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

1:06So welcome back to Revelation chapter 1. Last week we looked at the verses just before this dealing with John hears a loud voice, a piercing noise like the trumpet, like a trumpet, and it pierced through him. It said to write in a book what you see. Send it to the churches in Ephesus and Smyrna, Pergamum, and the others. And he turns, and we get the vision that we just read: a vision of Christ as he currently is.

1:48And I've learned something about children. They grow up. I've noticed, and I've had several children, six. And you know what? They all grow up almost as if there's a pattern. I'm seeing a pattern. Children actually grow up as if God designed it that way, right? So I know, incredible observation. But that's what happens to children. They grow up. God gives children so that they will grow up. I know sometimes we look back and think, you know, if we could just keep this guy or this girl a little like that, you know. Other times we're like, we should grow up, you know. But it's one of the things that's very clear in Scripture is that the Bible encourages growth, maturity. God has maturity in mind when he gives a new child. He doesn't want us to stay children. In some regards, yes, in innocence, children. But in life and maturity, he wants us to grow up. He wants us to grow up by God's design.

3:06Think about an artist. An artist that has a canvas and then goes to start a masterpiece and puts a few strokes and then ends. That's not what an artist does, is it? An artist doesn't take a few, put a few strokes on a canvas and then say, What might have been. Let me tell you about this painting. Let me tell you where I was going with this. No, an artist finishes. That's the purpose for starting. And the same is true with children. God has maturity in mind.

3:48He doesn't just throw a few strokes on a canvas and then talk about what might have been. No, he has maturity. He has completeness in mind. He has an end goal in mind. That's the way it is with children. He wants us to grow up. He wants us to mature. He wants us to develop. And the same was true for Jesus. The very incarnation of the unseen God. He is God's masterpiece. We can think of the manger. As the first strokes of the divine artist putting on the canvas of humanity his very person, putting himself on display, the unseen God becoming visible.

4:48And the manger is just the first couple strokes of the masterpiece. The masterpiece that when complete, all will fall down before. A masterpiece for those who know him will fall down in worship and awe, and those who oppose him will fall down in awe and terror. But all will fall in reverence. Well, it's important that as we celebrate the birth of Jesus, that we remember that the manger seen is the way Jesus was, not how he is.

5:43And the vision we will begin to see today involves Jesus as he is right now. But what's beautiful about it, it's the same Jesus. And we'll See some similarities between the Jesus in his humility and the Jesus depicted here in his glory. What a privilege it is to have this text right now at this time of year as we reflect upon the incarnation of our Lord, Him coming in His humility, and here we have a picture of Him in His glory as He is right now, and we're able to relate the two. So that's what I want to do this Christmas season: is look at the incarnation through the lens of the glorified Christ.

6:36It's the same person. What's exciting about children is what they'll become. There's always an expectation, right? Even as we celebrate the many children that have been added to this body through new birth. It's exciting what they will become. Well, the opening vision that we're looking at this morning is the first vision that we come to in Revelation, and it's one of Jesus Himself. Jesus gave a vision of Himself to the churches there in Asia, Minor. He wanted them to behold Him as He is. He is in order to strengthen them for the task that they had ahead of them.

7:42I want us to persevere. I want us to persevere in him. And there is no better way to persevere than to simply behold Jesus as he currently is. We need to see him as he is and recognize that it is the same person that we have seen on the pages of the Gospels. Very simple. We have seen Jesus in his humility. We'll be looking at him in his glory. And it is with joy and with reverence that we get to go forward. What a privilege to be able to spend this time, this season, looking at this text.

8:35So we're just going to look at Jesus. We want to behold Jesus as he is. And I want to look at several elements of John's vision, and we will do so over the next couple of weeks. But first, we're going to look at who Jesus, or I'm sorry, where Jesus was, and we'll go as far as we can. First, I want you to. See where he was. Verse 12. Then, in response to hearing the trumpet-like voice, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the middle of the lampstand, I saw one like the Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded across his chest with a golden sash. First thing he sees, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, turned to see that noise behind him, that loud voice, and turned to see who was looking or who was speaking with him. And having turned, the first thing that caught his eye were seven gold lampstands. And we don't have to wonder what these lampstands signify. Look at verse 20.

9:54As for the mystery of the seven stars, which you saw on 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. We're not left wondering what these lampstands depict. They are depicting the seven churches, congregations of living people, churches to whom Revelation is addressed. Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thiratira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. That's. Who they are. And the language suggests that they were perhaps arranged in a circular manner of some sort with a clear middle.

10:43In fact, you remember the geographical picture of these? It was circular, like a circuit through Asia. But there is a clear middle, and John sees Jesus. And he's going to describe his appearance in a little bit as one of great glory. But for now, let's just focus on where Jesus was. John is caught, his eye catches where Jesus was at and is, as it depicts. But you remember, he's there in the midst, the middle of the lampstands.

11:38It's lampstands that reflect the church, that depict the church. He is there in the middle. Let's take a flashback to Jesus' humility for the time of his first advent. Look at Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. You're very familiar with this visit that his parents took up to Jerusalem in Luke chapter 2, beginning in verse 41. Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year for the feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the feast. So we have a 12-year-old Jesus going up, as his custom, to go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. And as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But his parents were unaware of it, but supposed him to be in the caravan and went a day's journey. And they began looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for him. Then, after three days, everybody go looking for your kid for three days.

12:57We've lost our kids. Had to go looking for them. I'll tell this story, just some of you have heard it. But one time we went to an event in the Holy Land, in Holy Land, in Florida. It was a kind of a and we only had four kids at the time, right? And I think, you know, we had four kids at the time, and we had spent the day there, and we got back to our. Little RV, and we realized one of our kids was missing. And so we went running back to the gate of the event, and this steward comes running out and says, Are you missing two kids?

13:49Nancy and I looked at each other like, Well, we know we're missing one. Let's see what you got. Let's see what you got, and we'll tell you. Sure enough, we were missing two kids. So it happens. It's part of being human, right? Well, what happened to Jesus's parents? And so they go back and they're looking. And then after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When they saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you. And he said to them, Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my father's house? Literally, in my father's is the word. There's no house where I'm not. For house, there. Some King James translated in my father's business, which is probably a better understanding. He said, I must be about my father's affairs. And there he is, in his humility. You see, this individual very much concerned with what's happening at the place of worship, the place where God's word is to be taught, to be heard, where the light for the Gentiles was to be displayed for the light for all mankind. And Jesus says, Did you not know that I had to be here?

15:40In the midst, in the middle. And what's he doing? He's listening. He's probing. He's searching, even as a 12-year-old boy in his humility. And then we come to Revelation 1. And here he is again, only he's not a little boy anymore. But his love and his interest is exactly the same. It's only grown. It's only matured. And he very much is interested in the concerns of his father's affairs, which involve the churches. Very much concerned. The central place where God is to be worshipped, the central place where God's word is to be taught. It's not the temple.

16:30Anymore. It is the church, churches. And what an encouragement at a time when it was open season on the lampstands. And it was. It was open season on the lampstands. Take out the lampstands. Destroy the lampstands. Remove the place that holds up the light. Destroy that. And what a comfort it was to those churches to see, even as John is on the island of Patmos as a prisoner, to be able to see the glorified Christ as he currently is.

17:12Friends, it'll still be open season on the lampstands. But there's an encouragement that we can see. It is Christ who's very much attentive and present. What is the function of a lampstand? What is it? Notice he says lampstand. What is the function of a lampstand? Notice he didn't ask, what's the function of a light? What's the function of a lamp? What's the function of the oil in the lamp? The lampstand. Now, what's the function of a lampstand? Let's think about that for a moment. Well, look, in the Old Testament, under the tabernacle ministry, what was the function of the lampstand? As you know, in the holy place, there were three articles: there was the table of showbread or the table of the presence, there was the altar of the incense, and there was the golden lampstand with pure gold, a menorah.

18:34In Exodus 25:30, God is giving instructions to Moses about the tabernacle. And he comes to the holy place and he says this in verse 30: You shall set the bread of the presence on the table before me at all times. The bread of the presence, the bread signifying the presence of God. You're to set the bread of the presence on the table before me at all times. Then, verse 31, you shall make a lampstand of pure gold. And he goes on to verse 37: Then you shall make its lamps, seven in number, and they shall mount its lamps on the lampstand so as to shed light on the space in front of it. So just get this picture in the tabernacle. You've got the table with the bread of the presence, you've got the lampstand on the altar. Opposite side. And on the lampstand are little lamps. The lamps give off light. Why? To show, to light up the space in front of it, which inevitably lit up the bread of the presence.

19:49The lampstands, and then in Numbers, again in Numbers 8, there's even more detail. But it says, Speak to Aaron in verse 2, chapter 8. Say to him, When you mount the lamps, the seven lamps will give light in front of the lampstand. That's the purpose, to give light. It goes on in verse 4. Now, this was the workmanship of the lampstand, hammered work of gold, from its base to its flowers. It was a hammered work. According to the pattern which the Lord had shown Moses, so he made the lampstands. Moses didn't, it wasn't given to Moses just to come up with any kind of lampstand. There was a pattern that he had to follow. So as we just summarize this function of the lampstand from this tabernacle imagery, first of all, it's to give light in front of the lampstand. It inevitably lit up the bread of God's presence. And third, the lampstands themselves had to conform to God's pattern.

20:57Then we come to the days of Christ. He speaks much about lampstands, light. And what is the principal function there? Well, it's to set light in a prominent place to give off light. You remember in Matthew 5:14, Jesus said, You are the light of the world, speaking to his disciples. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. A city that's on a hill gives lights. You can see it. Nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven. On one of my trips to the village Nazareth, if you go there today, you can find a little lamp just like this. This is a little pottery that would, as best as archaeologists can put together, this would have been what the lamps in Jesus' day look like. And what it is, very simple. I mean, I've held it up before, broken it a little bit, but still, you would put oil in it, a little wick, and then you would light it. And then it would give off light. And so as the oil burned down, it would give off light. That's simply what a lamp looks like. And Jesus is saying, when you take a lamp, a person doesn't light it, and then Hide it in the house somewhere. Put it under a bushel, right?

22:34You know, that's how you burn in the house. I don't know what you do, but it's that'll light it up, but it's not in the way you want. But what Jesus is saying is you put it on a lampstand. And so if you could picture this little pulpit as like a lampstand, you would find a prominent place in the house, probably in the middle of the room, and you would set the lamp on the lampstand. Why? Because you want to light up the area around it. And that's the imagery that Jesus is drawing on. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden, nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and he gives light to all who are in the house. And that's what he's saying. Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Well, in the context of Revelation 1, the lampstands are congregations of people. They're congregations of people who hold to the testimony of Jesus as John did. They hold, that is the lampstand. Those congregations of people who hold to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus, the very thing that John was put on the island of Patmos for. Those who hold on, that is the lampstand.

24:01Whereby the light is placed. And they light up dark places. The presence, their presence, the light, is to help people see spiritual realities which are in Christ. That's the church's function: to unveil those spiritual realities which are in Christ. The realities of sin, the realities of salvation, the realities of God's judgment, new life. All that. The question comes up: why only seven? I mean, there were others in Asia Minor, like Colossi, Troaz, others. But this picture that we're reading is unique to Revelation.

25:06The surroundings were not one, but seven golden lampstands. The tabernacle that we just read about contained one lampstand made of pure gold with seven lamps. A little different image. Solomon's temple had ten golden lampstands, five on the left. Left, five on the right. Zechariah saw only one golden lampstand with seven lights and seven pipes supplying oil to the lights. What we have here in Revelation is something unique. Yeah, the imagery, it can draw and inform your understanding of the function of a lampstand from the previous scripture, but there's something unique going on here.

25:59This depiction is unique to Revelation seven. Why seven? Well, let's just make a couple of observations about the number seven. Number one, seven speaks of multiplicity, right? Not singularity. In other words, seven means more than one, right? Obvious. Not one congregation, but many. There's an autonomy among the seven. And yet there's a unity. Each has a common purpose, a common origin, and yet autonomous, distinct. Each stands in direct relationship to Christ. Not one, but seven. You know, I think about a problem in the medieval church.

27:13They saw the church more like one lampstand with seven branches. One lampstand, the true church. And every other, if you're part of that one, then you're part of the true church. That's not the picture of Revelation. Seven. Seven, they saw the medieval church saw seven in one rather than one in seven. The seven speaks of multiple, multiplicity. Second observation we make about the number seven is that seven speaks of completeness. Completeness. It's a representation that reflects the whole. Seven.

28:09It's a complete picture of the church. Its autonomy, its unity, and its relationship to Christ. Completeness. And even as we keep reading, we won't look at the church in Ephesus today, but do Look at chapter 2 and verse 5. It's the church that left, was in danger of leaving its first love or has left its first love. And Jesus says, Therefore, remember from where you have fallen and repent, do the deeds you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent.

29:01That's a warning. If a church leaves its love for Christ, for the Christ of Scripture, the Christ depicted in the Word of God, according to the testimony of the apostles, when a church leaves its love for the Christ of Scripture, Jesus removes its lampstand. You no longer have a place to set the light anymore. And when the light goes out, it isn't needed. We have three clunky candle holders that we never use in our dining room. You know what my wife says about them? They're really pretty. They're costly. You know what she says? Get rid of them. It's taking up space. They're still there, taking up space. And I'm sure we will get rid of them.

30:02When a lampstand no longer is used to light up the room, it's just a clunky, bulky piece of furniture that needs to be moved. And that's the way Jesus sees it: clunky, bulky lampstands that are just in the way. And so we look around, we see all across the world's landscape clunky, bulky relics of a place where light once shined. Israel was to bear witness of God's presence in a darkened world in her day. Likewise, the church is to bear witness to God's presence and to the darkened spiritual condition of our world today.

30:56When Israel did not fail to shine forth the light, they were removed from their land. Where is Jesus now? He's in the middle of his churches. He is very much attuned to what's happening. He is very much dialed in. And at a time when it's open. Season on the lampstands. That's good to know. He is the one who holds the keys to death in Hades. It is not Domitian or any other emperor, any other political figure, any other movement, any other coalition, any other anything. It's Christ and Him alone.

31:56And what a comfort. So, first element, John's vision, I want you to see is just where he was. Where was He? Jesus is in the midst of His churches, He is here in our midst today. We do hold to the testimony of Jesus as given to the Apostles. We do hold to the Word of God as best we can. Our intentions are honest. Yes, we've got some growing up to do, but He is here with those eyes of fire, those feet.

32:45Look back at verse 13. Second element of John's vision here, I want you to see to whom Jesus was equated, to whom Jesus was equated. And in the middle of the lampstands, Verse 13, I saw one like a son of man, like a son of man. We see that same exact expression in Daniel 7:13. Do you remember that epic vision that God gave to Daniel? And he says, I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven, one like a son of man was coming. One like a son of man was coming. Daniel 7:13, and he came up to the ancient of days and was presented before him, and to him was given dominion, glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away, and his kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.

33:57One like a son of man. A good translation might be more, the word for like here is unusual. It's the word for one with the same nature as, one with the same character as. He could easily make it sound, say like one with the same nature as the son of man. Now some take it as just a reference to his humanity and would say this is the form of a man. I think there's far more to it, but certainly as the narrative goes on, he is glorious. Yes, he is human. In the middle of the stands is the one who is a form of a man who won Jesus in his humanity.

34:49But certainly, as John was relating this and writing this down, he had heard many times in Jesus' humility where Jesus used this phrase, used this expression to refer to himself. The disciples, you remember in Mark chapter 13, had asked Jesus about future events. And Jesus, after telling them, answering their question, he says in Mark chapter 13, 23, but take heed, behold, I have told you everything in advance. But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will be falling from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and great glory.

35:45In fact, if you remember in Mark 14, as Jesus stands before the high priest, the high priest is questioning him in verse 61 and says, Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One? And Jesus answered and said, I am. And you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven. Jesus very much understood who he was. He's the Son of Man. John had many times heard him. This is the most noble. This is the highest in heaven. This is the one to whom all nations will bow. This is the one to whom every language will serve him. It's an everlasting dominion, one that will not pass away. His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. That's who John equates Jesus to.

36:51And again, very important in light of the fact that it's open season on the candlesticks. Can't beat the light. Darkness flees from the light. So it has to destroy those organized efforts, those organized churches that hold up the light. Well, the next element of this is what Jesus was wearing. And I have a note here that says, watch the time. If it's 11:40, stop. Exclamation point. And it's 11:41. And so I'll get back to that one next time. But just as we summarize where we've been this morning, we've looked at where Jesus was. We looked at to whom Jesus was equated.

38:10And this opening vision that we're beginning to see is one of Christ Himself, one of Christ as He is. God wants all of us to grow up and to mature in Christ. He wants us to persevere in the faith. He wants us to continue to grow. He wanted the churches of Asia in John's day to continue to hold fast to the testimony of Christ, continue to look upon him, continue to be transformed by him, continue to persevere.

38:50And there is no better way to accomplish this deep-seated encouragement than to give them a vision of who Christ currently is. He is the one that holds the keys to death and Hades. It is not the emperor. It is he who walks among his lampstands and holds them in his hand. It is he whom you shall be, as John says, when I saw him, I fell down. When you're busy falling down before Jesus, you won't have time to fall down before the princes and the palace and the principalities of our day.

39:42Fall before him. He is among his people, just as he promised. Remember Matthew 28, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Hebrews 13:5 records this, Jesus said, I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you. And the night before his death, Jesus promised to his disciples, I'm not going to leave you as orphans. I will come to you. And then he expands this and he says, If anyone loves me, he will keep my word. And my father will love him, and we will come. Come to him and make our abode with him.

40:34Anyone? He is among his people just as he promised in his humility. We see the glorified Christ among his people just as he promised. He is no longer a baby in a manger, though he's the same person. He's the resurrected Lord, and he's still very much interested in his father's affair and the well-being of his people. And that includes us who are in him today. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the truth. Thank you for this vision. Father, that though we look upon the glorified Christ, we also can look upon him with eyes that know him and hearts that know him because he's the same. He's the same person that you revealed to us through the testimony of Jesus, spoken, written, scripturated by your early apostles and prophets. And so we look upon him today, not only as he was, but as he is, and we give you thanks. Father, we recognize that you display your glory, you display your splendor, that we might be drawn to you, and that we might forgive, that we might find forgiveness in you, that we might find our total satisfaction, our total joy, our total reason for living in you. We thank you for all this.

42:23Deal with us now, and may this word have its impact on us that would please you. Help us to respond appropriately. In Jesus' name, amen.