominion

and glory

and an

everlasting

kingdom

without

end

that's

the one

like

a son

of man

that's

who

John

sees

we're

to be

thinking

Daniel

7

13

through

14

this

is

the

son

of

man

this

is

the

risen

Jesus

and

what

we

notice

here

is

something

very

profound

and we

can

cruise

over

it

really

quick

it's

important

to see

where

he

is

this

one

like

a

son

of

man

the

risen

Jesus

is

in

the

midst

of

the

lamp

stands

he's

among

the

churches

the

risen

son

of

man

who's

been

given

dominion

glory

and

everlasting

kingdom

and everlasting

kingdom

that's

Daniel

7

13

he's

in

the

middle

of

his

churches

it

should

make

you

think

of

Matthew

28

the

great

commission

go

make

disciples

and

he

closes

with

the

promise

and

I

am

with

you

always

even

to

the

end

of

the

age

so

here's

the

significance

for

us

Jesus

the

risen

son

of

man

the

king

of

God's

everlasting

kingdom

of

grace

he

is

with

us

right

here

and

right

now

he

was

with

those

seven

churches

in the

first

century

and

he's

with

Christ

the

king

church

in

the

21st

century

but

there's

more

John's

eyes

focus

on

what

the

risen

son

of

man

is

wearing

verse

13

he's

wearing

he's

clothed

with a

long

robe

and

with

a

golden

sash

around

his

chest

the

long

robe

was

most

likely

kind

of

a

priestly

vestment

garb

and

so

you're

thinking

okay

he

is

a

priestly

representative

and

we all

know

that

priests

back

in the

day

of the

temple

they

maintained

the

temple

and

they

mediated

God's

presence

the

golden

sash

some

commentators

think

that

represents

Christ

high

priestly

role

and

it

could

but

what

I

want

to

point

out

is

something

like

this

it's

made

of

gold

it's

a

gold

sash

it's

not

it's

not

like

a

sash

around

the

waist

that

you

see

those

guys

in

Spain

running

with

the

bulls

it's

not

one

of

those

things

it's

it's

a

sash

that

draped

over

your

shoulder

came

over

your

chest

and

was

clasped

at

the

waist

it

would

you

couldn't

get

it

grabs

your

attention

it

grabbed

John's

attention

the

goldness

of it

when

we

get

to

the

end

of

the

book

of

Revelation

and

we

start

getting

glimpses

of

the

new

Jerusalem

that

comes

down

do

you

know

what

it's

made

of

it's

made

of

gold

in

Revelation

15

6

angels

come

to

pour

out

the

plagues

and

do

you

know

what

they're

wearing

white

linens

with

a

sash

across

their

chest

of

gold

it's

it's

making

us

think

that

this

one

he

is

he's

he's

from

the

new

Jerusalem

and

he's

in our

midst

as

our

high

priest

maintaining

his

temple

us

the

new

temple

of

God

and

mediating

God's

presence

but

there's

more

John

moves

from

what

he

is

wearing

to

what

his

body

is

radiating

his

sparkly

hair

the

hairs

of his

head

verse 14

were

white

like

white

wool

that's

white

like

snow

it's a

different

kind of

white

the

difference

between

wool

white

and

snow

white

is

when

it

snows

and you

walk

out

your

front

door

and you

see a

fresh

snow

in the

sunshine

what

happens

it's

like a

field

of

diamonds

they

glitter

sparkle

there's a

brilliance

this

white

was a

brilliant

white

and what

you need

to know

is that

this is

actually a

reference to

something

an attribute

of the

ancient of

days

from Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

who had

hair

white as

wool

so is

John saying

right here

that the

son of

man

is the

ancient of

days

he's not

saying

that

what

John is

seeing

communicating

is that

this

son of

man

amidst

the

lamp

stands

is

sharing

in one

of the

essential

attributes

of

the

ancient

of

days

wisdom

ageless

wisdom

it's a

vivid way

to communicate

the deity

of Jesus

in our

midst

he's got

sparkling

hair

brilliant

and

in his

eyes

verse 14

he's got

fire

eyes

his eyes

were like

a flame

of fire

again

it's

behind this

is a

reference

to Daniel

Daniel 10:6

chapter 10

verse 6

look it up

later

what you need

to note

is this

his

eyes

were

radiating

light

and the

inference

is his

eyes

see

into

darkness

he knows

all

because he

sees

all

here's

where I want

to take a

step

outside of

our passage

and help

you anticipate

something

this

vision of

Jesus

that we

have in

9 through

20

it's

going to

show up

again

but in

parts

the 7

letters

that he

sends

to the

7

churches

that are

chapter 2

and chapter 3

all point

back to

one of

these

attributes

in this

vision

it's

all

connected

and what

we see

in the

7

letters

of the

7

churches

follow

with me

now

okay

his

flaming

eyes

chapter 2

verse 2

to Ephesus

I know

your works

Jesus

to Ephesus

2

9

to Smyrna

I know

your

tribulation

2

13

to Pergamum

I know

where you

dwell

2

19

let me find

it

Theotira

I know

your works

your love

and faith

and service

and patient

endurance

3