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SERIES: THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST, WEEK 6

TITLE: A PORTRAIT OF THE GLORIFIED SON

TEXT: REVELATION 1:12-16

INTRODUCTION: (1) HELEN LEMMEL WHO LIVED FROM 1864 TO 1961 WAS A BRITISH-BORN DAUGHTER OF A METHODIST PASTOR WHO MOVED HIS FAMILY TO THE UNITED STATES WHEN HELEN WAS A CHILD.

*SHE BECAME WELL-KNOWN AS A CHRISTIAN SINGER AND COMPOSER AND TAUGHT VOICE AT THE MOODY BIBLE INSTITUTE IN CHICAGO.

** IN 1918, A FRIEND GAVE HER A PAMPHLET CONTAINING THESE WORDS:

*** “SO THEN, TURN YOUR EYES UPON HIM, LOOK FULL INTO HIS FACE AND YOU WILL FIND THE THINGS OF EARTH WILL ACQUIRE A STRANGE NEW DIMNESS.”

**** HELEN WAS IMPRESSED WITH THESE WORDS AND WAS LED TO WRITE THE WORDS AND MUSIC FOR A GOSPEL SONG TITLED: “TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS.”

(2) THIS SONG IS IN OUR HYMNAL ON PAGE 284 AND THE CHORUS OF THIS GOSPEL SONG SAYS THIS:

* “TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS, LOOK FULL IN HIS WONDERFUL FACE, AND THE THINGS OF EARTH WILL GROW STRANGELY DIM IN THE LIGHT OF HIS GLORY AND GRACE.”

** TODAY IN OUR TEXT, WE’LL TURN OUR EYES UPON JESUS AND LOOK INTO HIS FACE.

*** FOR JOHN WILL PAINT US A PORTRAIT OF WHAT THE GLORIFIED SON LOOKS LIKE AND WE WILL LOOK FULL IN HIS WONDERFUL FACE.

**** BUT AS WE LOOK INTO HIS FACE AND LOOK AT HIM WITH THE VIVID DESCRIPTIONS THAT JOHN PAINTS FOR US, WE WILL NOT SEE THE EYES OF A PALESTINIAN JEW, WHICH JESUS WAS BY HIS SUPERNATURAL VIRGIN BIRTH THROUGH MARY.

(3) BUT WE WILL SEE ONE WHOSE EYES WERE LIKE A FLAME OF FIRE. HIS HEAD AND HIS HAIR ARE WHITE LIKE WOOL.

* HIS FEET ARE LIKE BURNISHED BRONZE WHEN IT HAS BEEN CAUSED TO GLOW IN A FURNACE AND HIS VOICE WAS LIKE THE SOUND OF MANY WATERS.

** NOW THIS IS NOT THE PICTURE WE HAVE OF JESUS IN THE GOSPELS IN HIS FIRST COMING TO DIE FOR SINNERS.

*** IN FACT, DO YOU REALIZE THAT THE ONLY PORTRAITS OF CHRIST IN THE GOSPELS ARE PICTURES OF HIS CHARACTER AND PERSON.

**** NO PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION IS EVER GIVEN OF THE LORD IN THE GOSPELS. WE DO NOT KNOW IF HE WAS TALL, WHAT COLOR HIS EYES WERE, WHAT COLOR HIS HAIR WAS, WHETHER HE WAS THIN OR MUSCULAR, OR ANYTHING ABOUT HIS COMPLEXION.

(4) AND YES WE CAN GUESS WHAT COLOR HIS EYES AND HAIR WERE AND THAT HIS SKIN WAS OLIVE AS A PALESTINIAN JEW.

* BUT THE GOSPELS HAVE NO INTEREST IN THESE THINGS. THESE EXTERNAL THINGS ARE UNIMPORTANT IN HIS MISSION TO SEEK AND SAVE THE LOST AND TO TRAIN THE 12 TO BE A FOUNDATION FOR THE CHURCH.

** AND IT’S PROBABLY A GOOD THING WE DON’T HAVE A PHYSICAL PICTURE OF JESUS, FOR AS CALVIN SAID, HUMAN BEINGS ARE IDOL FACTORIES AND NO DOUBT THERE WOULD BE A SHRINE BUILT TO HOUSE THE PICTURE OF JESUS AND PEOPLE WOULD COME TO WORSHIP IT.

*** OR BETTER YET, IN THE 21ST CENTURY SOMEONE WOULD SELL THE PICTURE ON E-BAY AND GET RICH AND THE RICH BUYER WOULD MAKE A SHRINE TO HOUSE IT.

**** YET THERE ARE NO PORTRAITS OF JESUS TODAY AND THERE ARE NONE GIVEN IN THE GOSPELS OF HIS PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.

(5) WE SEE HIM BEATEN AND BRUISED AND CRUCIFIED AND BLEEDING AND ISAIAH 52:14 SAYS: (READ IT AND ISAIAH 53:5).

* BUT AGAIN BEYOND THAT ALL WE SEE IS HIS CHARACTER AND HIS PERSON.

** BUT ALL OF THAT CHANGES FOR US IN REVELATION 1:12-16. WE SEE A PORTRAIT OF JESUS GLORIFIED AS A HIGH PRIEST AND JUDGE IN ALL OF HIS GLORY.

*** THIS PORTRAIT DOES NOT SHOW US A SUFFERING MEEK SAVIOR BUT A GLORIFIED SOVEREIGN SAVIOR.

**** BECAUSE OF THAT, I’VE TITLED OUR MESSAGE TODAY, “A PORTRAIT OF THE GLORIFIED SON.”

(6) AND UNDER THAT THEME WE’LL LOOK AT 3 POINTS AS WE STUDY REVELATION 1:12-16.

* NO. 1 THE PROMPTING FOR JOHN TO TURN AND SEE THE GLORIFIED SON, V. 12; NO. 2 THE PERSON OF THE VISION, THE GLORIFIED SON OF MAN, V. 13A; AND NO. 3 THE PICTURE THAT JOHN PAINTS FOR US FROM THIS VISION, VV. 13B-16.

** AND LET ME QUICKLY REMIND YOU OF THE CONTEXT HERE.

*** HAVING DESCRIBED THE CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH HE RECEIVED HIS VISION IN VV. 9-11, WHICH WE LOOKED AT ON THE LAST SUNDAY OF MAY, JOHN NOW RELATES THE VISION ITSELF.

**** AND THE VISION OF THE GLORIFIED SON OF MAN DISCLOSES CHRIST’S MINISTRY TO HIS CHURCH AS CHRIST IS ADDRESSING SEVEN LITERAL CHURCHES IN ASIA MINOR TOWARD THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY.

(7) AND WITH THAT BACKGROUND IN MIND, LOOK AT V. 12 PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR FIRST POINT, THE PROMPTING.

I. THE PROMPTING, (READ V. 12)

A. NOW NOTE THAT IN VV. 10-17, JOHN’S PEN BRINGS THIS SCENE, THIS VISION HE HAD GRAPHICALLY TO LIGHT.

* AND HE DOES BY USING 5 VERBS:

** “I HEARD” IN V. 10, “I TURNED” HERE IN V. 12, “I SAW” HERE IN V. 12 ALSO, “I SAW” AGAIN IN V. 17 AND “I FELL” IN V. 17.

*** SO THESE 5 VERBS SET THE SCENE FOR THIS GREAT VISION JOHN SAW WHILE HE WAS EXILED ON THE ISLE OF PATMOS FOR HIS FAITH.

**** AND THE VERB “I TURNED” IS WHERE WE WILL START TODAY.

1. NOW JOHN’S TURNING WAS A RESPONSE. IT WAS IN RESPONSE, A PROMPTING TO SEE THE TRUMPET-LIKE VOICE THAT SPOKE TO HIM IN V. 10.

* SO JOHN’S REACTION IS NATURAL, HE HEARS A TRUMPET-LIKE VOICE, AND TURNS TO LOOK AT WHERE THE VOICE IS COMING FROM WHICH WAS NOT IN FRONT OF HIM.

** NOW AS HE DID THAT, HE SEES AN UNUSUAL SCENE. HE SEES SEVEN GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS FIRST OF ALL.

*** AND THESE LAMPSTANDS WERE PORTABLE OIL LAMPS PLACED ON LAMPSTANDS THAT WERE USED TO LIGHT ROOMS AT NIGHT IN THAT DAY.

**** BUT THESE WERE NOT COMMON LAMPSTANDS FOR THEY WERE GOLDEN ONES, VERY VALUABLE, QUITE EXPENSIVE.

2. AND THERE ARE 7 OF THEM. AND WE KNOW WHAT THE LAMPSTANDS REPRESENT BECAUSE IN V. 20 OF THIS CHAPTER THE MEANING IS GIVEN TO US.

* V. 20B – “THE SEVEN LAMPSTANDS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES.”

** SO CLEARLY THESE SEVEN LAMPSTANDS ARE THE SEVEN CHURCHES THAT JESUS WILL ADDRESS DIRECTLY

IN REVELATION CHAPTERS 2&3, WHICH ARE MENTIONED HERE IN REVELATION 1:11.

*** NOW JOHN SUGGESTS, BECAUSE 7 IS THE NUMBER OF COMPLETENESS IN SCRIPTURE, THAT THE 7 LITERAL CHURCHES SYMBOLIZE THE CHURCHES IN GENERAL, THAT THESE SEVEN CHURCHES ARE A CROSS-SECTION OF THE CHURCHES THAT EXISTED IN THAT DAY AND THROUGH ALL OF CHURCH HISTORY.

**** AND THAT MAY BE SO, FOR CERTAINLY THERE IS A LOT OF SYMBOLISM IN OUR TEXT FOR THE WORD “LIKE” IS USED 7 TIMES IN THE VERSES THAT FOLLOW THROUGH V. 16.

3. WE WILL CERTAINLY SEE A LOT OF SYMBOLISM IDENTIFIED IN THE TEXT BY USING THE WORD “LIKE”.

* NOW LITERALLY THERE ARE SEVEN CHURCHES, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT THAT AND THESE 7 CHURCHES COULD REPRESENT ALL CHURCHES OF ALL AGES.

** BUT HOW APPROPRIATE TO HAVE CHURCHES IDENTIFIED AND REPRESENTED AS LAMPSTANDS.

*** FOR CHURCHES ARE TO BE LIGHTS TO A DARK WORLD. WE ARE TO BE BEACONS OF LIGHT, EVEN REFLECTING THE LIGHT OF THE WORD CHRIST, READ JOHN 8:12.

**** AND WE THAT ARE FOLLOWERS OF THAT LIGHT, CORPORATELY ARE TO BE LIGHTS IN THE WORLD BY OUR ACTIONS, ATTITUDES AND SPEECH.

4. WE THAT KNOW CHRIST ARE THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD EVERYDAY. AND THAT’S WHY JESUS TOLD HIS DISCIPLES WHO WOULD BECOME HIS CHURCH THIS IN MATTHEW 5:14-16 (READ THEM).

* ALSO AS PAUL WRITES TO THE CHURCH AT PHILIPPI HE SAID IN PHILIPPIANS 2:14 & 15 (READ IT AND GIVE THE CONTEXT IN V. 14).

** ALSO READ EPHESIANS 5:8 AND II CORINTHIANS 6:14.

*** NOW THE CHURCH WHICH IS A REAL BODY OF BELIEVERS IS TO BE A LAMPSTAND, A LIGHT IN THE WORLD.

**** AND NOTICE ONE LAST THING BEFORE I GO ON TO V. 13. THESE ARE GOLDEN LAMPSTANDS.

5. AND THEY ARE GOLDEN BECAUSE GOLD WAS THE MOST PRECIOUS METAL.

* AND THE CHURCH IS TO CHRIST ITS HEAD, THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND VALUABLE ENTITY ON EARTH, SO VALUABLE THAT JESUS DIED AND SHED HIS BLOOD FOR HIS CHURCH, ACTS 20:28 AND EPHESIANS 5:25.

** AND BELOVED THAT’S WHY WE EXALT THE CHURCH IN THE PLAN OF GOD FOR THIS AGE, BECAUSE GOD HAS MADE IT HIS PRIMARY ORDAINED MEANS TO CARRY OUT THE GREAT COMMISSION. AND WE CAN’T IMPROVE ON HIS PLAN. MAY WE BE A COMMITTED PART OF IT.

*** FOR CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF THE CHURCH AND WE SEE THE PERSON OF CHRIST REVEALED IN V. 13A IN THE MIDST OF HIS CHURCHES. LOOK AT V. 13A PLEASE WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR 2’D POINT TODAY, THE PERSON.

II. THE PERSON, (READ V. 13A)

A. NOW WHETHER THE LAMPSTANDS ARE PLACED IN A CIRCLE AROUND THE SON OF MAN, AS TRADITIONALLY ASSUMED BY SOME, OR ARE PLACED ASYMMETRICALLY IS NOT STATED.

* BUT THE IMPORTANT REALITY IS THAT THE PERSON OF CHRIST IS IN THE MIDDLE, IN THE MIDST OF THE CHURCHES, FOR HE IS THE FOCAL POINT OF THE WHOLE SCENE.

** CHRIST IS THE MIDST OF HIS CHURCH, HIS PRESENCE IS HERE WHERE HIS PEOPLE GATHER FOR HE INDWELLS HIS PEOPLE AND WILL NEVER LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US.

*** JESUS PROMISED THE 11 WHO AGAIN WOULD BECOME THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH IN MATTHEW 28:20 THIS: (READ IT).

**** IN MATTHEW 18:20 IN THE CONTEXT OF THE CHURCH PRACTICING DISCIPLINE, JESUS SAID, “I AM IN THEIR MIDST.”

1. IN OTHER WORDS, “I’M IN THE MIDST OF THIS KIND OF ACTIVITY, WE HAVE CHRIST’S BLESSING AS WE DO THIS DIFFICULT WORK TO RESTORE SOMEONE IN SIN, AND MAINTAIN THE PURITY OF THE CHURCH AND THE TESTIMONY OF CHRIST IN THE WORLD.

* AND THEN IN HEBREWS 13:5&6 THE WRITER OF HEBREWS SAYS: (READ THEM).

** SO WE CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON THE PROMISE THE LORD WILL NOT LEAVE US OR FORSAKE US AND HE IS IN THE MIDST OF HIS CHURCH AS THEY GATHER TO CORPORATELY WORSHIP HIM.

*** BUT ONE LAST THING BEFORE WE MOVE ON TO V. 13B, THE PERSON OF CHRIST IS IDENTIFIED HERE IN V. 13A AS ONE LIKE A SON OF MAN.

**** AND JESUS USED THIS DESCRIPTION OF HIMSELF IN THE GOSPELS MOST OFTEN DURING HIS EARTHLY MINISTRY, WHERE IT IS USED OVER 80 TIMES.

2. IN FACT, JOHN, THE INSPIRED WRITER OF REVELATION AND THE GOSPEL OF JOHN, USED THIS PHRASE 13 TIMES IN HIS GOSPEL.

* AND THIS PHRASE OF COURSE IS TALKING ABOUT JESUS CHRIST WHO WAS THE SON OF MAN AS A HUMAN BEING AND THE SON OF GOD AS DIVINE.

** JOHN SEES CHRIST. THE LINK OF DEITY AND HUMANITY IN THE PERSON OF CHRIST IS REVEALED IN HIS INCARNATION, AND HERE JOHN SEES THE FORM OF A HUMAN WITH A SUPERNATURAL DESCRIPTION, BECAUSE CHRIST IS THE GOD-MAN, THE 2’D PERSON OF THE TRINITY.

*** AND JOHN WILL NOW START TO PAINT A PICTURE OF THIS PERSON, THE SON OF MAN BEGINNING IN V. 13B WHERE WE’LL SEE OUR THIRD POINT TODAY, THE PICTURE. LOOK BACK TO V. 13 PLEASE.

III. THE PICTURE, (READ V. 13)

A. NOW BEGINNING IN THE LAST PART OF V. 13, WE GO FROM CHRIST’S PERSON TO HIS APPEARANCE. AND THE PICTURE JOHN PAINTS OF WHAT HE SEES IS VIVID.

* AND FIRST OF ALL HE PAINTS A PORTRAIT OF CHRIST AS OUR HIGH PRIEST, AS HE IS CLOTHED IN A ROBE REACHING TO HIS FEET AND GIRDED ACROSS HIS BREAST WITH A GOLDEN GIRDLE.

** NOW THIS ROBE REACHING TO THE FEET. AND THE WORD TRANSLATED ROBE IN THE GREEK WAS USED 6 TIMES OF ITS 7 OCCURRENCES IN THE SEPTUAGINT WHICH IS THE GREEK TRANSLATION OF THE O.T. TO DESCRIBE THE ROBE WORN BY THE HIGH PRIEST.

*** AND WHILE CHRIST IS BIBLICALLY PRESENTED AS A KING AND A PROPHET, AND HIS DIGNITY AND MAJESTY EMPHASIZED, THE ROBE HERE APPEARS TO PICTURE CHRIST IN HIS ROLE AS THE GREAT HIGH PRIEST OF HIS CHURCH.

**** AND THAT HE IS “GIRDED ACROSS HIS CHEST WITH A GOLDEN SASH” REINFORCES THAT INTERPRETATION, SINCE THE HIGH PRIEST IN THE O.T. WORE SUCH A SASH IN EXODUS 28:4 AND LEVITICUS 16:4.

1. AND LET ME QUICKLY GIVE YOU A COUPLE OF THINGS TO THINK ABOUT FROM THE BOOK OF HEBREWS THAT TALKS ABOUT CHRIST AS OUR HIGH PRIEST.

* HEBREWS 2:17&18 SAYS: “THEREFORE, HE HAD TO BE MADE LIKE HIS BRETHREN IN ALL THINGS, SO THAT HE MIGHT BECOME A MERCIFUL AND FAITHFUL HIGH PRIEST IN THINGS PERTAINING TO GOD, TO MAKE PROPITIATION FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE.”

READ VERSE 18.

** SO HE IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY WITH US AND COME TO OUR AID IN THE TIME OF TEMPTATION AS WE GO TO HIM.

*** THEN IN HEBREWS 4:15&16 IT SAYS: (READ THEM).

**** NOW WE ARE A NEEDY PEOPLE AND WE CAN COME TO THE THRONE OF GRACE WITH CONFIDENCE THAT OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST WILL GIVE US GRACE AND MERCY.

2. THEN IN HEBREWS 7:25, IT SAYS: (READ IT).

* AND HERE OUR GREAT HIGH PRIEST IS ABLE TO SAVE FOREVER THOSE WHO DRAW NEAR TO GOD THROUGH HIM, SINCE HE ALWAYS LIVES TO MAKE INTERCESSION FOR THEM.

** BECAUSE HIS WORK IN OFFERING A SACRIFICE FOR OUR SINS WAS ONCE OFFERED AND COMPLETED (READ HEBREWS 10:10 & 12:14).

*** NOW AS WE GO BACK TO REVELATION 1:13, CHRIST IS DRESSED IN CLOTHES THAT APPEAR TO COMMUNICATE THAT HE IS OUR HIGH PRIEST, WHAT A BLESSING AND JOY.

**** BUT JOHN CONTINUES TO PAINT THIS PICTURE IN V. 14, LOOK AT V. 14 PLEASE.

B. READ V. 14. NOW THE FACT THAT CHRIST’S HEAD AND HIS HAIR ARE WHITE AS SNOW CORRESPOND TO THE VISION OF GOD DESCRIBED IN DANIEL 7:9 WHERE IT SAYS OF GOD, THE ANCIENT OF DAYS:

* DANIEL 7:9 – “I KEPT LOOKING UNTIL THRONES WERE SET UP, AND THE ANCIENT OF DAYS TOOK HIS SEAT; HIS VESTURE WAS LIKE WHITE SNOW AND THE HAIR OF HIS HEAD LIKE PURE WOOL. HIS THRONE WAS ABLAZE WITH FLAMES, ITS WHEELS WERE A BURNING FIRE.”

** NOW JESUS WHO IS PRESENTED AS GOD HERE IN REVELATION 1:14 IS THE HOLY PURE ONE, FOR HE NEVER SINNED AND CANNOT SIN, FOR HE IS GOD.

*** AND HIS HEAD AND HAIR PRESENTED AS WHITE AS WOOL AND WHITE LIKE SNOW IS NOT A PRESENTATION OF CHRIST’S WISDOM AS A GRAY HAIRED INDIVIDUAL.

1. FOR THE WORD WHITE HERE USED TWO TIMES IN THE GREEK LIT. MEANS BRIGHT, BRILLIANT, DAZZLING, GLOWING, WHITE, NOT GRAY OR A FLAT WHITE.

* SO WE ARE TALKING ABOUT A PURE BRILLIANT WHITE WHICH COMMUNICATES HE IS HOLY, OF COMPLETE PURITY, NOT OF AGE.

** AND THAT HIS EYES ARE LIKE A FLAME OF FIRE SEEMS TO EMPHASIZE THIS.

*** FOR HIS EYES ARE LIKE PIERCING LASERS, PENETRATING EYES THAT LOOK AT HIS CHURCH.

**** AND BELOVED, CHRIST’S SEARCHING, REVEALING, INFALLIBLE GAZE PENETRATES TO THE VERY DEPTHS OF HIS CHURCH, REVEALING TO HIM WITH PIERCING CLARITY THE REALITY OF SIN AND EVERYTHING THERE IS TO KNOW.

2. HEBREWS 4:13 SAYS: (READ IT). ALSO READ PROVERBS 15:3, II CHRONICLES 16:9 AND PSALM 139:1-4.

* AND AS WE GO BACK TO THIS PORTRAIT OF WHAT JOHN SEES, THE LASER-LIKE EYES OF OUR LORD SEE EVERYTHING AND THAT CAN BE A COMFORT WHEN WE ARE DOING WHAT’S RIGHT AND BRING A HOLY FEAR WHEN WE ARE DOING WHAT’S WRONG.

** BUT THE PORTRAIT, THE DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST’S HOLINESS CONTINUES. LOOK AT V. 15 PLEASE.

C. READ V. 15. NOW THE EMPHASIS HERE ON CHRIST’S FEET APPEARS TO BE ON THE PURITY OF THE METAL, WHICH IS EVIDENT IN ITS GLOWING QUALITY.

* FOR THE PARTICIPLE GLOW, BURNED, GLOWING OR REFINED DEPENDING ON WHICH TRANSLATION YOU HAVE, ALLOWS US TO SEE METAL GLOWING IN A FURNACE.

** AND METAL IS PUT THROUGH THIS PROCESS TO PURIFY IT, SO IT STRESSES PURITY. THIS HIGHLY REFINED BRASS OR BRONZE MAY COMMUNICATE HIS HOLY AUTHORITY.

*** FOR KINGS IN ANCIENT TIMES SAT ON ELEVATED THRONES, SO THOSE BEING JUDGED WOULD ALWAYS BE BENEATH THE KING’S FEET.

**** SO THE FEET OF A KING THUS CAME TO SYMBOLIZE HIS AUTHORITY.

1. AND THE FEET OF JESUS WHICH WERE ONCE PIERCED THROUGH CRUCIFIXION IN DYING FOR SINNERS ARE NOW IN HIS GLORIFICATION AND HOT GLOWING FEET WHEN HE EXECUTES HOLY AUTHORITY OVER HIS CHURCH.

* BUT MOVING ON, NOTICE THE NEXT DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST’S VOICE IN V.1 5, “HIS VOICE WAS LIKE THE SOUND OF MANY WATERS.”

** NOW WHEN CHRIST SPOKE AGAIN IT WAS NO LONGER WITH THE TRUMPET-LIKE SOUND OF V. 10. TO JOHN HIS VOICE NOW WAS LIKE THE SOUND OF MANY WATERS.

*** NOW JOHN WOULD HAVE HEARD SOUNDS LIKE THAT BEING EXILED ON THE SMALL ISLE OF PATMOS, SO HE WOULD HAVE HEARD THE MIGHTY ROAR OF THE SURF CRASHING ON ITS ROCKY SHORES.

**** AND HERE CHRIST’S VOICE IS ONE OF POWER, OF MAJESTY, OF SUPREME AUTHORITY. SO THE VOICE OF THE SON OF MAN IS OVERWHELMING, SPECTACULAR, DROWNING OUT ALL OTHERS.

2. AND BELOVED, WHEN CHRIST SPEAKS, IT IS WITH AUTHORITY AND WE MUST LISTEN. AS JESUS WAS GLORIFIED DURING HIS TIME ON EARTH FOR A SHORT TIME IN HIS TRANSFIGURATION, WHAT DID THE FATHER SAY IN MATTHEW 17:5?

* “THIS IS MY BELOVED SON,… LISTEN TO HIM!”

** AND I REMIND YOU CHRIST SPEAKS TO HIS CHURCH DIRECTLY TODAY, NOT IN AN AUDIBLE VOICE, BUT THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED SCRIPTURES.

*** AND WHAT HE SAYS IS POWERFUL AND AUTHORITATIVE AND WE MUST LISTEN TO HIS WORD AND OBEY IT AS OUR FINAL AUTHORITY, AND IT MUST BE THE AUTHORITY THAT HIS CHURCH OPERATES FROM.

**** AND THAT WORD NEEDS TO DROWN OUT ALL THE OTHER VOICES WE HEAR TODAY TELLING US TO RUN CHRIST’S CHURCH IN A DIFFERENT WAY.

3. CHRIST IS OUR FINAL AUTHORITY AND WE MUST LISTEN TO HIM AND HIS AUTHORITY IS FURTHER ESTABLISHED IN V. 16. LOOK AT V. 16 PLEASE.

D. READ V. 16. NOW THE RIGHT HAND GENERALLY SPEAKS OF AUTHORITY, THE RIGHT TO ACT. ALSO WHEN SOMETHING IS HELD IN THE HAND, THERE IS THE ADDED THOUGHT OF POSSESSION.

* AND HERE CHRIST IS HOLDING THE SEVEN STARS IN HIS RIGHT HAND.

** NOW ACCORDING TO V. 20 OF THIS CHAPTER, “THE SEVEN STARS WHICH YOU SAW IN MY RIGHT HAND…THE SEVEN STARS ARE THE ANGELS OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES.”

*** NOW WHETHER THESE ARE LIT. GUARDIAN ANGELS OVER EACH CHURCH OR HUMAN MESSENGERS FOR EACH CHURCH, FOR THE GREEK WORD TRANSLATED ANGEL HERE LIT. MEANS MESSENGER, BUT REGARDLESS OF WHAT IT MEANS, WHICH, LORD WILLING, I WILL TALK MORE ABOUT NEXT WEEK, AUTHORITY AND POSSESSING AND SECURITY ARE COMMUNICATED HERE.

**** FOR IN JOHN 10:27-29 WHAT DID JESUS SAY? (READ THEM).

1. AND THAT WE ARE IN CHRIST’S HAND CERTAINLY COMMUNICATES THAT HIS SHEEP ARE HIS POSSESSION, AND HE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO SECURE US, WE ARE SAFE IN HIS SOVEREIGN HAND AND NO ONE CAN PLUCK US OUT.

* AND THESE 7 STARS OF THE 7 CHURCHES COMMUNICATE THAT CHRIST IS IN CONTROL, HIS AUTHORITY IS OVER THEM, THEY ARE HIS POSSESSION AND ARE SECURE.

** NOW TWO MORE DESCRIPTIONS AND I’LL WRAP IT UP. THE NEXT DESCRIPTION OF THE GLORIFIED CHRIST COMMUNICATES THAT “OUT OF HIS MOUTH COMES A SHARP TWO-EDGED SWORD.”

*** NOW THIS SWORD IS A LARGE SWORD USED FOR A BATTLE RATHER THAN A DAGGER, THE GREEK WORD IS HROM-FAH-YAH.

**** AND THIS SAME KIND OF SWORD IS DESCRIBED IN REVELATION 19:15 WHERE IT SAYS: “FROM HIS MOUTH COMES A SHARP SWORD, SO THAT WITH IT HE MAY STRIKE DOWN THE NATIONS, AND HE WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON; AND HE TREADS THE WINE PRESS OF THE FIERCE WRATH OF GOD, THE ALMIGHTY.”

2. NOW CLEARLY THE SWORD THAT COMES OUT OF CHRIST’S MOUTH IS TO JUDGE THE NATIONS, JUDGMENT AGAINST HIS ENEMIES.

* AND CHRIST’S WORD, WHAT COMES OUT OF HIS MOUTH IS A LARGE SWORD OF TRUTH AND WILL BE USED TO JUDGE THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW HIM ONE DAY AND TO JUDGE THOSE WHO ATTACK CHRIST’S CHURCH.

** AND THEN LAST OF ALL, A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN ABOUT CHRIST’S FACE, “HIS FACE WAS LIKE THE SUN SHINING IN ITS STRENGTH.”

*** NOW WE REALIZE THAT WHEN THE SUN IS UP IN THE SKY IN FULL STRENGTH WITH NO CLOUDS, YOU CAN HARDLY LOOK AT IT, FOR IT IS SO BRIGHT.

**** IN FACT, A LOT OF YOU WEAR SUNGLASSES BECAUSE OF THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE SUN.

3. WELL, LIKEWISE TO LOOK AT THE GLORIFIED CHRIST’S FACE WOULD BE LIKE LOOKING DIRECTLY INTO THE S U N SUN.

* IT WAS OVERWHELMING, BRIGHT, RADIANT, BLINDING LIGHT. AND THIS SHOWS US THE GLORY OF CHRIST, A GLORY THAT SHINES ETERNALLY AND THAT WILL EVEN BE THE LIGHT OF THE NEW JERUSALEM.

** THE BLAZING LIGHT OF CHRIST’S FACE SHOWS HIM IN ALL OF HIS GLORY AND SPLENDOR AS LORD OF HIS CHURCH.

AND AS I WRAP UP THINGS TODAY: (1) THE ONLY PROPER RESPONSE TO THIS PORTRAIT OF THE GLORIFIED SON IS WORSHIP AND OBEDIENCE.

* I MEAN HIS CLOTHING, HIS HAIR, HIS FEET, HIS VOICE, HIS WORD AND HIS FACE CAN ONLY RENDER ONE PROPER RESPONSE, WHAT WE’LL TALK ABOUT, LORD WILLING, NEXT WEEK, YOU FALL AT HIS FEET AS A DEAD MAN, AS JOHN DID IN V. 17.

** AND OUR ULTIMATE PRIORITY IS TO WORSHIP OUR GREAT SAVIOR AND BOW BEFORE HIM IN AWE, HUMILITY AND OBEDIENCE IS A PROPER RESPONSE.

*** TO DIE TO OURSELVES AND LIVE FOR HIM.

**** AND CLEARLY OUR PASSAGE TODAY COMMUNICATES THAT AND THAT CHRIST IS INTIMATELY INVOLVED WITH HIS CHURCH.

(2) WHICH LEADS ME TO ASK A FINAL QUESTION, ARE YOU?

* ARE YOU INTIMATELY INVOLVED IN CHRIST’S CHURCH? CHRIST IS.

** AND BELOVED, NO ONE CAN READ REVELATION 1, 2 & 3 WITHOUT RECOGNIZING JESUS’ COMMITMENT AND CONCERN OVER LOCAL, VISIBLE, REAL CHURCHES, THE LAMPSTANDS THAT ARE TO BRING LIGHT TO A DARK WORLD.

*** AND THE SAME JESUS WHO PROMISED TO BUILD HIS CHURCH IN MATTHEW 16:18, CONTINUES TO BE PRESENT WITH HIS CONGREGATIONS.

**** AND ALL WHO SERIOUSLY FOLLOW CHRIST WILL BE SERIOUSLY INVOLVED IN ONE OF HIS CHURCHES.

(3) I TRUST THAT YOU ARE TODAY, AND IF YOU’RE NOT THAT YOU WILL COMMIT YOURSELF TO FAITHFULLY AND SACRIFICIALLY SERVE CHRIST THROUGH THIS CHURCH OR ANOTHER BIBLE BELIEVING CONGREGATION.

* THE GLORIFIED LORD OF HIS CHURCH DEMANDS IT.