The word of God to you, his church, from the second chapter of the revelation of Jesus Christ to John the Apostle, beginning at the first verse. To the angel of the Church of Ephesus, right, these things, says he who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not and have found them liars. And you have persevered and have patience and have labored for my namesake and have not become weary. For the last I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore, from where you have fallen, repent, and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. But this you have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaeotans, which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches, to him who overcomes. I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Let us pray together. Lord Jesus, we thank you for giving your people your word. It is for us, and we thank you that you have preserved it. And we thank you that by your Spirit's presence among us, you make it live. Would you take your word and seal it to our hearts in order that we might go from this place, that are understanding who you are as the reigning king of glory, and who we are as your subjects called to serve you in the midst of the world. Seal this to our hearts, and glorify yourself. We ask in your name, Amen. You may be seated. I was in the seminary, I heard a story, I don't know that it is true, but it is certainly as representative, if it is not factually accurate. The story is this, that there was a group of seminarians playing basketball in a local gymnasium. And I don't know if you have ever been around seminarians, some of you have been a seminarian yourselves, seminarians can be a rather pompous lot. They do learn quite a lot, but they seem in the midst of their learning to come away with the impression about themselves, sometimes, not always, it certainly is true of me, that they know everything, and are quick to let their professors know about that as well. Well these seminarians were gymnasium, and the custodian who had come to open the gymnasium for them was sitting in a folding chair at one end of the gym, reading his Bible, they noticed. And so at one point when they became a little winded and took a break, they went over to this custodian and observed that he was reading his Bible, and they asked if he was a Christian and he said, oh yes I am, and they said, well we're seminarians, we attend the local seminary here and he said, oh I see, and they said, what are you reading? And he said, well I'm reading the revelation, the book of the revelation, and they sort of looked at one another, you know, ha ha ha, we don't even understand the book of the revelation and he's reading it. So they thought they would play with him a little bit and they said, well it's an interesting book, isn't it? Oh yes, it's a fascinating book. Well what can you tell us about it, and he looked at them rather quizzically and said, what do you mean? And they said, well do you understand it, do you understand this book? I mean it has all of these visions and all of these beasts and all of these other things which we don't have categories for, do you understand this book? And he said, oh yes, absolutely. And they said, well then tell us what it means. And he said, that's simple, Jesus is going to win, Jesus is going to win. Now I was intending to preach a series on the letters to the seven angels of the seven churches, the churches identified by Jesus himself in verse 11 of the first chapter in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamus, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Leia, the Seam, but in the course of my study this last week in preparing for those messages, something happened to me. Bible study works that way sometimes. It can get into your blood and it can, if you'll allow it to do its work, create a sense of anticipation and an enthusiasm and an excitement, and I have to tell you, as I read the book of the revelry, and as I consulted commentaries and I read the thoughts of people across the centuries regarding this book, I've decided to change what it is I'm going to do. And even though John Calvin wrote a book or a commentary on every book or the Bible except revelation, I'm not going to be intimidated. I want to spend some time with the whole book, not just the letters to the seven churches, but with the whole book, because in a world where we hear repeatedly about OJ Simpson and Oklahoma City, and Kyoto, Japan, and Tokyo, Japan, and natural disasters and man-made disasters,
and threats here and threats there and uncertainty here and uncertainty there, I am anxious for us to live for the next three or four months with the central affirmation of the book of the revelation. And that affirmation is purely and simply this, the Lord God omnipotent reigneth,
and the kingdoms of this earth have become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and He will reign forever. And human history, you've heard me say this again, now I have the proof text for it, human history is not about Oklahoma City, it is not about OJ Simpson, it is
not about earthquakes in Japan, it is not about gas attacks in Japan, human history is about
the Lord Jesus Christ seated upon the throne, exercising His rule over the affairs of all men and all nations, and exercising His rule as well in and through His church into all
the earth, into all the earth, and as you come to the book of the revelation, it seems to me there are some things with which we need to come to terms as sort of prior thoughts, or presumptions or assumptions. And one of them is this, again I've mentioned this before, but we forget these things so easily. One of the assumptions which we must have in mind as we come to the revelation of Christ or to the entirety of the scriptures or as we come to the Christian faith itself is that the unseen world is every bit as real and arguing will be more important than the seen world. When I say to you that the central affirmation, the central conviction of the book of revelation is that Jesus Christ is on His throne and that He rules and reigns over the affairs of all men and all nations for the good of His church and that He is exerting that rule and reign in and through His church into all the earth, you're stopped in your tracks because you don't see a throne and you don't see a kingdom with swords and guns and tanks and airplanes. You don't see a kingdom with material power but this kingdom and the kingdom of this kingdom while having a material manifestation
in its citizens is nevertheless also an arguably more significantly immaterial and not visible. We trust things which we can see, which we can feel, which we can handle. We say those
things are true, those things may be relied upon, those things are to be trusted but we are reminded in the scriptures that we walk and live by faith and not by sight the kingdom
of this earth has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ and though you do not see Him it is His decision, it is His determination, it is His purpose which prevails in the earth and in all of the earth. He is an invisible king to be sure. You don't see, you have never seen the dark side of the moon but it is there and you do not see and have not seen Your King but you
have He is there and He is exercising His rule and His reign in all the earth. This yesterday morning in a meeting with candidates for the offices of elder and deacon in our church. The first of our meetings to prepare them to assume the responsibilities of those offices, I read to them from first Peter, the second chapter and the fourth verse that we come to Him that is the Lord Jesus Christ as a living stone, as a living stone. The phrase living stone is foolishness. The phrase living stone is like the phrase around circle, around square, circles around it. It makes no sense, words have meaning.
And the phrase living stone in and of itself seen purely with the eyes considered alone with the mind doesn't make any sense. But you understand that this is a figure, you understand that you are being asked to embrace something which is a matter of faith and not a matter of sight that your King and head, the rock, the Lord Jesus Christ, is alive. We have just come through the Easter season and celebrated that fact. We affirm as Christians that we are in relationship to the living God and His son Jesus Christ. That is at the center of what it means to be a Christian, that I have a relationship with the risen Christ. He knows me and I may know Him and that is an invisible non-material mystical kind of reality. But it is no less real because it is unseen and mystical. Baby Warfield has said there are thousands of people in the world who are mystics but who are not Christians. But there is no real Christian who is not also really a mystic. That is, He holds real communion in His soul with God and then Peter goes on to say that we have come to Him who is a living stone rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious and that you also as living stones are being built up a spiritual house. You see Jesus, the King, the living stone not seen by you, is nevertheless really and truly building you living stones as well into a permanent temptation for Himself that He might dwell within you, that His glory might reside in you, that you might bear that glory as His image bearers before all the palates and powers and all the nations of the earth. It isn't seen but it is real. The exalted King and head of His church is exercising His rule and reign in and through you, His people. And as you come to this book of the Revelation, that is an assumption which you must bring with you, that these invisible, intangible, non-material things are as real as the pews upon which you sit, as real as the hands which you hold in those pews, as real as the shoulder which you may be leaning against. And then second, as you come to this book of the Revelation before dealing with anything else in the Revelation, you want to come asking the question, for whom is this book written? For whom is this book written? First few verses read as follows, the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants things which must properly take place, or things which must soon take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, and then again, back over in verse 11 of the first chapter, Jesus instructs John regarding these visions which He is to receive, that He is to write them in a book and He is to send them to the seven churches which are in Asia, to the seven churches which we have mentioned. Folks, there is a broad, the traditional, though I think more recent view, that the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John was written not primarily for the people of that day, but for a people living some centuries removed from that day, somewhere down the corridor of history. And I want to suggest to you, that if that is true of this book, this is the only book in the Bible of which that is true, because you see every other book in the Bible, while having certainly the longer term in view, and God who is the ultimate author of Scripture knows not only the needs of the people of the day, but knows the needs of His people in all generations, and so inspires the writers of Holy Scripture to write in such a way that the needs of their day, as well as the needs of our day are addressed, that is God the Holy Spirit doing His work in inspiring Scripture. But having said that, books in the Bible, the canon of Scripture from Genesis through the Revelation, are written inspired by the Holy Spirit and pinned by real people at real places in real time to address the real needs and concerns of those people living in that day and in that time. And I want to suggest to you that the Revelation is written not primarily for us, not in the first instance for people living at the end of the 20th century, but written primarily or in the first instance for the people of that day. It's interesting to read the commentaries, commentaries from the 16th century, commentaries from the 19th century, commentaries from the 20th century, which diverge from this view regarding the book of the Revelation. It's interesting that those commentaries, which diverge from the view which I've just suggested to you, do hold the view that John was writing some for the people of his day, but most of what he is writing about has to do with things which would happen centuries down the road. And each one of those commentaries is convinced that the things which John was writing about centuries ago were being fulfilled in their day. The commentators writing in the 16th century believed that all of these events were being fulfilled in their day. This writing in the 19th century were convinced that these events were being fulfilled in their day as well. And writers who write now in the 20th century are still seeking to persuade us that these events, events having to do with Babylon and with the beast and with this person bearing the number six, all of these things are now being fulfilled in this day. But I want to suggest to you, and I think that we will see, that John as a pastor concerned for his sheep, writing to address them and is concerned to show them what will happen soon. That's what the word means in the first verse. It's primary meaning. It's widest usage is not suddenly or unexpectedly, but soon, shortly.
See, John is a pastor. John cares about his sheep in these seven churches, and those who made up these seven churches in the area of Asia Minor, places like Ephesus and Philadelphia and Lea Decia lived in a hostile environment. They were persecuted. They lived in a place where Caesar, way off in Rome, was regarded as a God, and they refused to bow the knee. Furthermore, many of them were Jewish converts to Christianity, and their former brethren, whose capital city was Jerusalem, persecuted them as well. Paul was one persecuted by both. By his kinsmen according to the flesh and by the Roman emperor, way off in the capital city of the world's largest and most powerful empire. And John as a pastor is concerned to address their particular needs, their particular concerns, and John is concerned to bring them back around to this first point, this first and central idea that it doesn't matter what Nero is doing. It doesn't matter what Caiaphas has done. They are earthly kings, and their hearts are in the hands of the Lord God omnipotent who reigns, and he turns those hearts as he will to serve his ends and his purposes.
And you Christians in Ephesus and Lea Decia and Philadelphia, you though it appears that you are opposed and oppressed, persecuted, harassed, sewn up in the skins of animals and fed to the lions, you who are imprisoned, you who lose your jobs, you who are ostracized and separated from your families, you who know painfully in your souls that when the gospel comes it causes divisions. You who know that Jesus when he came did not bring peace but a sword, understand that he is the Alpha and he is the Omega, he is the first and the last, he is the lion of Judah, he is the lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, he is seated on his throne, the elders vow before him, the angels surround him and cry, holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts, heaven and earth is full of your glory. And no earthly king is acknowledged in that way, your king Jesus reigns and rules and you fix your eyes upon him, and then you persevere in the work which he has given you to do. That is a word from John to the people of his day and John, I believe, will go on to tell his readers about Rome and about Jerusalem and he will persuade them that mighty and significant things will happen soon and that the Lord Jesus Christ will be vindicated for that day and for all of history as the king of kings. And the Lord of lords, that is where the book begins, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, says the Lord Jesus. Now go speak to my people. Now that truth is something which does have application for us today. Brothers and sisters you are called to be faithful servants of Jesus Christ and as we read in each of these letters there is a promise to those who overcome, to those who persevere, to those who hang in there, to those who daily seek faithfully. Before the Lord to serve Him in all of the affairs of their lives and there is the promise as well that this work in which you are engaged will not be in vain. It will not be empty. It will not be fruitless. Are you in business? Are you struggling to represent Jesus in your business? You are the kingdom of God in that place and Christ is extending His kingdom through you. Are you a family in a neighborhood? You are the kingdom of God in that place and Christ is seeking to extend His kingdom through you there in this day. Are you a seminary student preparing for mission work, preparing for church planting? Don't you see that all of us together because of the grace of God? Have aligned ourselves with the King whose purpose can not fail and will not fail and He who is more committed to this purpose than any of us here or all of us put together, He will see to it that it does not fail. Thanks be to God. That's pray. Lord Jesus, we bow before you the ascended risen glorified reigning King of glory. Forgive me, forgive us that we are so easily discouraged, that we are side-tracked, renew our strength, stir us up, give us grace. Lord, that we in our day might seek to prosecute your purpose, your cause, with all of our strength, with all of our heart, with all of our mind, with every aspect of our being. I pray for any here who are discouraged who have been brought low for one reason or another, have mercy upon them and encourage them and give them the help that they need. Stir them up, O Lord. I pray for those preparing for ministry or those in ministry that they would know and that we all would know that our labor is not in vain and that you are pleased to establish the work of our hands. And though the fruit and the extension of this kingdom in so many ways is invisible to us, it is seen by you and you rejoice and glory in what you accomplish in and through us. And may we learn to rejoice as we see what you accomplish as well. O Lord, do encourage us, do stir us up for our day and time. We ask in your name, Amen.