Well, did anyone figure out what my text is tonight?
I said this morning we were going to talk about
a portrait of Jesus. It's the only physical description
that we have of Him in the Bible. Does anybody
want to give me a text? Isaiah 53. Wrong text,
John. But there is, of course, a description
of His suffering there. But after His incarnation...
Please give me the right text because that's
what my sermon notes are based on. Now my daughter
figured it out. Turn with me, I think someone
said it back there, turn with me to Revelation
chapter 1. There is no photo of the Lord Jesus
Christ, of course. There are paintings which
depict... someone's idea of what he may have
looked like. When I was a student at Moody, I
was involved in a quartet which sang in a small
covenant church in the north side of Chicago
one Sunday night. After the service, and when
we came into the church, by the way, in the front
of the church, there was this huge portrait of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, that was the front
of the whole church. It must have been 12 feet
high and 6 feet wide. And it was Solomon's famous
painting of the head of Christ, if you've seen
that. After the service, when we had sung, Mr.
Solomon came up and introduced himself. It was
his home church. And we were quite curious to
meet him, and so we began to ask him questions.
And he shared with us how he came to paint that
particular portrait as he portrays what he thinks
Jesus looks like. Back in the early 20s, I believe
it was, he was the artist for some national Christian
magazine. One of his responsibilities was to
come up every month with a cover for the magazine.
And one of his deadlines was approaching, and
he had no idea what he was going to do for that
particular issue. In fact, the very night before
the deadline, he went to bed thinking about it
and praying, Lord, help me. He fell asleep, and
here's what he related. He said during the night
he was awakened. And he opened his eyes and looked,
and he saw a vision. at the end of his bed. And
the vision was of Jesus standing there looking
at him. Now you say, would you please explain
the vision? No, I won't. Now we'll go on. The
vision faded away gradually, and he got up and
made a thumbnail sketch of what he had seen.
And as I recall his story, that thumbnail sketch
was the cover. to the magazine and it was several
years later that he went back and filled it in
with oils and produced the formal portrait as
he called it of the vision that he had seen now
without trying to explain what happened to him
and what he actually saw because i don't know
i simply passed that on to you there is no one
however who has a photograph of what jesus looked
like We have here, however, a portrait, and it's
not a photographic portrait of Jesus so much
as it is a characteristic portrait of Jesus.
We find here what John saw. The chapter begins
with an introduction to the whole book, verses
1 through 8, and then John explains how he got
where he is on this occasion. with these words
beginning in verse 9, "'I, John, your brother
and fellow partaker in the tribulation,' not
in the tribulation to come at the end of the
age, of course, but in suffering, and kingdom
and perseverance, which are in Jesus, was on
the island called Patmos because of the word
of God and the testimony of Jesus.'" The Isle
of Patmos was one of those places where the government
would put people that it considered undesirable
elements. where they didn't have a prison necessarily
to put them into, and so they isolated them,
exiled them to the Isle of Patmos. Now, there
are some people who might have a rather romantic
notion of such a vacation, to go to an isle in
the Aegean Sea and spend some time there. That
wasn't John's notion about it. This was prison.
And there were undoubtedly others on the island
who made his stay there less than desirable.
And when he looked out on the sea and saw the
waters, he didn't see nice water to swim in.
He saw bars because those waves actually separated
him from the people that he loved, that he had
ministered to in Ephesus. And so that was his
situation. He was there because of his ministry.
He calls it the Word of God and the testimony
of Jesus. And it says in verse 10, I was in the
Spirit. on the Lord's day. It could mean that
the Spirit of God came upon him in order to give
him this great revelation of Jesus Christ that
he records in these 22 chapters. It may mean
that he was in a state of worship and spiritual
joy and ecstasy on this occasion. It can be taken
either way. And it says, And I heard behind me
a loud voice, like the voice or the sound of
a trumpet, saying, Write. in a book what you
see, and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus,
and to Smyrna, to Pergamum, and to Thyatira,
to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
And John says, I turned to see the voice that
was speaking with me. Now, we would all do that,
of course. And John now records what he saw.
He has a vision here of the ascended, glorified
Christ. It is interesting that in his gospel,
John does not record for us the transfiguration
of our Lord. But here he does record such a vision
of Jesus glorified. The time, of course, is after
his resurrection and ascension back to heaven.
He says, And having turned, I saw seven golden
lampstands, and in the middle of the lampstands
one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching
to the feet, and girded across his breast with
a golden girdle. And his head and his hair were
white like white wool, like snow. and his eyes
were like a flame of fire, and his feet were
like burnished bronze when it has been caused
to glow in a furnace, and his voice was like
the sound of many waters. And in his right hand
he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came
a sharp two -edged sword, and his face was like
the sun shining. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as a dead man. And he laid his right
hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid. I am
the first and the last and the living one. And
I was dead. Behold, I am alive forevermore. And
I have the keys of death and Hades. Write, therefore,
the things which you have seen and the things
which are and the things which shall take place
after these things. As for 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 are the seven churches. And
so we have John placed here on the Isle of Patmos
where he receives this spectacular vision of
the risen, glorified Lord Jesus Christ. He sees
the Lord Jesus in the midst of seven lampstands,
the meaning of them given to us in verse 20.
Each lampstand represents one of the seven churches
to be addressed in chapters 2 and 3. These are
seven of the well -known churches in Asia Minor.
Today, of course, they no longer exist. But at
that time, they were churches that people would
know, not the only churches by any means in Asia
Minor, but the seven which our Lord chose for
several reasons to address. He gives us a description
of the person which he saw. Now John literally
saw what he records here. But the words are symbolic
of the function and the character of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He literally saw this vision. He
saw Jesus as he describes him here. But what
he sees is a characteristic portrait. of the
Lord Jesus Christ and not a photographic portrait.
Like any of us would have, John had a difficult
time describing this glorious vision. You will
notice the words like and as as he struggles
to try to relate what he thought is something
that we could understand and relate to. The Lord
Jesus Christ is pictured here. not as the intercessor,
but rather as the inspector. He is here the judge.
He is here the one who is examining his churches,
which is one of the works of our Lord in this
age. He examines our lampstand. However that
is represented before him, he examines the lampstand
of Grace Church. to see if we are burning brightly
as we ought to be. We do not ourselves produce
the light, but we hold up the light. And he examines
our ministry continuously. Well, John sees him
dressed in a robe. The robe is befitting of a
king or a judge. It is a robe that connotes dignity
and majesty. It is a reminder to us of what Isaiah
said he saw in his vision when he saw the Lord
high and lifted up and the train of his robe
filled the temple. Isaiah was describing the
skirts of the robe that was worn by this one
in his vision. And here John sees him dressed
in a similar kind of robe. The robe is girded
about with a sash, a girdle, or a belt around
the chest. It was that which was sometimes used
to tuck in the ends of the robe if the one who
was wearing it wanted to move quickly. But normally
the robe would be hanging down to the feet, as
it was here, and the sash would be around the
chest. Again, indicating formality, indicating
dignity of the one who was seen. John describes
then the head and the hair of the Lord. He says
they were white like white wool, like snow. What
does that mean? As I see this, I think, perhaps
you do too, of the custom of a couple of hundred
years ago, perhaps still today in England, of
those who were in authority or who were judges
wearing white wigs. Looks a little odd, doesn't
it, to see pictures of the judicial courtroom
in England and to see these individuals in the
20th century wearing a white wig. What does that
mean for them? Well, it is an indication of their
dignity. of their nobility, of their elevated
responsibility. And that is undoubtedly what
the hair here symbolizes. It is the elevation,
the nobility of the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. It is not unlike the vision that Daniel
had and recorded in Daniel 7, which was read
for us this morning as we began our worship service.
Daniel envisioned this one who is the Ancient
of Days sitting upon his throne. Then John's
attention was drawn to the eyes of the Lord Jesus.
His eyes were like a flame of fire. A flame of
fire. What is John trying to tell us here? I
think he is trying to explain to us the penetration
of the eyes. of the Lord Jesus Christ. That his
gaze upon John was a searching gaze, a knowing
gaze. It was the kind of look which looked right
through him. Have you ever met someone like that?
It can be an intimidating experience, can't it?
for someone to look at you that way. And undoubtedly,
that is what John is saying here, that as he
looked at the eyes of the Lord, first he noticed
the clothing he was wearing, then he noticed
his hair glistening white like the sun shining
on the snow, and then his eyes were drawn to
the eyes of Jesus as Jesus looked at him and
knew him. Is it not a reminder to us that Jesus
knows us? and his eyes are continually upon us.
Not really in some harsh way, not in some threatening
manner, but his eyes, his searching eyes as flames
of fire, are upon us, knowing us, following us,
examining us, loving us. I remember the experience
that Peter had, don't you, after he had betrayed
our Lord? And there, after that third betrayal,
Jesus was led in such a manner that he could
look out and see Peter where he was standing.
And when their eyes met, however brief that second
was, there was an explosion in the heart of Peter.
As at once he recognized that that look from
Jesus communicated that Jesus knew exactly what
Peter had said, and yet there was this intense
compassion, pity, and love for Peter, which later
restored Peter into fellowship and service. But
at that moment, because Peter was overwhelmed
with guilt and inward feelings of shame, He ran
out of there in tears and repented of his sin,
betraying, in the denying, rather, our Lord.
And so these eyes of the Lord Jesus here are
those kind of eyes. Perhaps this ties together
with what is said in 1 Corinthians 3, where it
says that at the future judgment seat of Christ,
where all of us... in Christ will stand for examination.
Our works will be represented by gold, silver,
and precious stones, or hay, wood, and stubble.
The idea seems to be that the accumulated works,
the effect, the fruit, the results of our lives
will somehow be represented there. I don't know
how. But Paul tells us that in whatever representation
it will be, there will be that which is of great
value and permanent, and then there is the possibility
of that being there which can be easily burned.
And he says, that which is hay, wood, and stubble
shall be quickly consumed in fire. And he says,
so shall we be saved, yet through fire, not the
fire of hell or of purgatory. regarding which
the Bible has nothing to say at all, but rather
the fire of judgment and examination. One cannot
help but wonder if it is not just that piercing
gaze of the Lord Jesus Christ that will ignite
the hay, wood, and stubble, which may represent
altogether too much of our lives. Someday you're
going to look at those eyes, and I'm going to
look at those eyes. That's hard to imagine, isn't
it? I sometimes think about that and try to imagine
what it will be like to look in his face, to
look in those eyes. And there are times that
it frightens me a great deal to think that someday
I shall look into his eyes, not that he necessarily
wants me to be frightened, but to know in that
instant I will be searched out and revealed and
examined at the judgment seat. It behooves us,
beloved, to live in such a way so that on that
day when we look into his eyes, our first thought
will be one of love and not fear of exposure.
One of worship. John then has his eyes drawn
to the feet of the Lord Jesus. His feet were
like burnished bronze, it says. Those of you
who study the Bible know, and I hope that's all
of you, know that bronze or brass in the Bible
speaks of what? Somebody tell me. What does it
symbolically represent? I know some of you know.
Exactly, judgment. It represents judgment. An
example of that is, if you go back to the Old
Testament, to the tabernacle. you will find that
in that outer court of the tabernacle where the
judgment took place, where the blood was shed,
where the animal died, where cleansing took place
ceremonially, that there the instruments were
made of brass, representing the fact that judgment
took place at those places, at the laver, at
the altar, and so on. Judgment. Brass represents
judgment in the Bible. And here the feet of the
Lord Jesus are described as being like burnished
or fine bronze. And then John again describes
his voice. He says his voice was like the sound
of many waters. He described it earlier as a
trumpet sound. The voice of many waters. A few
weeks ago, we had the opportunity to go to the
North Shore. I think I shared that with you once
before. We were there a couple of days. It was
a fun experience. We'd never been up there before
and seen that part of Minnesota. Shores of Lake
Superior are indeed spectacular. We spent about
three hours out on the shore, digging around
the rocks looking for agates. And after three
hours, I decided that I still didn't know what
an agate was. And at this moment, I don't know
what a nag it is. I think it's a second cousin
to a snipe, if you know what snipes are. But
it was an interesting way to spend three or four
hours anyway. And then we would go, we'd stop
at Gooseberry Falls and some of the other falls
there. And you could always tell as you were
getting close to the falls, and many of you have
been there, you know, the sound, the roar of
the water falling across those rocks. And that
seems to be the picture that John has in mind
here, if not the ocean. Because, of course, the
ocean was out there before him as he was in the
Isle of Patmos, and the storms would cause those
wild waves to lash and to beat against the shore
with a great roar. And so he says it was the
sound of many waters, his voice, like the sound
of trumpets, like the sound of thunder. It speaks
of the resonance of the depth, which again connote
authority of the one who is speaking. Then John
looked at his hand, and in his right hand he
saw that Jesus had seven stars. Verse 16. And
those stars are defined for us in verse 20 as
the angels of the seven churches. And there are
commentators who differ on what the angels are.
There are some who believe them to be the pastors
of the seven churches. There are others who have
never seen a pastor who is an angel. There are
some who see them as literally angels, guardian
-type angels over each of the churches. They
may have been the messengers who carried the
letters to the seven churches. We don't exactly
know who they are, but the fact that Jesus has
them in his right hand indicates the authority
of these messengers. I don't think that they
were angelic beings. I think he has in mind here
humans, whether they were the pastors or they
represent the elders of the churches or whether
they represent the ones who carried the letters
to the seven churches. They are human messengers.
that our lord held in his right hand and their
purpose was to deliver this letter that jesus
was writing to them and then john says that out
of his mouth there came this sharp two -edged
sword there are other places where jesus is described
that way and frankly that is a rather fearsome
kind of description to me but remember that he
is describing here a characteristic look at Jesus.
And so he is telling us what came out of his
mouth was the two -edged sword of the Word of
God. In Ephesians, excuse me, Hebrews 4 .12,
the Word of God is described as a two -edged
sword. And so Jesus is speaking the Word of Revelation.
The word of God to man. Why is it a two -edged
sword? Because it at once brings blessing and
cursing. It at once brings salvation and condemnation.
It cuts both ways, you see. An example of that
would be the statement of Jesus in Matthew 25,
where he brings the sheep before him and he says
to them, Come. into the kingdom prepared for
you. And he says to those who are described there
as goats, he says to them, go, depart from me
into everlasting fire. And so our Lord speaks
there at one time with salvation and another
time with judgment, thus the two -edged sword
of the word of God. It is life to those who believe.
It is death to those who reject it. And then
John writes of his countenance, his face. He
says, his face was like the sun shining in its
strength. A picture not unlike that of the transfiguration.
I think it was Luke that said that he shone like
the sun. What does that mean to us? It means
that Jesus is glorified and exalted. and that
his deity is evidenced to those who see him.
Such was not the case when he walked on the earth.
It was veiled in flesh. As the Christmas song
says, Veiled in flesh the Godhead see. And though
he is still in a body of flesh, it is now glorified
flesh. which is able somehow to transmit his
deity and his glory. And so as John saw his face,
his countenance, it shone like the sun. It was
brilliant. When you and I see Jesus, I believe
that's what we will see of him, his brilliance.
And is it not a marvelous thing that one day
we shall see him as he is and be like him? What
is John's response to this tremendous vision
of the Lord Jesus? Well, he responded as we probably
would. He says, I fell at his feet as a dead
man. It left him apparently paralyzed. He just
fell flat on his face, perhaps blinded and speechless.
He was frightened. There may have been two reasons
for his terror at this point, reasons we can
well understand. In the first place, he looked
upon unveiled deity in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that is an awesome thing. To look upon deity.
And then he may have been fearful because as
he looked upon the Lord Jesus, he not only saw
the richness of the person of Christ, but he
saw the nothingness of himself. He saw that in
himself he is empty and insignificant, and he
fell at his feet. Perhaps that was the response
of Daniel when he saw what was actually an angel
in Daniel 10 and fell as a dead man before the
angel. This is the response of Isaiah when he
saw the Lord high and lifted up. This is the
response of Israel when the Lord evidenced himself
at Mount Sinai. They were frightened. They were
fearful. They fled from the mountain. I like
what Jesus did. He laid his right hand upon me.
Isn't that great? Jesus reached out and in tender
compassion touched John and lifted him so that
he might stand with strength. And then John heard
two words. figuratively speaking. Number one,
he heard a word of comfort. Jesus said to him,
Fear not. Do not be afraid. Now, why shouldn't
John be afraid? Well, in the first place, he
says, I am the first and the last. Only God can
say that. Jesus is claiming here, I was before
the beginning. I am the first. And he is saying,
I am after everything. I am the last. He is declaring
here his eternal pre -existence, that he existed
before time. He had no beginning. There was none
before him. And his everlasting existence, that
there is no ending, that there is none who will
come after him. Before creation he was, and after
the monuments and the glory of men crumble, he
will be. And therefore, he says to John, don't
be afraid. The second reason why John did not
have to be afraid is that Jesus said, I am the
living one. He is telling John here that he has
accomplished the redemptive work and is alive,
and that all other life finds its source in him.
Today we do not worship Christ on a crucifix.
We do not worship a cross, nor do we go to a
tomb there to honor the founder of our religion.
Because Jesus is the living one, therefore we
fear not. Because he lives, we can face tomorrow.
Because he lives, we're not afraid. A third reason
why John needed not fear is that Jesus said,
I was dead, I am alive forevermore. He gives
here his present state and indicates his session,
his ministry in heaven on our behalf. He ever
lives to make intercession for us, says the writer
of Hebrews. Literally, Jesus says here, I am
living unto the forever of the forevers. Isn't
that a great thought? The older I get, the more
I see how quickly life passes. This life is transient.
Someone said that today in a prayer. I think
it was in our small church this morning. It struck
me, yes, how transient life is. How quickly it
passes by, it is hard for you teenagers to understand
that because life now seems so incredibly slow
at this point in your life. But let me tell you
that as life passes by us like a snowball, it
gets bigger and bigger and it goes faster and
faster as it goes downhill. Isn't it great to
know that this life is not all there is? Indeed,
that the very best is yet to come, that we will
reign with him forever and ever. And finally
he says, I have the keys of Hades and death.
Death and Hades. He has authority over the unseen
world. The powers of darkness tremble at his
presence. He has authority over the power of
death. Thus we need no longer be fearful slaves
to death. He is the final judge of the soul.
He has the keys to Hades. They are in his power.
We need not fear death. We do not know how close
death may be to some of us. It may indeed be
at hand. I think all of us were a little amazed
at all the airplane accidents this weekend. I
thought of those five executives who were flying
from California back east somewhere, I think
Illinois, and how quickly their lives were snuffed
out as that plane exploded over. southern Wyoming
at 19 ,000 feet. Undoubtedly, nothing was wrong,
and pow, they were gone that fast. That could
happen to any of us. Now, for the Christian,
that may not be a pleasant thought in the sense
that we don't like to think about that kind of
a sudden end, but we're not fearful of the result
of that kind of thing. For if our lives are taken,
we know the one who has the keys of Hades and
of death are in his hands. We don't have to fear.
And so he has a word of comfort, but then he
has a word of command, and that's given to us
in verse 19, where he says, Write, therefore,
the things which you have seen. That's the vision
he's just recorded. The things which are, that's
chapters 2 and 3, and the things which will take
place after these things, during the church age,
is the idea. And those are recorded beginning
in chapter 4. And so he gives here in verse 19
the outline of the book of the Revelation. So
what I like about this is that after giving a
word of comfort to John, he then gives him a
word of command to serve him. Did that not happen
also to Isaiah when he saw the Lord? After the
Lord had dealt with Isaiah and his uncleanness,
Isaiah could respond, Here am I, send me, and
the Lord sent him. The reason that we have this
vision, this portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ,
is that we might be drawn to him in worship and
in surrender of all that we are to him, that
we might obey him as Lord and deity. Are you
serving him tonight? We don't have to be afraid
of him. There is a proper fear of the Lord, but
Jesus says, Fear not, because I am, but serve
me. And folks, that's what life is all about.
It's knowing Him and making Him known. That's
just the simplicity of it. Now, we get involved
in a lot of other things that are important and
that are necessary to even live. But life boiled
down to its essence is knowing Him, described
here, and then making Him known to others. May
that be the heartthrob of each of us this week,
to know Him and make Him known. Our blessed Lord,
we worship you as the risen, exalted one. Describe
for us here in these terms that are majestic,
and we strike our minds with such force. In our
mind's eye, we see the vision of John, and we
fall down before you as well. We fall before
you in repentance of wasted life, of sins which
beset us and hinder us. And remembering that
we shall stand before you someday, we fall before
you as well in newness of dedication. And we
say, oh, Savior, use our lives. For however long
we may be here, use us. and glorify yourself
in us. And we pray, as John did as he closed
this book, even so, come, Lord Jesus. Receive
your bride to yourself. Be glorified in all of
the earth, as is your right. Amen.