Beholding Christ as He Is: Part 6 - Revelation 1: 12-18

1:23And the most effective way to edify a person that I know of is to show them Jesus Christ. In fact, the most effective way that Christ saw to strengthen the churches that John is writing to, first century, under persecution, facing all kinds of difficult challenges, the way Christ himself thought was the most effective way to edify them, to strengthen them, was to give them a fresh vision of himself. And that's what he's done in the book of Revelation. This is the very first vision that we come to.

2:14It's of Jesus Himself. We've already looked at his head and hair in verse 14. We've looked at his eyes, verse 14, we've looked at his feet and his voice in verse 15. We've looked at what he has held in his hand. And today we're going to look at his mouth and his face. And I want us to continue looking upon Jesus as he currently is, so that we will, like John, fear and worship him above all else.

2:57In fact, as we read Proverbs, right? 9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's where it starts. And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. You want to understand? You want to have wisdom? You want to have understanding? Then fear the Lord and seek to know the Holy One whom He has revealed. So I want to continue looking this morning at his mouth. Look at verse 16. And out of his mouth came a sharp, two-edged sword.

3:40Out coming out of his mouth. Sword, two-edged, sharp, proceeding out from him. It's a verb flowing out. So it's kind of, I've seen some people try to draw this. Don't try to visualize it that way. It's not like there's this sword, like his tongue is a sword, and he's out there wielding it, kind of like a light saber or something like that. I can't talk to you right now. I've got a sword coming out of my mouth. No, it's the language is one of a sword in action.

4:23It's a present verb speaking of it's coming out. It's describing action. Every time he speaks, it's like a sword, a sharp, two-edged sword, actively operating. So it's more of a piercing, like a sword thrusting in battle. His words. His eyes are like flames of fire. They penetrate deeply. They see deeply. And so his words speak deeply, profoundly. There's a couple of kinds of swords that I'll mention to you. One kind of sword is what is called like a macharia.

5:20It's a large knife, usually. It's for killing animals, maybe cutting up their flesh, flaying, that kind of usually more of a smaller sword. Hebrews 4:12 speaks of this kind of sword. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. So the sword. In Hebrews 4:12 is a sword that's described to judge, expose, kind of like flaying and dissecting thoughts and intentions.

6:14But that's not the word for sword that's used here. The word here is rhompahia. It's a different sword. It's a large sword, developed in Thrace, military powerhouse. It was a military weapon. Sword, several feet long, a couple of feet, anyway, sharp, two-edged. It was designed to kill. It's designed to pierce. It's like it's not just sharp on one edge. Those swords were good for slicing. And you had all kinds of swords, all kinds of military weapons. There were those that would kill by slicing.

7:10And then there were those that would, they were designed to kill by piercing. And that's the sword that's described here. In fact, it doesn't, it's not used very much. It's only used in one other place in the New Testament. It's used a couple of places. In Revelation and one place elsewhere in the New Testament. You remember when after Jesus was born and after the days of purification were completed, Mary and Joseph brought Jesus into the temple to present him before the Lord.

7:55And there's a guy named Simeon there. And Simeon said these words in Luke 2:34, and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce even your own soul, to the end that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Now, think of a mother. Think of if there's any human being that understood the injustice and the crime of the cross, it was Mary, the mother of Jesus. She raised him. She knew him. She knew he was the perfect child, really. Really was. Some of us, I hear some people, no, by the time you get my age, you realize there's no such thing. Your kids aren't perfect. But when you're When you're young, you know, when you first, first couple kids, you're like, Yeah, I've got a perfect kid, you know. I realize you don't.

9:10But this kind of piercing, Mary understood. She was a mother, she loved Jesus, she raised him. And the piercing that Simeon speaks about is a soul-piercing, debilitating pain, a pain so deep that it renders a person inoperative. This is how Simeon describes what's going to happen to Mary as she watches the history of her son play out. He's going to be assigned to be opposed. And as he's opposed, a sword is going to pierce you through.

10:02It's interesting as you look at this first depiction of Jesus, the only weapon that you see is the sword. The word that comes out of his mouth is the only weapon that he needs to completely debilitate any person. You Or me. That's the only weapon he needs to completely render inoperative any nation. Whether it's the United States, whether it's Russia, whether it's China, they are nothing to him. Drop from a bucket. His word is the only weapon that is needed to crush any army, whether it's the Roman legions of his day or whether it's the conglomerate confederation of all nations that are going to oppose him at the end. They are but a drop in the bucket. He speaks and they're done.

11:19His word and his words, the only thing that is needed to judge any church, whether that's Emmanuel Baptist Church, whether it's the Redeemer Baptist Church, or whether it's the Southern Baptist Convention, His Word is all that's necessary, one word to convict, strike, and bring down any churchgoer or any church hater. Such is the power of Christ's word. And the Bible prophesied that the Christ, that Israel's Messiah, would have such power in his words. Listen to what Isaiah said about him.

12:20In Isaiah chapter 11, verse 1, then a shoot will spring forth from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord, and he will not judge by what he sees, nor make a decision by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he will judge the poor, and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth. And he will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Also, righteousness will be the belt of his loins, faithfulness the belt about his waist. And after he has struck the nations with the rod of his mouth, and verse 6 says, And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat, and the calf. The young lion and the fatling together, and a little boy will lead them. He's going to strike down with the rod of his mouth evil.

13:45Bring the wicked to an end, and the world will enjoy a glorious future as a result of the Messiah's judgment. Listen to what Isaiah 49:1, speaking of God's servant. Isaiah 49:1, listen to me, O islands, and pay attention, you people from afar. That'd be us, right? The Lord called me from the womb. From the body of my mother, he named me. He has made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he has concealed me, and he has made me a select arrow. He said to me, You are my servant Israel, in whom I will show my glory. And in verse 5, he goes on to say, And now says the Lord who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, so that Israel might be gathered to him. So, this one whose mouth is sharp as a sword is going to bring Israel back. He says, Is it too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel?

15:00I will also make you a light to the nations, so that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth. Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, to the despised one, to the one abhorred by the nation, to the servant of rulers, kings will see and arise. Princes will also bow down because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you. Israel's strength is in her Messiah, even though she has rejected him.

15:46But his mouth is like a sharp sword. Paul, remember in 2 Thessalonians 2:8, speaks about the lawless one. Then the lawless one will be revealed. There will come a time when the lawless one, that personification of evil, is going to be revealed. The veil is going to be lifted up, and the world is going to see him. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming.

16:21Such is the power. That is the weapon he speaks, and it is. So that scripture prophesied that Christ would have such piercing power in his words. But we also see this in Jesus' humility. It's the same person. Remember? His words, he had power over life. He had the power. You remember the centurion recognized it, right? In Matthew chapter 8 and 5. Let me read to you that account. You remember when Jesus entered Capernaum? A centurion came to him, imploring him, and saying, Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented. Jesus said to him, I will come and heal him. But the centurion said, Lord, I am not worthy for you to come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to this one, go, and he goes, and to another, come, and he comes, and to my slave, do this, and he does it. Now, when Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who were following, Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

17:58And we have this picture of Christ right now. He speaks, and it's done. Centurion got it. And just as you peruse the gospels, you realize when Jesus spoke, the elements obeyed. Demons obeyed. The human body obeyed. Death obeyed. Listen, you and I live because he says we live. You will get over COVID, or you will not get over COVID because he says so. Hebrews 1:3 says, He upholds all things by the word of his power. Such are the words of Christ.

19:00Hopefully, that brings your heart to a place of great reverence. We exist because he says we exist. Those churches in Asia Minor existed because Jesus said they exist. He didn't have to get approval from the Roman legions or the Roman Emperor or anyone else. He's given us our days, and he upholds all things by the word of his power. His word has power. But in this context, you get into Revelation. What's really coming to the forefront or being emphasized is the power to stop his enemies.

20:04His word is arresting. It renders his enemies' intentions inoperable. In fact, we see that in his humility as well. You remember in kind of a little bit of a comical situation, if it wasn't so filled with murder, it would almost be funny. But in John chapter 7, you remember up feast of the booths, Jesus goes up, the crowds are listening to him, and in John 7:31, many of the crowd believed in him, and they were saying, When the Christ comes, he will not perform more signs than those which this man has, will he?

20:51In other words, wow, everybody's thinking, oh, this is it. This is the Christ. The Pharisees heard this. The Pharisees heard the crowd muttering these things about him, and the Chief priests and the officers and the Pharisees sent officers to seize them. So, this is what the Pharisees do. Officers, come here. Got an assignment for you. Go get him. Bring him back here. Arrest him. Stop him. Make him cease. Picture the guys. Oh, we'll get him, boss. Don't you worry. We'll go get him, boss. And they take off to go get him, to arrest him, to apprehend him. So they go over there and they are hearing Jesus' teaching. He is standing up after the great march down to the pool of Siloam to draw out the water and to bring it all back up and pour it out as custom. Jesus stands up at the last day, the great day of the feast, and he says, If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. I am the one who gives the living water. Come to me.

21:58So they would have heard all that. Then in verse 45, the officers then came back to the chief priests and the Pharisees, but they came back empty-handed. We didn't get him, boss. And the Pharisees said to them, Why did you not bring him? The officers answered, Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks. We couldn't apprehend him. No one speaks like this. It's like the officers were saying, You sent us to arrest him, he arrested us.

22:40His word, we could not go forward. No one has ever spoken like this man, including you, boss. Kind of a slap in the face to the Pharisees. No one has spoken like this man. Well, this instance, these instances, give us a glimpse of the power of Jesus' word in his humility. How much more will we expect intense power in his glory as he is depicted in the book of Revelation? Christ is glorified. That's who he is. That's how he is.

23:30It's the sword imagery. Also, this same sword shows up in a couple of other places in Revelation. And in every place, it symbolizes the irresistible, arresting, and debilitating power of Christ's word. It is coming out. It flows out. And when it does, it penetrates every word. His eyes see deeply, and his words penetrate deeply. He judges. He understands. The condition of the human heart. He understands everything precisely, and he speaks directly to what he sees. It is his word that brings judgment, and his judgment is irresistible, spot-on, arresting, and permanent.

24:28But it's, you see, this in a couple places. Look at chapter 2 and verse 12. And to the angel of the church of Pergamum, write, the one who has the sharp two-edged sword says this: I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is, and you hold fast my name, and did not deny my faith even in the days of Antipas, my witness, my faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold to the teaching of the Nicolatians, the Nicolaitans. Therefore, repent, or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will wage war against them with the sword. Of my mouth.

25:34You see, there are those who seek to corrupt the church from the inside, and in this context, specifically involving the false teachings of the Nicolaitans and the immoral, sexually immoral teachings of Balaam and other stumbling blocks. So there are those who are trying to waging war against the church from the inside. But there are also those who wage war against the church from the outside. Turn in Revelation to chapter 19. I want you to see a couple of things here. Chapter 19, the great coming of Christ in verse 11. And I saw heaven open, and behold, a white horse, and he who sat upon it is faithful and true, and in righteousness he judges and wages war. So here comes Christ. Now, what has happened is the nations have assembled, and the time of rejoicing has come. The marriage supper of the Lamb has come, but also the great supper of God.

26:48The great supper of God has come. Verse 15. 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 winepress of the fierce wrath of God the Almighty. And on his robe and on his thigh, he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of Lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, Come, assemble for the great supper of God. That'd be frightening, right? All the nations gathered, and here comes this angel. Get ready, birds. It's about supper time. Very, don't confuse the marriage supper of the Lamb with the great supper of God.

27:42You don't really want to go to the great supper of God, or you will be the great supper of God. But the angel standing in the sun, and he cried with a loud voice, verse 17, saying to all the birds which fly in mid-heaven, come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses and those who sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped him. His image. These two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone, and the rest were killed with the sword. There it is, the sword which came from the mouth of him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh.

28:52Let his words penetrate us. A sword comes from his mouth, penetrates deep, it pierces through, it destroys resistance. Even as I think about his words, what we can read about what he said in Scripture, I find his words, even as he's spoken, as are written on the words of scripture, soul-penetrating. What areas do you still resist him in? Do you have a struggle? Do you struggle with forgiveness? Forgiving people? Yes, you do. Some more than others.

29:46Some are profoundly married to unforgiveness. Listen to these words. Matthew 6:14. If you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also. Forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your heavenly Father will not forgive your trespasses. Period. If you do not know how to forgive, you have no idea who God is. When I read these words, my ability to resist forgiveness is pierced. Listen, we should be aggressive in forgiving. Aggressive. When you stand before words like this, are you someone who worries? What did Jesus say? Matthew 6:25, do not be worried about your life. And he goes on, whether it's what you eat, what you drink, what you wear, or tomorrow. Do not worry. You're more valuable than them.

31:05And do you struggle? What about the lust of the eyes? What about your sexually immoral issues? Listen to these words. Matthew 5, 27. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out, throw it from you. For it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. Listen, if you are married to your sin and you will not come out of that, be warned. Let these words pierce you. Get rid. Cut off every access. Cut off the enterprises of sexual sin in your life, everywhere, and do it so permanently and be aggressive in doing it.

31:52We could go on. You cannot love two masters. You cannot serve God and money, or you will hate the one. Listen, if your pursuit, if you're all about pursuing greater gain, greater position, greater than, guess what? You don't love him and you hate him. We must be aggressive in laying everything down before him. Let these words render inoperative forever your resistance against him. He has a sword. We all will stand before him. It will all be exposed.

32:31We could keep going, but my point in all this just is that just as Jesus' eyes penetrate into the soul, so his word speaks to what he sees. And his judgment is clear, it is accurate, and it is permanent. Let's move on to his face. Verse 16. Come to the climax of the vision, really. And his face was like the sun shining in its strength. The face of him, as the sun, shining in its might, in its power, in its brilliance.

33:22This overwhelming glory of Christ. That's how he currently is. The face, face. It's not used very much. In the New Testament, John speaks of it to speak in John 11:44 of the face of Lazarus. In John 7, 24, it speaks of the appearance of things. Do not judge a mere to the appearance. So it can easily be just the faith or the whole appearance, the radiance of the whole vision. But here, I think it certainly refers to the faith of Jesus. John hasn't been so blinded as to see other parts, but it certainly doesn't reduce the brilliance of the overall appearance. There is a radiance and a glory about him, whether it's his feet, whether it's his garment, whether it's his head, his hair, but his face shining like the sun with all its brilliance. Noonday, no clouds. No haze, nothing to obstruct.

34:36Remember, this is the second time John saw this. You remember in Matthew 7, 17, 2, he was taken up to the Mount of Transfiguration, and Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face, speaking of Jesus's, shone like the sun, and his garments became white as light. John sees this vision again. John sees this, and he sees this vision not long before he saw Jesus' deepest humility. Think about Christ's face in his humility when he walked among us. John saw all those facial expressions. Jesus burdened down with the weight of humanity, burdened down with human weakness, burdened down with temptations, burdened down with the frailty, human frailty, with consternations, trials. He saw the pain in his face on numerous occasions. He saw the sorrow on his face. He saw death on his face. He saw it all.

35:53I think it could be summed up pretty well. And remember when Pilate in John 19 brought Jesus out? Pilate in verse 1 then took Jesus and scourged him. And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and put a purple robe on him. And they began to come up to him and say, Hail, King of the Jews, and to give him slaps in the face. Pilate came out again and said to them, Behold, I'm bringing him out to you, so that you may know that I find no guilt in him. Jesus then came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, Behold the man. There he is, Jesus in his humility.

36:41But now John sees something very different. The face that was once the object of scorn and ridicule is now the face of terrifying strength and terrifying beauty. That's the face. Such is the glory of Christ. And what's remarkable is such will be the glory of his people. As I look around right now, I see people burdened with temptations, burdened with the weaknesses of life. But Scripture makes it very clear that the righteous will radiate his glory. Listen to what Deborah said in Judges 5. 31.

37:32Let all your enemies perish, O Lord, but let those who love him be like the rising of the sun in its might. What a comparison. Jesus says this: as he's interpreting the wheat and the tares, in Matthew 13:41, he says, The Son of Man will send forth his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling blocks and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire. In other words, he's coming to judge. He's getting rid of all stumbling blocks, all those who commit lawlessness, and throw them into the furnace of fire. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then, says Jesus, the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

38:31Imagine, imagine, as I look out, I see you now in your humility. Those who are in Christ, there is coming a day of glory when you will see him as he is, and your face will shine and reflect his glory, unhindered by human temptations, unhindered by human humanity. By the weaknesses, his people will rise with strength. As Malachi says, for those who fear his name, the Son of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings. The righteous will shine forth. Why?

39:25Because the source of light is Christ. If the righteous will shine forth, and the scripture clearly speaks that the righteous will shine forth like the sun, how much more will we expect the source of light to shine and be radiant? How much more will we expect the radiant one, the one granting righteousness, shine? That's what John is seeing. The source of righteousness, the source of light, the source of the glory of God is Christ Himself. And as we look upon Him, we behold Him and we reflect Him. This whole picture is a picture of the luminescence of Christ, the one displaying the glory of Christ. And like stars, we see and reflect.

40:36John, the apostle said it like this in 1 John 3:2. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as to yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He is. He shared His fate, or He shared our fate, so that we could share His glory. That is why the goal of this church is to make Christ known. That's why we say that what is our purpose here? What is our vision here? To love the Christ of Scripture with all of our beings. How do we do this? By establishing biblical truth, or by proclaiming biblical truth, establishing and nurturing biblical community, and being part of biblical missions. All that is an expression of a love for the Christ revealed in Scripture.

41:482 Corinthians 4:5 says this: For we do not preach ourselves. It's not what church is about, but Christ Jesus as Lord and ourselves as your bondservants for Jesus. Sake. For God who said, Light shall shine out of darkness, is the one who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. One, shining. He's the one who said, Light shall shine out of darkness. We see this physically at the very beginning of Genesis. Let there be light. And it was so.

42:33And now we see this in the spiritual realm as well. The backdrop of spiritual and the moral darkness of deadened sinners. Christ says, Let there be light. Light in my darkened soul. That was him. He could look down and he could look upon the darkness of Tom Baber and he can say, Let there be light. And I am transformed, brought out of my darkness. And how does he do it? By showing us Jesus Christ. That's what we do.

43:38I don't know how you stop, but we will. This concludes this first vision of Jesus Himself, and all these descriptions we're going to see show up over and over. That's why we spent so long looking at these descriptions are going to show up again and again. It's the same person, same person in His humility, same person in His glory. We've looked at His head and His hair, His eyes, His feet, His voice, His hand, His mouth, His face. All of it speaks something about His personal attributes.

44:17What was John's response? Verse 17 of Revelation 1: When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. That's wise. Psalm 111:10 says, This, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, as we look upon this scene and as we have taken these... Months to try to get our minds around what all is signified in these words.

45:11Father, we pray that you would, by your spirit, convict, show, pierce. Let this image be strong in our minds in whatever situation we're facing. Father, help us to come before you as John did, as one who truly bows to you above every other fear, above every other perplexity, above every other offense. May you be Lord over it all. Father, what is striking and astounding is your piercing wisdom, piercing insight into us individually and corporately, and the power of your word to debilitate and render inoperative anyone, anywhere, any system, any scheme, any Confederacy, anything at all.

46:14And yet, with your eyes, with your deep knowledge, and your profound power, you love us. You know us, and you love us. Help us to be fearful to not respond to your love. Forgive us of everything and help us in every way. In Jesus' name, amen.