WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:04.480 And we are jumping into the book of Revelation. 00:00:04.959 --> 00:00:06.480 We're going to study the book. 00:00:06.559 --> 00:00:07.440 We're going to go through it. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:08.640 We're going to study it. 00:00:08.720 --> 00:00:10.560 We're going to break for Lent and Easter. 00:00:10.720 --> 00:00:12.160 And then we're going to study it again. 00:00:12.240 --> 00:00:14.240 It's going to take us into the summer. 00:00:14.400 --> 00:00:18.000 So Revelation is the strange book at the end of the Bible. 00:00:18.480 --> 00:00:23.839 Over the years, Revelation has been treated for some as like the secret code to break. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.160 You know, this is the preacher on TV late at night. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:30.239 He has charts and graphs, and somehow he has it, he has it all figured out. 00:00:30.399 --> 00:00:31.760 Nobody else does, but he does. 00:00:31.839 --> 00:00:33.039 He has it all figured out. 00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:37.600 In that way, we can over-read Revelation. 00:00:38.479 --> 00:00:41.439 Now, there's a flip side to that, and I'm on the flip side. 00:00:41.520 --> 00:00:46.479 And that is, I'm so turned off by that that I under-read Revelation. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:46.799 Right? 00:00:46.880 --> 00:00:47.439 So we can do that. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.280 We overread it, or we can underread it. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.039 We just want to read it, okay? 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:52.000 We want to read it. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:53.119 We want to study it. 00:00:53.280 --> 00:01:00.000 We don't want to try to pretend like it's some secret code that suddenly we're going to be able to break, and the rest of humanity and all of history hasn't been able to figure this out. 00:01:00.079 --> 00:01:05.040 We're just going to read it, see what we get out of it, see what it speaks to us. 00:01:05.680 --> 00:01:09.200 Over the Christmas break, uh we went and we watched Scene Two. 00:01:09.359 --> 00:01:10.000 Have you seen Scene? 00:01:10.159 --> 00:01:11.439 Is it people seen Scene Two? 00:01:11.599 --> 00:01:12.239 So good, right? 00:01:12.400 --> 00:01:12.640 So good. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:15.120 And I'm not going to ruin it because everybody needs to see it. 00:01:15.200 --> 00:01:17.840 Just everybody needs to see Scene 2. 00:01:17.920 --> 00:01:24.239 And Bono is the voice of the old rock star, Clay Callaway, who's, and I'm not going to ruin it. 00:01:24.319 --> 00:01:25.760 I've got to tell some details, set it up. 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:26.959 But his wife has died. 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:28.000 Okay, that doesn't ruin it. 00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:28.719 His wife's died. 00:01:29.040 --> 00:01:29.760 He's living alone. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:31.599 He hasn't sung for years. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:37.280 This group of people that they want to have him come sing, but he's he's he's lost faith in himself. 00:01:37.359 --> 00:01:39.359 He's lost faith in his music. 00:01:39.680 --> 00:01:40.400 He's afraid. 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:41.120 He's afraid. 00:01:41.200 --> 00:01:42.959 He's alone and he's afraid. 00:01:43.200 --> 00:01:48.799 But this young rock star Ash, she shows up into his life and she just won't leave him alone. 00:01:48.879 --> 00:01:50.879 Like she just stays with him. 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:52.000 She pursues him. 00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:53.120 She loves him. 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:56.560 And finally, then finally, there's a breakthrough. 00:01:56.640 --> 00:02:03.120 Now I won't tell you what the breakthrough is, but the point is, and I was getting kind of emotional watching the movie, right? 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.400 Because I mean, we're all kind of like Clay Callaway. 00:02:06.719 --> 00:02:13.120 Like we can just want to go find an island, you know, in our fear and our woundedness, and we all need an ash. 00:02:13.280 --> 00:02:15.919 We all need somebody to show up. 00:02:16.400 --> 00:02:19.039 Ash's pursuit, Ash's love, Ash's commitment. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:21.680 This is what helps Clay out of his fear. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:32.479 And for us, we all need that same very thing because we can feel beat down, beat up, worn out, broken, and we need love to come toward us. 00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:42.080 Now I want us to grab hold of that image, not that necessarily image of like a rock star mouse or whatever that is with the lion, whatever that is. 00:02:42.319 --> 00:02:46.080 It's the image of the fact that we need somebody to love us. 00:02:46.319 --> 00:02:54.080 We need love to come toward us in our fear because that's actually the picture and what's going on in Revelation 1. 00:02:54.319 --> 00:03:01.280 We can get lost in all the words and the stars and the candles and the lampstands and all this crazy stuff and forget these were real people. 00:03:01.439 --> 00:03:04.560 This was a guy writing a letter to a group of people. 00:03:04.879 --> 00:03:14.080 And so that's how we start is with this image, the fact that we can be a very fearful people, and we need, we need love to come toward us. 00:03:14.560 --> 00:03:20.159 That's the picture of the gospel of Jesus to us, and that's what we see going on in Revelation 1. 00:03:20.400 --> 00:03:23.199 Ultimately, is a red or a letter written by John. 00:03:23.360 --> 00:03:29.840 This guy, John, he'd been persecuted, he's talking about Jesus, which meant his ultimate authority wasn't to the Roman Empire. 00:03:29.919 --> 00:03:30.639 And you know what? 00:03:30.719 --> 00:03:34.800 If you want to get in trouble, then don't give ultimate authority to power. 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:39.840 That's true in seventh grade, it's true in high school, college, it's true with world governments. 00:03:40.080 --> 00:03:43.360 You want to threaten power, then don't give them your loyalty. 00:03:43.520 --> 00:03:46.319 And all of a sudden, power comes down on you. 00:03:46.479 --> 00:03:47.360 That happened to John. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:50.080 He's talking about Jesus being his ultimate loyalty. 00:03:50.240 --> 00:04:00.719 And so he gets put on this island, Patmos, out in the Aegean Sea, and so he has been separated from his people and his family and his life. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.800 And yet he's thinking about these seven particular churches. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:06.240 That he knows these people. 00:04:06.319 --> 00:04:11.439 He's thinking about, he's thinking, oh, they've got to be facing kind of the same amount of persecution and fear. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:23.120 And so John's on an island having fear and alone, and he's writing back to a group of people, these seven churches, that would have circulated this letter around, would have been read out loud to their church. 00:04:24.000 --> 00:04:29.920 These people would have fear because who knows the day that the soldier shows up and asks them where their loyalty lies. 00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:31.199 And what will they say? 00:04:31.360 --> 00:04:33.040 So, how does John help them in their fear? 00:04:33.199 --> 00:04:34.720 Well, let's read through the chapter. 00:04:34.879 --> 00:04:42.639 Revelation 1, 1 through 3, the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. 00:04:42.959 --> 00:04:51.600 He made it known by sending his angels to his servant John, who bore the witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:05:00.720 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of his prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:03.439 So it's kind of a long intro into letters, what it is. 00:05:03.600 --> 00:05:06.959 The word revelation is the word apocalypsis. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:13.600 Now, this would have been a word that heued the reader or the listener into, all right, this is a work of art. 00:05:14.000 --> 00:05:18.560 A letter, but a piece of literature that is unveiling something. 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:23.439 That's what the word means, apocalypsis, to be revealed or unveiling. 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:30.319 So the letter is artistry, it's symbolic, it's theology, but it's literature. 00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:32.240 It's taking C. 00:05:32.319 --> 00:05:32.399 S. 00:05:32.560 --> 00:05:43.360 Lewis's Narnia and taking his mere Christianity, taking a symbolic fictional work, and taking a nonfiction, very theological work, and putting them into one work. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:44.879 That's what we have here. 00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:47.920 And so it makes this beautiful, but also makes it complex. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:53.839 There's numbers, there's candles, there's stars, there's a dragon, and all of it is a revelation. 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:59.439 It's to unveil something to us, for us to see something. 00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:01.519 So what is it that we should see? 00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:03.360 Verses 4 through 6. 00:06:03.680 --> 00:06:34.480 John to the seven churches that are in Asia, grace to you, and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth, to him who loves us, and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:35.360 Amen. 00:06:35.519 --> 00:06:46.879 So point number one is this fear is transformed by God's grace, helping us grow in peace as we rest in Jesus' love and power. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:48.160 Let's leave that up there a little bit. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:49.439 That's a long point. 00:06:49.519 --> 00:06:52.079 But it's all of that in these verses. 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:56.399 Verse 4 grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come. 00:06:56.560 --> 00:06:57.519 That's beautiful poetry. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:06:59.040 That's good writing, right? 00:06:59.279 --> 00:07:00.240 But that's huge. 00:07:00.399 --> 00:07:01.680 That's huge for us. 00:07:01.920 --> 00:07:03.519 It's God's grace to us. 00:07:03.600 --> 00:07:10.079 It means there is a one-way love toward us as we are, not as we should be. 00:07:10.399 --> 00:07:13.920 Grace to you and peace from him. 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:15.680 Well, how? 00:07:16.480 --> 00:07:21.040 Verse 5 to him who loves us and freed us. 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:22.079 How? 00:07:22.319 --> 00:07:24.319 From our sins by his blood. 00:07:24.480 --> 00:07:28.959 See, this is the theological out where we have poetry, we have theology, it's all working together. 00:07:29.279 --> 00:07:35.439 John calls on Jesus' work for him to deal with his fear. 00:07:36.560 --> 00:07:38.720 Now that's that's a good lesson for us. 00:07:38.959 --> 00:07:40.560 He's trying to get his churches to do this. 00:07:40.639 --> 00:07:42.560 They oh, you you got you are you trapped in fear? 00:07:42.720 --> 00:07:44.000 You have fear going on? 00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:45.920 You want to move in peace? 00:07:46.160 --> 00:07:53.439 Well, a way to do that is to call on Jesus' work, to deepen into the work he did for you, the love he has for you. 00:07:53.680 --> 00:07:58.639 A few years ago, I woke up in the middle of the night, like boom, like woke up, sat straight up. 00:07:58.800 --> 00:08:00.480 I heard somebody in my house. 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:02.800 I heard it, like an intruder. 00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:05.279 I know the footsteps of the little girls down the hallway. 00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:06.160 This was not that. 00:08:06.399 --> 00:08:08.000 I heard something. 00:08:08.240 --> 00:08:14.480 And I was sitting straight up in the bed, and it's you know, dead black, it's dark, it's quiet. 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:17.439 I'm trying to listen for this like the second sound, right? 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:19.199 You heard the first one because it woke you up. 00:08:19.360 --> 00:08:24.000 And then as I'm sitting up, I realize maybe that was a dream. 00:08:24.240 --> 00:08:25.920 Like maybe the first sound, right? 00:08:26.079 --> 00:08:30.160 Have you had this happen where you're like, now I don't know like which it is? 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:39.519 Like, was is it was that a dream and the sound was in the dream, or was I sleeping and I heard the sound and it woke me up? 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.320 And so now you know what I have to do. 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:44.240 I gotta search the house. 00:08:44.320 --> 00:08:46.480 I'm not the kind of guy to go back to sleep at this point. 00:08:46.559 --> 00:08:47.279 That's not me. 00:08:47.360 --> 00:08:50.720 So I'm up, got my bear spray in one hand. 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:52.080 That's my weapon of choice. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:53.840 I know some people prefer the bat. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.559 I don't prefer the bat, like good wall bear spray, that's what I'm looking for. 00:08:58.720 --> 00:08:59.039 Okay? 00:08:59.279 --> 00:09:12.559 So I got my bear spray, and I go in the middle of the night, room by room, in the dark, room by room, behind every chair, behind every couch, behind every door, behind the shower curtain. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:14.480 You done that before in the middle of the night? 00:09:14.559 --> 00:09:16.000 Don't do that in the middle of the night. 00:09:16.159 --> 00:09:17.120 That's a moment. 00:09:17.279 --> 00:09:19.039 That's a moment you don't want. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:27.039 And man, I mean, I knew my house was, I mean, who's interested in my little house? 00:09:27.200 --> 00:09:27.519 Right? 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.759 And they're gonna be real let down if they get inside. 00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:33.759 I mean, there's just not, I mean, there's just not a lot there. 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:36.879 So, I mean, I know we're fine. 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:38.000 I know we're fine. 00:09:38.080 --> 00:09:42.480 I'm like, you know, that was just a sound, that was, you know, nothing's going on. 00:09:42.720 --> 00:09:47.600 But still, man, our minds and our hearts do crazy stuff when we're afraid. 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.559 And I was afraid searching that house in the middle of the night by myself in the dark with my bearish parents. 00:09:52.639 --> 00:09:53.600 I was afraid. 00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.240 And my mind's doing some crazy stuff. 00:09:56.399 --> 00:09:58.879 We create all types of scenarios. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:04.320 In our fear, we act out, we overwork, we underwork, we overdrink. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:07.440 We fall apart, shut down. 00:10:08.480 --> 00:10:11.919 And John, right, back to the text. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:18.399 The more we think about who wrote it and who it's going to, suddenly the letter comes alive to us. 00:10:18.720 --> 00:10:21.600 John, on an island. 00:10:22.159 --> 00:10:22.480 Right? 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:28.399 Just somebody coming up to you and pulling you out of your life and putting you on the island in the middle of nowhere. 00:10:28.480 --> 00:10:30.639 Like, maybe that sounds great for like four days. 00:10:30.799 --> 00:10:32.960 Like you're like, yes, that's actually what I want. 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:35.759 I want those four days on an island in the G and Z. 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:38.240 But after a while. 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:41.039 Right? 00:10:41.200 --> 00:10:44.559 And then he's thinking about these churches and the persecution they feel. 00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:47.600 So he writes to his friends. 00:10:47.919 --> 00:10:48.879 That's what we have here. 00:10:49.200 --> 00:10:50.639 He writes to his friends. 00:10:51.919 --> 00:11:04.080 As I was engaging with this text this week, the question for my heart that I was trying to pull some application for me is what fear keeps paralyzing my heart? 00:11:05.759 --> 00:11:08.799 Sending me into anxiety, coping, or denial? 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:11.519 You know, how how how would I be like John? 00:11:11.759 --> 00:11:12.559 How would I feel? 00:11:12.639 --> 00:11:13.759 Or these these churches. 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.919 And it's like, well, that feels so that's so ancient. 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:17.919 You know, but how what is it for me? 00:11:18.080 --> 00:11:19.200 What's the fear? 00:11:19.360 --> 00:11:21.120 What's the fear in my life? 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:24.159 And maybe it's one you hadn't even voiced out yet. 00:11:24.240 --> 00:11:25.519 You haven't told anybody yet. 00:11:25.840 --> 00:11:32.639 But it's there, it's driving you, it's governing you, or it's really binding you and holding you. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:37.600 And then what would trusting Jesus look like in regard to that to that fear? 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:41.600 What would that look like if you begin to let go of that a little bit? 00:11:42.480 --> 00:11:43.600 Verses 7 and 8. 00:11:43.759 --> 00:11:52.080 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. 00:11:52.480 --> 00:11:54.159 Even so, amen. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:12:00.080 I'm the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come the Almighty. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:06.559 Point number two is this as we grow more enamored with Christ, we move through our fear and into greater courage. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:07.200 Right? 00:12:07.440 --> 00:12:13.120 John's calling us back to Jesus, who he is, what he did. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:18.399 And in that, he's moving us through our fear and into greater courage. 00:12:18.960 --> 00:12:26.080 When I was a freshman in college for fall break, my friends and I we decided to drive out to West Virginia and raft down the Gali River. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:30.320 The Gali River is a big river, especially in the fall, big river. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:32.639 Has class some class five rapids. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:35.840 Here's a picture of one, so it's big water, really big water. 00:12:35.919 --> 00:12:38.960 But we were invincible 19-year-olds. 00:12:39.360 --> 00:12:39.919 You know what I'm saying? 00:12:40.000 --> 00:12:40.559 Like nothing. 00:12:40.639 --> 00:12:42.399 Like I, you know, I thought I could swim that. 00:12:42.480 --> 00:12:43.679 Like, yeah, I'll swim it. 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:45.039 I don't even know a life jacket. 00:12:45.840 --> 00:12:49.120 I mean, if I think back on my 19-year-old self, like, I can even tap into that. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:50.799 And pretty pretty sure I can do that. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:52.480 Like as a 19-year-old, I could've. 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:55.759 So we're brave, no fear. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:12:57.759 Here's the picture of the group of us. 00:12:58.159 --> 00:12:58.799 So that's us. 00:12:58.879 --> 00:13:00.000 That's me on the far right. 00:13:00.159 --> 00:13:02.080 A lot of lustrious hair. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:05.039 Shocking I didn't have a girlfriend, right? 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.360 Really shocking when you see that hair. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:11.519 So we load up in the raft. 00:13:11.679 --> 00:13:13.519 Our guide's name is Turtle. 00:13:14.480 --> 00:13:15.200 Still remember that. 00:13:15.600 --> 00:13:17.360 Our guide's name is Turtle. 00:13:18.080 --> 00:13:19.360 And we're starting having fun. 00:13:19.440 --> 00:13:21.039 We're going down the river, we're having fun. 00:13:21.279 --> 00:13:23.840 Class three, class four, it's fun. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:25.120 Big water, it's fun. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:28.799 Before every rapid turtle would say, Hey, if you fall out, swim right. 00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:30.159 Hey, if you fall out, swim left. 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:31.120 I'll get you to the end. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:31.360 Right? 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:32.799 This is like just over and over again. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:35.120 And then he pulls over the raft. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:37.200 He's like, this is we're coming up on one of the big ones. 00:13:37.279 --> 00:13:39.039 He's like, this is coming up on a five. 00:13:39.200 --> 00:13:40.159 This is one of the big ones. 00:13:40.240 --> 00:13:41.759 He's and he lays it out. 00:13:41.840 --> 00:13:47.279 Hey, we're gonna come in on the right side, we're gonna work our way over, we're gonna go down the tongue, we're gonna blah, blah, blah, you know, all that. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:50.720 And then he doesn't say like which way to swim. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:57.519 And so my friend David, he says, Hey, turtle, if we fall out, which way do we swim? 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.919 Turtle, very serious for the first time of the day, says, Don't fall out. 00:14:02.240 --> 00:14:11.679 And David's like, hey, I know, but like, but if I do, which way do I swim? 00:14:11.840 --> 00:14:15.039 And Turtle says, Don't fall out. 00:14:15.200 --> 00:14:17.120 We don't fall out on this raptor. 00:14:17.200 --> 00:14:19.360 And yeah, okay, I get it, I get it. 00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:23.440 But if I do, he's like, you don't understand, don't fall out. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:26.960 Like, that's not a thing we do here on this one. 00:14:27.200 --> 00:14:34.639 And at the same time, then he just said, he said, just listen to me, and you'll be fine. 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:37.200 If you just listen to me, you'll be fine. 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:42.159 And so, you know, we head down that rapid and we head down that line and we're listening to him. 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:43.039 Our eyes are ahead. 00:14:43.200 --> 00:14:44.480 We're participants, right? 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:49.840 Like we are participants in the raft, but we are not the authority of that raft. 00:14:50.320 --> 00:14:50.720 Right? 00:14:50.879 --> 00:14:54.960 I mean, we are we are beholding turtle, okay? 00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:57.759 I don't think I should point at the cross as I say turtle. 00:14:57.919 --> 00:14:59.679 We're beholding turtle. 00:15:00.399 --> 00:15:00.720 Okay? 00:15:00.879 --> 00:15:02.080 That's what we're doing. 00:15:02.320 --> 00:15:03.600 We're beholding turtle. 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:06.080 Our ears are tuned to turtle. 00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:09.440 We're participants, but we're not final authority. 00:15:09.679 --> 00:15:12.000 And when it came to peace, right? 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:15.200 A sense of peace, it was not in our ability. 00:15:15.360 --> 00:15:16.399 It was in turtle. 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.679 The fact that he does this twice a day, every day, he's been doing it for years. 00:15:22.080 --> 00:15:23.600 It's all about turtle. 00:15:23.840 --> 00:15:25.200 We're beholding him. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:30.559 Point number three is this we move through fear by beholding the one who's holding us. 00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:36.240 We've talked about that word behold before. 00:15:36.320 --> 00:15:38.799 It's a call for us to pause and cherish. 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:41.519 It's not moving on to do more. 00:15:42.159 --> 00:15:43.919 That's not what we're called to. 00:15:44.879 --> 00:15:47.279 It's for us to be more enamored with Christ. 00:15:47.440 --> 00:15:52.799 The whole first chapter of Revelation is this unveiling of how good he is. 00:15:54.080 --> 00:15:55.679 Verses 7-8, call us. 00:15:55.840 --> 00:15:58.080 Verses 7 and 8, call us and to behold. 00:15:58.240 --> 00:16:05.360 It says the whole world will behold one day, as Jesus is actually the center of it all. 00:16:05.600 --> 00:16:10.799 And then we have that verse 8, and Jesus calls, John calls Jesus the Almighty. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:16.399 Almighty means the ruler of all, the one who holds sway over all things. 00:16:17.919 --> 00:16:24.480 It's a promise of relationship with the sovereign Father who's loving to us no matter what we're going through. 00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:28.879 Now, it doesn't mean there won't be suffering. 00:16:30.320 --> 00:16:35.600 We will walk through suffering, but we don't have to walk in that in fear. 00:16:35.759 --> 00:16:37.440 Those are two different things. 00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:43.120 And there's something a lot worse than walking through suffering, and that is walking through suffering in fear. 00:16:44.320 --> 00:16:45.840 We don't have to walk in fear. 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:48.639 Verses 12 through 16. 00:16:51.120 --> 00:16:54.879 Remember, this is John writing what he experienced. 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.159 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me. 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:05.680 And on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:13.359 So he's talking about Jesus Christ here, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:17.519 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:26.000 His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 00:17:26.240 --> 00:17:35.200 His right hand held he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:38.720 I mean, John kind of got on a roll there with words, right? 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:41.759 But all that means something. 00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:42.799 Here's what it means. 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:43.839 We're gonna break it down a little bit. 00:17:44.000 --> 00:17:52.240 Verse 13, Son of Man, is talking about Jesus as our deliverer, which means I don't have to deliver myself. 00:17:52.720 --> 00:17:53.599 Jesus does that. 00:17:53.759 --> 00:18:08.000 Verse 13, clothed with a long robe with a golden sash, is this talking about Jesus as our king and our priest, which means I am not my own final authority in life, and I am not my own final authority when it comes to my relationship with God. 00:18:08.240 --> 00:18:10.240 Jesus is that for me. 00:18:10.720 --> 00:18:13.839 Verse 14, hairs of his head were white. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:20.160 This is talking about Jesus as our source of wisdom, which means I don't have to create what is right and wrong. 00:18:20.400 --> 00:18:24.000 I can look at Jesus and his words and his teaching. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:28.079 Verse 14, eyes were like a flame of fire. 00:18:28.400 --> 00:18:32.160 Jesus as capable to see all of us. 00:18:32.720 --> 00:18:36.079 Jesus sees all of us, which means he knows me. 00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:39.519 Verse 15, feet were like burnished bronze. 00:18:39.680 --> 00:18:45.039 Jesus as our stability and strength, which means he is strong enough for my weakness. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:50.799 Verse 15, voice was like the roar of many waters. 00:18:50.960 --> 00:18:54.799 So Jesus' voice, this is about Jesus' voice, is powerful in our lives. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:01.200 Which means he desires to speak into my fear and into my weakness and into my need. 00:19:01.440 --> 00:19:04.079 Verse 16, he held seven stars. 00:19:04.319 --> 00:19:05.920 It means Jesus cares for us. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:10.480 And he's talking about this seven, he's talking about these churches, these seven churches. 00:19:10.559 --> 00:19:13.200 He holds these churches, he loves these people. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:14.240 These are people. 00:19:16.720 --> 00:19:18.880 So he not only knows us, but he cares for us. 00:19:19.119 --> 00:19:21.599 Verse 16, sharp two-edged sword. 00:19:21.759 --> 00:19:27.839 So Jesus' words are grace and truth, which means that his words they pierce into our hearts. 00:19:28.000 --> 00:19:30.079 They come into the core of who we are. 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.400 Verse 16, the face was like the sun shining. 00:19:34.640 --> 00:19:41.680 This is Jesus' glorious, his glorious brilliance, which means he is brilliant above all others. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:43.200 So all that glory, right? 00:19:44.400 --> 00:19:52.160 All that glory about who Jesus is and his character, Christ for us, God Himself who came incarnate. 00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:58.799 And then we have John's experience with this Jesus showing up in verse 17. 00:19:59.920 --> 00:20:03.680 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:10.160 But he laid his right hand on me, saying, Fear not. 00:20:10.319 --> 00:20:12.559 I am the first and the last and the living one. 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:17.599 I died, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death in Hades. 00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:20.240 Write therefore the things that you have seen. 00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:24.480 Those that are, and those that are to take place after this. 00:20:24.880 --> 00:20:35.440 As for the mystery of the seven stars that 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. 00:20:35.599 --> 00:20:42.960 So point number four is this Jesus finds and loves you in your weakness and in your fear. 00:20:44.000 --> 00:20:52.799 If we think about John and all these fears that he would be having, and then he writes of this glorious Jesus. 00:20:54.400 --> 00:20:57.119 And he sees him, he falls to his knees. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.759 And this is a moment where you go, I don't know how this is gonna play out. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:04.319 I don't know how this plays out. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:11.279 An afraid, sinful man falling at the knees of a glorious God. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.279 I don't know how this plays out here. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:18.079 And the fact that one sentence. 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:21.119 But he laid his right hand on me. 00:21:22.400 --> 00:21:23.680 There we have the gospel. 00:21:25.920 --> 00:21:26.319 Right? 00:21:26.400 --> 00:21:28.000 This is John's condition. 00:21:28.720 --> 00:21:30.079 He's afraid. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:32.160 He's not perfect. 00:21:32.640 --> 00:21:36.480 He's overwhelmed by God in a really good way. 00:21:37.599 --> 00:21:39.599 But John doesn't know how this will work out. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.319 And this moment, this experience. 00:21:44.000 --> 00:21:45.599 But he laid his right hand on me. 00:21:47.119 --> 00:21:51.039 Jesus moves toward John, resting his hand on him. 00:21:52.240 --> 00:22:02.160 And he tells him, I fear not, if you're not, because of who Jesus is, if you're not, because of who Jesus is. 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:04.480 The ultimate victory. 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:15.519 Over brokenness, the ultimate victory we have in eternity, the ultimate victory we have for all of our sins to be absolved perfectly, all finished, is in Jesus. 00:22:15.839 --> 00:22:19.440 Full righteousness to us as children of God because of Jesus. 00:22:19.920 --> 00:22:22.079 Security with our relationship with God. 00:22:22.319 --> 00:22:26.319 No matter how we're feeling emotionally on a given day, secure in Jesus. 00:22:26.880 --> 00:22:31.119 We may walk through suffering, but we don't have to walk through it in fear because of Jesus. 00:22:32.720 --> 00:22:35.039 This morning you may have a nagging fear. 00:22:35.680 --> 00:22:37.599 I don't know what it is, but you know. 00:22:38.079 --> 00:22:44.319 Like it's the thing that governs you, it's the thing that drives you, or it's the thing that binds you up and shuts you down. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:46.000 Fear's weird. 00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:53.680 It can be really big fear that is all-encompassing and sort of sort of like thematically in your life, drives a lot. 00:22:53.759 --> 00:23:01.839 And then also it can be weird how fear messes with our heads and just all of a sudden we start creating scenarios that just they're not even possible, they're not gonna happen. 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:06.799 But fear has this lie to it, right? 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:09.279 Of what it creates in us. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.759 And we don't have to live like that. 00:23:12.640 --> 00:23:17.440 We're gonna live in a variety of circumstances, but we don't have to live in fear. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:18.480 Why? 00:23:19.440 --> 00:23:33.200 Well, we call on Jesus' word, we remember the glory that he is, and as we are overwhelmed, he puts his hand on you and he says, Fear not. 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.480 Let's pray together. 00:23:34.799 --> 00:23:39.359 God, thank you that you call us out of a life of fear. 00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:53.440 And it's not us getting our acts together to be brave enough, it's us being overwhelmed enough to be on our knees in front of you because you are more than enough. 00:23:54.720 --> 00:24:09.359 And God, this morning, so many of us have a fear in our hearts about someone or about something, about something that might happen or will happen or is happening. 00:24:10.480 --> 00:24:13.519 And we need to bow to you. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:18.640 But we need the experience of your hand on us. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:22.799 And we need to hear in our hearts if you're not. 00:24:23.920 --> 00:24:31.440 That you are with us and you care for us, and that you will walk with us, and we are participants, but help us to attune our ears to you. 00:24:33.039 --> 00:24:40.799 We thank you that you love us in our weakness, and that you approach us and pursue us, and you are our Redeemer. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:42.319 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.200 Amen.