Revelation 1:7-20 - Revelation - Part 2

Amen. What a blessed morning indeed it

is. I'm going to ask you to go ahead

and turn in your Bibles to the first chapter of the of the Book

of Revelation. We're going to start today at

verse 7. Thank our sister Karen for that.

Very gracious welcome to everybody.

I too, welcome everyone that's here today.

Let's just pray and get into the Word of God this morning.

Amen. Father, we do thank you for this

day. Every day is a wonderful day,

Lord, because you have made it. You created it, Lord, and though

every day may not look the same, every day might not be the same.

We come with different challenges.

It comes with different afflictions, and sometimes it

comes with highs and lows. It can come with mountaintop

experiences and sometimes valley experiences, Lord, But you are

good all the time. You are faithful all the time.

And we thank you, Lord, for the things that you provide for us.

We thank you for this house, Lord, that you've given us to be

able to worship together. And we thank you for the body of

believers who fill this house, Lord.

We thank you even as the song says, Lord.

We just thank you, Lord, for your son Jesus Christ.

Where will we be without your Son Jesus Christ?

Lord and Father, this morning we ask for Your anointing to be

upon each and every one of us. As we come to hear Your word,

Your truth. As we come to hear you speak to

us, Lord, we gather to hear from you.

So I pray that you would use these lips, Lord, that you would

stand in this body. Think with this old mind.

Help me, O God today, strengthen me today in Jesus name I pray,

Amen. So as we were in, we're going to

continue in the book of Revelations.

We're going to be starting picking up here in verse 7.

And before we do that, you know, one of the things that John does

in this section of the introduction of the Book of

Revelation is that he gives us a very strong dose of Jesus

Christ, a strong dose. So already it's one of my

favorites. Thank you so much for the song,

sisters, because that was so apropos.

I couldn't keep my eyes dry back there singing that song.

And now let the weak say I'm strong and let the poor say I am

rich, not because of anything we did, but because of what he has

done for us. Amen.

So we remember that as we go through the rest of this, this

book and, and, and, and just as a review, we I'm just going to

read again what he says to us, what John says to us back here

in the 1st chapter of Revelation when he talks about Jesus

Christ. And he starts that right there,

verse 5. He says in Jesus Christ, the

faithful witness, the first born from the dead, the ruler over

the kings of the earth, to him who loved us and washed us from

our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests to

his God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and

ever. Amen.

And then in the very next verse he says, Behold, he is coming

with clouds, and every eye will see him, even they who pierced

him. All the tribes of the earth will

mourn because of him. Even so, a man or so let it so

or so be it or let it be so. Before we go into this and begin

to pick this out, I just want to mention how John throughout the

scriptures have talked about Jesus Christ and his deity.

But there's some things that actually leads up to this

particular verse, if we can kind of connect some dots.

For example, John was there with Jesus when Jesus was talking to

them about leaving them about dying.

And then he would, he would come back again and, and, and he

said, I'm coming back to get you, but I, I am going to be, I

am going to be crucified. I'm going to, I'm going to be

killed by the hands of men and, and, and then he sees that their

hearts are beginning to to fail them as a result of that.

So he says, let not your heart be troubled.

And he's saying the same thing to us, you know, as we as our

hearts begin to sorrow sometimes because of the the things that

we deal with and the things that we have to go through as we're

waiting for our Lord Jesus Christ to come back.

He says to us, Let not your heart be troubled.

If you believe in God, believe also in me.

For in my Father's house there are many mansions.

If there were not so I would have told you.

But I'm going to go, and I'm going to prepare a place for

you. And if I go and prepare a place

for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, so that

where I am, you may be also, and where I go, you know, and the

way, you know. Thank God for Thomas who stepped

up and said, Jesus, we don't know where you're going.

How can we know? The way gave Jesus that

opportunity to say to him, just like he says to us, I am the

way, I am the truth. I am the life.

Please don't let no one tell you that there's other ways to

Jesus. There is not.

He is the way, He is the truth and he is the life.

And then he even goes a step further.

He says no one just in case someone wants to doubt that.

He says no one can come to the Father except by me.

So now, so after that, Jesus does one other thing and I want

to share it with you as he begins to talk to them about

once again, the fact that he's going to be he's going to be

leaving them and he's going to be going back to, to his

glorified to be with his father, to be glorified with his father.

But there's going to be an end before he comes back.

There's going to be a, a end of times.

And they asked him, they said, what are the signs of the end of

times? And we want to talk about that a

little bit, except, you know, what did what happens before

Jesus comes back? And I want to read for you in in

in the the book of Matthew, verse 24, starting in verse

three. He says this now, as he said on

the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately

saying, tell us when will these things be?

And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of

the age? And Jesus answered and said to

them, take heed that no one deceives you.

We need to remember that. Take heed that no one deceives

you. Don't let someone come and tell

you that it's going to come on this day or it's going to come

on that day. They don't know, they don't

know. Don't let nobody deceive you,

for many will come in my name, saying I am the Christ, and will

deceive many. And you will hear of wars and

rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled,

for all these things must come to pass.

But the end is not yet, for nation will rise against nation,

Kingdom against Kingdom, and there will be famines and

pestilences and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you.

And we got to know the difference between the

tribulation that we will receive from men and the great

tribulation. There's a difference between

those two. And he says they will deliver

you up in to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated

by nations for all nations for my name's sake.

And then many will be offended, will betray one another, will

hate one another. The many false prophets will

rise up and deceive 1 deceive many, and because lawlessness

will abound, the love of many will grow cold.

But he who endures to the end shall be saved.

He that doesn't turn back to perdition, he that doesn't give

up on waiting for the Lord, He who does not allow himself to be

sidetracked by false doctrines and be deceived by men and begin

to believe in other philosophies and things of that nature.

He who does not do that, but believes until the end and

endures until the end, will be saved.

And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the

world as a witness to all the nations.

And then the end will come. So as we look at that, he he

gives us a preview there of what will happen before his coming.

So he says, John says here in verse 7, he says here he says,

behold that in other words, you know, take note.

I'm about to say something really important that you need

to hear. Listen up, He says he is coming

with clouds. He is coming with clouds, and

every eye will see him, Yes, and even they who pierced him.

So if we look at this, we see here that this is first of all,

we should take note that he's not talking about the rapture

here. This is not the Rapture.

He's not talking about him coming down through the clouds

and then receiving us up. That's not what he's talking

about because he says every eye will see him in the Rapture.

The Rapture is a private event. Only those who believe in Jesus

Christ, only those who are the church, will know when the

rapture comes. Those who are not being raptured

won't see the rapture. They will be able to notice that

things have changed. People won't be here anymore,

but they're not going to see Jesus coming.

And for the rapture, so that's a private event, only the church

will see that. And we want to be caught up to

be together with him in the rapture.

And we you read about that back in First Thessalonians 413

through 18 and tells us all about the the event of the

rapture. But this is referring to the

second coming when Jesus returns with the church to bring

judgment to set up his Kingdom. He's talking about the second

coming here, him coming. And he says that when he comes,

he's going to come with clouds. So we read about the signs of

his coming, the things that are going to be happening in the in,

in society, the hate that be going on, the love that will

grow cold and the the tribulation people being in

tribulation, people being hated because of the name of Jesus

Christ. Yes, those are some of the

signs. Even some of the cosmic things

that may happen, the wars that may happen and the rumors of the

wars, those are some of the signs.

But that's not the end. And he says here that before he

comes back, there's going to be a sign.

There going to be a sign of that coming back.

And he says, behold, they come with clouds.

And notice there's a preposition here that I want you to pay

attention to when he says with clouds, because there's other

places where he talks about coming on the clouds, OK.

For example, if you were to look at, if you didn't look back at

Acts, this book like at the back of the book of Acts in the book

of Acts, he says this in chapter 1, chapter one, verse 9, verse

one, I'm sorry, first verse 9, I'm sorry.

Chapter one, verse 9, he says this.

Now when he has spoken these words.

Now this is Jesus with his disciples when after he had

arisen from the resurrection and after he has spoken with them,

he was about to be ascended. He's about to ascend up into

heaven. And he spoke some things to

them, told him to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit before

they go out and witness to him, which is a good, which is a

really good piece of advice because we too need to be filled

with the Holy Spirit before we go out and witness so that we

have the strength to do that. But then he says here in verse

9, he says, now he has spoken these things.

While they watched, he was taken up, a cloud received him out of

their sight. And while they look steadfastly

toward heaven, as he went up, behold, 2 men stood by them in

white apparel, 2 angels who said, Who also said, Men of

Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven?

This same Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will also

come in like manner as you saw him go.

So as he said, how, how did he go?

He went up until he was received up from them by a cloud.

He was received, a cloud received them.

So we so when he talks about he will be coming with clouds.

That's a little bit different than coming on the cloud.

Now he's going to be coming literally on the clouds as well.

Look at what it says over in Matthew chapter 24, Matthew

Matthew 24 · chapter mention Matthew 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24, Matthew 24, verse 30, it says this.

Matthew 24:30

Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then

all the tribes of the earth will mourn and they will see the Son

of Man coming on the clouds of heaven.

He left with the clouds. He's going to be coming on the

clouds. So that's the literal aspect of

him coming back on the clouds. But there's also a symbol or

symbolic mention or reference to him coming back on the clouds.

And that means he's going to be coming back with the clouds.

As it says here, He's going to be coming with clouds.

And if you look at what it says over in Daniel Chapter 7, Daniel

Daniel 7 · chapter mention Daniel 7:13

Chapter 7 verse 13 says this. I was watching in the night

visions and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the

clouds of heaven, and he came to the Ancient of Days and they

brought him near before him. So he's coming with the clouds.

So that's a little bit different.

Now He's coming with, he's going to be coming on physical clouds

when they see him, when you see him coming down, he'll be on

physical clouds, but he's also coming with clouds.

And that clouds is actually a multitude of people.

Look at what it says over in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

one. Hebrews chapter 12 verse one.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

It refers to the clouds as being a cloud of witnesses, which is

which are the the believer, those who are believing those

faithful people, they were talking about this cloud of

witness. This is therefore we also, since

we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay

aside every wait and sin which so easily ensnares us, and let

us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

So there's a a, a, a coming with clouds coming with a multitude

of believers. This reference is also made

about coming with the clouds over in First Thessalonians or

coming with the Saints and 1st Thessalonians.

What it says so that so that he may establish your hearts

blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of

our Lord Jesus with what with all his Saints.

So we are going to be coming back with him and this is what

this verse is referring to his second coming.

We the believers, the Saints and those who are dead in Christ

will be coming back with him and that's going to be a blessed day

and they see even those who pierced him.

OK, every eye is going to see him.

Like we said it's not going to be a private event when he comes

back. He says every eye will see him.

Every eye. That means it's going to be very

public and he's not going to be like it says over in Matthew

2426. It's not going to be like, well,

you know the way I'll go over there in the desert because I

think he's seen him come over in the desert or, or, or go over

there in the inner room. I think, you know, somebody saw

him in the inner room or something like that.

No, it's not going to be that way.

He's not working at Sheets. You know, he's not some guy

that's working at Sheets. That's, you know, that was able

to convince a whole bunch of people to believe in him and

follow him around. You know, it's not going to be

some guy walking. No, working in Walmart, That's

not going to be it. You're going to see him coming.

Every eye will see him coming. It's not going to be some

obscure thing. So he says that when he that

when he comes, every eye will see him and even those who

pierced him. Now, that's kind of

specifically, you know, talking about the Jews, OK, who, who

pierced him, who rejected him, and they pierced him.

Now, that's not to say that we as Gentiles didn't have a part

in him being pierced, because we did.

We had a part in that. Our sin is what took Him to the

cross. Our sin is what held him on the

cross. So it's not just the Jews, but

it was the Jews who pierced them.

And that's what he's referring to here when he says here that

every, you know, they, even those who pierced him, there's

over in Zechariah chapter 12 and verse 10 where the God says, and

Zechariah 12 · chapter mention

I will pour on the House of David and on the inhabitants of

Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplication.

Then they will look on him who they pierced.

Yes, they will mourn for him as one mourns for his only son, and

grieve for him as one grieves for his first born.

And that day there shall be a multitude, verse 11, a multitude

of great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Hadid

Rahman in the plain of Megiddo. So those who pierced him are

going to be mourning. And then also all, every tribe

of the earth, all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of

him. So there's going to be a

multitude of people who will see him coming.

And it'll be like the, the, the, the, the tribes of the earth

will get a chance to see him and they will mourn.

They will mourn because they'll get a chance to see this one

that they rejected, this one that they doubted is the one

they're going to see his hands pierced his, his pierced hands.

They're going to see the sides, his pierced side, and they're

going to mourn. You're going to more it's going

to be a sad day in that time with those who are still

remaining after the time of the the seven day tribulation, 7

year tribulation, by the way. So then he says in verse 8, he

says I am I am alpha and the Omega.

I am the beginning and the end says the Lord who is, who was

and who is to come the Almighty. Now in some versions this is not

written and read, in others it is so it's Jesus speaking here.

Now there are some who think this is not Jesus speaking, but

when he says I am the Alpha in the Omega, the beginning and the

end says the Lord who is, who was and who is to come thee

Almighty. This is Jesus Christ speaking

in, in some of your versions, it's probably going to be read

now. Now we know that it does refer

to the to the to, to God the Father in the Old Testament,

they've used it many times. That's him being the alpha Omega

in the 1st and the last. But this is Jesus speaking and

this is Jesus basically saying look I am God, I am God.

And he says this throughout Revelations when he talks about

being the alpha and the Omega, the 1st and the last.

This is not the only place that he says this referring to

himself. In fact, just a little bit

further down, we want to see it again.

Then in verse 9, he says I John, both your brother and your

companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Jesus

Christ. I John, your your your brother.

He didn't say I John, your apostle.

He didn't say I John your elder. He identified with them because

see, they could he could have lifted himself up because he's

the one that's getting his vision.

He could have lifted himself up. They could have wanted to lift

him up because of the vision that he was receiving that he

was somebody special or somebody different or or he was a heavy

hitter because hey, you know, I'm getting this vision directly

from from Jesus Christ. But no, he said, I am your

companion. I'm your brother and your

companion. I am with you in this

tribulation. I mean, John was going through a

lot of persecution himself at this particular time.

And the fact that he wrote this and where he wrote it from was

another indication of the persecution that he was going

through. He was on the island of Patmos,

which we're going to talk about in a second.

So he was exiled there because he was being persecuted by

Domitian. So he says, but I'm with you in

the tribulation. I'm with you in Kingdom.

Not only am I Co heirs together with you, not only am I Co heirs

together with you with the the inheritance that we have in the

Kingdom of heaven, but also here I am AI am a a brother with you.

I'm a companion with you as we live the Kingdom life right

here, as we live the Kingdom life.

And that's exactly what we, the church, should be doing.

We should be thinking about, always thinking about that,

living the Kingdom life. That's what makes us different

or should make us stand out from the world so that the world

would be able to see this Kingdom life and want a part of

it. When someone asks you something

about where you go to church, what do you believe?

You know how come you don't speak like this or how come you

don't like this? That's because they notice your

Kingdom living. They notice your Kingdom living.

They won't have to ask you that. If they saw everything that you

did was just like the world, they wouldn't have to ask you

that. But they asked you these things.

They asked you to pray for them. Someone who may not ever say

much to you any other time, but when they need something, they

come to you and say, brother, would you pay for me?

Sister, would you pray for me? This happened to my family or

this happened to me or this happened to my my family member.

They're saying that because they have seen the Kingdom living in

your life and that draws them and gives opportunity to be able

to share the Christ. So yes, I'm, I'm a Co I'm a, I'm

a brother with you in the companion with you in the

Kingdom, but also in patience. The patience in our suffering,

the patience in our persecution, the patience in waiting for

Jesus Christ to come back. We are all doing this together.

None of us are doing this on an island by ourselves.

That's why we need the church. That's why we need the church.

I need you guys to help me, you know, because there's sometimes

that you may get weary, get tired or, or, or, or sometimes,

you know, you just don't feel as patient today as you did last

week. Challenges in your life will

start to, you know, make you question your patience.

And we'll take your patience and we'll test your patience.

But he says be patient as we're waiting for him to come because

just like you said in verse 7, behold, he is coming, He's

coming back. So we wait and we help each

other to wait during this time. And then he says here he said

was on, he said, I John, you know both your brother and

companion in the tribulation and Kingdom and patience of Christ,

Jesus Christ was on the island of Patmos for the word of God

and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

There it is. That tells you right there that

John was there because of the fact that he was testifying of

Jesus Christ and was sharing, witnessing to the word of God,

to the word of God that brought on the persecution in his life.

And that's why he was on the island of Patmos.

Now, the island of Patmos is just basically an island of a

big rock and marvel. I mean, it was like hardly

nothing there. It's about 10:10 to 13 miles

long or so, not very wide. But they, the Roman government

really sent people there because they were people who were

opposition either to their government or people who were

religious, you know, had a religion that was different from

worshipping Caesar. So if you challenge that, then

you would get, you know, you would get dealt with.

And for way to John was dealt with being one of the only

living apostles at this particular time and probably had

the loudest voice for Christ at this time.

They felt like they needed to get rid of him and they wanted

to deter him from preaching the gospel.

So they sent him to the island of Patmos.

So why he was there, think about it, while he was there on the

island of Patmos is where Jesus came to him.

He said I was in the Spirit. I was in the spirit on the

Lord's Day. Now some people might say that

the Lord's Day, that was Sunday. Some people say it wasn't

necessarily Sunday, It was just a day that Jesus manifested

himself and begin to share these things with John.

Whatever you may believe about it is fine.

This is no, this is no, it's not going to have any eternal

consequences if you believe it was Sunday or if you believe it

was just a day that the Lord manifested himself.

But he says, I was there on that day and I heard behind me a loud

voice as of a trumpet, you know, and, and, and, and when you

think about the Old Testament, the trumpets that when they

blasted, it got everybody's attention.

Everybody knew that there was something that they needed to

pay attention to. So I heard this loud voice.

So when, when, when he heard Jesus speak, it was so loud and

with so much authority. It was like a trumpet blast

gathering the men of war together the way they did in the

Old Testament. So it was something that you

needed to pay attention to and and and so he says here that

once he heard that blast and verse 11 says I am the alpha.

Did we go again? I am the alpha V Omega the

first, the last and what you see right in the book and send to

which are in Asia. I am the and I want you again.

The preposition, the word the. It doesn't say I am alpha and

Omega. I am last, first and last, he

said. I am V That means there's only

one. I'm the only one.

I am V first. There's no other.

I am the last. There's no coming after me.

I am the first. There's none preceding me and I

am the last. There's none coming after.

There's none proceeding me. I'm it.

I'm eternity. So Jesus says this and again

when you get people who question rather Jesus ever says that he

is God and you hear people sometimes they question, well I

never heard Jesus never said he was God.

Jesus never said take him to this verse, this verse.

He says it very clearly. I am alpha, any Omega, the 1st

and the last. Can't get that confused.

He's saying I'm God here. They all knew that that's what

he was saying. All the Jews that read this

letter knew that that's what he was saying because in the Old

Testament that's the way God pronounced himself.

He identified himself as that. And then he goes on here and he

says, send these, send this letter to Smyrna and to to

Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos. These are the seven churches

that are in Asia, to Pergamos, Theatara and Sardis,

Philadelphia, Laodicea. We're going to get into those a

little further down the road. We'll get into each one of those

churches. Then I turn, John said.

Then I turn to see the voice that spoke with me, and having

turned, I saw 7 golden stands, lampstands, and in the midst of

the seven lampstands 1 like the Son of Man, clothed with a

garment down to the feet, and girded about the chest with a

golden band. His head and his hair were white

like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire.

His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace.

And his voice was the sound of many waters.

How powerful was that? Can you imagine John, first of

all, being 90 something years old, He's on this island where

he's doing hard labor and he gets this vision.

Jesus comes to him. And he comes to him in a way

that I'm sure really not only surprised him, but I'm sure it

startled him. I'm sure it even scared him to a

degree, the way that Jesus came to him.

But he had to be thinking at some point, You know, once

again, the Lord is using me. The Lord is using me again.

I'm in persecution. I'm being treated about as harsh

as you could possibly be treated.

I don't even feel useful anymore for the Kingdom, but yet the

Lord has come to me and he's using me.

Maybe some of you guys out there maybe thinking, I know sometimes

it hits me. Sometimes the Lord still, you

know, Lord, you still want to use me.

You still want to use me. Sometimes when we get a certain

age, we think that maybe the Lord doesn't use me anymore,

uses the young people, doesn't use me.

The Lord uses all of his servants.

He uses all of his servants. There's no servant that gets too

old. You don't retire.

I never read anything in the Bible where he had a retirement

plan, anything. If anybody does, please let me

know. But I've never seen anything in

the Bible where the Lord has a retirement plan.

He uses us as long as we're living.

As long as we're living, he can use us.

Doesn't matter what we've done. He said, Lord, he can't use me

because I've done this, can't use me because I've done that.

He's a God that forgives. He's the guy that offers grace

and mercy. So you have this image.

Now John has this image and he says, I, I saw the seven lamp

stands. And in the midst of the seven

lamp stands, there was one who look, there was one like the Son

of Man. And it goes on to describe what

the Son of Man look like. He said is he, he was clothed in

a white garment down to the feet.

That's usually symbolic of the priest, the priest in the

satchel that was across his chest.

It's a pro. It's symbolic of the priest, of

the righteous priest. Well, he is the high priest.

So we see the High John is looking at the high priest here.

It's majestic. He's looking at the majestic

high priest and he's and, and, and it says here that his head

was white. It was like snow.

It was like, it was like war and it was white.

We're not talking about just Gray here.

We're talking white Bible talks about in in in in proverbs about

the the Horry head or the Gray head being a symbolic of wisdom.

Well, Jesus is definitely all knowing.

He's omniscient. He's all wise.

Not only is this about his wisdom, but it's also about the

fact that he is pure. The white represents the purity

of Jesus Christ. I was looking out of my window

the other day and, and, and, and I have a in our backyard because

not much has been going through there.

The snow is just packed and it's pure white.

It's pure white, at least on that end that where my dog goes,

not so much. But this area that I was looking

at was pure white. And I was just looking at how

the sun was glistening off of that sun.

I can barely look at it. I could barely look at it.

So I imagine if John is is seeing Jesus Christ in all his

glory, seeing him in full glory and he's seeing his hair that's

white. And this is also another reason

why I don't particularly care for images, visual images of

Jesus Christ, these pictures of images of Jesus Christ, because

I've never seen anything in the Bible where it describes the,

the true features of Jesus Christ other than him and, and,

and descriptions like this. And it's only like maybe two

places in the whole Bible where he even gives a description of

Jesus. And in none of those

descriptions, you can't tell like personally what he looks

like. We know more about what he is on

the inside and who he is, his character, his integrity, his,

his glory. We know more about that.

And, and this is a reminiscent of that, you know, his head is

white like pure. So he has that purity.

But it also says his eyes are like a, a flame of fire.

They're not brown, they're not blue.

They are like a fleece said they were like a flame of fire, a

flame of fire. So these are like eyes that were

like that, that just didn't look at the surface, but these are

eyes that penetrated into the soul.

We can see into the spirit. It doesn't.

Nothing can be hidden from these eyes.

Everything is manifested in his sight.

There's nothing that he can't see and, and, and he judges in

his eyes, but he can see and he can judge righteously.

Even as it says over in Psalms 19, it says that the judgments

of the Lord are true and righteous all together.

He's the only one that truly always judges righteously the

only one. And he said his feet were like

fine brass and refined in a like, like they refined in a

furnace. His feet like fine brass.

That brass that, that, that, that durability, the durability

of brass, the, the, the stability of brass.

And not only that, but brass is also something that's trod in

the furnace. And we know that Jesus when he

walked in the earth, he was tried and yet he was still

without sin, tried. And, and just almost like that,

the verse right over in Psalms that says that he is tried in a

furnace of the earth. And it says that he is purified

7 times. And yet we know that Jesus was

tried on the earth, but yet he was still without sin.

He was still the righteous. And then says that his voice,

his voice was like the sound of many waters.

I don't know if I'm sure most people have been up to Niagara

Falls before. We used to go up to Niagara

Falls and we would be on the, the, the American side.

We would go over to the, the Canna, the Canadian side.

And we would see the falls from that position and over in the

Canadian side and get a little bit closer to the falls and,

and, and it's a little, and it's really loud.

It's really loud. Now I have never actually got in

the boat to go behind the falls and, and whatnot, but just being

around other waterfalls, you can just hear when you got the

multitude and the volume of water that goes down and, and

how it goes down and it hits, you know, and, and it's just

loud. It's loud.

And I said that this is how Jesus's voice was like the sound

of many waters. So not just like one Niagara

Falls, but many Niagara Falls, you know, and hearing that that

sound, that's how that voice sounded.

So of course it would unnerve John to some degree in the

Bible. It says here that in the verse

16, he says that he had in his right hand seven stars.

If we want to come back to that over in verse 20, but said he

had his right hand seven stars and out of his mouth when a a

sharp 2 edged sword and his countenance was like the sun

shining in its strength, the sun shining in its strength.

Who can look at the sun when it's not being hindered by no

clouds or nothing in front of it, just the pure sun.

Hardly anybody can look at it, and it's almost like when they

were up on the Mount of Transfiguration, when they

looked in Jesus's face and they saw the brightness of his face

when he saw him in his true glory.

Purity, once again, righteousness, holiness is pure.

The Bible says that God is light and in Him is no darkness at

all, no darkness. So when you have brightness and

light that has no darkness at all, it's light.

It's really, really bright. And this is the face of Jesus

shining so bright, you know he's out of his mouth was a was a

sword. And that's how that's his

weapon. That's his weapon.

His weapon is the word, the word of God that by itself is going

to slay his enemy, the word of God.

We want to come against our enemies.

Just use the word of God. There's nothing that makes the

enemy flee faster than the word of God.

So he has his two edged sword coming out of his mouth.

He doesn't carry his sword in his teeth.

This is the word that comes out of his mouth and it literally

slays his enemies. Verse 17 says in and when he saw

it, he fell at his feet as dead, fell his feet as dead.

And this is basically this is the response that one gets when

he comes into the presence of a mighty God.

It takes our strength, it takes our vigor from us.

We're weak in his presence. When we really get into the

presence of God, we can only, we can't do anything but just

falling down and worship him. Worship him.

You know how we hear people. And maybe I'm sure I've said it

myself a few times. Yeah.

You know, I'm going to ask God about that when I get to heaven.

You know, when I see Jesus, I'm going to ask him about this.

I'm asking about that. No, I'm not like the Jesus would

fall down like a dead man, just like John.

Just like John fall on my face, I'm not going to have no

strength to want to ask him anything.

He's not like he's a man that I can sit down and negotiate with.

It's glory, it's perfection, it's true holiness.

And to be in the presence of that, it takes your strength.

It takes your strength. So I can see him being concerned

and being afraid, and he must have been afraid.

Now we're talking about John who lived with Jesus, walked with

Jesus for three, 3 1/2 years. He knew Jesus, but yet when he

saw him in the fullness of his glory, there was something

different and he knew it. He said this.

This isn't the same guy we be eating fish with.

He looks different because he's seeing Him in the fullness of

His glory, just as we will one day we will see Him as he is.

And Jesus had to say to him, do not be afraid, brother, don't be

afraid, don't be afraid. Those are the four words that

I'm sure John loves to hear. He said it to him.

And so many other times when Jesus was walking on the sea and

they saw him, they thought it was a ghost.

He had to say, do not be afraid. So they saw him several times in

those situations where they had, he had to speak and say don't be

afraid. Don't be afraid.

And he says that to us because there's times that we may want

to be afraid, but he says to us, do not be afraid.

And, and, and, and, and, and he actually touched him.

He laid his right hand on him. He didn't have to.

He could have just commanded him to stand up, but he didn't.

He showed him compassion and and attention.

He laid his hand on him. Thank God for his touch.

He says I am the 1st and the last.

I am he who loves. I am he who who lives in and was

dead and behold am alive forever more.

Bless the Lord. You know.

So he's saying here I have strength, I have power over

death. And he proved that because he

got up out of the grave. So he does have power over

death. He told he, he, he told Ponty,

he said you don't have any power over me that God didn't give

you. I don't get, you know, you don't

take my life. I lay it down.

I lay it down and I'll pick it up again.

And he showed that he could do it because he rose up out of the

grave. And what A and what a, what,

what good news that is for us that he's the first, He's the

first to rise from the dead. He's the first born of the dead.

We come after him, we will rise after him.

And then in verse 19, I'm sorry, he also says here at the bottom

of that verse 18, Amen. I have the keys of death, of

hades, and of death. The devil doesn't have the keys.

He doesn't have authority in hell.

Jesus does. He has authority over hell and

you know, he, he, he, I know he thinks he does, but he doesn't.

Jesus has the keys of Hades, which is the abode of the death

and death. It's Jesus that will judge the

wicked and they'll be cast death.

Hades who are those who are dead in the earth, those who are dead

under the earth, those who are dead in the seas, He will cast

them into the lake of fire one day.

Verse 19 says write these things which you have seen and the

things which are the things which will take and the things

which will take place after this.

And there is the whole outline for the Book of Revelation right

there, right there, OK. It's about the things that are

the things you've seen. It's about the things that are

and the things that will take place after this.

And then verse 20 says the mystery and we're going to

finish up period of praise and worship team can come the

mystery of the seven stars, which you have seen in my right

hand in the 7 golden lamp stands.

He gives the he gives now the answer to some of those things.

Now there's some things that are in revelations that are symbolic

and some of those things, you know, there's different schools

of thought on how those things are interpreted.

But then there's things that the word of God will clearly tell us

what those meanings are. And this is one of those, one of

those things here, what are what is the true meaning of the seven

stars and the true meaning of the golden lampstands for the

meaning of the seven stars, what you have in your hand.

And he noticed there in his right hand, we believe that

those are the pastors of the churches because the seven

lampstands are the churches. So it's the seven.

So it's the seven stars, which are the the seven pastors of the

of the seven lampstands or the seven churches.

And he says they're in his right hand, which means that they're

being protected by the Lord. What a blessing that is to have

an elder or a pastor or just the people, the messengers of God

being protected by the Lord. What a blessing that is.

And we go out and speak on his behalf and we witness we're in

his hands, we're protected. But this is referring to the

seven pastors of those churches, the messengers of those

churches, and then the seven lampstands, which are what you

see, they are the seven churches.

And the lampstand is like the menorah, is like the menorah

that was in the Temple or first of all in the Tabernacle and

then later in the Temple. The menorah that those

lampstands, it was all of gold and it was the light that it

provided for the Tabernacle and then eventually for the Temple.

It was the light, just as Jesus Christ is the light of the

world. Jesus says I am the light of the

world. He believes in me, doesn't walk

in darkness, but she'll have the light of life.

He's the light of the world. And now he tells us over in

Matthew, he says you are the light of the world.

Let your light so shine so that men will see your good works and

glorify God who is in heaven. We are the light of the world,

so when we leave here, it's about being a light wherever we

are and letting that light shine so that others will have hope.

When our light shines, others have hope.

When our light shines, others have hope.

When there's a ship lost in sea, when he finally sees the

lighthouse and sees the light at the lighthouse, he has hope.

He has hope. I can remember sometimes being

on some very, very desolate roads, driving in some of the

back places. I've met a gentleman over here

who said that he lived in South Dakota for while we are Caden,

there you go. He said he lived in South Dakota

for a while, and I really wanted to talk to him a little bit more

about South Dakota. But there's some areas of South

Dakota that are just really, really desolate and dark.

And then all of a sudden you see a light off in the far distance

and you can tell I'm finally coming upon a town and you have

hope. And that's exactly the way it is

for us to where the church, we are the light that gives hope to

the world. So let our light shine.

And John eases us, and as he gets into the prophecies and the

church, first, he's going to get into the churches.

Next time we start in chapter 2, he's going to get into the seven

churches. Then after that, we'll get into

the prophecies, those things that are happening after this,

Amen. But he eases us into this, and

I'm so glad he does. He gives us a big dose of Jesus

Christ, Amen. Let's pray, Father, we thank you

for your word. We thank you for your goodness.

We thank you for all that you show us and teach us, Lord, how

you give us the way. How you show us the way, Lord

demonstrated even with your life.

And then as if that wasn't enough, Lord, you came and you

did the ultimate as you came, and you died for us, Lord, for

our sins. You shed your blood, Lord, and

you cleansed us of our sins, and you did it in your own blood, as

your scripture says. You washed us, You cleansed us,

You purified us. And I pray, Lord, that someone

tonight may have heard something that will cause them to want to

have that relationship with you, want to give their lives to you,

want to trust you for their salvation, Lord, that they don't

want to have to wonder if whether or not they have

salvation, but they can know that they have salvation, Lord,

if they have their, if they have the Son.

So I pray that someone will turn from their and repent from their

sins, Lord, just as we all need to repent every day, those who

are believers and those who are not.

And I pray, Lord, that someone will give their hearts to you,

Lord, and trust you for their salvation.

Let us be lights, Lord. If we haven't been lights, Lord,

up to this point, I pray that you will cause us to be lights,

cause us to desire, Lord, to let our lights shine in our

communities. Let our lights shine in our

homes. Let our lights shine in our in

our jobs, in our schools as young people.

Let our lights shine. Let people see that we are

different because we are of the Kingdom of God.

But we thank you for the sacrifice, Lord, that it took

for you to bring that gospel to us, to the to the world.

Lord, we thank you for that. So the night in which Jesus was

betrayed, he took the bread in his hand and, and it says that

after he gave thanks, he broke it and he said, take, eat, this

is my body which is broken for you.

Eat this in remembrance of me. Then he also took the cup and he

said this cup is a new covenant in my blood which was shed for

the forgiveness of sins for many.

And that blood that was shed 2000 years ago is still

cleansing people from sins even today is still cleanses.

It's just as efficacious now as it was 2000 years ago.

Thank you Lord, drink this as often as you drink it.

And remembrance of me for as often as you eat this bread and

drink this cup. Do show the Lord's death until

he comes. Amen.

Amen. The Lord bless you.

The altar is open if anybody would like to come up.

Someone like to give their hearts to Christ this morning,

please come up and do so. Lord bless you.