Old Testament Reading: Psalm 46:1–11

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. ‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah” (Psalm 46:1–11, ESV)

New Testament Reading: 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 Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’ Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like 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.” (Revelation 1:9–20, ESV)

Introduction

One of the principles that I’ve tried to drill home over the past four our five weeks is that Revelation reveals, not so much the specific details of events yet future to us, as is commonly assumed, but rather how things really are now, and how they will be from the time of Christ’s first coming on to his second coming. Revelation does indeed reveal – it is, in fact, an uncovering or an unveiling. It’s visions do paint a picture for us – the pictures are vivid and bright, detailed and descriptive – and they open our eyes to the reality of things past, present, and future.

The Christian must always remember that there exists a realm that lies beyond the realm that we perceive with our senses. This is one of the more fundamental and elementary principles of the faith. Remember that “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, ESV).

The earthly is what we see, taste, touch, feel and smell. But the heavenly usually, and with rare exceptions, lies beyond our perception. In Colossians 1:15 we read that “[Jesus Christ] is the image 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” (Colossians 1:15–16, ESV). Friends, it is this heavenly, invisible, spiritual realm that Revelation reveals to us. The book constantly shows us the reality of things as God sees them, and certainly his vision is better than ours. The book reveals to us something of the invisible spiritual powers and forces that lie behind the perceivable events of human history.

Here in Revelation 1:9 we come to the first vision shown to John. It will take us two weeks to consider this opening vision. There is just too much detail here to cover it all in one sermon. Verses 9-11 introduce the first vision. John writes,

“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 Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’” (Revelation 1:9–11, ESV)

There are a number of things to notice about the introduction to the first vision.

First of all, notice how John introduces himself to the churches. He refers to himself as “your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus.”

Already the theme of this first vision begins to emerge. And theme is this: though you might feel alone in this world, you are not! Though your natural senses might lead you to believe that you are all alone in your trouble, the reality is that others walk with you. John refers to himself as “your brother and partner.” How comforting it is to be reminded that you are not alone especially when experiencing difficulty. John will have a lot to say to the churches but he begins by saying, I’m with you in this. You are not alone! 

We Are Not Alone In Tribulation

And notice that John introduces himself as a “brother and partner” in what? In “the tribulation.” Friends, you are not alone in tribulation.

There is a popular view out there that thinks of “the tribulation” as something confined to a short period of time in our future and that it is something Christians will be spared from. The thought, according to this popular view, is that Christians will be raptured secretly before “the tribulation” begins. Where they find in scripture this “secret rapture” preceding this period of “tribulation” I still do not know.

I’ve even heard some who hold to this view (the pre-tribulational, pre-millennial view) say, “God would never allow his people to go through the tribulation”. They insist that God will remove his people from the world before the tribulation begins.

Four questions come immediately to mind. One, have you looked at the world around you? I see Christians suffering tribulation all the time. Two, have you read the Bible? It seems to me that the history of God’s people is filled with examples of their suffering tribulation. Three, have you read the New Testament in general, and the words of Christ in particular? In John 16:33, for example, we have record of the words that Christ spoke to his followers, saying, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33, ESV). Four, I wonder if these futurists have read Revelation 1:9, for it is here that John refers to himself as a “brother and partner in the tribulation.” Tribulation, affliction, sufferings and anguish were something that John himself was enduring when he wrote, and the churches were partners with him in it.

The tribulation is not future, friends. It is clearly present. The constant teaching of scripture makes it is clear that this age between Christ’s first and second coming will be marked by tribulation. If it were future to us then how could John claim be a partner in it?

Granted, the tribulation takes different forms. And granted, tribulation is experienced in differing degrees by Christians living throughout the world. But one thing is clear: tribulation, affliction, anguish is something common to the people of God as we live in these last days – the days between Christ’s first and second comings.

Eventually I will argue that there will indeed be “a great tribulation” – that is, a time of unparalleled tribulation, immediately preceding the end time. This is what Revelation 7:14 speaks of. But here in Revelation 1:9 John’s focus is upon the tribulation that he and the churches were experiencing long ago.

I do wish that I had the time to develop a full blown theology of suffering with you. Suffering is something common to Christians. It is something we all experience. But how important it is to see suffering – trials and tribulations – for what they are. How important it is to see that, while God allows us to experience suffering, he is also with us through it, and he is refining us by it. Paul expresses the thought so well in Romans 8:16 where he says,

 “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:16–18, ESV)

Brothers and sisters, when we suffer in this world we suffer with Christ – we participate in his sufferings, for he himself suffered for us. And we suffer, not as enemies of God, but as his beloved children. We are heirs with Christ. “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” When we experience tribulation is not as enemies of God, but as beloved children. And our suffering is not meaningless, but it is for a purpose. For God, through the suffering, is working in us a glory to which “the sufferings of this present time” are not worthy to be compared.

How important it is for us to understand the role of suffering in the Christian life. It is for the glory of God, and it is for our good. God is refining his bride through the trials of this life. Do not be surprised by tribulation, friends. Do not assume that God is distant when it comes, or that he is uncaring. Quite the opposite. He has ordained that we walk through tribulation for his glory and our good, and he has promised to sustain us through to the very end, for he is our Father, we his children.

We Are Not Alone In The Kingdom

Notice that John referred to himself, not only as a “brother and partner in the tribulation”, but also as a “brother and partner… in the kingdom.” Friends, you are not alone in the kingdom. Christians also have this in common – they are all citizens of Christ’s kingdom.

Do you remember how Jesus was described in the prologue? In verse 5 he was called “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth” (Revelation 1:5, ESV). And in verse 6 we were reminded that Christ has “made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (Revelation 1:6, ESV). So Jesus Christ is in fact King over all, for all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. But not all submit to his authority. There are those who are in his kingdom, and there are others who are out. It those who have believed upon him, who have bowed the knee to him, confessing him as Lord who are in. It is those who have not who are out.

Friends, the kingdom of Christ is here now. Christ is ruling now. And we are citizens of kingdom. His kingdom is present wherever the church is present. And his kingdom advances whenever the gospel of the kingdom is preached and the Spirit makes it to be effective, drawing men and women to bow the knee before Jesus as Lord. The kingdom is not future, but it is here now. John was a partner in it with the Christians living in his day. It is here now, but Revelation will also give a vision of the kingdom in it’s fullness when all who are in the world are also glorified in the kingdom.

Brothers and sisters, we must remember and never forget that we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom now. And this kingdom is a conquering kingdom. It is an aggressive kingdom, one that is ever on the move. It is always advancing – always moving forward. To put it another way, the kingdom of Christ is a waring kingdom. It is dissatisfied with it’s current boundaries. It is discontent with it’s current population. It is ever expanding – constantly at war, seeking to obtain more territory and more citizens.

Of course, “The weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4, ESV). In other words, we fight, not with the sword, but with the word and Spirit. Our’s is a spiritual battle, but the warfare is real indeed. And we are partners together in this kingdom. We are all to work together for the promotion of this kingdom to see it’s advancement. The book of Revelation will certainly reveal to us the realities of this warfare of the ages. We are not alone in the kingdom, friends.

We Are Not Alone As We Endure

Lastly, John referred to himself as a “brother and partner… in the patient endurance that are in Jesus.” We are not alone as we endure. Endurance is what is needed. The people of God must endure as they suffer tribulation. We must wait patiently for the reward. We, like Christ, must persevere to the end. We must endure in Christ, looking to him as our example, but also depending upon him for the strength.

John wrote from the island called Patmos. He was there “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus”. In other words, the Romans sent him to Patmos to work in a labor camp because they viewed him as a threat to their society because of his constant testimony for Jesus Christ. That’s why he was there. He was old man by this time, and he was probably forced to do hard labor in a stone quarry.

John tells us that he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” The Lord’s Day is Sunday, which is the Christian Sabbath. That is significant. For it is on the Lord’s Day that Christ appears to John and is seen walking amongst his churches. It is a small detail in the text, but one that should not be over looked. Christ communes with his people in a pronounced way on the Lord’s Day as they gather corporately for worship. Do not neglect to assemble together, friends.

The reference to being “in the Spirit” is to remind us of the experience of the prophets of old. The Prophet Daniel and the Prophet Ezekiel were caught up “by the Spirit” or made to be “in the Spirit” before seeing the visions that they saw. John’s experience was the same. The phrase will appear three more times in Revelation in 4:1, 17:3 and 21:10. It marks significant transitions in the book of Revelation from one visionary sequence to another.

And notice that before John saw anything he “heard behind [him] a loud voice like a trumpet…” Can you imagine the sound? Remember that it was the blast of a trumpet that signaled the Lord’s decent to meet Moses at Sinai (Exodus 19:16), and it was later associated with the Lord entering his temple (Psalm 47:5). Trumpets were used in the Old Testament to call troops for battle and to assemble the people of God to worship. The trumpet (shofar) would also be blown on the Day of Atonement every fiftieth year to signal the liberation that had come to God’s people. When the voice of Christ is described as the “sound of a trumpet” all of these things should come to mind. Jesus the Christ had descended to meet with John as God had met with Moses to reveal himself to his people. The sound of the trumpet announced that Jesus, as we will see in this vision, would stand in the midst of his temple, that is, in the midst of his churches. He is summoning us to worship him. He is summoning us to the battle. He is our Jubilee – our freedom from the debt of sin and from slavery to the evil. The trumpet blast of Christ’s voice is meant to alert us to all of these truths. And the voice of Christ calls, his people listen.

And what did the voice say? “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” We will get to know each one of these churches in the weeks to come. For now remember that this book was, first of all, a letter to them. And also remember that is was a book that was seen by John before it was written. The book records for us the visions that John saw.

It is not until verse 12 that John “turned to see the voice that was speaking to [him].” And when he turned what did he see? He “saw seven golden lampstands.” Later we will learn that these seven lampstands represent the seven churches. The end of verse 20 says so: “and the seven lampstands are the seven churches” (Revelation 1:20, ESV).

If we pay close attention to the Old Testament we will remember that a seven pronged lampstand (a Menorah) was positioned within the holy place within the tabernacle, and later, within the temple. It symbolized that God – the one who was then hidden behind the veil in the most holy place, was in fact with his people blessing them with the light of his presence. In particular the lampstand in the temple is to be understood in connection with the Holy Spirit. Zechariah 4 seems to make this conection. The people of God have themselves been enlightened by the Spirit and they also serve as lights to world as the Spirit works within them.

Remember that in 1:4 the Spirit of God was described as “the seven spirits who are before [God’s] throne.” In 4:5 John will see a vision of the throne room of God and there he describe “seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God” (Revelation 4:5, ESV). And so the seven lampstands represent the seven churches. The book of Revelation picks up Old Testament imagery that would have applied only to Israel under the Old Covenant and apples it to the church. It is the church that is represented by the Menorah here. The significance is that it those who have faith in Christ – the church – who are true people of God. They are the ones enlightened by and empowered by the Spirit to shine forth as light in this dark world.

But notice what John sees next. He describes in verse 13 “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.””.

Notice three things for today. We will save the details of the description of this figure for next week. .

One, notice that this figure represents Jesus Christ. I want you to notice how I put that? I said, this figure – the figure that John saw in his vision – represents Jesus. In other words, John did not see Jesus Christ as he really is in heaven now. To put it another way, this is not what Jesus Christ really looks like. Jesus Christ looks like Jesus Christ. Here John sees a vision, and in the vision he sees a figure which represents Jesus the Christ.

If Revelation is here describing to us what Jesus literally looks like now then the book will contradict itself by chapter 5, for it is there that Jesus appears again but this time as a lamb with seven horns who appears to have been slain. It is important to understand that neither in Revelation 5 nor here in Revelation 1 do we have a literal description of the risen Christ. In both instances John records for us a vision, and in the vision he sees figures, or images, which represent Jesus Christ by way of symbol.

Churches do not really look like lampstands, do they? But the figure of a lampstand is used to represent the church. And in the same way our Savior does not really look like this, but this figure of one “like a son of man clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest”, with “hairs… like white wool”, with “eyes…like a flame of fire” and “feet… like burnished bronze”, a “voice… like the roar of many waters”, with “seven stars” in his hand and, a “sharp two-edged sword” for a tongue, and a “face… like the sun shining in full strength” represents Christ in order to communicate truth to us concerning who are Savior is. Put yet another way, the image does not describe to us how Jesus really looks, but how things really are with him.

Two, notice where Jesus is. He is seen walking in the midst of the lampstands. This is symbolic of the reality that Christ is present with his churches. Think of how encouraging this would have been to the seven churches in Asia Minor. John had already reminded them that they were not alone as he called them “brothers and partners”, but here it is Christ himself who shown to be in the midst of them. And he is in the midst of us too, for those seven churches stand for all of Christ’s churches in every place and in every age. We do not see Christ now, but he is indeed walking in our midsts.

This brings encouragement, does it not? For he is “our refuge and strength. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling” (Psalm 46:1-3). Though “the nations rage” and “kingdoms totter… the Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress” (Psalm 46:6-7).

But to know that Christ is in our midsts should also increase our reverence. We will soon see what Christ is doing in the midst of his churches. He is indeed here to comfort and encourage, but he is also here to inspect and to refine. To know that Christ is walking in our midst should increase our reverence in worship. It should motivate our purity. And it should focus us in our service of him.

Three, notice that Jesus Christ is glorious. We will consider the imagery used in the description of Christ next week, but for now see how glorious he is. Jesus the Christ came to this earth humbly, but he was raised in glory, and he ascended to the right hand of God in power and in glory.

Conclusion

Brothers and sisters, we are not alone. We have one another. And more importantly Christ is in the midst of us. He is in our midst both to encourage and to refine.

Do you remember what Christ said to his disciple before his death in the Gospel of John? he promised them, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18, ESV). The Gospel of John records the promise for us. In Revelation the promise is shown to be fulfilled. Indeed our Lord is with us.