First from Isaiah chapter 11, if you are the sort that gets a little frustrated, if I get there and get out before you can make your way to it, then I'd encourage you to put your ribbon or a bookmark or an insert from a bulletin in Isaiah 11. I'll be reading just one verse from there by way of explanation. Revelation chapter 1 verses 4 through 6 this morning, not through 8, being mindful of our time of communion and just being mindful of our time. I am trying to be less ambitious. It's a teach an old dog new tricks and so ask your patients while I try to learn how to preach again. So this morning only 4 through 6, you should only take an hour or two. John, to the 7 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 7 spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born 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 priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen. Again may the Lord bless the reading of his word and hearing of his people. If you have children, perhaps you've had them come to you as they've gotten into the middle school years or the high school years with their math book. And they've opened up their math book and you recognize the title because it was called algebra back then too. And you didn't think there was actually but one course in algebra and since they break it up into two or three sometimes, you figure that the algebra you had must have been much harder. So this is going to be easy their kids after all and we're grown-ups and we know all of these things so they open up the book and they begin to ask you a question and you forgot that letters could count for numbers. You have no idea why they use parentheses which belong in a sentence in a math equation and there's nothing in there that looks like it's equal to anything known to man. But you fake it well and you stare at it for a moment and then you say I'm a little rusty this may take a moment as you utter a silent prayer praying that God would give you special revelation so that you might have some recall of this math that is in front of you. And then you send them on some errand hoping that you can find where the answers are in the back or maybe you can look at the example and figure it out that something will come to you after all. If you've ever ridden a bike you can always get a one in right again. No you can't. And we find that because we are lacking in some fundamentals that have just sort of fell out along the way, we're not able to work a more complex equation. Something happened with our one plus one two plus two and how we began to understand factoring you remember that word factoring. I thought that that would be the mountain top in algebra and I came to understand that was only the front door to algebra. And so some of these things that you do recall have either grown rusty or you have forgot them all together. And so now you have before you a problem a problem that you know you could have solved when you were twice the mathematician that you are now. And it's some consolation to know that your kids who are now snickering at you will also themselves forget this in their time. But right now at that moment at this moment you simply can't answer the question because you don't have enough understanding of the foundations and the background to answer the question. So you do what any reasonable and responsible adult would do. You look at them and say you know honey if I give you the answer you'll never learn how to figure it out on your own. Well when we come to Revelation I think that most of the time what we find in here that perplexes us and takes us around these bins and turns and helps us in coming up with such wild and imaginative answers as we work through these different issues and revelation is because we are lacking some basic biblical literacy in the scriptures the other 65 books. Particularly in those books that are more apocalyptic you know this is not the only book in the Bible that uses illustrations and and uses allegory and uses language and phrases like we have in the book of Revelation as we read Revelation we should have something going off in our head that says you know I've seen this before. I've heard this language already I know that God's already worked with his people and he's helped them to understand this sort of language in the past in books like Zechariah or Daniel or even in Amos to one degree or another the prophetic books often very often give us some sort of language that lends itself as a training ground a pre algebra or pre revelation course if you will. But again we like to do what Americans do we like to read last chapter first we like to know how it ends before we figure out how it got to the end in the beginning but the pattern in the language of the book follows established Jewish patterns for apocalyptic literature and so for us to take our unique American Western Anglo way of looking at things and approach Revelation and try to draw from that some conclusion. It's not really responsible where it wasn't written in the days of our youth it wasn't written in the context of the United States Constitution and a dominant military it wasn't written in the age of world wars and so when we began to look at it through these lens there may be some conclusions that are correct. But I wonder what we miss by not considering the nature of the body of literature that is before us so that my math teacher told me I see your answer and you got the right answer but without showing your work I have no idea how you got there which of course is another way of saying I think you copied that answer of somebody's paper but that's another story. If you were to take a look at this as a body of literature and you were to read chapter one and then you were to move to chapter four you probably wouldn't even notice that chapters two and three are absent. Chapters two and three are letters to specific churches and they throw an interesting twist into the flow of the narrative as I'm making a case about this being Jewish apocalyptic literature chapters two and three don't really fit. In chapters two and three John has kept a nuanced form of letter writing that emerged in the New Testament times that was very pastoral where he wrote specifically to a church by name calling upon a specific specific people to work with a specific problem apocalyptic literature is much broader in its scope and it speaks in more cosmic terms but here in these two chapters John has retained again that nuance of New Testament epistle writing supported to remember as we go later on in the book who this letter is written to. When we get into chapters 15 and 16 and 17 and 20 and 21 let's not imagine that this letter is written to Europe during World War two and not to the seven churches if you have the book of maps in your Bible if you look at the Mediterranean and the a G and C comes right up alongside of it right in that elbow there you're in that right angle if we keep our. Mathematic equations in there somebody come later on and they'll say that actually isn't right angle but you know what I mean in the map says right English as you can get. You'll find Patmos the island where John was exiled and from there he wrote to seven churches and so just northeast of that you'll see a pattern of churches that are fairly local and those seven churches are located there in what was what was Asia in that time we're not talking China we're talking. Asia within the Roman province of Asia and this letter was written to them it was written to them and they were to understand it they were to take something from it they weren't to read it and then close it and say you know I think he's talking about a church 2000 years from now was he talking about a church 2000 years from now yes of course he's talking about our church but he redressed it specifically to these churches and we must keep in mind as we read through that they can't be left out. They also had a word from God that they were to read and understand. Because John included them and he named them as recipients we have to acknowledge the book as a whole is written to the church it's not written to the government it's written to the church. We'll have much ahead to say on these seven churches because each one has a portion allocated just for that so for now let's just observe that the book of Revelation is written to the churches. And that it carries a very special salutation in it grace and peace he says grace and peace a blessing from God to these churches taken together grace and peace these words are a prayed blessing that God through Christ and by the Holy Spirit would work in their hearts so that the gift of grace which is peace with God would be theirs. I wish I could spend the entire day just on that can you imagine what a different place it would be if everyone had the fruits of the grace of God which is peace peace with God peace with God how many are not at peace with God grace fruit of that grace that activity that action of God is peace. The letter is addressed to the church yes and it is from who him grace and peace from him who is him who is he he is the one who is able to grant peace as the fruit of grace and John gives us a rather elaborate description of him. John could have said grace and peace to you from God the father and from the Lord Jesus Christ but he gives us a much more revealing greeting a much more revealing description of the father I say revealing while at the same time acknowledging that to us it's a bit cryptic and it's language in this age it seems such profound language because again of our lack of apprehension or keeping those fundamentals in mind. God is the one who is God is the one who was God is the one who is the calm John employs a very stiff use of the verb to be here that we are going to talk about. God is the one who is God is the one who was God is the one who is the calm John employs a very stiff use of the verb to be here that reminds us of Exodus 3.14 where God revealed himself to Moses as I am that I am now out of reverence Jews never use the name of God but would refer to him as the one who is the one who was in the one who will be. John adapts this form and it's important that we recognize that he's not parodying the same old form he's adapting that form to say God the one who is who was and who is the calm. Why would he do such a thing because he's already as he's talking about the time being near he's already anticipating the end. He's already anticipating closure so the letter is from the creator God of eternity who always has been and will not change and that means the terms of our salvation will not change. The predicted end of all things will not change and our assurance is established in powerful permanence because God does not change.
Letters also from the 7th spirit who are before the throne maybe this is one of the first serious turns in our text. What does this mean these 7 spirits before the throne will as co-author with God and with the risen Christ it's a reference to the Holy Spirit that much we can say with assurance. But how can the Holy Spirit be called seven spirits are there seven modes or there seven distinct spirits that make up the one Holy spirit or maybe there's seven ages that are being referred to here what does this mean seven spirits. We already know the Holy Spirit is addressed in several different names John 14 he's called the spirit of truth and the comforter. Roman's 8 the spirit of adoption the spirit of life as well as the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead. I mentioned that I would be reading from Isaiah chapter 11 I'll read that now and Isaiah 11 verse 2 and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and mic knowledge and the fear of the Lord and the light shall be in the fear of the Lord. Here we have in one passage the spirit described in a multiplicity of way so it's not without precedent that the Holy Spirit can be addressed with with different names indicating the different aspects of its action and the different aspects of its work. So we've established the Holy Spirit can be called other names and even all at once sometimes I happen to know that I am also called several names sometimes all at once but I still remain one person. No it's not that that confuses us it's the number seven number seven there's certainly not seven versions of the Holy Spirit this is not referring to angels it's not referring to some other beings so we wonder what the number seven is all about. The seven and seven spirits is a picture of completeness the fullness of the covenant of grace. I think most of us probably have already grasped seven represents completeness but complete what. At the completeness of the covenant of the fullness of the covenant of grace that's in keeping with the other uses of seven here. Seven churches seven go seven Campbell sticks seven stars and in Revelation five the lamb that has seven eyes that are the seven spirits of God and Revelation three one we read the same the words of him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars the Holy Spirit dwells in the church in the fullness and the fullness of life and grace. You had seven churches rather than allowing a concept to develop where one spirit would then be seen as either divided among the churches or one spirit would be present only with one church at one time and not with the other six. He then addresses them in such a way that they would know that for every church there is a completeness and a fullness of the presence of the Holy Spirit in every single congregation. No portion of the spirit and no unique presence of the spirit but the fullness of the spirit is present in all places we're very sloppy with our language regarding that today. We will talk about being in a certain place and the Holy Spirit was there that is in direct contradiction to the teaching of scripture because if the Holy Spirit came then the Holy Spirit wasn't there and I guess the Holy Spirit didn't stay there. But for the churches where Christ dwells the spirit of Christ dwells there in its fullness it does it ramp up during a certain hour and then calm down during a certain hour. So we are a bit sloppy in our use of the language regarding the person of the Holy Spirit we speak of the spirit as if it is some sort of force or some sort of an energy that's the influence again of Eastern religions pouring into our theology. The Holy Spirit speaking of pouring is poured out into the church it's the complete spirit of divine grace that communicates and brings to us the piece of grace that is forever. So the letter is to the churches it's from God and Spirit and we're told from Jesus Christ. John tells us Jesus is the author of grace and peace and then he shows us the threefold office of Christ as Prophet Priest and King. He is the faithful witness we're told what does this mean means that he always bears testimony of the truth of God. He testified the same during his years of flesh and his John 1837 teaches he still bears witness by his spirit in the church. This is an ongoing witnessing activity of Christ the living Word of God. There is an interaction and exchange that is going on every time we gather that should create in a such a sense of all as God uses the means of his own appointment to communicate the message of Christ to his people by virtue of the work of the Holy Spirit. He's always bearing testimony to truth. He's given a scripture he leads us into truth by a spirit what he has taught came from the father sent him so the grace and peace he offers is the grace and the peace of God. No matter what men did he remained true in his testimony to the very end in life and in death his words remained true grace and peace. He is the first born from the dead our faithful high priest offered once and for all himself as a living sacrifice his resurrection is the ground of our assurance. The womb of death has forever been breached and changed when Jesus emerged from the womb of death into the light of eternity he made a way for all of his brethren to follow. Someone asked how you can be so sure that there is life after death what are you to say except I know that there is a life after death because someone is already there I know that the resurrection is true because someone has already been resurrected it is a fact. We know there is now and we know there is an eternity we just don't know how to get past the grave unless Jesus has sprung it open for us. Our peace isn't of this world our joy is not found in this world but in the next. He is the ruler of King's owner the best explanation is already a story that's been told in the Bible when Jesus came before pilot for questioning and pilot asked him about being a king we find there the clash of two kingdoms we find the kingdom of man and the kingdom of God coming face to face in that interview between Christ and pilot the empire of the world dominion ran headlong into the claim of Christ. The gates of hell will not prevail against the kingdom of God the churches addressed in this letter or actual gatherings of Christians Christians who are living in seven cities of the Roman Empire they are in fact legally subjects of Rome but they are quite literally citizens of Rome. Citizens of the kingdom of God their sovereign their God their king sends them grace and peace reminding them of his love for them and he reminds them of his continual presence with them in spirit and of the foundations of their assurance that Jesus Christ who died was buried and is raised again and he now rules in order to command their future he loves us and he is set us free from our sins when john says he has made us a kingdom we hear clearly that his kingdom is not scratched out of a piece of dirt in any particular geography that has longitude and latitude significance but is in his relationship with his people. Jesus was asked what direction the kingdom might come from when it might arrive and he taught them that the kingdom of God was in their midst and as we are in Christ united in him by faith aren't we also made to be partakers citizens of his kingdom. In our time people wonder don't they wonder about with no hope they wonder about afraid clawing at life searching for happiness looking for some way to eat out a little bit of joy and even more than that they look for their own meaning in entertainment venues or through education or maybe through sports and recreation or relationships drugs even sometimes seeking their identity and oppression or crime everyone wants to have counted for something in life they want their life to be meaningful and they are looking to douse the fire of fear that rages within that they will have lived and died with no purpose, no impact here the god of eternity that says grace and peace even as we live in this land he says I am the alpha and omega nothing came before nothing comes after I've loved you before time before you were knit in your mother's womb I knew you and I've come to you to make you righteous and I remain with you in order to comfort you until I come again own clouds descending and triumph to establish order in unity in my kingdom once and for all so Jesus says to us all you who are weary and heavy laden come take my yoke upon you and learn of me for me can lowly come to me all that labor and heavy laden and I will give you rest he says again I am the bread of life he that comes to me shall never hunger and he that the leaves on me shall never thirst and that comes to me I will in no wise cast out blessed are they wish to hunger in thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled this is the quest of our soul it's what god is promising grace and peace he says to a very real church that needs to know that eternity has sprung open for them and that the way from the grave has been locked open for them and that Jesus Christ is the way that they are to arrive and that that message is given to them by the spirit of god the spirit of Christ who resides with them and that god who is unchanging the beginning and the end will ensure that all of this remains just as he said and this is how he begins his address to the church by making them these grand promises that it is well with their soul then he proceeds to tell them about the end of days our gracious god our heavenly father we thank you for your love and grace and peace to us and we pray to your Lord that you would continue to bless us with every spiritual blessing as we come before you Lord we ask that you would bless us at this table we pray father that as we approach this table we would do so with a holy reverence knowing that what we hold in our hands though it appears and has every constitution of ordinary bread and cup that father you in sanctifying it use it that we might consume in faith to be for takers of the very body and the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ take these signs and seals father seal the salvation of Christ and to your people that we might have that assurance that comes knowing that we walk with the Lord we pray in Jesus name oh man if you are