The Identity of the Risen Jesus: Knowing Him for Who He Truly Is - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

Well, we're back into Revelation 2 this evening, having

looked at the first two letters to the churches there in

Ephesus and Smyrna.

And now we're coming to Pergamum and Thyatira.

I remember hearing a Baptist preacher preach on this section of

the letter one summer up in Coleraine at New Horizon.

And every time he said Thyatira in his Scottish accent,

it just sounded like it was a place you would want to live in.

Well, maybe for the Scottish, anyway.

But it was a wonderful time to learn about these seven letters to

the churches.

And one of the things that was drawn out, and I hope you've seen

that.

I know we've had a few weeks on, a few weeks off just with the

different things that have been going on.

But right from the very beginning, John is painting a picture

for us of who Jesus is.

He's communicating what is the identity of Jesus to us as a people

who are waiting his return.

And I think we will all be aware that the ability to identify

people is an important thing.

Babies are able to recognize not necessarily people, but certainly

facial patterns of their parents within just a few weeks.

It is interesting that they lose that ability as they then start

to identify features.

So there's a difference between facial patterns and features.

We learn what our school teacher looks like and particularly

for our P1s and P2s.

They recognize them immediately when out in the playground

and they need someone to care for them.

We know the facial features of our spouses and our children, and

it's frightening when you see your own facial expressions repeated

in your children's faces.

And even over this weekend, we've been presented with the image

of a man incorrectly released from prison so that he would be identified

and apprehended.

The identity has been revealed so that we will know what to look

out for.

A few weeks ago, I shared my embarrassing story of walking up

to someone, a lady, all confidently saying the name that

I thought should be the name, only to be met with a blank look

and a quiet, oh, sorry, I have the wrong person.

And what was worse, I had to go back and tell Pamela of my silly

mistake and have her laugh at me.

But, you know, we can be so confident, and I know at the door

I'm so confident trying to say your name.

And sometimes I'll get it right.

Hopefully most of the times I'll get it right.

And sometimes I'm going to call you wrong, and I'm so sorry.

And sometimes your name comes to me three steps after you're away.

Identity is Important.

It's important for the person you're meeting, but it's important

for you because you want to be most times recognized.

You want to be called by your name.

And so we know the value that our identity has.

And that's what this chapter or the first chapter of Revelation

has been about.

The vision of the Son of Man that John received was to tell us

not what Jesus looks like in a reality, but but was an image presented

to John and us of what the character and nature of Christ is.

And in the two churches this evening, Pergamum and Thyatira, we

see two of these descriptions of Jesus being used again and a deeper

understanding of what they mean.

And the whole purpose being that the church should not mistaken

Jesus for who he truly is, nor ignore what he has to say.

And so as we think of these two churches, we think of the word

identity.

Who is Jesus?

Now we all have an idea, perhaps from the hymn that we used

to sing.

Gentle Jesus, meek and mild, look upon a little child.

And so we think of Jesus as this long haired man sitting in a

meadow with flowers around and, and you know, cuddling a lamb

or holding a lamb.

And so we have those images of who Jesus is, but in reality, is

that who Jesus is?

Because John gives us a very different picture.

Because the Jesus that we meet this evening does not appear to be

meek and mild.

Yes, this morning in Exodus we saw that God is patient, but there

comes a moment where his patience, it won't run out, but it

is challenged enough for him to respond and react to the one who

is disobedient to him.

So identity of Jesus is important for the churches that we're

reading about, but it's also important for us.

And so we begin with the church in Thyatara.

And I always like to put this map up so that you can see where

we are.

Remember, Patmos is there in that white box on the map to the

left.

And then as you move across, all the churches go kind of the closest

first moving out towards those furthest away.

And the church at Pergamum has been faithful.

It's been faithful despite of severe persecution which may have

come because of their refusal to participate in the imperial cult.

Now that imperial cult was worship of the emperor who called

himself a deity, whoever the Caesar was at the time they were

to be worshipped.

Now we read in this passage of a man called Antipas.

He had given his life for the sake of Jesus Christ.

He was persecuted because of what he believed.

Yet on the other hand, the church that is standing strong despite

severe persecution, is compromising their faith by eating

food sacrificed to idols and participating in sexual immorality.

And what the call to them is to repent of such actions, to avoid

judgment and so gain entrance into eternal life.

Pergamum boasted temples for the goddess Roma and the divine Augustus.

Aspilochus or Asclepius as he sometimes called God of healing,

had a temple and Zeus also had a temple dedicated to them.

And anytime you see a temple of Zeus, Zeus is sitting on a throne.

So when we come to hear of the throne of Satan in Pergamum, the

image to us is giving of that false God sitting on a hill outside

the city, overlooking everything on his carved throne.

This was quite literally a city that was surrounded by Greek

gods.

And the pressure for the Christians in Pergamum was to bow

the knee to these gods.

It was strong.

And most of the Greco Roman world, they would have melded these

gods together.

There was no one God they would have worshipped.

And so they happened happily chose and mixed these gods together

up in some kind of happy pick and mix that suited them.

And it would have been different, a different ingredient

for each person.

They worshiped and served the gods that they had before them and

they enlisted the aid of any God that could help them.

They weren't even committed to the gods they claimed to worship.

And you see, this is what was different for the Christians.

They stood apart, they were different because they refused to

recognize any God apart from the one true God who had revealed

himself in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.

This is Pergamum.

This is the church to which Jesus speaks and John communicates

that message.

And so we're told in verse 12.

And to the angel of the church in Pergamum, write the words of him

who has the sharp two edged sword.

The image of the sword here represents Jesus words.

And Jesus words are penetrating to the deepest level.

We've seen this sword coming out of the mouth of Jesus in the

previous image.

And what it's telling us against the church of Pergamum is

that Jesus will judge and he will destroy by his word those who

side with the emperor and or any other idol.

He will strike down the nations with this sharp sword.

So what comes next will quite literally be cutting for the church.

Now Jesus starts by saying that he knows where they dwell and

he knows that Satan's throne is in the midst of their city.

A throne we know is where a king or an emperor rules from.

It is quite literally their seat of authority.

And so we have in this place that is so twisted and entwined into

the imperial cult of worshipping the emperor, that they

have Satan on his throne all around them.

It's a city that it seems that Satan is ruling and reigning.

But in the midst of this pressure to bar and submit to these

false gods, the Church has stood firm to the truth of the gospel.

But as we've said, there has been persecution.

And Antipas was killed for his faith.

And because of that, though the Church didn't run away and hide

and walk away from faith, they actually became stronger.

They kept living it out in a pagan world.

So we must be mindful of this, and we've said it before, we don't

face hard persecution.

We may face soft persecution by how our governments around us

have laws that we don't agree with.

And when we take a stand for our free speech, we are cut down.

But we must stand firm in faith.

It's not punishment when we're not heard.

We need to trust in God, for he is the one, as we've just sung,

who will not stand on that day when Christ stands as the victor.

So Christian, keep going in the faith, keep standing strong in

Christ, and do not bow the knee to any other idol or false God.

But as we know from reading the passage, things are not good.

Verse 14 tells us that Jesus has a few things against them.

The first charge is that some hold to the teaching of Balaam.

Now John is bringing us back here to the biblical story of Balaam

in numbers, chapters 22 through to chapter 24.

Numbers 22 · chapter mention

And Balaam was prevented by the Spirit of God from cursing Israel,

even though he wanted to and was compelled to bless them.

But he found another way to subvert Israel.

He incited Israel to join with the Moabites in their sacrifices

and sexual immorality.

Sounds familiar as what's going on in pergamum.

And he wanted them to do this numerous times as recorded for us

there in Numbers 25 and Numbers 31.

But the outcome of this leading astray by Balaam, 24,000

were killed in Israel for their unfaithfulness.

And so now move forward to this letter to the Church in pergamum

and thereby the letter to us.

Jesus is telling the Church that the history of Israel was replicating

itself.

For some in the church were participating in worship in pagan

temples and indulging in sexual immorality.

And they didn't merely do what was wrong, but also propagated their

view by instructing others.

This wasn't something that was just for them.

They were encouraging others to come along.

Both their words and Their actions functioned, as John records

for us here, as a stumbling block for the believers.

Now stumbling here isn't a mild misstep.

It refers to losing one's final reward by falling away from

the Gospel of Jesus Christ, something that Paul calls making

shipwreck of your faith.

Because those who follow false teachers will be judged by the words

of Jesus, that sharp two edged sword, if they don't repent.

Those who compromise aren't falling short in some trivial way.

Their future reward is called into question because of their unfaithfulness.

But there's more.

It's not just Balaam that's an issue for them.

We meet the group that we've met before called the Nicolasians,

and it seems much like the Church in Ephesus.

Here in Pergamum, the Nicoletians have been able to influence

the church and as we said a few weeks ago, we have very little

information about who these Nicolaitans are.

Now some have identified a connection to the proselyte Nicholas,

who was appointed to help the Hellenists, the Hellenistic widows

of the early Church, in that distribution that they had called

for in Acts 6 and Verse 5.

Well, if this connection is accurate, as many do believe, Nicholas

must have later departed from the faith that he confessed.

Perhaps the teaching was the same as the teaching of Balaam, because

interestingly, Balaam in the Hebrew and Nicolasians in the Greek

both mean the same thing.

Conqueror or conquer the people.

Conqueror of the people.

And so here we have two groups whose name means that they will conquer

the people.

Is that not what sexual immorality aims to do?

Is that not what the worship of idols aims to do?

It desires to conquer.

It is interesting.

I've been reading in preparation for Reformation Day on

31st October, I've been reading Martin Luther's Bondage of

the Will.

If that's a book that you haven't heard of, it's been translated

numerous times.

And the striking opening chapter or so of it, or the first

opening paragraphs is that humanity thinks it's free, but humanity's

never been free.

We are either someone in Christ or we are bound to Satan.

The bondage of the will is automatically to Satan because we

are born in sin and shapen in iniquity.

And ultimately isn't that what Satan wants to do through idolatry

and sexual immorality?

To conquer the people, to pull them away from God?

And so this false teaching of Balaam and the Nicolasians desires

to draw God's people away.

But there is hope, and the hope comes in the form of a command

to the church.

In verse 16, Jesus says, Therefore repent.

He goes on to say, if not, I will come to you soon and war against

them with the sword of my mouth.

So there is an opportunity to repent.

There is yet time, there is yet patience to repent.

The Christians who have allowed themselves to be influenced

by these false prophets and false teachers can return to the

Lord and his Gospel and know full restoration.

They can know that wonderful assurance that only Christ can give

that they are his children and that they can rest in his loving

arms.

But we also have this warning that we can't ignore, because if

they don't repent, then they will know the full judgment of Christ

as those who turned from him.

He is the one who will speak judgment against them.

He is the one who will declare them sinners and their sin needing

to be punished.

And because they have rejected him, it will not be under Christ

which they will stand for that forgiveness of sins and that punishment

taken by Him.

They will have to receive that punishment themselves.

You see, Jesus says he is coming soon, and they must pay attention

to what he says.

This sword in Jesus mouth, these are the mighty words that he

speaks.

This is the sword that will be wielded against those who have given

themselves over to evil.

And as with all the churches, the Christians in pergamum are told

to pay attention because Jesus says, he who has an ear, let him

hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna.

And I will give him a white stone with a new name written on

the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it.

Now, here we have two things that maybe we're not familiar with.

In the first instance, we.

I'm sure as soon as we hear manna, we'll automatically take them

back to Exodus.

And so once again, we will allow scripture to interpret Scripture.

And as to what it means, the white stones are slightly different

for us.

And we'll come to that in a moment.

Hidden manna, white stones.

The hidden manna will have that connection that manna of God

rained down on his people during their 40 years in the wilderness.

That manna signified God's provision for them each and every

day.

And so God here is promising these people who might have been

afraid that they would lose their livelihoods, that their refusal

to compromise now would result in receiving his heavenly provision

in the age to come.

This was the assurance that they need.

And so God is assuring them that even though they will face things

in this world, he is the one who will continue to provide now

for them and in eternity.

So just as the children of Israel depended on manna, that blessing

from God, so too must God's people today depend on him for everything,

so that they will know it now and in eternity in heaven.

But the white stone is slightly different for us.

And in the ancient world, the white stone was used on different

occasions.

The first is a white ceremonial stone called a tessera

had a number of different meanings, and each one could be applied

to those who overcome.

Champions in athletic games in John's day were given a white stone.

So perhaps this promise communicates that they would overcome

the temptation to compromise, that they could anticipate receiving

recognition of their victory from Jesus.

White stones were given as a token of admission to pagan feasts

and festivals.

So while they might not be welcomed into the pagan feasts of

Pergamum, they could be assured of a place at the table at

the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Additionally, white stones were used in courts of law, as jurors

would vote for acquittal by setting forth white stone, in contrast

to a black stone, for conviction.

So while like Antipas, they might be convicted in the courts

of pergamum, they could be assured that the courts of heaven

would be the ones that would declare them not guilty, all because

of Jesus Christ.

Two images, two wonderful images to encourage God's people

that to remain with him will be a great reward.

And this is what we see also in the letter to the church in Thyatira.

Now, Thyatira was not a major city in the Roman world, but it was

known for its trade guilds, especially in metalworking and textiles.

Believers were clearly tempted to compromise in order to belong

to such guilds.

If they wanted to do business, they needed to be part of these guilds.

And we find here the only use of the phrase Son of God.

The church is addressed by the one who is uniquely related to God.

We've known him as the Son of Man, but he is the Son of God, son

of the Father.

The Gospel of John does emphasize Jesus as the Son of God.

And so Jesus majesty and his authority of his words are underscored

by the title that he's given here.

This is perhaps in opposition to the so called glory of the Roman

emperor as the Son of God, or in opposition to Apollo, the son

of Zeus and a prominent deity in Thyatira.

The Son of man is described here as one with eyes like a flame

of fire and feet like burnished bronze.

Once again, that image that was Given to us in chapter one, we

now see here.

Given to Thyatara.

The flaming eyes of the son of man, who is also the son of God,

reflect the intensity of his vision and holiness.

This means he won't tolerate any evil.

This is especially fitting message for the compromisers in Thyatara.

Not only does he refuse to compromise with evil, but he will

crush and destroy those who oppose him.

His bronze feet are of a metal far superior to any made in Thyatira,

where military grade brass was made.

And no one can stand before the feet of him who tramples those

who do evil.

So this is the context of Thyatira.

But as we have come to expect, there is a commendation for the church,

and it's in verse 19.

I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient

endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first.

This is a church that is actually saluted for its works.

They're not a church sitting idly by.

They're not a church sitting there doing nothing.

Their actions testify to the reality of their faith.

They differ from the church in Ephesus in being commended for their

love, that is their love for God and for fellow believers.

Because here in Thyatira, it's alive and radiant and it's driven

or it is driving their works of service.

They are faithful, they're engaged in service, and they're engaged

in love for one another as the people of God.

And they are enduring.

In fact, they're persevering in their life as Christians.

And what is perhaps most remarkable of all is their growth

as believers, because look what said.

They're making progress.

Their works now exceed what they did as new believers.

They're maturing, they're disciples, they're faithfully following

the way of Jesus.

And even though their commendation is limited to one verse,

the strengths of the Thyatira church cannot be missed.

This is a living, vibrant church because it continues to be

a church that is seeking Jesus and living out his way where they

are.

But they're not perfect.

And so they need to look to the real Jesus to learn how to return

to him and live his way.

In spite of their love and in spite of their faith and service

and patient endurance.

There was a problem in the church and a problem with regards

to holiness because there was a toleration of sexual immorality,

idolatry.

Here we have another church that is plagued by these things.

And so, as we now know, Thyatara was a trade city with the

guilds.

And each guild paid homage to pagan gods, Christians who would

Work in these guilds or in these trades would have been pressurized

to participate in sacred festivals to these pagan gods, which

would have included eating meals in their temples and participating

in in sexual liaisons with temple prostitutes.

They had it all around them, and this has had an influence in

the church.

And perhaps a woman in the church claiming to be a prophetess

who was encouraging the believers in the church to go ahead

and participate in these feasts in sexual immorality.

We have a name presented to us as Jezebel.

And calling her Jezebel was a way of connecting the nature of her

influence in the church to the Jezebel that we read about in First

Kings, who urged the Israelites to worship BAAL and Ashtaroth

alongside the Lord, which also involved sexual liaisons at the pagan

shrines.

Essentially, the message of this person to those in the church

was that they could do everything that their fellow citizens

of Thyatira did, regardless of whether it met the standard of God

or not.

But this, of course, is not the Lord's way.

Verse 21 tells us that this person is an obstinate person who

is happy in her leading of others, in leading them astray.

She has been given the opportunity to repent, but she has

not.

She will then face punishment for her sins, and so will her children,

her children being those who have followed her ways.

And this is a striking reality check for the believers and for us.

We perhaps think that we can dabble in sin and get away with it,

but we won't.

We must be completely for the Lord and for his ways and not give

in to the pull of the evil One.

But there were those in Thyatira who were not following Jezebel's

way.

They would not be punished because they had remained faithful.

Instead, they wrestled to hold fast to the Gospel and its truth.

They were to live in it and know its deep joy.

And Jesus goes on to say in verse 26, the one who conquers and

who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority

over the nations.

Those who overcome those who triumph will be given authority over

the nations.

An image expanded in the following verse.

In verse 27 in Daniel 7, 14, dominion and authority are given

to the Son of Man, so that all peoples everywhere will serve Him.

The remainder of the vision in Daniel 7 reveals the son of man sharing

his rule with the saints.

The saints will possess the kingdom and rule with Jesus as the

Son of Man.

So believers who gave their lives for the Lord Jesus will sit

on thrones and rule.

Paul says that saints will judge the world in First Corinthians

6 and verse 2.

And Jesus promises that those who follow him will rule over the

12 tribes of Israel in Matthew 19:28.

Matthew 19:28

This is not a special reward reserved for special Christians.

All believers will enjoy this authority over the nations.

All those who enjoy eternal life will rule with Jesus as the

Son of Man.

The original mandate to rule the world, of course, was given to

Adam and Eve.

And this mandate will be realized by believers at the end

of time.

Verse 28 tells us that believers will be given the morning

star as part of their rule.

And the morning star points us to Venus, which shines even before

the sun rises.

But here it refers to Jesus himself, as Revelation 22:16 explicitly

Revelation 22:16

says, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these

things.

For the churches.

I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning

star.

It turns out that Jesus is the star prophesied by Balaam in numbers

2417, the star who will crush all his enemies and rule forever.

The greatest reward believers receive is Jesus himself, and they

will reign with him.

And so the letter concludes with the words found in all seven

letters that believers must pay heed to.

The words that the Spirit is speaking to all the churches.

And this is our warning to pay attention.

Both of these churches had members who were turning away and

going after the idols and false gods of their time.

And today we still have false gods and idols all around us.

If we don't think that they are, then we need to wake up and

open our eyes, because if they weren't here, then we would know

a lot more people coming to faith.

You see, the devil is cunning and he wants to pull you away from

Christ.

He wants you to get angry.

He wants you to gossip.

He wants you to speak negatively about the church and God's

people.

And he wants you to be critical and cynical.

This is not the way of Christ.

This is the way of the devil, the devil who wants to pull us away

from the Savior.

And you know, sometimes we slip into these things and we often

justify it as our opinion, but we either live by the standard of

Christ or we don't.

The question is, which will it be?

And this is a serious question that we must ask ourselves.

And I think everyone would want to answer it by saying that

we would want to live by the standard of Christ.

And this is what Peter says that we're to do in 1 Peter 2:21.

1 Peter 2:21

For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered

for you, leaving you an example so that you might Follow

in His steps.

Jesus has given us all.

We need to stay close to him and follow in his ways.

Because this is the Jesus whose identity we must know so that

we can follow Him.

Paul goes on to write in Colossians 1:15 17, he is the image

Colossians 1:15

of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

For by him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible

and invisible.

Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things

were created through him and for him.

Who's Jesus?

What's his identity?

Will we recognize Him?

Well, Peter says we do when we follow in his ways.

And Paul says, well, we must know him because indeed he is the

image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.

Do you know Jesus this evening?

Do you know him for who he truly is?

Do you know him that he will indeed be that judge with that two

edged sword?

Will you know him as the One who has eyes blazing where he is

truly holy and cannot cannot have evil?

And will you know him as the one with burnished bronze feet who

indeed will stamp out and crush evil?

See, there's an interesting line in the church to Thyatira, a

wake up call to us of what it means to know the true identity of

Jesus and to hold fast to Him.

Because if we don't, then we will know his wrath and we will know

that eternal punishment and you know, life in this world is not

worth that.

We must follow Christ and Him alone.

For all things were created through him and for Him.

He calls us to draw onto him, each and every one of us, whoever

we are, so that we will grow more and more in love and we will

know this glorious hope that will see us through this rotten world

and bring us into the glory of heaven.

I challenge each of us tonight to think deeply about Christ, to

look and see if we are bowing the knee to other idols, idols that

maybe are not statues that we worship, but maybe more so idols

of heart.

Are we bowing to them?

Are we submitting to them?

Because if we are, we need to repent and we need to come onto the

Lord and we need to look ever to Him.

Will you trust Him?

Will you love Him?

Will you have ears to hear what is said to the churches, yes,

the seven in Revelation, but to the churches throughout all of

time.

Let's pray.

Our Father God, we thank you for your word that challenges us

to pay attention to who you are.

And Father, there's so much around us that at times we can slip

and fall and know it's not the right way to go.

So we ask that you would hold us fast onto the end, that you will

not let us go and keep us close to you.

That we will keep ourselves in check by the standard of Christ,

seeking forgiveness when we need to be forgiven.

And Father, knowing that you are the God who has given us the

church by which we can find rescue and refuge, fellowship with

your people as we draw near to you in worship.

So, Father, may we live and serve you well as we ever seek you.

In Jesus name, amen.