In this sermon titled 'Do Not Be Afraid', the speaker emphasizes that God leads his church by his word and not by the culture or government orders. The sermon focuses on Revelation chapter 1, discussing John's tribulation, the pictures of Jesus Christ, and John's response. The speaker highlights the importance of interpreting Revelation using the Old Testament and encourages the church to keep their eyes on Jesus and not be afraid. Overall, the sermon provides a message of comfort and assurance in the midst of tribulation.

Please open to Revelation chapter 1, find verse 9, Revelation 1.9. This is God's inerrant, all-sufficient, perfect, refreshing Word of truth. And before we read it, I just want to state this proposition that we have for this church and that is that God leads his church by his word not by the culture not by the creativity of its leaders not by government orders but by the Word of God and so I'm just thrilling to read these words before you today. Verse 9, I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and I heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, and what you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me, And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like the son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of many waters. He had in his right hand seven stars.

Out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was like the Sun shining in its strength and when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his hand, right hand, on me, saying, Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last. I am He who lives and was dead. And behold, I am alive forevermore.

Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of death. Write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which 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 which you saw are the seven churches. Would you pray with me?

Father, we're so thankful to be before your word, not our own words, not our own thoughts, not our own emotions, but before words of truth, words of life, words to transform our thinking and our living Lord we're so grateful to be before this thrilling passage of Scripture that speaks of the things that are true. Amen. Please be seated. This is our third sermon in the book of Revelation. We began it recently.

This book is a wonderful gift to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as she faces the future. The first chapter is pivotal because it tells us how to interpret the book and also about how to understand everything that is there. It really describes two things. It describes the Lord Jesus Christ, what he is like and how he will be experienced throughout history, the history of the Church, and I think it's a very helpful book for us to be in right now. You know, are you concerned?

You know, are you concerned about the election? Are you concerned about tyranny? Are you concerned about hyperinflation or vaccines or government orders or the Equality Act or China or the stock market, you know, how are you feeling about things right now? Revelation is a very helpful place to be. My goal in these expositions is to help us read the book of Revelation the way it was written, phrase by phrase, symbol by symbol, and really drawing upon the interpretive keys of the book of Revelation, which are contained in the Old Testament.

There are 404 verses in Revelation and over 500 allusions to the Old Testament. In those verses you cannot understand Revelation if you don't go back to the Old Testament and see the interpretive grid by which the book is written. So it's very helpful that we understand that. You'll find me interpreting scripture by scripture here, not by the newspaper particularly. But Revelation is a perfect time for times like these, and I pray that God will really bless our time.

You know, launching into a new book is always very exciting. You know, people always get converted in books of the Bible. In fact, we're gonna baptize somebody who is converted. I believe it was on October 19th in John 19. So you know we're in Revelation 1, maybe God will touch somebody today.

You have an outline in front of you, I trust, and the first section that I want to deal with is verses 9 through 11 which speaks of John's tribulation and then beginning in verse 12 through 16 is this very dense, very beautiful deserving of a sermon on its own the pictures of Jesus Christ There are nine pictures of Jesus Christ that we need to have in our hearts and our minds. And then finally John's response, he falls like a dead man in how Jesus replies to him. So what we have in this chapter is a backdrop of history. Chapter one I think is kind of like a spoiler alert, where you are told what is happening behind the scenes, that Jesus Christ is the ruler of the kings of the earth. He's the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

He's the Alpha and the Omega, that's the spoiler alert. He wins, right? And in that sense Revelation is a very, very simple book. Who's running the show? The Lord Jesus Christ is running the show.

And he gives us many details about the kinds of things that the Church will experience during the years of the Church age, the various pressures that she will see are seen there. These really describe the generic experience of the Church. These are the things that are normal in the life of the church. We should not be shocked, we should not be destabilized. When governments come against the church, just recognize these things have been prescribed and designed by God and they are controlled by God, sequenced by God according to His perfect will.

And so what should be most plain for us right now in the book of Revelation, and it is the central message of the book, is that the Lord Jesus Christ is present with his Church during all her seasons. And here's what I think, at least today, Revelation has for Hope Baptist Church. Don't get rattled by the news cycle. God is in control. He's the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and He is coming again, and He is with His church, and our text here ends with, do not be afraid, and we'll see this picture of why no one should be afraid in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ and The message really of revelation is keep your eyes on Jesus the author and the perfecter of your faith So the very best thing that you can do here now at this moment in history is to focus on what God has commanded you to do and saturate your mind with the Word of God and if you're a parent, teach your children and if you're a Christian, build up your church.

You can do that, and you can do it with freedom, freedom and joy. The whole message of Revelation can be summed up in different ways. I'll sum it up this morning like this, "'Lo, I am with you even to the end of the age. Do not be afraid.'" So I want to just bring us up to speed here since it's been a couple of weeks since we've been in Revelation and give us a sense of what we have already covered. The first three verses in Revelation are so critical because they tell you how to interpret the book.

People say, well, I don't understand that book. The first three verses should clear all that up in your mind. First of all, it is a revelation. I hope you're looking at your Bibles, by the way, because I'm going to go through the words of scripture here. It is a revelation.

It's not a hiding. It's an unfolding. It's meant to unfold, not to hide things from you secondly it has a very clear focus, it is the revelation of Jesus Christ. When you go through the book of Revelation and you're thinking of anything but Jesus Christ you're probably getting a little distracted third it's very practical, God gave it to show his servants. And then he also speaks of historical reality, the things which must shortly take place.

And I believe he means the things that will take place right away in John's life and then continuing on and then finally it's filled with symbolism and he sent and signified it it's a book of symbols it's a picture book and and it is meant to be obeyed As we go through the book of Revelation, we should always ask, how am I supposed to obey this? It's interesting, there are not many commands in the book of Revelation, but the principles are meant to be obeyed and taken heed to. So keep focus on the focus of the book and how to interpret the book because it's revealed in the very first three verses. Then when we get to verses four through eight we find this elaborate unfolding of what you can expect from Jesus Christ. First of all, what can you expect?

Grace and peace. Grace to you and peace. That's what you can expect from Jesus Christ during the entire age of the church, no matter what might happen during that age. And you find these remarkably beautiful deep pictures of the Lord Jesus you know in in verses 4 through 8 like in verse 5 he is the the faithful witness he is the firstborn from the dead and he raises from the dead everybody who believes in him he's the ruler of the kings of the earth in verse 5 and he has made us a kingdom and priests to God the Father and he promises to bring glory and dominion to himself in everything that takes place and in verse 7 we read, Behold, he's coming with clouds, and every eye will see him. So these are declarations of the power of Jesus Christ, and He turns your, any uncertainty you might have into certainty, and of course the rest of Revelation describes what the church can expect to happen in the world, and from the world, and from God, and I think most importantly it describes what you can expect from your Savior Jesus Christ during all of your days so this is such a marvelously encouraging book and I'm just so delighted to be able to walk through it with you.

Well, since you do have an outline in front of you, I'm going to begin with verses 9 through 11 where there's this description of John's tribulation and in these verses what John reveals where he received the prophecy on the island of Patmos the day he received it on the Lord's Day the historical context of the tribulation and the reason for writing it for to the churches and and and also the person who delivered the message to him the Lord Jesus Christ and the dominant verb here in these verses is I saw and that's very very characteristic of the book of Revelation these are things that John saw these pictures that are meant to drive us to obey the implications of those pictures And what did he see? He saw symbols that describe Christ's beauty, Christ's authority, Christ's victory, Satan's downfall, and pictures of heaven. Well, that's the book of Revelation right there. These are the things that he saw. And so after explaining, you know, this matter of how to read, he speaks of this fact that he's in the tribulation.

Verse 9, I John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. First of all, we notice John is a brother. I, John, your brother. The Church of Jesus Christ is not a collection of big shots. It's a collection of brothers and sisters who love one another, who are affectionate with one another in brotherly love.

He is a fellow partaker, a fellow fellowship, or a fellow partner. That's what the word means there. He is a brother, and he is a brother in the tribulation. The tribulation is in the present time and there are three things that are connected with this word, the. The tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ.

The the connects them all together as a unit. So he is a companion in the tribulation. He is experiencing tribulation. The tribulation is not is not exclusively an event far off in the future they are events that continue until what is most likely a great a greater tribulation at the very end in the far-off future from John's writing. And here's what we should recognize here, is that, you know, trouble and distress will be the norm in the Church Age.

Christians can be just as happy in persecution as they are in times of peace, because they have an inner strength, they have something from heaven that is carrying them along. This particular tribulation most likely was from the Roman Emperor who banished John to the island of Patmos. You know, we may have peace for a time in a place like America, but it may not always be that peaceful for everyone everywhere, and we've just experienced, you know, 400 years of peace in the United States of America, but let's just recognize that that's very unusual. The United States is kind of the last bastion of freedom in the world, and the rest of the world has already pretty much fallen to these kinds of tribulations where the church is persecuted. Tribulation is not the worst thing that can happen to the church.

It's the norm in history. And Often our tribulations in the church are the very best things that ever happened to the church. In Acts chapter 14, you know, the apostle says through many tribulations we enter the kingdom of heaven. The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 4.17 called these things momentary light afflictions which is but for a moment but is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. The tribulations of the church are working glory, strength, loving kindness, goodness in his church and that's what makes the church different that's why you have happy people walking around who believe that Jesus Christ is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

They're not flapped by the things that are flapping the culture and so these three things go together the tribulation, the kingdom, and the patience of Jesus Christ. The kingdom in John's mind is now it's not later and then the persecution is not a sign of the defeat of the kingdom. It's a sign of suffering with Christ in his kingdom, reigning with Christ through his kingdom work. And so in many ways, you know, enduring tribulation is not one way that the Kingdom of God falls, it's a way that you reign with Christ in his tribulations, you share in the sufferings of Jesus Christ and therefore you're reigning with Christ in His Kingdom. We are a kingdom of priests set aside for God as we read earlier.

This is also of the patience of Christ. Now I take this as the patience of Jesus Christ for sinners. Jesus Christ is managing history and He's waiting to bring in His children and He's saving them and he's waiting, he's delaying his judgment so that many will come in. Don't delay because there's a day when that when that will end there's a day when his patience will run out but now as John is writing, the patience continues and the patience is so that the more martyrs would be brought in, the full number the martyrs would be brought in we learn that later on in Revelation. He's patiently waiting for all to come to repentance and that's why in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 9 we read the Lord is not slack concerning his promise as Some count slackness, but as long suffering toward us not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

Now there are always people in a church who are waiting to come and they're waiting to come to repentance. They don't have it. Don't wait any longer. God is waiting. He's delaying his judgment to bring you into his kingdom because he loves you He has compassion on you and he's waiting He knows your hard heart and he's designing to soften it and he's waiting until that time when he moves upon your heart and changes it.

I pray that that would happen to any who are still waiting. The Lord Jesus Christ is waiting by his own divine design. Now John is banished to the island of Patmos. It's a volcanic island. You can visit it today.

It's a 10-mile long, six-mile wide island. It's sitting in the crystal-clear waters of the Aegean Sea. It's a beautiful place. It's a historical place. The Bible is not about myths.

I've been to the island of Patmos. I've been to the place where they say John received this revelation. Who knows if that's true or not. But this this island is really just only 40 or 50 miles from where the Carinkins are living in Izmir, which is... What's the name?

Smyrna! Izmir is modern-day Smyrna. So John was there, it's apparently a prison camp, it's a quarry, he's working in a quarry. So he's on the island of Patmos. He's been banished.

And here's a question for all of us. What do we do when we're on the island of Patmos, our island of Patmos? You know, what do you do when you've been separated from your church, from your friends, from your normal work? You know, why does God send John to Patmos? Why does God send anybody to Patmos?

And he does it in order to do great things. God specializes in doing and meeting his children in the loneliest places the places of the greatest privation and banishment and John has set aside really here for a really great work in a not really great place called Patmos. You know, the civil authorities wanted to silence him and subjugate him, but the Lord wanted to use him. The Lord sent him to Patmos to bring encouragement to the Church of Jesus Christ as it would exist throughout history. He would speak truth and comfort to the church for many generations.

And so on this little island, God would reveal to John really the apex of the canon of scripture, the summary of really the whole message of the Bible, that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and so you never know what might happen in your time on Patmos. You've been there, maybe you're there right now but what are you doing? Are you worshipping the Lord on the Lord's Day? Are you walking with Him? Are you meditating on the praises of God?

Well, that's what John was doing. He was banished. Why? It's very clear why he was banished. For the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

For the Word of God. The Word of God is the most divisive thing you can have in your mind, in your heart, and in your hand. And just carry it around and you can feel the heat coming. It's a despised message and John's infraction was that he was teaching and obeying the Word of God. That's what got him thrown onto the island of Patmos.

And it says here he was praying in the Spirit on the Lord's day. John had an extraordinary experience by the power of the Holy Spirit of God. All of his senses of mind and body and his emotions were captivated by God in a very, very unusual way. This is not the normal way of the working of the Spirit of God. It did happen in such a demonstrable way here.

And the Spirit of God was teaching him, as the Bible says, the deep things of God revealing to him you know men moved by the Holy Spirit to write that's what is happening here and the scene is happening on the Lord's Day I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day He was in the spirit on the Lord's Day seeking the Lord because meeting on Sunday, the Christian Sabbath, is not really an invention. It's something the Apostles established. It's the only day that the Apostles explicitly established for the worship of God. It's, of course, based on Christ rising from the grave on Sunday, which is celebrated, you know, by virtually every church in the world today. You know, the apostles gathered on the evening of the resurrection on Sunday, eight days later they gathered again on Sunday, and you see the same pattern in Acts 20 and 1st Corinthians 16 and 1st Corinthians 11.

Now the early church gathered on the Lord's Day and no other day is explicitly identified So he's he's in the spirit on the Lord's Day Observing the Lord's Day there on the island of Patmos then he hears a trumpet look at verse 10 I heard behind me a loud voice as a trumpet, a shocking sound, saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, and what you see right in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia. So there's this tremendous summoning of attention that John experiences and, you know, loud voices wake you out of your slumber and he hears this voice saying I am the Alpha and the Omega. This phrase is repeated in this letter to the churches here and he tells them to write this letter to two churches and he commands that these things that he sees to be written in a book. It's very difficult to write down things that you see and that's exactly what he did. And by the way this is the first of 12 times that John receives this command to write and he begins to write when we get to verse 12 we find ourselves encountering these beautiful pictures of Jesus Christ These are stunning, they're beautiful.

These are not pictures of what Christ looks like. These are pictures of what Christ is like. The point of them is not to cause us to go and paint pictures that look exactly like this. The second commandment actually forbids making pictures of God. But this is not a description of what he looks like, it's what he is like.

It's what he is like in pictorial form, created by words. And in many ways I'm just gonna call it pictorial Christology it's Christology in pictures it shows you what he is like and it's very beautiful this is why at the very beginning we said the book of Revelation is one of the most blessed books for children because it shows them pictures and here you have this pictorial Christology that's demonstrated here in this book and the pictures that Jesus uses are the imagery from the Old Testament Scripture. And in this section he's drawing primarily from Daniel 9 and I'm sorry Daniel 7 and Daniel 10 and also Zechariah 4, we'll get to that later. And there are these nine successive images drawn from the Old Testament, and these images will pop up, we'll see them later on as we go through Revelation. We'll always be going back to the Old Testament to interpret what is the meaning behind these pictures here.

I'd like you to open to Daniel chapter 10 and find verse 5. Daniel 10 verse 5. In our studies in Revelation, we're going to be finding ourselves going back and forth from the New to the Old Testament because what John is saying is very much what the Gospel writers say, this is that. And this thing here is reflected in that thing in the Old Testament. We don't really...

I don't think we're really able to understand Revelation without going back to the Old Testament passages, so we will be Flipping through our Bibles quite a bit over the next couple of years so Daniel 10 verse 5 I lifted my eyes and looked and Behold a certain man clothed in linen Whose waist was girded with gold? Ufaz of Ufaz his body was like barrel his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like burnished bronze in color, and the sound of his words like the voice of a multitude. Now again, this is what he is like in his work and in his character. And the first image is really an image of his person. He is like the Son of Man, that's verse 12, and I turned in to see a voice and I saw one like the Son of Man and this phrase Son of Man is drawn from Daniel 7, verses 9 through 12, and the term is connected to the Ancient of Days in Daniel.

This is a picture of dominion, authority, absolute vanquishing authority from all eternity. And it's very interesting, the Lord Jesus Christ identifies himself as the Son of Man more than any other designation in the Gospels and He is God in the likeness of man. He is the ancient of days but with a man's body and that's what He is saying here. He's the Word made flesh, He dwelt among us, we beheld His glory, the glory of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. And in John chapter 5 we learn He is the Son of man.

He is the one who suffered in our place. He became man to experience everything that we've experienced and to have compassion on us in the midst of everything we experience. He is the Son of man. And the question I think you can ask by looking at this image is, you know, who is with you in the Tribulation? It's the Ancient of Days.

That's who is with you. That's who is with the Church of Jesus Christ, and he's the Savior of the world. And then we also find here in this section as he is announced as the Son of Man, He's also in the midst of the lampstands and having turned I saw seven golden lampstands and in the midst of the seven lampstands was the Son of Man. Now lampstands hold up light that illuminates. Lampstands aren't light, they hold the light and that's what the church does.

The church bears the light. The church doesn't have her own light, she does not shine her own light. She shines the light of Jesus Christ. You know, in Philippians Paul tells us that the churches are set in the world to shine as lights, and we are also called to walk as children of the light. Now, these lampstands aren't an invention in John's brain.

He got them from Zechariah. Please open your Bibles to Zechariah chapter 4, and we'll see the interpretive grid by which these lampstands should be understood. Zechariah chapter 4 verse 2. Zechariah is awakened from sleep and this person said to him, what do you see? So I said, I am looking and there is a lamp stand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it and on the seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps two olive trees are by it one by the right of the bowl and the other at its left so I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me saying what are these my lord then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me do you not know what these are and I said no my lord So he answered and said to me, this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel, not by might, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord." Here's this picture of the people of God and these lamp stands are being fed by these olive trees, pouring oil into them, causing the lamps to be illuminated.

And it's the work of the Holy Spirit. This is exactly what John tells us in John, Chapter 16. It is the work of the Holy Spirit that sustains the Church during the Church Age. And this is a very same kind of image. You know, Solomon's temple had ten lampstands.

And what this means is that the Church is bearing the light of the world. And the lampstands here in the Old Testament are part of the furniture of the temple and they signify God's presence and the oil signified the power of the Holy Spirit in the church and that the church draws her strength from the Spirit of God which includes the Word of God. Jesus said, my words are spirit and they are life. But Jesus is making it very clear here that is that the temple is giving way to the church which is being fed by the Spirit of God and that's why the Apostle Paul in 1st Corinthians 3 16 says, do you not know you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you. So the church is picking up the ministry of the Spirit from the Old Testament Saints and carrying it out during this era of the New Covenant.

So the church is like a lampstand holding a burning candle, and notice that they're golden lampstands. They're golden. The church is the most valuable metal. The church is the gold. It is the valuable, rare, beautiful metal that exists in the world.

It is an illuminating institution. It's a truth-telling institution. It's a purposeful institution. And the people of God gather together in local churches and then they scatter as lights in the world. And of course, there are seven of them.

Seven is the number of perfection. When you see this number in the book of Revelation. It's not literal, it's symbolic, and these lampstands are local churches in particular cities throughout the church age. They're not pictures of the universal church, they are pictures of local churches that gather in cities. And the message here is that Jesus Christ is always present with his church, and there's something very, very important about the gathered church.

You know, watching church on television is not participating in the church the way that Jesus Christ ordered it and so the church gathers around the Word of God doing all the things that God has commanded the church to do and God is present with his church There's something strange that happens when God's people gather. He is present. And things happen when you're together that never, that can't happen when you're alone. And so God has organized churches that way. Now the second image is the image of His garment.

His garment and his belt. Now all of these things are designed to help us all to understand what it means that Jesus Christ is among us as a church, as a local fellowship, and that he is he has a garment with a belt in verse 13 and again this is not what he looks like it's what he is like and he is clothed like a high priest. That's the imagery that is there. The robe and the sash are referred to in Exodus 28 verse 4. I'll just read it for you in verse 3 in Exodus 28.

So you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him that he may minister to me as priest and these are the garments which they shall make a breastplate and ephod a robe a skillfully woven tunic a turban and a sash so they shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother and his sons that he may minister to me as priests." You find the same kind of language in Exodus chapter 39 verses 27 to 31. These garments are for holiness to the Lord And these really are pictures of what our garments ought to proclaim, holiness to the Lord. And he is girded with a golden band, girded about the chest with this golden band. He is, he's a priest. He is the high priest of the church.

He's the one who has compassion on his people. He's the one who intercedes for his people day and night. He is a priest. He is making peace with God for his sinful people, but he is a priest, and here he is clothed like a priest. When the church gathers together, they need to know that Jesus Christ is the priest.

He's the high priest who's interceding for them and who's made atonement for them and they're free you know we're gonna celebrate the Lord's Supper soon here and we're free our sins have been atoned for and we have no fear in that sense so who's with you in the tribulation? It's the priest the priest who cares for you, who intercedes for you the third image is the image of his head and his hair." That's verse 14. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow. Again, this is not what he looks like, it's what he is like. You know, this white hair is a symbol of dignity and wisdom.

You know, the Bible thinks differently about the color of hair than most people today. There's a very big market, you know, to change the color of your hair, to change the color of your white hair into something so that you'll just look a little bit more sprightly and young. You know, but the imagery would be very familiar to Jewish ears because it comes out of Daniel 7 verse 8 where we read I watched thrones which were put in place and the ancient of days was seated, His garment was white as snow and the hair of his head was like pure wool and his throne was a fiery flame. So Solomon is speaking of the Old Testament understanding of gray hair and it represents wisdom. Proverbs 16 verse 31 speaks of it, the silver-haired head is a crown of glory if it is found in the way of righteousness.

You know, just because you have gray hair doesn't mean you're wise but if you have gray hair and are wise, it's a glory but God is very old and he's very wise, he's infallibly wise And he is the, the Lord Jesus Christ is the elder brother. He's the more experienced, wiser brother. And he is the one we go to for wisdom. Don't go into your own heart to figure out what to do with your life. Go to God, go to Jesus Christ.

Do you need wisdom? Go to the Ancient of Days and find it in His Word. Go to the one who has the whitest hair in the room. And here it's very clear that there is one with the whitest hair in the room and And it is it is the Lord it is the Lord Jesus Christ and He's with us in the tribulation the wisest of the wise is with the Church of Jesus Christ have no fear seek wisdom from heaven and then the fourth image is his eyes his eyes like a flame of fire again this is not what he looks like, but what he is like. He is like the one with eyes like a flame of fire.

This is also drawn from Daniel 10 6. His eyes like torches of fire. And this really speaks of the comprehensive understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ has for everyone in his church you know the eyes of the Lord are in every place keeping watch on the evil and the good. We learn in 2nd Chronicles 1 verse 9, the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. You can always know that the Lord Jesus Christ knows everything about everybody in the church and maybe you don't need to know everything but He does and His gaze is so penetrating nothing is hidden from his sight.

Nothing is hidden from his sight right now. He knows every single thing about you and what you're thinking and what you've done. He knows all of your sins. He knows your secret emotions. He knows your secret sins.

He sees right through you right now and he's the one. Nothing is hidden from his sight. Well this is one of the great things about mothers isn't it? Well everybody knows you know mothers have eyes in the back of their head, and the Lord Jesus Christ sees even more than mothers, and this is imagery That includes his perfect perception But also his eyes of wrath and you should ask yourself are his eyes of wrath upon me for my sins Do I need to repent of my sins and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ? These eyes are meant to purify and to consume and destroy sin.

His eyes are laid upon us and He sees right through us. If you don't repent, His fiery eyes will destroy you. If you do repent, they will heal you. And so who is with us in the tribulation? Well it's the one who sees everything, who knows everything.

All at one time. The church never really has to worry about what's happening because there is someone who sees. You know, a few years ago there was a church down the road that somebody came and they stole their bell, you know, from the top of the church. Big scandal. I mean it was like in the national news.

I don't know how it got the national news. There's a little tiny church over here in Roseville and they were interviewing one of the deacons of the church and the reporter was asking him Were there any witnesses? He said, well, yes, there are three witnesses. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit saw it all. And That's what we have.

The Lord Jesus Christ sees it all. Even if we don't see it, He does. What a blessing it is. The fifth image is His feet. Verse 15, His feet.

His feet were like fine brass as if refined in a furnace. And so you have this imagery of feet and their particular quality of feet. I think we can say, you know, he's always on the move, he's always at work, he's always moving. This comes from Daniel 6 verse 10 His arms and feet like burnished bronze in color I think I think there's a contrast that's implied here of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuchadnezzar had feet of clay Not the Lord Jesus Christ Nebuchadnezzar had proud feet of clay they were unstable and Christ's feet are composed of a beautiful, strong, and shining metal. It's excellent brass, literally, and the image really speaks of Christ's invincibility and his readiness for combat.

His feet will not fail. He's already with his foot bruised the head of the serpent and he gives you unshakable stability and peace if he's carrying you and you know We've just been so covered up with bad news lately. You know, has the news knocked you off your feet? Look to him, whose feet will never go out from under him. He has strong feet.

His feet are stable. They're ready for war. And what's being said here is that those feet are walking among the lampstands of the church. Those feet are walking whenever Christ's people are gathering. That's astounding!

It's hard for us to grasp that. But he really is with his church, with his bronze, beautiful, strong feet. Nothing knocks him over. So hang on to him. Who's with you in the tribulation the one who's always moving with power with feet like fine brass burnished in a furnace And then the sixth image is his voice, verse 15, and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Now the loudness of his voice is telling, it tells us really of the power of his voice. In Daniel 10, 6, we read the same thing. The sound of his words were like the voice of a multitude. His voice dominates. It might get drowned, in your own thinking, it might get drowned out, but be assured, his voice is the only voice that would be left speaking at the end of the day.

And he rules by his words, and his teaching really is meant in the church to drown out every other teaching. Yet the Lord Jesus wants to drown out your own teaching and replace it with His with His loud beautiful voice so that you listen to His voice and his voice alone in the church and he speaks it very loudly I think of this in terms of what we read in John 11 when we were in the Gospel of John Lazarus come forth he has the voice that rules the day and even even those who are in the graves will hear the sound of his voice and they'll come out of the graves he has a powerful voice and here his voice is like the sound of water Psalm 29 is where this is drawn from. The voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord is over many waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. And It just goes on and talks about what else the voice of the Lord breaks the voice of the Lord breaks everything in its way You know when the Pharisees sent men to come arrest Jesus They they wouldn't do it and they came back and said nobody ever spoke like this man they were just so afraid to touch him because of his words and they were amazed you know the gracious words that proceeded from his mouth So who is with this church in the tribulation? It's the one who has the voice that will drown out every other inferior voice And that's so important that we Do that in our own lives that we make his voice the voice of our lives That drives everything the seventh image is His right hand verse 16 his right hand The right hand is symbolic of authority and power. His hand is strong.

He holds His people in His hands. Isaiah 41 says, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness. You know the verse fear not for I am with you. Do not be afraid for I am your God. I will strengthen you I will help you.

I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness and what's in his hand there were there seven stars in his right hand We find this interpreted in the last verse in chapter 1 verse 20, the mystery of the seven stars which 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 which you saw are the seven churches. So he interprets all of this at the very end. I'm going to suggest that the stars are angels, real angels. There are many who believe that the stars are symbolic of pastors because the word is often translated messengers.

It's really very heartwarming, you know, to think about that you could you could do a whole sermon on just how wonderful it is, how heartwarming it is and encouraging that your pastor is one of those angels that God holds in his right hand. It really is a compelling thought. I don't think that they... I'm not confident that they are pastors. Most pastors aren't angels.

They are messengers. But the word angel is used over 55 times in Revelation. Every single time it's literal angels. Pastors are never called angels in the Bible. Revelation speaks of angels over and over again, and they're not pastors.

They are angels, and a couple of them have names. So maybe they are pastors, maybe they aren't. I'm not sure, I don't think that they are, but the Bible makes it very clear that these letters to the seven churches are written to the angel of the church. You're going to see this in the next two chapters. In chapter 2 verse 1 verse 8 verse 12 verse 18 and chapter 3 verse 1 verse 7 and 14 to the angel of the church.

And I think that these are angels that care for churches you know we learn in Hebrews chapter 1 verse 14 that they are ministering spirits to minister to those who will inherit salvation do local churches have an angel or angels it's quite possible I think that's the most compelling argument in my mind. And where these are held in His hand, they're held in Christ's hand, safest place, their most secure. You know, in Matthew 25 we get a remarkable picture of this matter of the right hand. Then the king will say to those on his right hand, come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world for I was hungry and you gave me food I was thirsty and you gave me drink I was a stranger and you took me in I was naked and you clothed me I was sick and you visited me I was in prison and you came to me so who is with the church in the time of tribulation well the one who is deployed his angels to care for the church and to assist those who would inherit salvation.

We're always praying that God would save every person in this church, that God would just light them up and give them such a joy in his presence. We're still praying that, But God has given angels for that purpose for some reason. I don't know how it works But it is true. The Bible says it Now the eighth image is his mouth verse 16 out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. A sword is a symbol of authority.

A sword is a picture of the person who is in charge, and his words are powerful, and his words do remarkable things in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 8 the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming he's talking about the lawless ones and the lawless man he will destroy with the breath of his mouth by his words in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 his word is living and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword and it it pierces it pierces to your innermost being It cuts you and wounds you and it heals you at the same time. In Isaiah chapter 49 2, Jesus declares there in that prophecy, He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. Isaiah 11 4, with his mouth he will slay the wicked. In Revelation chapter 2 he will destroy the Nicolaitans with his mouth, with his words. And so his words, they reveal sin, they reveal disobedience and hypocrisy and pride, they expose the corruption of our hearts.

God desires to expose and kill our flesh. The Word of God is meant to give us victory in our temptations and I think we can say it like this When God bids a man to come to him he bids him to come and die to come and die to himself to die to his sins and to be alive to God and he afflicts this deadly wound of the Word of God. So who is with us in the tribulation? What words are moving us? The one with the sharp two-edged sword is in the midst of the church.

And then the ninth image, the final image, is countenance. And his countenance was like the shining sun in its strength. And of course this is imagery from Daniel 10, it's also from Judges 5 31, where he has a face like the sun. Christ is like the sun. He is the son of righteousness with healing in his wings.

In Isaiah chapter 60 we're told that the Lord will be your everlasting light and His face is like the shining of the sun. It always chases away the darkness. It shines in a dark world. It emits heat. It brings comfort.

It reveals who you really are. It shows you what's really going on. That's the great thing about light. Flip on the light and you can see where things are. And the Lord is a light.

That's why David prayed, Lord, lift up the light of your countenance upon us That's why in 2nd Corinthians 3 the believers behold the face of Jesus Christ and are transformed From glory to glory by the countenance of his light His eyes are like the flame of fire. So who's with us in the tribulation? This one whose countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. You just might think about that. You're sitting here in this church and think about the countenance of His shining faith and his strength upon you.

The Lord Jesus Christ's face is shining upon his people. And I think it's important that we somehow try to be more aware of that, that his countenance really makes a difference in who we are together in the way that we think about one another and the way that we think about the world and all the things that are going on and all the threats that are there his countenance is like the Sun shining in its strength and it never goes down his son never goes down but we get to the end of Revelation we'll learn more about this whole thing. It's absolutely remarkable. And then, of course, John is overwhelmed. His response is recorded in verse 17.

He fell at his feet as a dead man and this is his response to this marvelous holiness Daniel fell down as dead in Daniel 10 Ezekiel does the same thing Isaiah does the same thing in Isaiah 6 Peter does the same thing in Luke 5 he says depart from me for I'm a sinful man and here John falls down and when you when you see the beauty of his holiness you either you either hate him and run away from him or you fall down before him in awe and amazement. Notice John's not running away. He's staying. He's at his feet. That's the place where he wants to be.

And then John finds this remarkable response. But he laid his right hand on me saying to me, do not be afraid. Another way to translate this even more clearly is stop being afraid. That's a pretty overwhelming message in the Bible. The most often repeated command in the Bible is do not be afraid.

You know one of the things that I think about in our church is if I find fearful people I get very concerned. I've been very thankful not to see much fear in this church. But here the Lord says stop being afraid. I will be with you. I will walk with you through the valley of the shadow of death.

And he lays his right hand on him. And it's almost as if he's saying, John, it's me. It's me, the bread of life. It's me, the living water. John, it's me, the resurrection and the life.

It's me, the door. It's me, the one who brings everlasting life and light and power and protection it's me John he says I am the first and the last. I am he who lives and was dead. It is no longer I who live, but he who lives in me, says the apostle. He says I am alive forevermore and I have the keys of Hades and of death.

The Lord Jesus Christ opens and shuts the doors and he is the ruler of the kings of the earth and he is the Son of Man who saves sinners. He's the high priest who has all the grace and the intercession the church will ever need. And he is all wise. His head and his hair tell you that he has all the wisdom you'll ever need. His eyes make it very clear that he understands everything you will ever feel and everything you will ever need and everywhere you ever go.

His feet tell you that he runs and he has all the strength and the mobility around you that you'll ever need. His voice tells you that He speaks the words that you need. His right hand shows you that He upholds you in His right hand and will care for you and He'll care for His church in his right hand. And his mouth makes it very clear that you'll have all the truth and correction and comfort and information that you need and his countenance tells you that he has all the light you will ever need. Praise the Lord for the Lord Jesus Christ in the presence of his church.

Do you see how critical it is that there is a church in the world and there are people with whom Jesus Christ gathers with and when they gather he demonstrates his glory in all of these different ways. Praise the Lord. Would you pray with me? Father, we're so thankful for the beauty of Your Word, the power of it, how practical it is. We pray that You would help us to obey each and every one of these principles that we've seen.

Lord, teach us to obey, make us an obedient people today. Help us to be obedient in recognizing what's happening here today, that it would be in our thoughts and minds as we look one another in the eye, we would we would recognize the one with the countenance, the one who has a right hand though the one who has eyes like a flame of fire the one who's a priest Lord as we fellowship together that you would bring all these things to mind you are among us in your church And you've made so many promises to us like these here. We thank you, oh Lord, for your indescribable gifts. Amen.