Rev 1:8-20 Fear Not 2/20/2005 ßà
#1. Alpha and Omega (Rev 1:8-9, 2Thes 1:8, 2Cor 6:18)
#2. The King-Judge (Rev 1:12-16, Dan 7:13-14, Rev 19:15)
#3. Seven Churches of
#4. Words of Comfort (Rev 1:17-20, Rom 11:36)
Please open to the last epistle in your Bibles, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, Rev 1:8 (2X). We have here in this chapter a description of Christ’s appearance to the Apostle John. This was more than 60 years after the Lord Jesus bodily ascended into heaven. As you know, the Lord Jesus received His glorified body when He returned to heaven. But did He appear to John in His glorified body? Absolutely not! Christ brought a message to John, and His appearance was adjusted to convey this message. For example, there are no people in heaven with a twoedged sword protruding out of their mouths. Nevertheless, His appearance to John was so awesome, and so frightening, that John fell at His feet as dead. That is why the title of this sermon is, “Fear Not” (2X). The Lord Jesus comforted John with the words “Fear Not”. But before we get to that point, let us hear what the Lord had to say about:
#1. Alpha and Omega (Rev 1:8-9, 2Thes 1:8, 2Cor 6:18)
As you know, alpha and omega are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus said in
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha
and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which
was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
At this point the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking directly to us, and He identified Himself in three ways First as alpha and omega, which means He is the beginning and the ending of everything that was created. Everything was created by Him and it was created for Him, meaning for His good pleasure. Unmistakably the Lord Jesus Christ identified Himself as God. Secondly Jesus identified Himself as the One “which is, and which was, and which is to come”, which means that He existed from eternity past, He presently reigns as King of kings and Lord of lords, and He will come as the Judge of all the earth, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2Thes 1:8). Then thirdly Jesus identified Himself as “the Almighty”. This is a name for God that is used many times in the OT, and also in 2Cor 6:18 where God says these comforting words to us, “And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty”. Three times in this verse the Lord Jesus identified Himself as Almighty God. Why are there people who claim that Jesus never said that He was God? He is the Lord God Almighty. His appearance to any of the human race, whether saved or unsaved, while we still are in this mortal body His appearance to us is so awesome that we will fall at His feet as dead. And then we read in verse 9,
Rev 1:9 ¶ I John,
who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called
The Apostle John was exiled to the lonely
Rev 1:10 I was in
the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a
trumpet,
Rev 1:11 Saying, I
am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a
book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto
The timing was not ON the Lord’s day. In the Bible Sunday is not called “the Lord’s Day”. It is called the first day of the week, or the first of the Sabbaths. John was literally “in the Spirit in the Lord’s Day”. Two times the same word “in” is used. What then does it mean that John was “in the Spirit in the Lord’s Day”? It means that John was in a state of prophetic spiritual ecstasy, separated from the world of sense and experience and prepared to receive new spiritual things. The objects that will be presented to him were of such a nature that his natural eye could not perceive them, and therefore a translation in the Spirit was necessary to prepare John to receive the visions. And what does it mean that he was “in the Lord’s Day”? It means that he was translated to that point in time when the Lord Jesus will come to judge the whole earth. He was brought right up to Judgment Day. He is writing as if he is standing at that very day, looking back on all the events that have happened throughout the history of mankind, looking right at Judgment Day itself, and even looking forward to the New Heaven and the New Earth as being very close at hand. And John heard the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ behind him, as loud as a trumpet sounding next to his ear. Please turn to the Epistle to the Romans 11:33 (2X). As you know, when the Lord comes to judge the earth He will announce His coming with a loud voice, as loud as a trumpet. We read in Matt 24:31, “And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other”. And again Jesus identified Himself as Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. He is the beginning and the ending of everything created and of everything in history. He is the Sovereign, Almighty and all wise God whose purposes for this creation are past finding out. We read in Rom 11:33,
Rom 11:33 ¶ O the
depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are
his judgments, and his ways past finding out!
Rom 11:34 For who
hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counselor?
Rom 11:35 Or who
hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again?
Rom 11:36 For of
him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to
whom be glory for ever. Amen.
“Of Him”, means that He is the sovereign
creator who is the fountain of everything created and the fountain of
everything that comes to pass. “To Him”, means that all things have
their purpose “in Him”. From the beginning He made all things with a
view to the end: the alpha is connected with the omega, the one must inevitably
lead to the other. And whatever lies between alpha and omega is through Him. “Through
Him”, means that He controls all things in such a way that His counsel is
accomplished, His design is fulfilled, His end is reached. And His end goal is
that He is the One in whom all things in heaven and on earth are to be united
forever. Then, in the new creation, the tabernacle of God shall be with men,
and God shall be all in all, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And in this God is
glorified. Nothing can prevent His end goal Omega. For Christ is Lord, and He
is the Almighty. He is not more powerful than other forces combined, but there
are no other forces. Even the power of darkness, the power of Satan and his
demons, is all under His control. They have no power outside Him. And He uses
them, in spite of themselves, for His sovereign purpose. Therefore surely and
irresistibly He is coming and has been coming, through the ages of history,
coming from the alpha to the omega, from glory to glory, His own glory, until all
His glory shall forever shine forth in the perfect revelation of Jesus Christ. We
are now continuing in Rev 1. Please turn again to the prophecy of Rev
1:12 (2X).
#2. The King-Judge (Rev 1:12-16, Dan 7:13-14, Rev 19:15)
Rev 1:12-13 And I
turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks; And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden
girdle.
Rev 1:14-15 His head
and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his
eyes were as a flame of fire;
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice as the
sound
of many waters.
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out
of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword:
and
his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.
What did John see? John saw someone like unto the Son of man. He
saw someone looking like the Lord Jesus Christ, but he described Him as “the
Son of Man”. Where did the expression “Son of man” come from? O yes, Jesus used this expression to point
to Himself. But God introduced this name 500 years earlier in the prophecy of
Daniel. Please turn to the prophecy of Daniel 7:13 (2X). Daniel was
a contemporary of Ezekiel. Both Daniel and Ezekiel were taken captive and
brought to
Dan 7:13 I saw in
the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with
the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him
near before him.
Dan 7:14 And there
was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and
languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be
destroyed.
Look at the overwhelming glory the appearance of Lord Jesus made upon John. John described Him as the Son of man from the prophet Daniel. No longer is He the Suffering Servant of Jehovah, but He appears as the glorified Son of Man who received “dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him”. The vision that John saw also showed Christ in His humiliation, but only as a necessary way to His exaltation and Messianic glory. The passage in Daniel shows Christ only in His glory. And notice that the clouds of heaven are mentioned again. We saw those clouds earlier in Rev 1:7. It points to the fact that He does not only come as the King, but also as the Judge. But what does it mean that the Son of man approached the Ancient of days? Christ approached His Father through His suffering and death on the cross, and through His resurrection and exaltation at the right hand of God. And as such, as the glorified Lord who already received His Kingdom from the Ancient of Days does He now appear in the vision to John. Let us now return to the vision to John in Rev 1:16 (2X). In the vision Christ appeared not only as King, but also as Judge. “Out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword”. This sword represents the Word of God, the Bible, by which Christ shall Judge all the reprobate. We see this again in Rev 19:15, where we read, “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations”. He is coming to judge the unsaved in the church, and the unsaved in the world, till all the powers of darkness shall be destroyed forever. However, not only as King and Judge does He reveal Himself, but also as:
Rev 1:13 And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
What is the meaning that He had a garment down to the foot? The high priest in the OT wore a long
robe, called the
robe of the ephod. The Lord Jesus reveals Himself here to John in this long high-priestly
garment. Since the garment is hanging down to the feet it indicates that He is
not now functioning in the offering of sacrifices of blood, for in that case
the garment would have been taken up by means of the girdle. The great and
final sacrifice has been offered on the cross. It is finished! On the
other hand, since He still wears the golden girdle it shows that this High
Priest is still engaged in active ministration in the sanctuary, for the high
priest would wear this girdle only as long as he was busy in the temple.
Immediately after his service in the temple was accomplished he would lay the
girdle aside. And so, we have here a beautiful picture of our Savior as He has
finished His sacrificial work on the accursed tree on
What is a prophet? According to God, a prophet is one who brings messages
from God to the people. God says in Ex 7:1-2, “And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god
to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be
thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee:
and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of
Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out
of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the
sun shineth in his strength.
That twoedged sword represents the Word of God, and for this reason the Lord Jesus is a prophet.
God says in Heb
4:12, “For the word of God is quick,
and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the
dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is
a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”. It is a frightening thought that the Word of God is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of our heart. He judges us even before
thoughts enter our mind. Just the intents of our hearts are sufficient to
condemn us. This is the sharp sword that Christ is able to wield. And for this
reason He is called a prophet. But more so, because He reveals Himself as
prophet by the Word which He speaks. He addresses John in the vision and
commands him to write. John must write all that he sees in a book and send it
to the seven churches in
#3. Seven Churches of
Re 1:11 Saying, I am
Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book,
and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto
Here are these seven churches. What is the connection between the
seven candlesticks and the seven churches? They are not the same. The
candlesticks represent the church in her ideal existence and eternal
perfection. The seven churches represent the church as she is in the world,
with all her warts and freckles and blemishes. It is the historic church on
earth with its essential holiness and actual imperfections and infirmities. It
is indeed the
Dan 7:25-26 And he
shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the
saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be
given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. But the judgment shall sit, and they
shall take away his dominion, to consume and to destroy it unto the end.
Dan 7:27 And the
kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven,
shall
be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.
And thus it shall be that Satan “shall wear
out the saints of the most High”, and “they shall be given into his hand
until a time and times and the dividing of time”. This will not be through
physical persecution, because physical persecution from the outside has always
strengthened the church. But this assault on the saints will be from inside the
local churches and congregations, through gospels that are very close to the
true Gospel, but contain deadly errors. We must be constantly on our guard for
deadly errors that are floating in other churches around us. Even then we must
realize that it is only by the grace of God that we are still relatively
faithful. Let us return to Rev 1:11 (2X). These churches were
chosen because they were prepared by God through Christ, in order that they
might together constitute a picture of the entire church in the world, with its
perfections and defects, its strengths and its weaknesses, its trials and
temptations. And so we see that the seeds of
corruption were already present in five out of the seven churches of
Rev 1:12-13 And I
turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks; And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
These seven candlesticks are a symbol of the church in her ideal
existence and relation to her Lord, as a light shining to the glory of God in
Christ. They represent the church in perfect holiness and righteousness, as she
is in the counsel of God, and as she once shall be when the Lord shall present
her as His perfected and glorified Bride, without spot or blemish. In the
temple the lamp-stand had to be kept burning continuously, and it symbolized
that
Rev 1:16 And he had
in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp
twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his
strength.
Christ had in His right hand seven stars. Christ also laid His right hand upon John. We cannot draw a picture of this. We must see all these 23 statements as independent word pictures, each conveying their own message. His right hand indicates a position of power and authority. For example, when Christ ascended into heaven He sat down at the right hand of God, and we believers are seated with Christ at the right hand of God. And so, the seven stars are in His right hand in a position of power and authority. Who do the seven stars represent? We read in Rev 1:20,
Rev 1:20 The mystery
of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Who are the angels of the seven churches? Certainly these are not angels.
John is commissioned to write letters to these seven angels, and it is
difficult to imagine that Christ in heaven would ask a man on earth to write
letters to angels who are also in heaven. But the Greek word “angel” also means
“messenger”. Furthermore the symbol of a star refers to a light bearer. And
since the stars are in the hand of Christ, they are servants who are dependent
and subordinate to Him. Therefore the seven stars refer to human beings who are
overseers or pastors in these churches. It is the Lord’s good pleasure to
enlighten and instruct His church in the world through their ministry. Through
them especially it pleases Christ to preach and to preserve His Word. And yet
by these stars that are held in the right hand of the glorified Lord the
churches themselves are also addressed. You cannot separate these “stars” from
Christ. Without Him they are nothing. On the other hand these stars also
represent the churches. The churches function through them. When we look at the
individual letters to the seven churches, in Revelations chapters 2 and 3, we
see that John writes to the angels of the seven churches, but he simultaneously
addresses the seven churches. But consider what comfort and glory there is in
this. Christ holds the angels of the churches in His right hand, and therefore
the churches are also held and preserved by His power alone. Christ knows whose
are His. No one can pluck His own out of His hand. These messages to the seven
churches of
#4. Words of Comfort (Rev 1:17-20)
Rev 1:17 And when I
saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me,
saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18-19 I am
he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and
have the keys of hell and of death. Write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter;
Rev 1:20 The mystery
of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
What greater comfort can there be that the Lord Jesus Christ says
to us, “Fear Not! I have chosen you, and I have purchased you, and I
have made you alive, and made your redemption effective at that certain date in
your life through the operation of God the Holy Spirit. You are mine. I
will never leave you nor forsake you. You may be in a heap of trouble right
now. Your troubles may be caused by those whom you once loved dearly, or you
may have health problems, or you may be worried about the upbringing of your
children, and so on. “Fear Not! I am the first and the last”. I
am fully in control of all these things in your life that trouble you. You must
trust that all these things will work out for your good. Listen: “I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am
alive for evermore”. It means that I was
crucified for you, and I died a gruesome death for you. Therefore would I not
give everything I have for your wellbeing? Behold, I am alive forevermore to
intercede for you, and to pray for you, and I will carry you through these
troubles to bring you to a safe haven of rest. “I have the keys of Hell and
of death”, which means that demons cannot touch you, evil men cannot touch
you; they are entirely under my control. But there is one thing you can do: The
seven candlesticks represent the seven churches. Do work that benefit the
church, whom I love, and for whom I gave my life and my all. Study your Bible.
Mark it up so that you will have beacons of light in this ocean of words. And
practice hospitality. Gather together with fellow church members as much as
possible, and compare your study notes. Be not afraid to make mistakes, because
I have paid for all your mistakes. Fear Not! You are precious in my
sight. I am your Mediator, the first begotten of the dead, the firstborn of
every creature I am He through whom and unto whom all things were made. In
my hands I hold you; in my arms I fold you. I am your Redeemer; I will care for
you. AMEN.
Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.