Intro: Devotion

This transcript has been automatically generated

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy And blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. John to the 7 churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the 7 spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.

Amen.

Behold, he is coming with the clouds And every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so, amen.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. 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, and 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 7 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 7 golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a Son of Man, clothed and with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs on his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, and refined, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like a roar of many waters.

In his right hand he held 7 stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like a sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead, but he laid on his right— 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 these things that you have seen, those that are, those that are, and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the 7 stars that you saw in my right hand, And the 7 golden lampstands and the 7 stars are the angels of the 7 churches, and the 7 lampstands are the 7 churches. Hey, thank you. I’m gonna move this because it’s taller than me.

So welcome to the psychedelic book of the Bible, I guess is how it feels. But did you notice there Revelation comes to us framed as any other New Testament letter? John, verse 4, to a bunch of real local churches in what we would call Turkey. There’s a greeting, grace and peace, and a purpose. Verse 9 begins to take us to that.

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus. Patient endurance. The messages to the churches are that follow in chapter 2 are peppered with the language of endurance. And you’ve probably discovered already that it’s hard to keep enduring the Christian life. It’s great to be a Christian, but highs and lows as well.

7 churches listed in verse 11, and here’s your first significant revelation: number 7. So symbolic of completeness. And we know there were other churches even in that region at the time, but Writing to 7 seems to represent all God’s people, and they all, notice, will receive all the messages. They don’t just receive the bit that’s about them. So here is a revelation to Jesus’ whole church in the first century and in every age.

And what you see as you get into the 7 letters is believers who were sound, but where was the love? Some of them suffering at the hands of the world, some of them seduced by the world. One church had tabloid-style scandal, another one just quietly got rich and prayerless. Wearied, wounded, weak, wobbly, worldly Christians. Sound familiar?

And it’s kind of encouraging in one way that we’re not particularly pathetic. You know, just before Euston started 13 years ago, I remember a chat with my dad. I mentioned he, he’s been very involved for decades in his church, had been an elder. We were on holiday and this was him trying to say something encouraging to me just before Euston started. He said the biggest source of discouragement in his life in the last 40 years had been stuff around church.

I thought, thanks very much, this is encouraging. Disappointments about people, hassles. But he also then said the biggest miracle that he’d been involved in in that time was also the church. And he said, because son, these people are the bride of Christ. And he’s got a proper Scottish accent, so it sounded better when he said the bride of Christ.

But I think he must have read Revelation, because Revelation says nothing matters more to Jesus than his church. Look how he feels about the church. Verse 5, to him who loves us. Jesus loves us. Jesus loves you.

And then that last bit in verse 5 reminds us why that’s not a fuzzy platitude. Freed you from your sins by his blood, made us priests. It says more tomorrow and what that means, but all of us his special ministers as we speak and shine for him. I take it that’s why the churches are lampstands in verse 20. And again, we’ll see patient endurance, it’s not just a negative clinging on for dear life.

Positively, proactively, we have a purpose as beacons of holy life and light, a bit like the lampstands in the temple, as we shine in a dark place. So don’t give up on the church. Jesus never will. I don’t mean the institution, I’m talking about the people of God. He couldn’t be more committed or in love with his kingdom of priests, and that’s why he writes to us, to show us what’s really going on in the universe, to bless us with that knowledge.

Notice verse 3: Revelation wasn’t written to confuse, it’s a book to bless, if only we’ll have ears to hear. And we really should listen up because look who’s talking. What do Jesus’ wearied, worried, wounded, worldly people need? They need a bigger vision of him. So I’ll read from verse 13.

You might want to close your eyes if it— I mean, don’t fall asleep, but it might help just as I read this description of Jesus. It might help you to focus. Verse 13: In the midst of the lampstands, one like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe 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 7 stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. You can open your eyes if you closed them. Wow, it’s amazing, isn’t it?

The gold The white, the fire, the bronze. He’s pure and piercing. And that voice— I don’t know if you’ve ever stood next to a waterfall that’s so loud you have to shout to be heard. He’s holding stars. That face, you know the old song, turn your eyes on Jesus, look full in his wonderful face?

Well, you can’t do that for very long here. It’s like looking at the sun in midday.

And often in Revelation, the feel of the picture as a whole is more important than trying to decode the precise detail. Verse 17 summarises the overall vibe: When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. You know, when we plug things like Christianity Explored, we say come face to face with Jesus. I’ve never pitched the invite as, well, if it goes well and if it we’re really clear, then you’ll have collapsed on the floor by the end of the evening. Here’s a tip for reading Revelation, and we will need this tip more when we get into chapter 4 onwards, when, let’s be honest, it does feel more Harry Potter-like than your average New Testament epistle.

The tip is let the voices that speak help us make sense of the visions that we see. Let the words that surround help control what we’re taking out of the pictures. And that happens here in verse 17 and following. Jesus helps us make sense of the vision of this person that John has seen. And we pick up quite a lot just from the, from the picture.

It’s a picture of someone in glory and purity and power. We need the picture so we feel it. But Jesus’ words confirm that we’re meant to read verse 13 to 16 and think, behold your God. His name, I’m the First and the Last. Well, it was the Lord Almighty who was the Alpha and the Omega, in other words, the First and the Last, back in verse 8.

That white hair speaks not of old and frail, but the Ancient of Days. And verse 18 confirms this is Jesus who died but is now more alive than anyone and holds the keys. To death and Hades. How big is your Jesus?

I once described the power of Jesus to some students, and one of them put up his hand and said, you’ve made him sound like Optimus Prime, you know, the bloke from the Transformers. And I think he meant, you know, benevolent but robotic, a bit aloof. Well, look at what expands this further yet. See, it’s not just that he’s saying in the face of Roman muscle remember, I’m the biggest guy on the block. The Glorious One and the reassuring Shepherd are the same person.

I love that detail in verse 17. Did you see? He laid his right hand on me, saying, fear not. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Pastoral.

And he is pastoral because— did you notice in verse 13 where Jesus is standing? Where is Jesus standing here? In the midst of the lampstands. Which are the 7 churches. Not distant, certainly not, you know, up in heaven taking a break because his life on earth was pretty stressful, saving up his energy for the big reveal.

No, right now by his Spirit among his churches. And 2:1 says walking among the churches. So picture the First and the Last, the Living One, as he kind of walks around Asia and sees all their highs and lows as he walks around the churches of London today. And it’s precisely because he’s so in amongst them that all 7 messages to the 7 churches begin with him saying, I know. 2:2, 2:9, I know.

2:13, I know. I know the ways you’ve been tempted and have resisted the pressure. I know the ways you’ve been faithful in your witness. And I know your secret sins.

I know. It can be kind of annoying when people say that, you know, you’re kind of saying something that’s hard and they go, oh, I know, I know, and you’re thinking, you don’t have a clue. Well, Jesus really knows all about it. More than the Lord of empathy though, his lampstands need tending if they’re going to keep shining. So as Jesus walks around the churches.

He speaks to them, to us, to envision and encourage, to warn, rebuke, urge, to make promises. He talks to us so that in the highs and lows of being kingdom people, we will faithfully endure. And that’s why the application for us this weekend is listen up. For John, it was write down. Verse 19, you’ve seen His Majesty, write therefore.

Not like the flunkies of Kim Jong-un You know, the way they scribble away his every word to make him seem more authoritative. Well, John, you’ve heard the voice like the roar of many waters, so get writing. But to us, the application is listen up. All 7 messages end with the refrain, anyone who has an ear, let him hear. And all 7 messages begin with a reference back to this picture of Jesus in his glory.

Remind us why we should listen up. Because who else has the right to speak into your life with such authority? Who else can speak into your life from such a place of sovereign power? Are you ready to listen up? Well, of course you are.

You paid good money to come here this weekend. And yet other voices distract and entice and intimidate us, don’t they? The voices of scepticism, the noises of loud London, the voices of the company, the family who maybe have different priorities for your life. Jesus is bigger. Maybe you fear those other voices or get dazzled by what they can offer you, or just you want them to like you.

Do they hold the keys to death and Hades? Big Jesus. You know, it’d be good to pray this weekend that he would get bigger yet in our sights. Because whatever you’re coming into this weekend carrying, and it could be all kinds of things, the main pastoral care that we all need is a bigger vision of Jesus. So let’s pray that we’ll hang on his every word, because it’s not just that he knows the things that are going to take place, it’s that he’s so good.

Blessed, it says, blessed are those who read hear and keep these words. So are you worried, wearied, wounded, wobbly, tempted to be worldly? Well, verse 3: Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. Let’s pray. Ask our Father in heaven that Jesus would be bigger to us this weekend, that we’d see him in his glory, that we would hear him loud and clear, and that by doing so we would be eternally blessed.

Amen.