What the Son of Man Wants His Church to See (Revelation 1:9-20)

Hi, I'm Pastor Creighton, and thank you for tuning into Newsong Churches Podcast.

We're a biblically faithful, gospel-centered Anglican church in Port Perry, Ontario, proclaiming the true and life-giving word of Jesus as we love and serve our neighbors.

You can learn more about us at Newsongportperry.ca.

May God bless you today through his life-giving word.

This lesson is Revelations 1, verses 9 to 20.

Revelation 1:9–20

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatera, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodosia.

Then I turned to see the voices that was speaking to me, and on turning, I saw seven gold lampshades, and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

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

His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.

In his right hand he held seven stars.

From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one.

I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

And I have the keys of death and Hades.

Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.

As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

This is the word of the Lord.

The Son of Man 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.

So let's pray.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light, look favorably on your whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery.

By the effectual working of your providence, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation.

Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made, your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Please be seated.

Well, it's in the midst of great oppression, tribulation, even exile, that God sends a heavenly vision to his people to call them both to persevere and be fortified for the times that they face.

I'm not just talking about Revelation, I'm also talking about the Old Testament book of Daniel.

And you could probably apply that to a number of Old Testament prophetic books.

We've been going through Ezekiel in morning prayer lately.

Ezekiel has a lot in common with that as well.

I bring up the book of Daniel for a couple of reasons.

One, because an important interpretive principle, we were talking about some important things to bear in mind as we try and have the best reading of this book of Revelation that we can.

One important principle we should bear in mind is when we encounter perhaps confusing or really dense symbolism, probably the first place we should look for a point of reference is the Old Testament.

John knows his Old Testament.

And the Lord, who's revealing to John these visions, knows that John knows his Old Testament.

And we, God's people, are expected to know ours.

And so when we encounter some strange or dense symbolism, the Old Testament is probably the first place we should turn.

Now I bring up the book of Daniel for another reason.

That's because it's very pertinent to the text at hand.

In Daniel chapter 7, we encounter a mystery that hangs over the rest of the Old Testament and into the New Testament.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Daniel sees a vision of the heavenly throne room.

And Daniel the prophet, who's in exile in Babylon at the time, he sees this.

As I looked, he writes in chapter 7, thrones were placed, and the ancient of days took his seat.

His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool.

His throne was fiery flames.

What's Daniel seeing?

He's seeing the heavenly throne room.

He's seeing the glory of God revealed.

And then he continues his vision.

Behold, with the clouds of heaven, right, the very glory of God, there came one like a son of man.

And he came to the ancient of days, and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.

So in the midst of this vision of God's heavenly throne room, the throne room of throne rooms, what does Daniel see?

He sees someone like a son of man being exalted to God's own throne.

Now, son of man is a very typical Hebrew phrase.

Basically, it means a human being, someone who has the same nature as we do.

And yet something more is going on here than what we would expect of a mere human being.

This is a human being who has a like nature to ourself, but this is a human being sitting on God's throne, and only God is worthy to sit on his throne.

So, in some sense, this son of man is both fully human and he is fully God.

How can that be the case?

For the rest of the saints in the Old Testament, into the New Testament, this mystery hangs over Scripture.

Who is this Son of Man who will reign over all things, who will restore creation and bring it to its perfection?

Well, John has an answer for us, doesn't he?

John has this revelation that we read in uh, well, Revelation, appropriately titled book.

We see in verses 9 to 11, John is himself in experiencing oppression and tribulation.

He is experiencing exile on this rocky little island of Patmos, you know, many miles away from the coast of modern-day Turkey.

Here, he, experiencing tribulation and exile, is himself having a heavenly vision.

A vision that is calling for perseverance and to be fortified in the midst of troubling times.

What does John see, verse 12?

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

And on turning, what does he see?

I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man.

Well, where did we see that phrase before?

We've seen it in Daniel chapter 7.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

John has an answer to this mystery that hangs over Scripture.

This mystery passed down from one generation to the next amongst God's people.

Who is the Son of Man?

It's Jesus.

It's Jesus Christ, the one from whom this revelation comes, verse 1.

This one who has died and yet lives, verse 5.

Jesus is the Son of Man.

And in the midst of tribulation, in the midst of exile, in the midst of all the troubles that God's people might encounter, John has a message of hope for us, and it's this: He wants us to understand who the Son of Man is.

Jesus, the Son of Man, is glorious.

And he is victorious.

And he is present.

He is glorious, victorious, and present.

Around those three points past Rachel earlier, and she says you really should say presentorious.

You know.

Couldn't quite get a word that fits.

Maybe you can help me out with that one.

But this is what John wants us to see.

It's a reassurance to Christians.

Perhaps Christians like us, who know what it is to be in the world and yet not of the world, to live in this tension of already not yet, to experience the trials and tribulations of trying to live faithfully in this world, expecting the world to come.

The gospel can fortify us.

And surely this is a vision of the gospel.

So let's dig in.

What does John want us to see about this Son of Man that will be a gospel reassurance to us?

First, John wants us to see that the Son of Man is glorious.

Let's open up scripture to Revelation.

We'll start at verse 13 here.

John sees standing in the midst of these lampstands, which probably signals the temple, right?

You think of the lampstands that Moses had set in the temple, the tabernacle.

One like a son of man is standing there.

What does John want us to see about the Son of Man?

Well, he gives us a pretty detailed and densely symbolic description.

I don't think these are meant to be taken hyperliterally.

I think they're meant to suggest great truths of who this Son of Man is.

So this Son of Man, he writes, is clothed with a long robe and a golden sash around his chest.

I don't think John is trying to suggest that Jesus won the Mr.

Universe pageant or something with the sash.

These are priestly garments.

First century readers would have immediately clicked in, well, the long robe, the golden sash, that's what a priest wears.

And this is, you know, I suppose something like what I'm supposed to be wearing right now.

But for John's readers, it's understanding this is more than just a human priest.

This is the priest of priests.

This is the great high priest ministering in the heavenly temple.

This is the greatest priest that there could be.

This greatest mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ.

And the hairs of his head, we read, were white.

White like wool, like snow.

This is very interesting because we've seen a phrase very similar to that already, haven't we?

We've seen that phrase in Daniel chapter 7 applied to the ancient of days, whose clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool.

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

So that's very interesting because this is a phrase applied to the ancient of days in Daniel 7, but applied to Jesus Himself in Revelation 1.

I think it suggests this: that Jesus shares the eternal nature of God the Father Himself.

They share a like nature, a divine nature.

They are both fully God, and therefore share these attributes, share these characteristics.

White hair in scripture often suggests wisdom, right?

And that's how we'll talk about it as well.

This is the greatest wisdom that there could be.

This is God's own divine wisdom, which Jesus possesses.

And his eyes, we read, were like a flame of fire.

Fire is purifying, right?

It's cleansing.

These are eyes that don't just see through, they purify what they behold.

And his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace.

Here's another image that we find in the book of Daniel, but Daniel chapter 2, where Daniel has a vision of this enormous statue representing all of the powers of earth.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

And, you know, anyway, the feet that Daniel sees on the statue, though bronze is a part of the statue, the feet themselves are made of iron and clay, and we're meant to understand that they refer to King Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king at the time.

And so we'll use a phrase like he has feet of clay to suggest it's imperfect, it won't last, right?

It's fallible.

And that's true of the King of Babylon, as power, as powerful as he may appear to be, but this Jesus, this Son of Man, is different.

His feet are burnished bronze.

They're not going anywhere.

They stand firmly planted.

And anything that wants to oppose where he walks will be crushed, as it were.

They've been refined in a furnace.

His voice, we read, was like the roar of many waters.

This is a phrase from Ezekiel 1, which that exact phrase is applied to God's voice.

Again, Jesus and God the Father share a like nature.

In his hand, verse 16, the Son of Man held seven stars.

We're going to talk more about those seven stars because they reappear later in our text.

But among other things, I think it's meant to signal, for, let me put it this way, for first century readers, for first century readers in the Roman Empire, they would no doubt be aware of how powerful and influential astrology is in the midst of their culture, reading, you know, the divine will, as it were, off the stars.

And if I look at the stars, I'm seeing something of God or something of the divine or something of the beyond telling me what the purpose of all this is.

Well, Jesus is holding seven stars, the completeness, right, the fullness of these stars in the palm of his hand.

What's that meant to suggest?

As wise as Roman seers might think they are, we know the one who holds the very stars they read in his hands.

I think that probably should suggest at least this to us Christians.

That if we want to go and discern God's will, we ought not to look at stars, we ought not to look at tea leaves, we ought not to look at horoscopes, but we ought to go to the one who holds all creation in his hand, and that's Jesus.

From his mouth comes a sharp two-edged sword.

Again, this is why I say I don't think we're meant to read this overly literally.

We read in Hebrews chapter 4, this is a description of God's word.

Hebrews 4 · chapter mention

It pierces to the very core of our being, the very depth of our marrow, right?

And his face shone like the sun in full strength.

We read a similar phrase when we read the truth the transfiguration in Matthew chapter 7.

Matthew 7 · chapter mention

Jesus' face and his clothing shone with the brightness of the glory of God.

It is dazzling, it is resplendent.

And it's amazing to think just a few chapters later, Matthew 13, Jesus says this of you and I who follow him, the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.

There is a glory that belongs to Jesus by nature that he will share with us by grace.

We will be made into eternal reflections of his resplendent glory.

That's amazing.

What does John want us to see about the Son of Man?

Let's sum it up this way: He wants us to see that the Son of Man is glorious.

There is none that rivals him in glory.

And this should, I think, give us a fuller picture of who Jesus is and who he is for us.

See, it's true we can grab onto images as Jesus, who is meek and mild, who is a friend, who is gentle and lowly.

All these things are very true of Jesus, and we ought not to neglect those truths.

Those truths invite us to come near to Jesus.

And we ought to remember how glorious this Jesus is as well.

He is our King, and He is large and in charge.

When I was a young student, there was this popular trend of t-shirts.

And these t-shirts read, Jesus is my homeboy.

And it usually had a picture of Jesus kind of giving double finger guns or something like that.

Now what's interesting is I knew both, I had good Christian, very committed Christian friends who wore t-shirts.

I also had friends who I would not, I would not say they were exactly committed Christians, but just found a certain kind of humor in that sentiment.

This suggests to me when we separate this idea of Jesus who is a friend to sinners, our homeboy, so to speak, away from the glory and the eternal divinity of Jesus, then we have, we've split Jesus in half, as it were.

What we want to do is behold the fullness of Jesus.

Jesus in his exaltant glory, and Jesus who is our friend, who draws near, who is for us.

When we see this Jesus, we can say that we who have seen him have seen the Father, which we read in John chapter 14.

John 14 · chapter mention

We know that we've beheld something of Jesus' glory because it takes us aback.

It's incomprehensible and overwhelming.

In fact, how does John respond?

Verse 17, when I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead, and I want to say no kidding.

Because how can you take in something so glorious, so majestic, and be left unmoved?

Jesus, who is glorious, will move us to worship.

And this is why I think our vision of Jesus always needs expanding.

He is our friend, but he is also glorious.

So Jesus is my friend.

How do I want to put this?

Maybe it postures our hearts this way.

Friendship draws us close.

His glory brings us to our knees.

And that's what we need.

Jesus, the Son of Man, is glorious.

And what a reassurance that is, by the way, to know that Jesus isn't just for us as our friend.

He is that.

But he has the glory and the power and the kingdom to make his good will happen.

He's not just our friend who wants our best, he is the glorious God who will accomplish our best.

The Son of Man is glorious.

Not just that, John sees, the Son of Man is victorious.

So here's John, floored as though dead.

But the Son of Man, he writes, laid his 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.

I have the keys of death and of Hades.

Write, therefore, the things that you have seen, those that are, and those that are to take place after this.

Here we have the purpose of John writing, or at least the commission for John writing the book that we're studying right now.

Write these things down.

They're important.

They're important because they will fortify us for the times we live in.

They call us to not be afraid.

Fear not, Jesus says.

Don't be afraid.

Why?

What reason do we Christians living in such difficult times, John living in his time, we living in our time, what reason do we have to fear not?

Well, there's at least three reasons here, isn't there?

One, Jesus says, I am the first and the last.

He is preeminent.

The word here in Greek suggests a prototype or a pattern.

He is the pattern for the whole universe we live in.

He is the living logos that gives it its purpose.

And he is the last.

He is the eschatos, the uttermost, the end.

He is the pattern and the purpose for the whole universe.

And Jesus says, number two, I am the living one.

I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

In other words, what you've all read in Isaiah 25, that death will be swallowed up forever, is accomplished in Jesus.

Jesus Christ has gone toe to toe with death.

It has dealt its very worst to him, and Jesus has prevailed.

He is come out victorious.

And therefore Jesus says, I've claimed my prize.

I have the keys of death and Hades.

There is no place, not even hell itself, which can keep my beloved away from me.

When you buy a new house, I remember the excitement of Rachel and I buying our first house.

And boy, it's exciting when you get those keys in your hand, isn't it?

That is an exciting moment.

No, everything up to this point has led to this.

Up to that moment, no matter how badly I've wanted that house to go into that house, it's really not mine.

And it's inaccessible to me unless I have this, the key.

This says, it belongs to me.

This is our possession.

There is nothing outside of my dominion, if we want to use that fancy word, so long as it goes for this house.

Well, Jesus says, I have the keys to death in Hades.

Hell itself belongs to me and my victory.

Jesus Christ has purchased us from death and hell, and there is no keeping us from him.

So don't be afraid.

Why?

Because the Son of Man is victorious over the ultimate enemy, the greatest enemy that we can conceive of, which is death itself.

And friends, that is the announcement of the gospel, isn't it?

The gospel, we know, is good news, not good advice.

Good news comes with a good way of living life, that's true, on the basis of that good news.

But the gospel is an announcement of what God and Christ has done for us.

And the announcement is this death is defeated.

And we have life in Jesus who lives forevermore.

So therefore, let the gospel, the good news of Christ's victory over his death, through his cross, through his resurrection, fortify you.

There is nothing we can do.

There is nothing we can lose which Jesus does not have the keys to retrieve.

The Son of Man is victorious.

Glorious, victorious, presentorious.

He is present.

Let's look at verse 20 and let's look at verse 20 together.

As for the mystery of the seven stars, Jesus says, that you saw in my right hand, so we're back to the stars, and the seven golden lampstands.

Remember where Jesus is standing?

He wants us to understand what they are.

The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.

And the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

So lampstands and stars, what are they about?

Jesus wants us to understand what they are and why they matter.

The seven stars, he says, are the angels of the seven churches.

So angel in Greek literally translates to messenger.

So there's at least two possibilities for how we could interpret this.

Number one, we could say, well, who is the, you know, so to speak, the general messenger for the church?

Well, it's pastors, preachers, you know.

Those are the ones proclaiming God's word to God's people.

And that's a possibility.

But of course, generally when we read angel, we take it in another sense.

Spiritual beings who do God's bidding, who protect God's people, who further God's purposes in the world.

And so perhaps indeed John has in mind angelic protectors or administrators of the church.

Think about it.

It's certainly, I think, from the letters of Paul, it's not beyond the pale to think that God has purposed a particular angel for the spiritual governance, let's say, of a particular church.

Perhaps we, even here at New Song.

Here's the thing, not even perhaps, I think it's true when we sing together the sanctus with all angels and archangels, we aren't just using figurative language.

I think angels and archangels really do join us in that song.

And so here we are, under the spiritual protection and administration of the angels that God perhaps has indeed appointed.

Either way, whether it's pastors, whether it's spiritual beings, we're talking about those who minister, who deliver God's word, and receive and oversee the churches.

We're directed to those who oversee, but also to the churches themselves, because we're told the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

So the seven churches listed here by John in verse 11 are seven real churches that are really in Asia Minor at the time of John's writing here.

We know that there are more than those seven churches, but we saw last week that those seven churches are meant to be representative, right?

Some have suggested that they're meant to represent the one church in seven particular ages across church history.

And there might be something to be said for that, but I'm not sure there's a clue in the text that suggests that.

Instead, I think that's a bit of a speculative idea.

Rather, I think a better way to approach this is to see these seven churches taken together as representative of the whole church in every age.

Insofar as Jesus is omniscient, he is all-knowing, he can pinpoint each and every congregation's faithfulness and its faithlessness.

And he can call us both to exhortation and he can call us to confession, to come back and rededicate ourselves to him, which is exactly what the seven letters uh do, which follow this.

So think about it, new song.

Jesus knows our church, and he can pinpoint both our faithfulness and our faithlessness.

So as we read these seven letters to seven churches, perhaps we should read them with our church in mind.

Not reading our church into these letters, but when we recognize those themes of the letters which resonate with our own context, we ought to pay attention.

Because we are called away from faithlessness and into faithfulness to find truth in Jesus' life-giving word to us.

This is a word for the church of all time, and that includes us as well.

But notice where Jesus stands.

Jesus stands not separate and apart from the lampstands, he's not pointing at a distance to the lampstands, he's in the midst of these lampstands, which stand for these seven churches.

In other words, Jesus, the exalted, glorious, victorious Jesus, is present with his church.

He is not absent from his church.

When we gather, whether we are experiencing good times or bad times, we do not gather in Christ's absence.

We gather in his presence.

Because where two or three are gathered, there I am amongst them.

Pardon me, I should say, two are gathered in my name, there I am amongst them.

Friends, we gather in the presence of Jesus by way of his Holy Spirit, as he ministers his word to us, as he gives us his gifts of grace, we are standing, as it were, with Jesus in our midst.

And he wants to make his presence known to us through his word that we open up together.

At his table, which we come to together, Jesus communicates his very presence, his very self to us by way of his Holy Spirit.

He stands with us.

And if we want to go find Jesus, we ought to go to where we expect to find him.

And based on this text, we can say that's with his church.

And if Jesus is indeed with his church, perhaps we could say a second thing, that we who join Jesus there, who meet Jesus there in the church, ought to therefore be ministers of Jesus' presence to the world.

Does our gathering represent the very heart and mind of Christ?

Do we, conforming our heart and minds to Christ, go out into our community, into our vocations, bringing the heart and mind of Christ to bear on all of creation?

That's the Great Commission.

We do that when we gather, we do that when we are blessed, and as we go off into the world that God has caused us to minister, called us to minister to.

It begins right here with our community.

And things like doing a prayer walk, which we'll talk more about later.

We want to be those who gather in Jesus' presence and then take his presence out with us to minister to the world which needs to know Jesus.

Friends, I hope we see the reassurance here.

I hope we see the reassurance for Christians experiencing tribulation and trials and exile.

We see a word here of encouragement.

Jesus is not absent to us, he sees us, he comforts us, he is with us.

The Son of Man is glorious.

His infinite glory outweighs any present suffering we may be experiencing even right now.

And therefore, we always have reason to fall down and worship before him.

Jesus' resurrection has secured his victory over death.

Therefore, we need not fear even the worst enemy, because the worst enemy itself, death, has been defeated.

And Jesus has not abandoned his church, he has not abandoned us, but he is present amongst us, and we therefore minister his gracious presence to the world.

Fear not, Jesus says.

And behold, I am alive forevermore.

Amen.

We hope that you've been blessed by God's word today.

If you live in the area, we hope that you'll come and worship with us in person on Sunday at 10 a.m.

If you'd like to learn more about Newsong Church, we'd love to connect with you.

Please find our contact information at newsongportperry.ca and reach out to us.

Newsong's ministry is entirely funded by the generous giving of those who worship and journey with us.

If you feel called to support our ministry with a financial gift, please go to newsongportperry.ca giving to make your contribution.

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.